PUEBLO — The best thing about judging a cooking contest is eating the food.
The worst thing about judging a cooking contest is eating the food. In front of a crowd. While they take pictures of us with our mouths full.
OK, there are worse ways to spend a Sunday afternoon than eating plates full of Colorado ingredients cooked just for us.
The annual Colorado Dueling Cooks Challenge at the state fair brings together home cooks, professional chefs and media folks in the Creative Arts pavilion kitchen. The chefs pair up with cooks chosen from winners of the various cooking, canning and baking contests. They can bring their own cooking gear, but the ingredients are an "Iron Chef"-style surprise.
With a basket of Colorado Proud products and an hour, the duos must create a three- course meal for a panel of judges. This year, the lucky palates included Colorado Springs Gazette food editor Teresa Farney, food writer/public relations pro Kuvy Ax — and me.
As we eavesdropped on the first two teams, a voice from the risers set up for the audience yelled, "Hey, judges, move it!" Realizing that our backsides were blocking the view of the food prep, we scooted out of the way so the crowd could see what the teams were doing with the sirloin, sausage, green beans, peaches and cantaloupes in their baskets.
Tammy Dickey's ruffled, flowered apron made quite a contrast against her tattooed arms, neck and chest. "I had a wild youth,"
said the Pueblo minister of the inked history on her skin.
"One look at those tattoos, and I knew she was going to be gutsy," said Ax of the peppery seasoning on the rolled steak and sausage and corn gravy that Dickey and chef-partner Joseph Westley of the Timbers Hotel created.
Over on the other side of the kitchen, Penny Johnston of Cañon City and chef Jensen Cummings of TAG Restaurant in Denver opted not to cook the corn that garnished their sausage meatballs and spicy
After tasting six plates — two beef-based main dishes, green bean and sausage appetizers, and peach-cantaloupe desserts, we judges debated the wisdom of ducking out for a funnel cake, but opted for a glass of Colorado wine instead.
As Round 2 got underway, the crowd came to life, with strong cheering sections for both pairs, all four of whom happened to be men.
Charles East, an Air Force major, kept his cool as his wife and three kids cheered. They call themselves "the fair family" and enter contests wherever they are stationed. "I believe it's very important to teach our kids canning and cooking and baking," said East as he chopped green beans and as chef Mark Vickland, a recent Johnson & Wales University graduate, stripped corn kernels from the cob to garnish their seared beef main dish.
In the other corner of the very hot kitchen, chef Dedric McGhee, of the Millennium Harvest House in Boulder, and Strider Swope, a graduate student from Pueblo West, conferred on what would turn out to be the winning menu. Their ambitious sausage-filled dumplings, steamed in corn husks and served with droplets of soy-balsamic sauce, wowed us. Given the lean cut and short time, the idea to pound thin-cut strips of sirloin into paillards and wrap them around green beans made sense, and we liked the firecracker-like presentation atop a creamy corn sauce.
Melon balls with peaches poached in white wine made a perfect summer dessert.
As the winners were announced, Swope's mother, Linn, burst into tears. "He's been cooking since he was 3 years old," she said, offering advice on how to get children interested in helping out.
"All you have to do is give them a bowl, a spoon and some flour."
Kristen Browning-Blas: 303-954-1440 or kbrowning@denverpost.com
2010 Dueling Cooks Challenge
FIRST PLACE
Chef Dedric McGhee, Millennium Harvest House, Boulder, and Strider Swope, Pueblo West
SECOND PLACE
Chef Joseph Westley, The Timbers Hotel, Denver, and Tammy Dickey, Pueblo
THIRD PLACE
Chef Jensen Cummings, TAG Restaurant, Denver, and Penny Johnston, Cañon City
FOURTH PLACE
Chef Mark Vickland, Johnson & Wales University, Denver, and Charles East, Colorado Springs
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