[shroomgirl]

Jim you described it to a T.....Rump of lamb
boy that hip bone is a bear to cut out.

[Jim]

For the Australian Lamb competition I did "Southern Belle Lamb purses." Basically, I pounded out cutlets of rump, tucked in a mash of sauteed leeks, sweet potatoes and something else (sorry, its been a while). Pulled the edges of the cutlet together and tied it at the top. Braised in red wine (I think) and browned under the broiler. Sorry I forgot so many of the details. For the oyster competition, I did a straight forward Oyster Chowder. Honestly, I didn't think it was prize material, simply because it was so 'plain Jane.' Carrots, onions, turnips, celery, peas, potatoes and corn sauteed into a stock of oyster 'liquor', cream and milk. Roux thickened and voila. I added fresh marjoram as an aromatic towards the last bit cooking time.
The parameters for the oyster competition were entries in either appetizer, soup, entree categories, I believe. The main ingredient had to be oysters (can you believe it?) and I think that was about it.

[UniChef]

Layjo-

I have done lots of competitions. I was on the 1992 and 1996 USA Culinary Teams. It was a great experience. I learned so much about cooking during that time. It also gave me a chance to travel all over the world- Switzerland, Franfurt, Munich, Austria, Luxembourg- not to mention all over the US.

The down side when you compete on that level is that it is a huge sacrifice both personally and professionally. You need to get the backing from your employer and family as well. All the practices are extra curricular activites, usually on your days off, and usually out of town. If your employer doesn't support you, you won't get the time off you need.

Recipe contests are great and usually have big cash prizes. There are two ways to assure a win with these. First off, when you send in your initial recipe, make sure it is typed out, legible, and written in common foodservice jargon. Believe it or not, half the recipes are not even readable. So right off the bat you've narrowed your your odds by 50%. The second thing is to practice your dish over and over again so that when you get in the final cook-off you look confident and everything goes off without a hitch.

Mystery basket competiton is the same- practice a lot. I have coached quite a few junior teams and what I do is make up a mystery basket and let them do it from start to finish- over and over. Also keep in mind that you have a common table of ingredients. You should have a menu already planned out before you get there and just adapt it to what is in the mystery box.



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Mike Bersell, CEC
unichef@unichef.com

[shroomgirl]

UNichef~ do you know any of the ACF guys from St. Louis? I know Aiden Murphy and Brian Menzel have been active in the olympics.

[UniChef]

Yes, Aiden was the Captain of the Southeast team in 92. Great guy and great chef.

[lynne]

Shroomgirl,

those sweet potato crepes sound wonderful a perfect breakfast dessert after a savory meal. Do you mind if I borrow your idea?

lynne

[shroomgirl]

Welcome to it.....just give me credit if you publish.

[UniChef]

BTW-

If anyone is interested, the results of the 2000 olympics are on my site at http://www.unichef.com/oly_results.htm



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Mike Bersell, CEC
unichef@unichef.com

[layjo]

Thanks for the info UniChef!

Iam really interested whenever Iam ready to
participate in these competitions.
Is there a website that advertises these competitions?
How does one know whether he or she is ready?
Do you get sponsored, promoted or recommended?
Thanks
Danielle

I've entered many contests and usually place, sometimes I win. Unfortunately I've not done any of the major contests. I did do a mysterybasket once, years ago which was a 2 day competition. First day was the mystery basket and the second day was signature dishes. I came in 2nd. I believe i did a Smoked Halibut Chowder, Black bean Salad, Shrimp and Dungeness Crab in Phyllo with Wild Mushroom Cream. My signature dishes were Salmon Carpaccio w/ Roasted Szechuan Peppercorns and a Pancetta Butter Sauce, Poached Sea Scallops stuffed with Salmon Tartare, Asparagus and Roasted Garlic Chartreuse w/ Sesame Oil and Sage and Black Truffle Potato Chips.
Recently I won Grand Prize and Best of Show for my Chocolate Roses. http://chocolaterose.freetailer.com (can I do that?)

[layjo]

Well i find out about these competitions in cooking magazines like "Chef", "Food Arts", and the "Culinary Review" (ACF Monthly Magazine), but usually they display the contest within a months deadline so you have to hurry and get your creative juices flowing. But their are also some annual contest that have the same deadline each year. I've been trying to find a site that catalogs a number of culinary contest, but havent found one yet...or maybe I havent been looking good enough! I saw a couple of competitions: The All American Portabella Mushroom Sandwich contest and The Maple Leaf Farms Duckling Appatiezer Contest! I think I'm going to have a go at them! Later....Layjo

[shroomgirl]

Chrose, your roses are beautiful!!!
what is an australian wedding cake?

hey i was wondering if anybody knew of any competitions coming up and if anybody knew of anycompetitions if they could post them on the boards please because i would like to some competing and i'm sure other people would like to know when some are