And the winners are…

 This weekend the winner of the Shaws and Vermont Beef Board promotion will celebrate their catered dinner in there home. The event started last year in October and went through December, you may have heard some of the radio promotions or saw the advertising at a Shaws meat counter? The response was pretty incredible and I imagine some individuals may not have realized they were entered when they made their purchase & used their Shaws card. (That’s how easy it was to enter) The winners receive a catered dinner for 8 in there home with me, as their Chef for the night. I plan to have some fun as I shop at my local Shaws for the ingredients and provide a simple session on “how to create” our menu.  I’ll include some techniques, thoughts on cooking to make life easier and most importantly how to cook beef. I plan on using a variety of cuts…and the market will determine which ones. Our menu:

Variety of Middle Eastern Dips with Pita Chips

Mixed Field Greens with Marinated Vegetables

Grilled, Roasted and Pan Seared cuts of Fresh Beef

Shallot Red Wine Sauce

Fresh Potato Cake with Rosemary

Roasted White and Green Asparagus

Sauteed Apples with a Scented Lemon Cheese Mousse 

Wrapped in Pastry

 Pretty nice menu, eh? So for those who are curious if anyone ever wins these contests, they do! We plan to have a great time with our winner and their invited guest and I plan to have fun in the kitchen and share some ideas on cooking. Hopefully we have some photos, recipes we made up on site and our “creatively delicious” results for you to view in an upcoming blog. This was a great contest and many are out there for us to participate in. I have had the privilege to be invited as a guest to 2; Pillsbury Bake-Off’s where the grand prize is a Million dollar’s. It’s an amazing event and if you inquired with any participating finalist, if they thought there recipe or they could end up where they were that day, the majority would have said no. But, nearly everyone at that time believed what they were making was the best! I think our readers would like to know if you have participated in any recipe cook-offs. May be you have a winning recipe you may like to share with us or a thought on a future food contest promotion. 

Thanks & ciao

Bernard