08.15.08
Katie’s potato salad wins!
08.13.08
Potato salad update
Katie Knapp and her BLT Potato Salad have made into the final round of Emeril’s Best Potato Salad Ever challenge on Good Morning America.
Tune into GMA on Friday morning (it airs from 7 to 9 a.m. on KCRG-TV9) to find out if she is awarded the grand prize. If she is, you’ll also get to see Knapp prepare her potato salad on air with Emeril. Knapp, by the way, is a big Emeril fan — she said she’s been watching his shows for about 6 years.
Recipe after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »
08.08.08
Cast your vote for best potato salad
Katie Knapp & her BLT Potato Salad. (Image from GMA)
Katie Knapp’s BLT Potato Salad got a thumbs up from Emeril.
Katie, 27, of Cedar Rapids, discovered this morning that she’s one of five finalists in Emeril’s Best Potato Salad Ever challenge on Good Morning America.
Unfortunately, this morning, she was also recovering from a tonsillectomy, so her husband, Jason, had to fill me in on the details instead. The recipe, he says, was a last-minute improvisation created when Katie was making food for their son’s birthday party and the original dishes she was going to create didn’t work out. You can find it on the GMA web site by clicking here.
The winner of the potato salad challenge will be determined by a panel of judges and online votes. To vote, visit the contest web site (click here) before 11 p.m. Tuesday Aug. 12.
06.26.08
BrewNost & recipe contest still on
Despite the flooding at the National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library, BrewNost will continue — at a yet-to-be determined location.
Organizers are still holding their cooking with beer competition, too. But any recipes submitted before the flood were lost, so they ask that folks resend those entries. Recipes can be sent to the museum address — mail is being picked up regularly.
Click here to see the previous post about the contest.
06.10.08
BrewNost cooking with beer contest is back
BrewNost, a beer sampling event held yearly on the banks of the Cedar River at the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library, is putting out its official call for entries in its second annual BrewNost Patron’s Choice Recipe Contest.
The contest is open to professional and amateur chefs 21 years of age or older, and each entrant may submit up to three recipes that feature beer as a substantial ingredient. Three finalists will be invited to prepare their entry and attend the BrewNost Preview Party on Sept. 10, where patrons and brewmaster hosts will sample the entries and vote for the favorite. The creator of the winning recipe will be a special guest at BrewNost on Sept. 26.
To enter, submit recipes to kotto@ncsml.com(subject line: Brewnost Recipe Contest) or send it to the National Czech Museum & Library, Attn: Recipe Contest, 30 16th Ave. SW, Cedar Rapids, IA 52404-5904 by 5 p.m. Aug. 1.
Need some cooking with beer inspiration? Click here to check out a recipe for Oatmeal Stout Brownies from Joe Stutler of Cedar Rapids. These dense, moist, chocolate brownies are one of my favorite dessert recipes. They also earned Joe a spot as a finalist in the National Beer Wholesalers Association’s Cooking with Beer Challenge in 2006.
04.15.08
Peanut butter cookies win Bake-Off
I’m thinking maybe I should stop writing about food, and spend more time baking it. Specifically, cookies. More specifically, cookies like Carolyn Gurtz’s Double-Delight Peanut Butter Cookies.
Her simple recipe — it uses refrigerated cookie dough as its base — took the $1 million Grand Prize in this year’s Pillsbury Bake-Off. Oh, and she also won an additional $5,000 for having the best recipe that uses at least 1/4 cup of Jif Peanut Butter.
According to a news release from Pillsbury, “contest judges agreed that Gurtz’s recipe surpassed the 99 other competitors as the grand prize winner for its simplicity and approachability, allowing the home cook to take a convenience product and turn it into an unexpected cookie that bursts with layers of peanut butter flavor. Contest judges described Gurtz’s Double-Delight Peanut Butter Cookies as a delightful taste that combines two classic cookies – a snickerdoodle and a peanut butter cookie.”
Do Gurtz’s Double-Delight Peanut Butter Cookies really taste like 1 million (plus 5,000) bucks? I can’t say. I’m still kitchenless. But if any of you are inclined to whip up a batch of cookies, leave a comment and let me know what you think. Here’s the recipe.
To see other winning recipes, visit www.pillsbury.com/BakeOff/
03.13.08
Iron Chef Cedar Rapids, Year 2
Iron Chef Cedar Rapids just keeps getting better.
In its second year, organizers added new features, including a Really Big TV broadcasting a live feed from cameras circulating around the kitchen, live music, and a chance for attendees to win the opportunity to be an honorary judge and sample each of the contestants’ offerings.
This year’s competitors were chef teams from Daniel Arthur’s, Vino’s Ristorante, Zins and a student team from Kirkwood Community College’s culinary arts program. Their secret ingredient: White chocolate.
I gotta tell you, as a judge, I was a little nervous when the secret ingredient was revealed. I’m not a big fan of white chocolate. And I had a hard time envisioning how a chef could successfully incorporate it into a pork entree. I had no idea what to expect. Read the rest of this entry »
