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con•tes•tant
Pronunciation: \kən-ˈtes-tənt also ˈkän-ˌ\
Function: noun
1 : one that participates in a contest
2 : one that contests an award or decision
Remember my trip to New York with my friend JM? Now I can tell what the trip was really all about. JM is my friend Julie Merriman and we were in NYC to film a commercial for Food Network TV. Why would we be doing this? Because! Julie Merriman won the Ultimate Recipe Showdown in the Hot and Spicy category on Food Network TV.
Julie’s winning recipe was just one of the 10,000 that were entered. Along with the recipe Julie sent a video as part of her entry. You have got see her video, she posted it on YouTube. OMG what a hoot. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqp69jEkW20
Julie has always been interested in competing. She was part of the culinary team when we attended the Art Institute. We even went to Hawaii with the culinary team. She’s smart and thinks on her feet which makes a good competitor. And in the kitchen where anything can happen being able to think quickly can be a great help. She has been steadily entering contests all this time and finally a payoff. No really a pay off; Julie won $25,000 for her winning Chipotle Steak Taco recipe. http://www.foodnetwork.com/shows/hot-and-spicy-food-recipe-photos/pictures/index.html
Julie’s winning dish was a mole’ sauce over grilled flank steak wrapped in a soft taco shell. If you know your mole’, it is normally a process that can take several days and many ingredients. Even the judges thought Julie might have bitten off more than she could chew choosing such a complicated recipe while only having 1 hour from beginning to plating her dish. Boy did she have them fooled! She replaced a number of the main ingredients with peanut butter which held the texture of the sauce and allowed this recipe to be complete in the short amount of time they gave the contestants.
Julie beat out three other competitors in her category. She won the first round with the highest score. But, there are two rounds and she now had to start all over with a second recipe and only half the time. Again she wowed the judges by using a recipe that had 28 ingredients. She did a fantastic job, not withstanding what appeared to be the burned bacon smoking from her oven. But that’s another story.
Even though she did not win the second round no other competitors score was greater than what she had from round number one. And in the case of Ultimate Recipe Showdown it is a winner take all contest and Julie did just that! Julie has now decided to follow her dream even farther and is moving to NYC. Best wishes my dear friend Julie Merriman. I am so proud of you and until next we cook again you can….roux the day!
1 Sassy Tomato
