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Joined: Jan 2008
My sous has backed out as it is on our day off...my "boss" the Food Network watcher is going down...I will be in the Des Moines Downtown Marriott's kitchen at 12 noon. I am judged at 3:30 pm and then sit around until the reception begins at 6:30 pm. I have five very formal invitations to mail out in the morning for guests. The reception is coat and tie type of gathering.
The main dish is what is being judged...I am doing a Greek Stuffed Center Cut Pork Rib Roast with the bones Frenched. I'll post the recipe next Monday night along with my report on the contest. I will say this...each individual chop will lay on a grape leaf and have my Greek Pasta as the side dish. The side isn't judged but has enough other Greek staples to balance the protein. The protein is traditionally lamb the way I am doing it but to play on my use of local products in "traditional" dishes I have converted it to pork.
I am one of 12 Chefs in all of Iowa asked to take part in this the 22nd Annual Taste of Elegance Contest. The winner gets $1,000.00 and there is an additional $500.00 for the "Peoples Choice Award" so in theory I could walk out with $1,500.00 if all goes well. The winner also represents Iowa in the National Taste of Elegance in San Diego this summer. That is a week long contest that has its finals taped for a Food Network Challenge and pays out $10,000.00! The very best case scenario is walking away with $11,500.00 and a free trip to San Diego and being on Food Network. Worst case...I have fun and know I am one of the top 12 Chefs in Iowa in the eyes of The Iowa Pork Producers Association! Not too bad, ay?
Yes, I've done similar but different...I won the Girl Scouts of America Cookie-Bake-Off locally last year with my Samoas Cheesecake and was awarded the IPPA Breaded Tenderloin of the Year for 2007 and have named a semi-finalist for 2008 in the same contest. This is the first one I have been to with the cooking and other Chefs right there! I should know I am good at what I do after 18 years but I still look at soooo many others and am in total awe of them and have trouble considering myself their peer...it didn't help the way I was treated regularly at a different forum...that's another story that doesn't need sharing here...
"Ponder well on this point: the pleasant hours of our life are all connected, by a more or less tangible link, with some memory of the table."-Charles Pierre Monselet, French author(1825-1888)