Thursday, March 15, 2018

2017 World Food Championships: World Recipe Championship Top 10 Round + Recipe


This post was sponsored by Johnsonville, Melissa’s Produce, Papa’s Pilar Rum, and Liquidiamond but the opinions expressed here are my own.


This was the first day of our trip that I could sleep in. I had been getting up every morning at 4 a.m. to work on projects for a client. This was a working vacation but it pretty much always is when you work in the media. Today, we were able to try the breakfast at our hotel, Home2Suites, in Pensacola, FL. After a warm and filling breakfast, it was time to start packing up the car with our cooking equipment/tools and ingredients and head to The Wharf in Orange Beach for the World Recipe Championship Top 10 Round. I am still in shock that I made it into the Top 10!

The World Recipe Championship was presented by Springer Mountain Farms and the Top 10 Round required an infused ingredient from TheJelly Queens. The choices were Black Garlic Rosemary Sauce, Sassy Apple Fig Jam, Cabernet Jelly, Tomato Basil Jam, and Six Pepper Jelly. The dish also needed to include Springer Mountain Farms chicken. The choice cuts were Bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, wings, drumsticks, and boneless chicken breast. We used The Jelly Queens’ Sassy Apple Fig Jam and Springer Mountain Farms’ boneless chicken breast.

I’d like to give a big thank you to my sponsors: Johnsonville, Melissa’s Produce, Papa’s Pilar Rum, and Liquidiamond. I also want to thank The Jelly Queens for sending out jams/jellies to us to play with prior to the competition and PrĂ©sident who supplied me with a quarter of a wheel of brie for this recipe.

Since they assigned our kitchens by our place in the Opening Round, I was so happy to be next to my friend, Lisa Keys. Since Rebecka Evans received 1st place in the Bacon World Championship, I really wanted Lisa to take 1st Place in the World Recipe Championship for Team Saucy Mama. I just love those gals!

My mom and I only had a couple of chances to play around with this recipe at home. With a final dish only in visual in my mind, we were going to give it our best and see what the judges think. Mom was still nervous, but she was ready to give it all she had.

Mom was focused on making the donut batter. Yes, that’s right, donuts!

I was focused on battering, coating, and frying up chicken breast fillets in Crisco, y’all!

Mom finished the donut batter and filled up the Wilton donut pans.

We had a crowd forming around us. My friend, Chef Susanne Duplantis of Makeover My Leftover, was my cheerleader! Her food blog focuses on reducing food waste with creative uses for leftovers. I am always amazed on what she does with leftovers and remaking into new delicious dishes. Suzie Barhyte, Saucy Mama, was also there cheering on Lisa Keys, my Mama Keys.

Mom slicing up the brie for our sliders.

Mom slicing up gala and granny smith apples for the presentation.

Making the compote for the slider with The Jelly Queens’ Sassy Apple Fig Jam and Papa’s Pilar Dark Rum.

Using a torch I received from our blogger summit last year to bruleé the tops of each of the sliders.

My entry, Apple Fig Donut Clucker, came together as best as we could manage. The donuts didn’t cook evenly in the oven, so some were more golden brown that others. The donuts needed a little bit more apple filling or jam to bring out more flavor and sweetness. I forgot to season my flour dredge but managed to season the chicken right after coming out of the oil. I also bought the wrong grind of sugar so my bruleĂ© wasn’t coming out like it did at home. My mom was also nervous and reversed the fan of the apples. We also used the green apple for the top instead of the red. Overall, the “clucker” slider looked like I had imagined it. It totally looked like it was about to “fly” off the plates. E.A.T. Score: 88.3333 out of 100. Try the recipe below and see what you think:

Apple Fig Donut Clucker
Makes 15 servings

Apple Fig Donut Clucker is a playful spin on a chicken slider starting with an apple fig quick donut bun, double-dipped crispy fried buttermilk chicken fillet, brie cheese, apple fig rum compote, and bruleé top.

Chicken:
3 lbs Springer Mountain Farms boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 cups buttermilk
2 cups Bisquick
3½ tbsp California Rancher Oaky Smoky
3 cup solid vegetable shortening
6 eggs, whisked
3 cups panko bread crumbs
1 wedge Président Triple Crème Brie, sliced

Donuts:
4 cups Bisquick
½ cup sugar
1 cup buttermilk
2 tbsps Challenge European Unsalted Butter, melted
4 eggs
1 cup The Jelly Queens’ Sassy Apple Fig Jam
2 tsps vanilla extract
Cooking spray for donut pans

Compote:
1 cup The Jelly Queens’ Sassy Apple Fig Jam
½ cup brown sugar
2 tbsps Challenge European Unsalted Butter
4 ozs Papa’s Pilar Dark Rum

Garnish:
Mint sprigs
2 gala apples, sliced on mandolin
2 granny smith apples, sliced on mandolin
Melissa’s Lemon Juice
1 cup sugar
½ stick Challenge European Unsalted Butter, melted

  1. Preheat oven to 325°F.
  2. Heat cast iron skillet with vegetable shortening to medium heat.
  3. In a large bowl, whisk together Bisquick and sugar. Set aside.
  4. In a medium bowl, whisk together buttermilk, butter, eggs, vanilla extract, apple pie filling, and apple fig jam.
  5. Add liquid ingredients to dry ingredients and whisk to combine.
  6. Lightly spray donut pans with non-stick cooking spray and pour batter in ¾ full.
  7. Bake 15 minutes until golden brown. Test with toothpick to make sure each donut is cooked all the way through. Cool in pans for 10 minutes.
  8. Turn oven down to 200°F.
  9. For compote: Heat a small sauce pan over low heat and add 1 cup apple fig jam, butter, and brown sugar. Once incorporated, add dark rum and ignite. When alcohol is burned off, cook until thickened.
  10. Cut chicken breasts in half (thickness wise). Pound each piece until ¼ inch thickness to tenderize. Cut each piece into quarters (if breasts are small, cut into halves). Place into buttermilk and marinate for 15 minutes.
  11. For dredging: Combine Bisquick and Oaky Smoky Seasoning in a shallow pan. Place panko bread crumbs in a shallow pan. Whisk eggs in shallow pan. Set aside.
  12. Remove chicken from buttermilk and dredge in Bisquick mixture. Dredge in egg. Dredge in panko bread crumbs. Place chicken in cast iron skillet and fry for 3 minutes. Turn over and fry another 3 minutes. Place on paper towel-lined baking sheet to drain.
  13. Remove donuts from pans and cool on racks.
  14. Slice brie into ¼” slices. Cut each slice in half so it will fit on top of the chicken fillet, about 3-4 inches long.
  15. When the chicken is done, place slices of brie in an “X” on top of each fillet. Place in oven to melt cheese.
  16. Thinly slice 4 apples with mandolin. Spray apples with lemon juice. Alternate slices red and green in a fan effect along the outer edge of a plate/platter. Plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve.
  17. Slice 1 red apple about ¼” thick for top garnish. Spray with lemon juice. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve.
  18. For garnish: Melt butter and set aside. Dunk/brush the top of 15 donuts with melted butter. Dunk each donut butter side down into sugar. Place on rack and bruleé the top of each donut. These will be used as the top donut for each slider.
  19. Assembling cluckers: Layer donut, chicken with melted brie, compote, bruleé donut, thick slice of red apple poking out of the top donut (resembling a chicken head/neck), and mint leaves on either side of the apple slice (resembling chicken wings). Place on fanned apple platter and serve.

Overall, I placed 5th and am just so proud that we made it so far. Not bad for my first time competing at the World Food Championships! Lisa Keys placed 2nd for another awesome finish for Team Saucy Mama!

Congratulations to Mike Callaghan of Canadian National BBQ Team for his 1st place win in the World Recipe Championship! Can’t wait to see what you will be serving at the Final Table!

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Friday, March 9, 2018

2017 World Food Championships: Bacon World Championship Top 10 Round


After a wonderful breakfast The Southern Grind Coffeehouse, it was time to head down to The Wharf to turn in my pantry order for World Recipe Championship Top 10. I still can’t believe I made it into the Top 10! I also wanted to visit the Tasting Village where local, regional, and national food brands showcase samples of their products. While touring with my taste buds, I met the World Recipe Championship Infused Ingredient sponsor, The Jelly Queens, and picked up the jelly to be used in my recipe. We also met representatives of President Cheese who kindly sponsored a quarter of a wheel of brie for my recipe. After filling our tummies with delicious samples, high noon approached signaling the Bacon World Championship Top 10.

The Bacon World Championship was presented by Lipton Iced Tea. The Top 10 round’s infused ingredient was a choice of Lipton Peach Iced Tea, Lipton Green Tea Citrus, and Lipton Mango Iced Tea to be paired with bacon.

After a few tweaks, Rebecka Evans brought her Dutch Crunch Baby back for another round of judgement. Rebecka featured Lipton Mango Iced Tea with Saucy Mama Taste Domination Scotch Bonnet Pepper & Blackberry Wing Sauce, Challenge Butter, and other ingredients.

Rebecka pouring in her dutch baby batter into cast iron skillets.

Peter Pan has pixie dust, but nothing is better than a little pinch of bacon dust. It’s magical!

Dutch baby right out of the oven. The sides rose to the perfect iconic shape.

You can never have too much bacon!

The topping that added the “crunch” to these Dutch Crunch Babies.

Time to spoon in the sweet heat!

Dutch Crunch Baby all set to be turned in. It was such a beautiful presentation with the cast iron skillet with bows tied on the handle contrasting the golden brown dutch baby, orange mango peach sauce and filling, and blackberry/mint garnish. The taste was also amazing the first time, but after tweaking the sweet to salty ratio just a bit, it was even better! Delicate dutch baby contrasted with the crunchy topping while still delivering a sweet yet savory flavor from the sweet peaches and tropical mango and smoky, salty bacon for a perfect balance. The aroma was intoxicating with the sweet tropical fragrant mango and the smoky bacon. E.A.T. Score: 93.889 out of 100. Final score for Bacon World Championship: 93.13334 out of 100, placing her in 1st place.

Congratulations, Rebecka! She moves on to the Final Table on April 22, 2018 in Bentoville, AR presented by Walmart at Brightwater NWA. In an announcement on March 2, WFC has entered into an agreement with Dick Clark Productions for this event. Check out the World Food Championships’ website for more details on tickets for the Final Table event and where to see it on TV or via the web!

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