Vote on which recipes you'd like to see photographed step-by-step

courtesy of thehungrymouse.com

I absolutely love what Jessie over at The Hungry Mouse does on her site. She takes recipes and executes them, step-by-step, with gorgeous photographs that leave no room for error in terms of what you're supposed to be doing. She even does things like show diced potatoes next to a dinner fork, for example, so that you have no question about what size they are supposed to be (for those of use who may need a reminder about what 1/4-inch really means). She show you what onions should look like when they are sauteed, how to know when risotto is finished, how to fold egg whites, you name it. It's both beautiful and amazingly helpful.

And now Cookstr.com and The Hungry Mouse are partnering up to let you, the everyday home cook, pick from a selection of 8 recipes, and tell Jessie which one you'd most like to see her whip up and photograph. She's going to cook the top three winners, and post them on her site in the coming months, and demystify those dishes once and for all.

Here's what she has to say:

Vote Today! Introducing Reader’s Choice Recipes at The Hungry Mouse

Let’s play a game! I’ve been working with my friends over at Cookstr for a few months now on some exciting promotions and projects—including step-by-step demonstrations of some of their featured chef’s recipes.

Here’s the deal. Here are 8 intriguing and delicious-looking recipes from Cookstr.com. You vote for the recipes you’d like me to cook. I’ll do step-by-step walk-throughs of the top three.

How about it?

I have to say, we couldn’t be more excited here at The Mouse House. A lot of different things drive what we publish on The Hungry Mouse. What we’re eating. What’s in season. Above all, though, special requests from our readers come first.

Keep your eye on Cookstr—if you haven’t taken a look yet

Cookstr is rapidly building one of the best food sites I’ve seen. (Proof positive of their fabulous-ness: They’ve been nominated for a Webby in the Food and Cooking category.) All their content comes from chefs and cookbook authors. If you haven’t already, definitely check them out.

Reader’s Choice Recipes: Let the voting begin!

Here are links to 8 different recipes. So go and click around, have a nibble, and see which recipes look good to you. Then:

Vote for the recipe you like best in the poll at the end of this article.
Voting ends on Saturday, June 20.
I’ll do a step-by-step walk through of the three recipes that have the most votes and post them up over the next month or so.

1. Challah, by Nick Malgieri

Malgieri is the former executive pastry chef at New York’s Windows on the World and current director of the baking program at the Institute of Culinary Education. He’s been writing about baking and cooking for more than 30 years.

This recipe for sumptuous, braided egg bread is featured in Malgieri’s book, How to Bake. Read more about Malgieri or visit his website.

2. Pad Thai, by Victoria Blashford-Snell and Brigitte Hafner

Victoria Blashford-Snell and Brigitte Hafner teamed up to write The Illustrated Kitchen Bible. Australian chef and writer Brigitte Hafner runs The Gertrude Street Enoteca in Melbourne. Trained at Le Cordon Bleu, Blashford-Snell runs a catering company in London and has coauthored several cookbooks.

Blashford-Snell and Hafner originally published their recipe for this famous rice-noodle-and-shrimp dish in their book The Illustrated Kitchen Bible.

3. Mango Ice Cream, by Amy Besa and Romy Dorotan

Besa and Dorotan, both natives of the Philippines, ran Cendrillon in New York City for 13 1/2 years. Their new restaurant in Brooklyn, Purple Yam, is due to open in June 2009.

Their recipe for mouthwatering mango ice cream appears in their book, Memories of Philippine Kitchens. Read more about the duo here.

4. Baked Lemon Tart, by Frank Mentesana and Jerome Audureau

Mentesana and Audureau have owned the delectable-sounding Once Upon a Tart in New York City for more than 10 years.

The recipe for their easy and popular baked lemon tart appears in their book, Once Upon a Tart.

5. Deep-Dish Pizza with Sausage, Garlic and Mozzarella, by Diane Morgan and Tony Gemignani

Diana Morgan is an Oregon-based cookbook author, food writer, culinary instructor, and restaurant consultant. She teamed up with pizza tossing champion and chef Tony Gemignani (of Pyzano’s Pizzeria fame) to write a book on homemade pizza.

The recipe for this Chicago-style deep dish pizza appears in their book, Pizza: More than 60 Recipes for Delicious Homemade Pizza.

6. Horn and Hardart’s Macaroni and Cheese, by Arthur Schwartz

As a cookbook author, culinary instructor, and former restaurant critic and executive food editor of 18 years for the New York Daily News, you could say that Arthur Schwartz knows a thing or two about food. Check him out over at The Food Maven.

Find the recipe for Horn and Hardart’s Macaroni and Cheese in his book, Arthur Schwartz’s New York City Food: An Opinionated History and More Than 100 Legendary Recipes.

7. Chicken Fajitas with Green Olive Cilantro Salsa, by Victoria Wise and Susanna Hoffman

Victoria Wise is a writer, cookbook author, and the former owner of Pig By The Tail Charcuterie. Wise also cooked the very first (!!!) meal ever at Chez Panisse. Susanna Hoffman is co-founder of the Good & Plenty Cafe in Oakland, CA, and started her baking career at Chez Panisse.

Wise and Hoffman co-authored The Well-Filled Tortilla, where you’ll find the recipe for these mouthwatering fajitas.

8. Spring Rolls with Shredded Cabbage, Mushrooms and Tofu, by Deborah Madison

Deborah Madison is a chef, cookbook author, teacher, and community activist with deep roots in the sustainable and local food movement.

Find these crisp spring rolls in Madison’s book, This Can’t Be Tofu!: 75 Recipes to Cook Something You Never Thought You Would–and Love Every Bite.