ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, July 24, 1996 TAG: 9607240002
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 8 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: Du Jour
SOURCE: ALMENA HUGHES
STILL SAVING THAT FULL-PAGE AD from the July 9 newspaper about the Great Kroger Cook-Off contest while you debate whether your original recipe might win more than $500 in cash and prizes? Or did you already relegate the rules and any idea of entering to the recycling bin?
Producer Brenda Liles, whose Funtime Productions will coordinate the Roanoke Home Show, Southern Living Cooking School and contest, urges you to give the competition a try.
This is the home show's third year and the cooking school's second, but it's the first year the cooking contest has been added to the mix. Liles said she and the contest's sponsors thought it would be a good tie-in.
"A lot of people are overwhelmed by big national contests and they don't think they have much chance of winning. This is a lot less intimidating - it's a good starting place," Liles explained.
There's no way of knowing how many contestants will enter, but the plan is to select five from each of three categories: entrees, desserts and healthy delights. Those 15 people will prepare their dishes at the Roanoke Civic Center. From among them eventually will emerge one overall winner and two runners-up, but all 15 entrants will receive something nice for participating, Liles said.
Here are some of her suggestions for contest-winning strategies:
* Keep it simple, Simon. Try to keep ingredients and preparation steps to a minimum and make sure the ingredients are easily found at local markets. (A possible further incentive for frugality is that the finalists will have to supply their own ingredients for their demonstrations.) Keep in mind that you may be called upon to prepare this dish in public.
* Go for broad appeal. Liles said that people seem especially fat- and calorie-conscious these days, so healthful dishes get good acceptance. But people also love good old, down-home Southern comfort cooking - fat, calories and cholesterol be darned! Try to think of dishes that other people would want to prepare.
* Find a new twist for an old favorite - something that sets your dish apart. "I must know 500 ways to fix chicken, but I'm always looking for more," Liles said.
* Finally, follow the rules; you can get them at Kroger supermarkets. Recipes will be judged on appearance, ingredients, ease of preparation and, of course, taste.
The home show will run Sept. 13-15 at the Roanoke Civic Center. The school will be held on Sept. 13 and 14, and the contest will be judged on Sept. 13. Tickets - $3 in advance, $4 at the door - go on sale Aug. 6. Contest entries must be postmarked by Aug. 30.
Stop debating; start cooking. For additional information (or perhaps encouragement) call Liles at 563-4947.
SPEAKING OF CONTESTS and good old comfort cooking, the seventh annual Tabasco Community Cookbook contest will accept entries until Sept. 30. First prize on the national level is $1,500; regional winners will receive $250. Tabasco also is offering "Compiling Culinary History," a free how-to guide on organizing and writing an award-winning community cookbook. Request contest rules or the guide from Hunter & Associates, 41 Madison Ave., New York, N.Y. 10010-2202.
HERE'S A COOL COMPETITION. Edy's Grand Ice Cream is looking for "Trendy Tasters" to sample low-fat and fat-free ice creams. Aspirants need to write a 500-words-or-less description of their ice-cream tasting expertise. Winners will be flown to San Francisco for the tasting and get a year's supply of ice cream. Entries are due by Aug. 30. E-mail jdharris@dreyers.com, or regular-mail Trendy Taster, Edy's Grand Ice Cream, 5929 College Ave., Oakland, Calif. 94618.
THIS ISN'T A CONTEST, but it's a cool idea all the same. Keep a 16- to 20-ounce can or two of your favorite fruit in heavy syrup in the freezer for fast, flavorful sorbets. The basic recipe for making 11/2 to 13/4 cups sorbet is to freeze the unopened can of fruit until solid (at least 18 hours). Submerge the unopened can in hot water one to two minutes. Open the can and pour the syrup into a food processor bowl. Remove the other end of the can and turn fruit out onto a cutting surface. Cut frozen fruit into 1-inch slices, then into chunks and add to the processor bowl. Process, pulsing on and off until smooth. Add about 2 tablespoons of your favorite spirit and process just to blend thoroughly. Serve immediately or spoon into bowl, cover and freeze until ready to serve, up to eight hours.
Possible combinations include sliced or halved peaches in heavy syrup plus two tablespoons of bourbon; pears plus Poire William; apricot halves plus amaretto; figs plus Marsala or sambuca; grapefruit sections plus dark rum or Triple Sec; mandarin oranges plus Grand Marnier; blueberries plus two tablespoons of creme de cassis or white creme de menthe and one tablespoon of lemon juice; and crushed pineapple plus three tablespoons of dark rum and two tablespoons of canned cream of coconut.
LENGTH: Medium: 96 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: You can make a refreshing sorbet in 10 minutes whenby CNByou use canned fruits. Du Jour tells you how. Pear, pineapple and
peach sorbets are photographed above. color
Du Jour runs occasionally in the Extra section. If you have an
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c/o Features Department, The Roanoke Times, P.O. Box 2491, Roanoke,
Va. 24010-2491.|