"cooking contest" news and stories

French's Promotes Family Meals with Nationwide Cook-Off Contest

by Alexa Weibel, Posted Feb 25th 2010 @ 5:30PM

Photo: frenchs.com

As home cooking continues to rise in popularity, French's hosted its first-ever national Live Cook-Off event Thursday morning, in honor of "Celebrating Cooks Who Bring Smiles to Their Families." Judges whittled down some 3,000 recipe submissions to five finalists, who were flown to New York to compete for a $25,000 grand prize.

Says French's Director of Marketing, Barbara Yaros, "Our goal was to get a great recipe that was broadly appealing and easy."

First introduced at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, French's President Elliott Penner insists the brand continues to evolve, striving to stay "relevant" with customers. French's asked consumers how they used its products, in hopes of offering great new recipes, with a "newer profile to apply to whole new generation."

Stemming from consumer demand for recipes, French's devised a strict set of rules for contestants: The recipes were restricted to eight ingredients or less, using at least one French's product, and were to require no more than one hour for preparation. The winners were judged on taste, appearance, creativity and family appeal.

More on the competing dishes -- and the winner -- after the jump.

Filed under: Events, News

Can the Americans Beat the French in the Bocuse d'Or?

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by Emily Matchar, Posted Jan 27th 2009 @ 5:01PM

Excitement is building over the performance of the American team at the biannual Bocuse d'Or cooking competition in Lyon, France, sometimes called the Olympics of Cooking. French teams have won six out of the past 11 contests, Norwegian teams three, and Swedish and Luxembourgian teams one each. The Americans have never won.

In the contest, chefs from 24 different countries race to prepare 12 portions of an elaborate meat and a fish dish in five and a half hours, each team working in tiny cubicles before a live, flag-waving audience. Each chef gets one apprentice, who must be 22 or younger. The winner is determined by the quality and presentation of the food.

This year's American team is led by Timothy Hollingsworth, the 28-year-old sous-chef at the French Laundry. He's been training up to 50 hours a week in a replica kitchen, with his own personal coach.

The venerable French chef Paul Bocuse, for whom the contest is named, says he hopes the American team will win this year. "We'd really like this competition to cross the Atlantic," he said.

Check out their progress at the official Bocuse d'Or website.

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Filed under: Celebrities

44th Pillsbury Bake-Off Open for Submissions

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by Marisa McClellan, Posted Jan 20th 2009 @ 2:00PM

Since 1949, home cooks across the nation have cooked and baked with focus and intensity, striving to create fresh, inspired recipes in the hopes that they'll be crowned the winner of the Pillsbury Bake-Off. The longest-running and most prestigious cooking contest in the U.S. is held every other year, in order to give people plenty of time to be inventive. The grand prize winner receives $1 million dollars, so the stakes are high.

Entering the contest is easy. You submit an original recipe that fits into one of the four recipe categories (Breakfast and Brunches, Entertaining Appetizers, Dinner Made Easy or Sweet Treats) , and use at least two different eligible products.

Entries for this 44th Bake-Off must be submitted by April 20th, 2009 and the finals will be held April 11-13th, 2010 in Orlando, FL. Visit bakeoff.com for all the official details.

[via Baking Bites]

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Filed under: Food News

60th Annual Maine Lobster Festival August 1-5, 2007

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by Jonathan M. Forester, Posted Aug 1st 2007 @ 1:34PM

Today kicks off the start of the 60th Annual Maine Lobster Festival. The festival, based in Rockland Maine takes place for five day in the beginning of every August. This year it runs from August 1st - 5th, 2007. It's been shown on the Good Morning America, the Food Network and other channels many times and is a celebration of all things lobster and Maine. people come from all over for the festival, and I do mean all over. In the parking lots you will see license plates from states as far away as Washington and Alaska, as well as all parts of Canada. In the past I have even run into people visiting from England, Sweden, Japan, and more.

During the time between now and Sunday evening I will cover as much as I can of all the weird, whacky, and food related events that take place, including the children's lobster eating contest, the children's codfish carry, the "Great International William Atwood Lobster Crate Race", the Sea Goddess contest, the "Real Maine Man" cooking contest, the Maine Seafood Cooking contest (which my friend Risa Small has won twice), the blindfold rowboat race, the little lobster diaper derby (lobsters and diapers together sounds downright strange), and all the festival food.

Filed under: Spirit of Summer, Did you know?, Ingredients

Macaroni and Cheese contest in LA

COMMENTS 1

by Sarah J. Gim, Posted May 2nd 2006 @ 12:51AM

macaroni and cheese

If you can work fast and get your recipe together, then you still have time to enter the Tillamook Cheese Macaroni & Cheese recipe contest!

The Oregon-based cheese company has teamed up with LA's McCormick & Schmick's to sponsor the contest. Entries have to be submitted by Tuesday, May 2, 2006. Hey! That's today! The winner of the contest, which will actually be held on May 25, 2006, will receive $1,000 and will go on to the next "round" in Portland, OR to vie for the $5,000 national grand champion prize.

So hurry! But remember, the "directions" on the back of the box don't count as a recipe.

[via: LAist]

Filed under: Ingredients, Chefs & Restaurants, Restaurants