Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Columnist Muriel Stevens: Chicken contest draws wide variety of cooks

Following is the winning recipe from the 46th National Chicken Cooking Contest, held over the weekend in Charlotte, N.C.:

Mahogany boiled chicken with smoky lime sweet potatoes and cilantro chimichurri

1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut in 1-inch cubes

1 c. chopped cilantro leaves

6 Tbs extra virgin olive oil

3 large cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tsp salt, divided

1/4 tsp pepper, divided

5 Tbs dark brown sugar

3 Tbs Dijon mustard

2 Tbs bottled hoisin sauce

2 tsp balsamic vinegar

1/2 c. plus 1 1/2 tsp lime juice, divided

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut in 1/2-inch pieces

2 Tbs unsalted butter

1 tsp chopped canned chipotle pepper

1 tsp adobo sauce (from canned chipotle)

3/4 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp lime zest

Cilantro sprigs

In small bowl, mix together chopped cilantro, olive oil, 1/4 teaspoon of the salt and 1/8 teaspoon of the pepper; set aside. In medium bow, mix together brown sugar, mustard, hoisin sauce and vinegar. Reserve 2/3 of this mixture. To remainder, add 1/2 cup lime juice and stir in chicken; cover and refrigerate.

In heavy saucepan, place sweet potatoes and cover with boiling water. Cook, covered, over medium high heat and until tender, about 15 minutes. Reserve 1/4 cup cooking liquid, then drain potatoes in colander. Return potatoes to reserved cooking water and add butter, chipotle pepper, adobo sauce, remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons lime juice, cumin, lime zest, remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and remaining 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Mash potatoes.

Thread chicken on 8 bamboo skewers that have been soaked in water. Broil about 6 inches from heat, basting with reserved mahogany sauce until done, about 8 minutes.

To serve, divide potatoes among 4 plates; top each with 2 skewers of chicken and drizzle with cilantro chimichurri sauce. Garnish with cilantro sprigs.

Makes 4 servings.

Judging a national cooking contest is serious business. Over the years I've participated in more than a few competitions and I'm always in awe of the ingenuity of the men and women who dream up recipes using ingredients that may not be in season at the time of the contest.

At the most recent one I participated in, the National Chicken Cooking Contest in Charlotte, N.C., from May 12-15, the staff was almost stumped trying to find pomegranates and fresh nectarine. Somehow they managed to find both.

The NCCC is sponsored by the National Chicken Council and the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association. Who enters the NCCC? Anyone who likes to cook and can follow the rules (carefully).

Contestants ranged in age from 82 (Helen Conwell, a retired anesthesiologist from Fairhope, Ala.), to 24 (Emily Butler of Canton, Ohio, who has just started studies at the Culinary Institute of America). Average age of the contestants was 48. Thirty-nine are married, one is widowed, six are divorced and five are single.

Two (Laura Bresnee of Massachusetts and Caitlin Zeller of Wyoming) were due to be married in two weeks. Not surprising was how just about all of the contestants mentioned a love of cooking and considered it a prime hobby.

Finalists prepared their dishes simultaneously, each one using a mini-kitchen setup in the Charlotte Convention Center. Contestants had to prepare their dishes twice -- one was for judging, the other for display and photographs. We, the judges, were in a private room not far from the cooking area. Our door was locked. Staff bearing the finished dishes had to knock before being admitted. Very OO7.

The first tasting was easy. It was when we had to select the first-place winner and the four runners-up that the tension rose. For the first time in the contest's 56-year history, the first-place finisher would take home a grand prize of $100,000. When the discussion and retasting of dishes was completed we agreed that the choices were as good as they could get.

The winners were announced that evening at the awards dinner. We had an opportunity to speak with the winners at the press conference that followed dinner. They were all delightful and appeared to be thrilled with their prize money, regardless of the amount.

Becoming a contestant: The 47th National Chicken Cooking Contest will take place in Birmingham, Ala., in the spring of 2007, and will also offer a $100,000 grand prize. Recipes to that contest may be submitted starting Jan. 1, 2006, until Oct. 15, 2006. Information on entering the 47th NCCC will be available on the chicken industry Web site, www.eatchicken.com, beginning Jan. 1, 2006.

Dining in Charlotte, N.C.: Except for the first day of the conference when a seminar was presented in the afternoon, our mornings started with breakfast and a seminar. There were many questions for the speaker, cookbook author Rick Rodgers, who spoke about brining chicken. In fact, there were so many questions after he spoke that we had to rush to dress and be on time for the buses that would take us to the historic Dilworth area for a reception at the home of Gail Wilkins and Howard Freese.

Wilkins is a celebrated Charlotte interior designer. Her work has been featured in national magazines, and she has been honored with numerous industry awards. Wilkins is what glamor is all about, and she personifies Southern hospitality. We were free to roam her extraordinary manse, going upstairs and downstairs and out to the terrace and pool area. Wilkins is a primo collector of rare bling-bling. It would take days to view all of the unusual collectibles, furniture and accessories.

Just as we were readying to leave for dinner at Blue Restaurant & Bar, the rains came. Wilkins' major-domo was standing by with beaucoup umbrellas as we dashed through the downpour. One by one he took us to the bus, retrieved the last umbrella, then continued his rain dance. We were ready for Blue and the "Chefs of Charlotte Dinner."

Dinner and all that jazz at Blue: Slightly damp, but ready for food and wine and some lowdown jazz, we entered Blue and felt immediately at home. Owner Alex Myric is a Southern gentleman and a charmer. Within minutes we were seated and listening to the local chefs describe their dishes and their restaurants.

Among the starters was an amuse bouche -- a deviled quail's egg topped with Louisiana paddlefish caviar; a divine lobster, corn and white truffle soup from Barrington's, in the center a tasty chunk of lobster. A tender chicken roulade from Cosmos encased bright green spinach and was topped with a baby carrot. Foie gras salad from Bonterra included nuts and other crunchies.

Two main courses followed: From Salute Italian Ristorante, seared sea bass on a confit of morel mushrooms with tomato-basil accents and a Chianti reduction. And from Blue Restaurant & Bar, fig-stuffed Cornish game hen with petite golden lentils, micro arugula salad and fig vin cotto.

Dessert was a Chocolate Cassis Confusion (chocolate mousse atop a chocolate cookie covered with fudgy ganache) created by Charlotte's most notable pastry and dessert source, Sugar Buzz.

Throughout dinner we listened to the restaurant's blues and jazz CDs. It was a delicious evening, rain and all.

Dining at the Duke Mansion: "Built in 1915, Saved in 1998," says the legend across the top of the Duke Mansion brochure. The history of "Charlotte's grandest home" is a fascinating tale, yet we were not at the Duke Mansion for a history lesson; we were there to experience a Chefs of North Carolina Southern Garden Dinner.

Hosted by the Duke Mansion's Chef Mark Hook with chefs George Robinson, The Sanderling Inn, Duck, N.C.; John Stehling, Early Girl Eatery, Ashville, N.C.; and Jimmy Noble, Noble's Grill, Winston-Salem, N.C.

The buffet tables were laden with familiar Southern foods. Passed around before dinner were caviar-stuffed deviled quails' eggs with olives and creme fraiche and flaky cheese straws. A full bar offered every whiskey of note and North Carolina's Shelton wines. At another station, frosty pitchers of sweetened iced tea and lemonade were offered.

Dinner featured a variety of down-home favorites: black-eyed pea salad, caramelized fruit salad, coastal shrimp and grits, fried green tomatoes sandwiched with an orange cheese, spring vegetable slaw and red rice.

Each chef served his speciality. Crispy buttermilk fried chicken from Chef Shook; Eastern Carolina pulled chicken barbecue sandwiches from Chef Robinson; Chicken and dumplings from Chef Sehling soothed the heat from the pulled pork; and delicately flavored herb-roasted chicken from Chef Noble.

Desserts were bite-size fruit tartlets, lemon bars, mini pecan pies and mini chess tarts. I missed most of the desserts. The demand was high for these familiar sweets.

It was a perfect evening. The rain threatened but never returned, and the mosquitoes laid low while we ate our dinner. Surrounded by the gorgeous gardens, replete with delicious food and having experienced another evening of Southern hospitality, we returned, reluctantly, to the hotel.

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