Posted by The Oklahoman, OK on June 18, 2008 at 12:21:45:
Made in Oklahoma contest entries exceptional
By Melba Lovelace
• How would you react if you received a phone call announcing that you are the grand-champion winner of a $7,000 KitchenAid makeover in the Made in Oklahoma recipe contest?
Even though Machelle Hamilton of Weatherford won second in the desserts category last year, she said she was very surprised at this message this year, and her husband, Kent, was even a little dubious at first.
Her Jalapeno Ranch Beef Wraps and all the other entries in the Made in Oklahoma contest were so good, I didn't even feel guilty about taste-testing 28 dishes at Platt College. Other judges were Carol Smaglinski, Gazette food editor; Kitchen Kimberley, with Discover Oklahoma; Chelsey Simpson, Oklahoma Living editor; Kurt Fleischfresser, The Coach House; and Cally Johnson, Boulevard Steakhouse.
"If it's made in Oklahoma, it's already a winner,” said Hamilton, explaining the contest featured recipes that had to include two Oklahoma products. The goals of the contest are to promote Oklahoma products.
Julie Fitzgerald, marketing coordinator with the state Agriculture Department, started creative juices flowing all over the state when she announced what the grand prize would be.
Judged on creativity, ease of preparation and taste, each entry in the three categories — Mouthwatering Main Entrees, Dig in Desserts, and Kid's Cuisine — was exceptional.
Jalapeno Ranch Beef Wraps
Makes 6 servings
6 Chef's Requested bacon-wrapped steaks
Daddy Hinkle's Southwest instant meat marinade
1 package (4 ounces) cream cheese, room temperature
½ cup Hiland dairy sour cream
2 teaspoons dry ranch dressing mix
1 jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped, fresh or canned
6 jalapeno and cheddar tortillas (10 inches each)
1 package (4 ounces) Braum's shredded cheddar cheese
6 lettuce leaves
1 tomato, thinly sliced
1 avocado, thinly sliced
6 teaspoons Griffin's jalapeno mustard
•Thaw the steaks in refrigerator overnight. Sprinkle with the wet and dry marinade. Grill or broil about 9 minutes per side at medium-high heat or until meat thermometer registers 160 degrees. Let stand 10 minutes before thinly slicing.
•Mix cream cheese, sour cream, dressing mix and jalapeno. Spread evenly over tortillas. Top with shredded cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, avocado, steak and mustard. Roll up burrito-style and cut in half diagonally.
First-place winners in each category won a KitchenAid stand mixer. In addition, Carmen Bradford of Broken Arrow received a stainless steel gas grill from Chef's Requested Foods for her first-place Choc'ken Fried Chicken.
This was the first time Bradford had entered a cooking contest. Nevertheless, she just knew she would win something. Then, the telephone didn't ring, and she didn't get any "You've won!” letter. "I was humbled,” she said. Then, she noticed she had missed a phone call. She was so excited, she could hardly redial.
The word "original” was her first thought. "Choc'ken Fried” something sounded good, but she was not satisfied with results. So, she went to Braum's for dessert ideas. While there, she glanced in the meat section and noticed Chef's Requested Foods chicken. "That was what I needed — Choc'ken Fried Chicken.”
Choc Original 1919 beer, made at Pete's Place in Krebs, is 3.2 percent alcohol, so it is considered low-point beer and is available in some grocery and liquor stores.
Choc'ken Fried Chicken
1½ cups Shawnee all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon Daddy Hinkle's original onion and garlic dry seasoning
½ teaspoon paprika
12 ounces Choc Original beer
4 Chef's Requested marinated Santa Fe chicken breasts
1 cup ranch salad dressing
1 tablespoon hot chili sauce
•Heat oil in deep fryer to 375 degrees. In large bowl, mix dry ingredients. Stir in beer. Dip chicken breasts in batter and deep fry 12 to 15 minutes or until cooked (185 to 190 degrees on meat thermometer). Serves 4.
•Mix salad dressing with hot chili sauce and serve in ramekin on the side.
Lori McGrath of Oklahoma City won first place in desserts for her Oklahoma Blueberry Bites.
When she heard about the contest, she decided the secret was making everything fresh, healthful and geared to Oklahoma. She wanted a breakfast cookie.
Asked about Bedre white chocolate, she says the word "bedre” means "better” in Chickasaw. She bought the chocolate at the Route 66 store in 50 Penn Place but says you can find it in gourmet shops or casinos, and it can be ordered online.
Oklahoma Blueberry Bites
Makes about 2½ dozen
8 tablespoons Hiland butter
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon Griffin's vanilla extract
1 package (6½ ounces) Shawnee Blueberry Muffin Mix
2 cups oatmeal
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans
¼ cup dried blueberries
1 bar (2 ounces) Bedre (Watts) white fudge chocolate
8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
•Cream butter and sugars. Add egg, vanilla, muffin mix, oatmeal, salt, soda and baking powder. Stir in 6 ounces chocolate chips, pecans and blueberries. Refrigerate 15 minutes or until chilled.
•Shape rounded teaspoon of dough into shape of the state of Oklahoma by making the dough into a 2-by-1-inch rectangle. Make panhandle by rolling a ½-by-1½-inch piece of dough. Attach to left top corner of the rectangle. Place on baking sheet. Bake in heated 350-degree oven for 10 minutes.
•Melt white chocolate over low heat. Cool. Drizzle over cookies.
•To decorate cookies, melt 8 ounces chocolate chips over low heat; cool. Place melted chocolate in plastic sandwich bag and cut off one corner about ¼ inch. Outline edge of cook-ie. Make the letters "OK” in the center of each. Chop about 2 ounces of chocolate chips and sprinkle over the cookies.
By Melba Lovelace
Swap Shop
Theresa Ingram, first-place winner in Kid's Cuisine, says her children are "extremely finicky about eating vegetables,” so she started pureeing vegetables and hiding them in smoothies.
The first time she made Bug Juice Smoothies, the color was green. She told her children it was "bug juice.” When she heard straw slurping, she said, "Our kids had just finished a serving of spinach and carrots in minutes.”
Redland Juice Concord grape juice is available at Bill Kamp's Meat Market, Watonga Cheese, some health food stores or online at redland juice.com.
Bug Juice Smoothie
Makes about 6 cups
Preparation time: 10 minutes
1 cup Redland Juice Concord grape juice
1 container (24 ounces) Hiland vanilla low-fat yogurt
1½ cups fresh spinach leaves
½ cup steamed and pureed carrots
1 ripe banana, frozen
1½ cups frozen strawberries
•Put all ingredients in blender and mix until smooth. Other frozen fruits can be substituted. Also makes great smoothie pops frozen in Popsicle molds.
•Note: Use microwave vegetable steaming bags and follow directions for steaming carrots. It is convenient to freeze the carrots in ½-cup amounts and keep frozen for making additional smoothies.
Second-place winners received a KitchenAid food processor; they were Sherry Verser, Bethany; Lori Richardson-Morphew, Bethany; and Linda Lancaster, Ada.
And for the best recipe featuring Neighbors Coffee, Danielle Patterson, Yukon, received a Capresso coffeemaker gift from Neighbors Coffee.
Melba
DEAR MELBA • I have lots of polyester knit fabric pieces and tons of old craft magazines to give away. If anyone is interested, my e-mail address is normalea@cox.net.
Norma, Midwest City