Posted by The Seattle Times, WA on April 09, 2008 at 15:16:36:
Cooking for prizes: Mill Creek woman in Pillsbury finals
By Ashley Griffin
Elizabeth Bennett, of Mill Creek, is one of 100 finalists in the Pillsbury Bake-Off Saturday-Tuesday, which has a grand prize of $1 million. She will be preparing a Mocha-Walnut Bar with Dark Chocolate Ganache.
"I'm hooked [on recipe contests]. I get a little high when either a recipe gets published or I get notified that I am a finalist in a cook-off," says 38-year-old Elizabeth Bennett, one of the 100 finalists in the top contest of them all — the Pillsbury Bake-Off, which takes place Saturday-Tuesday in Dallas.
Bennett, who lives in Mill Creek, works as an event planner by day, and spends a few nights a week testing recipes for various contests. Her entry for Pillsbury: a Mocha-Walnut Bar with Dark Chocolate Ganache.
Recipe contests have been an American institution since the 1800s, when agricultural fairs started hosting cooking contests to attract female fairgoers.
Today, millions of hopeful cooks enter hundreds of contests every year. Some are simple, such as entering a recipe in an online competition. Others are elaborate face-to-face cook-offs that pit contestants against each other in a big venue. These competitive cook-offs are reserved for the circuit's crème de la crème competitors.
"In the realm of cooking contests there exists what we call the Big 5, which are the five biggest contests, including the Pillsbury Bake-Off, the National Chicken Cooking Contest, the Southern Living Cook-Off, the Build a Better Burger and the National Beef Cook-Off," says Shannon Abdollmohammadi, a 33-year-old real-estate agent living in Woodinville.
Last year, Abdollmohammadi won more than $8,000; she also won a trip to New York for her Pomegranate and Soy Glazed Salmon with Rotini and Edamame Pasta Salad recipe. But she hasn't yet competed in a "Big 5" cook-off, which is one reason she stays up testing recipes until the wee hours — her mixer, blender, food processor and every stove burner turned on.
Hard work can pay off with an extravagant prize from one of the larger contests, such as the Pillsbury Bake-Off, which offers a grand prize of $1 million. But not all prizes are so appealing. "I've won lots of cash, and I've won three cases of beets," said decades-long contestant and Trout Lake resident Margee Berry. "But that's part of the fun of contests."
This 50-year-old competitor has earned her contest chops over the years. Berry's been to the National Chicken Cooking Contest twice and has won several trips to New York to compete in other events. Last year, she even won a new $2,000 stove in a Quick and Simple magazine contest for her Candy Bar Cupcakes recipe.
Victories such as these often come to those who pay attention to food trends. "A winning recipe is one that looks toward today's food trends, whether that is easy-to-prepare meals or recipes using ingredients that are 'in,' like chipotles," says Bennett. Case in point: Her recipe for chicken thighs baked in a chipotle-molasses glaze and topped with a lime crème fraîche netted her $500 in the 2005 California Poultry Federation's Cook Like a Californian contest.
A background rich with culinary experience doesn't hurt contestants either. It generally assures that competitors have mastered basic cooking skills, making for an easy transition to creative cooking. Competitors often try their hands at a range of cuisines, though others sometimes specialize in a single genre, such as baking. Some even narrow their focus to a particular dish or contest type, developing top talents and winning prizes with a practiced competency and a bit of trial and error. "I like to enter those contests that have cook-offs so I can go compete with the food," says Bennett.
However, participants need not be longtime competitive cooks to go on the recipe-contest circuit. Contest experience is less important than cooking talent and, above all, the ability to focus on the fine print. Every contest has precise rules about age, the number of entries contestants can submit and the proper submission method or format. Ignoring any rules in an individual contest can result in immediate disqualification.
Abdollmohammadi learned this firsthand when she mistakenly submitted a recipe for Twice Baked Cheesy "Prostitute" Stuffed Potatoes instead of her intended recipe for Twice Baked Cheesy "Prosciutto" Stuffed Potatoes. "I had a good laugh about it and pretty much knew I would at least make the judges look twice before tossing it into the trash," says Abdollmohammadi.
And for this playful bunch, having a good a laugh and creating a tasty recipe to use in their homes is — at times — just as good as a first-place prize.
Ashley Griffin is a freelance food, lifestyle and beverage writer living in Portland.