Savoring victory
COOK: Deli to offer dessert runner-up
| Saturday, Jun 27 2009 08:41 PM
Last Updated Saturday, Jun 27 2009 08:41 PM
Grand prize
$1,000 Urner's gift card
Beth Ramone, Gnocchi with Wild Mushrooms and Truffle Oil
Category prizes
Appetizer and dessert winners: $500 Urner's gift card. Runner-up: Ameramaid 16-quart Dutch oven. Second runner-up: $200 Olcotts gift card
Appetizer
Winner: Debra Elliott, Asian Nachos
Runner-up: David Irvine, Better Than Bill's Stuffed Mushrooms
Second runner-up: Elizabeth Gong, Beth's Stuffed Mushrooms
Entrant: Sandi Brown, Broiled Cheese Sandwich with Artichoke and Sun-dried Tomato
Entrée
Winner: Beth Ramone, Gnocchi with Wild Mushrooms and Truffle Oil
Runner-up: Michael Willis, Black 'n Blue -- Pan-seared Filet Mignon with Blue Cheese Coleslaw
Second runner-up: Jerry Norman, Pork Butt Pita Pockets (Gyro Style)
Dessert
Winner: Ami Schugart, Mocha Truffle Pie
Runner-up: Teda LoVecchio Hudson, Lemon-Berry-Mascarpone Parfait
Second runner-up: Tracie Monroe, Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Layered Cheesecake
Thank you to Eye Cook sponsors Urner's, GE, Jenn-Air, The Prime Cut, Olcotts, Ameramaid Cookware, Gimmee Some Sugar and DreamMaker Bath & Kitchen.
EYE COOK 2009 WINNERS
Heavenly "little pillows" of handmade potato gnocchi and a shot of panic earned advertising art director Beth Ramone the grand prize in The Californian's Eye Cook 2009 showdown Saturday afternoon.
Her Gnocchi with Wild Mushrooms and Truffle Oil nabbed a $1,000 gift card from Urner's appliance store, which sponsored and hosted the cook-off showcasing the best amateur chefs of Kern County.
More than 100 hungry family, friends and fans packed the Urner's showroom to watch nine contestants whip up the best eats in three categories: appetizers, entrees and desserts.
An additional appetizer entrant, Sandi Brown, couldn't make Saturday's final due to a personal issue.
Ramone's handmade approach literally wowed the judges (who whetted deliberations with an Elvis vs. Michael Jackson debate), country singer Monty Byrom, Gimmee Some Sugar owner Stephanie Caughell, 2008 Eye Cook winner and curator of the Bakersfield Museum of Art Emily Falke, and Merv Crist, owner of The Prime Cut.
"What I love about that is she mashed her own potatoes," Falke said.
Byrom quipped, "There was no weirdness in this dish."
Ramone had worried her vegetarian entrée wouldn't hold up to the juicy, blackened American Kobe beef filets by Michael Willis, who shared her work station.
"The more flour you add, the heavier it is," she explained as she waited for the right moment to boil the gnocchi. "If there's not enough flour, it breaks apart. I won't know if this dish turns out until I get them in the water."
Ramone's port wine reduction blended seasonal mushroom varieties -- morel, porcini, chanterelle, portobello and lobster mushroom. She served the dish with a "palate-opener," glasses of champagne garnished with raspberries and sprigs of rosemary.
"She was able to layer flavors progressively through her process and I was able to taste every layer on her plate," judge Caughell said.
The winners of the appetizer and dessert categories took home $500 Urner's gift cards.
Dessert winner Ami Schugart's Mocha Truffle Pie is going to land her in a new recliner from Urner's.
"I've been eyeballing it for some time now," she said.
It was the only dessert that earned a perfect score from Crist.
"Simple flavors that all go together" is the secret to her pie, Schugart said.
Debra Elliott topped the appetizers with her Asian Nachos with seared ahi tuna.
"Very original, excellent flavor, good height to the product and a unique blend of ingredients," Crist commented.
The trick, Elliott said, is to avoid overcooking the tuna, which is coated in a sesame and poppyseed crust.
"I think they had a really tough job," she said of the judges.
"It's nice to know they could eat a whole plate of my nachos!"
Victory wasn't just for the category toppers. Dessert second runner-up Tracie Monroe's Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Layered Cheesecake impressed her husband's friend, who owns Sequoia Sandwich Co.
The store's downtown location will offer her concoction for a limited time starting Monday, with the promise of more dessert orders if the cheesecake flies.
