Area cooks win prizes at interstate fair

Wed., Sept. 29, 2004

Lorie Hutson Food editor

Blue ribbon recipes are a staple of the county fair.

There were five nationally sponsored contests for prize money at this year’s Spokane Interstate Fair. Medical Lake cook Penny Westfall won the newest contest, the Ghirardelli Chocolate Championship, with her recipe for Old Fashioned Chocolate Mince Pie. Patricia McDermott of Mead took first place in the Fleischmann’s Yeast breadword.info contest with her Fellowship Challah Bread. And Melinda Silva of Spokane Valley won the Hidden Valley “Family Friendly Food” Contest with Hidden Valley Summer Soup recipe.

Kid cook Kenan Rux, 12, of Colbert, won the Gold Medal Kids’ Cookie Contest with his Wrinkle in Time cookies. And 10-year-old Andrew Grimmet of Cheney took first place in the SPAM “Kid Chef of the Year” competition with his SPAM Pizza.

There is a new Web site filled with winning recipes from more than a dozen of the biggest prize-money contests at state fairs across the country. You can find the top-prize recipes, tips from judges and secrets from winners at www.statefairrecipes.com.

Here are the winning recipes from this year’s Spokane Interstate Fair:

Old Fashioned Chocolate Mince Pie

From Penny Westfall of Medical Lake

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons flour

1 egg, slightly beaten

1 jar ready-to-use mincemeat

1 cup chopped pecans

3 ounces Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate, melted

2 tablespoons melted butter

1 unbaked 9-inch pie shell

Mix sugar and flour in a bowl. Add egg; mix well. Add mincemeat, pecans, chocolate and butter. Mix well. Pour into pie shell. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees. Bake for 50 minutes longer or until set.

Yield: 8 servings

Nutrition per serving: Unable to calculate.

Fellowship Challah Bread

From Patricia McDermott of Mead

1 package of Fleischmann’s active dry yeast

1/4 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees)

1/2 cup lukewarm water

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 egg

1 tablespoon shortening

2 1/2 - to 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

Shortening, for greasing pans and brushing dough

1 egg yolk

2 tablespoons cold water

Dissolve yeast in warm water in large mixing bowl. Stir in lukewarm water, sugar, salt, 1 egg, 1 tablespoon shortening and 1 1/4 cups of the flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to make dough easy to handle.

Turn dough onto lightly floured surface: knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Place in a greased bowl; turn greased side up. Cover; let rise in warm place until double, about 1 1/2 to two hours. (Dough is ready if an indentation remains when touched.)

Punch down dough; divide into 3 equal parts. Roll each part into a rope, 14-inches long. Place ropes close together on a lightly greased baking sheet. Braid ropes gently and loosely. Do not stretch. Pinch ends to fasten; tuck ends under securely. Brush with shortening. Let rise until double, 40 to 50 minutes.

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Beat egg yolk and cold water slightly; brush over braid. Place on oven rack below center of the oven. Bake until braid sounds hollow when tapped, 25 to 30 minutes.

Yield: One loaf challah bread

Nutrition per serving: Unable to calculate due to recipe variables.

Hidden Valley Summer Soup

From Melinda Silva of Spokane Valley

1 package Hidden Valley Original Ranch dressing mix

4 cups Clamato tomato cocktail juice

4 cups chicken stock

1/2 pound salad shrimp

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, cubed

4 green onions, chopped

3 avocados, cubed

1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and sliced thin

1/8 cup lemon juice

Salt and pepper, to taste

4 large prawns, cooked and peeled

Mix all ingredients (except prawns) in a large serving bowl. Chill for 1 hour before serving. Garnish with prawns.

Yield: 6 servings

Nutrition per serving: Unable to calculate.

Wrinkle in Time Cookies

From Kenan Rux of Colbert

2 1/4 cups Gold Medal flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon water

6 Milky Way candy bars

Combine first 8 ingredients (flour through water) and mix well. Place one half of dough in the bottom of a 9-by-9-inch pan. Thinly slice 6 Milky Way candy bars. Lay slices in a single layer over dough. Spread remaining cookie dough over candy bars. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes, until no indentation remains when lightly touched.

Yield: 12 cookies

Nutrition per serving: Unable to calculate.

SPAM Pizza

From Andrew Grimmet of Cheney

1 (6 1/2 -ounce) box Jiffy pizza crust mix

4 ounces tomato sauce

1 teaspoon powdered garlic

1/2 teaspoon powdered oregano

1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 (12-ounce) can of SPAM

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Prepare pizza crust according to package directions. Spread tomato sauce evenly over pizza crust. Sprinkle garlic powder and oregano evenly over sauce. Spread mozzarella and cheddar cheese over sauce. Slice Spam into 1/4 -inch thick slices and then cut out large and small star shapes with a cookie cutter and place on top of cheeses. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes. Serve hot.

Yield: 8 slices

Nutrition per slice: Unable to calculate.

Local journalism is essential.

Give directly to The Spokesman-Review's Northwest Passages community forums series -- which helps to offset the costs of several reporter and editor positions at the newspaper -- by using the easy options below. Gifts processed in this system are tax deductible.

Meet Our Journalists

Jesse Tinsley

Meet Jesse Tinsley. As a certified drone pilot, this veteran Spokesman-Review photographer often can be seen capturing beautiful aerial photographs of our region. Sometimes though, the job requires getting down with the dogs.
Jim Meehan

Jim Meehan is no stranger to Zag Nation. As the lead writer covering the Gonzaga men’s basketball team, he tells the stories behind the game and gets fans a bit closer to their favorite players.
Molly Quinn

There is no artist in Spokane like Molly Quinn. Her whimsical style is instantly recognizable to readers of The Spokesman-Review. She has painted gorgeous illustrations that instantly elevate the journalism accompanying it. She brings to life the stories that defy photography. She makes our pages better.
Rob Curley

Spokesman-Review editor Rob Curley loves to talk with people and learn about their lives, whether it's a best-selling author or a stranger he meets downtown on his walk to lunch. It's that inquisitive nature combined with a playful sense of storytelling that helps make our newspaper different than most.