tool name

Sunday, Jun. 29, 2008

Enter your cake; it might be the best in town

If you bake cakes and they don’t involve a mix, you could win some cash.
A Best Cake in Town ­contest will be held at the Lexington Lions Club ­Bluegrass Fair on July 10. The categories are plain (pound, angel food); ­chocolate (iced); favorite (any kind not listed); white layer cake (iced); jam cake (caramel iced), cupcakes (iced), cake decorated by a professional, and cake ­decorated by amateur.
Entries will be accepted from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Ag Expo Center at Masterson Station Park.
For more information or entry forms, visit my blog at Kentucky.com or go to www.lionsclubbluegrassfair.com or call the Fayette County ­Cooperative Extension ­Service at (859) 257-5582.

Louisville-bound
The Southern Foodways ­Alliance’s annual field trip will be to Louisville this year, July 11 to 13. Participants will tour the Kentucky ­Bourbon Trail, Muth’s ­Candies, Bourbon Barrel Foods and Shuckman’s Fish Co. & Smokery.
The Blue Grass & Brown Whiskey field trip also will feature classes, including:
■ Spoonbread school, led by Edward Lee, chef at 610 Magnolia.
■ Bourbon, led by Julian and Preston Van Winkle, father-son distillers at Pappy Van Winkle bourbon.
■ Oak Room chefs Todd Richards and Dwayne Nutter will lead a discussion on the cooks profiled in Blue Grass Cook Book, originally compiled by Minnie Fox and published in 1904. Toni Tipton Martin, who wrote the introduction to a 2005 edition, will attend.
■ Nancy Russman, a local chef and educator, will talk about Benedictine spread, a Louisville favorite, named for the late caterer Jennie Benedict.
■ Slow food leader Mark Williams will take guests on a farmers market tour.
■ Greg Haner, proprietor of the 1884 vintage ­Mazzoni’s Café, will share the lore of rolled oysters, favored in local barrooms.
■ Sarah Fritschner, retired food editor of the Louisville Courier-Journal, will moderate a panel on the small Kentucky farm. Joining her will be Ivor Chodkowski of Grasshoppers, a local food-distribution company, and Mary Berry-Smith, who with her husband, Chuck Smith, operates Smith-Berry Winery in New Castle.
Registration is $405 for non-members and $365 for members. For application forms, go to www.southernfoodways.com.

Contest winners
At the annual Fort ­Harrod Beef Festival earlier this month in Harrodsburg, barbecue teams competed for trophies and bragging rights at the Kentucky Beef Cook-off. Here are the ­winners:
Professional division
Steak: High Mountain BBQ, first; Dunn’s BBQ, second; Darnell’s Pig Roast, third.
Brisket: Darnell’s Catering, first; Dunn’s, second; High Mountain, third.
Chili: Big Sam’s Pig Paint, first; Darnell’s Pig Roast, second; Darnell’s Catering, third.
Back-yard burger: Dunn’s, first; High Mountain, second; Darnell’s Pig Roast, third.
Amateur division
Steak: Holy Smokers ­(Immanuel Baptist Church), first; Fifth Third Bank, ­second; Community Trust Bank, third.
Brisket: Brother’s BBQ, first; Blue Man Dewey ­(Coleman’s), second; Up in Smoke (Wausau Paper), third.
Chili: Camo Cooking Co., first; Cornishville Cookers, second; Up in Smoke, third.
Back-yard burger: Camp Cooking Co., first; Up in Smoke, second; ACT Team (Trisler), third.
Youth division
Steak: Paige Anderson, first; Nick Yeast, second; Jordan Newsome, third.
Back-yard burger: Nick Yeast, first; Abby Readnour, second; Trey Darnell, third.
People’s choice
Camo Cooking Co., first; Dunn’s, second; Farmer’s National Bank, third.
Traveling trophies
Bank: Community Trust Bank, first; LNB Bank, second; Cheesebankers in Paradise (State Bank & Trust), third.
Industry: Up in Smoke, first; Old Skool BBQ (Trim Masters, Inc.), second; Crushed Stone Cookers ­(Mercer Stone Co.), third.
Overall winners
Camo Cooking Co. first; Cornishville Cookers, second; The Brotherhood, Bruner’s Chapel Baptist Church, third.

Here’s what’s cooking
Here’s the Quick Take recipe I prepared Friday on WKYT-TV’s 27 Newsfirst at Noon. My cooking segment airs between 12:35 and 12:40 p.m. Fridays on WKYT, then becomes available on ­Kentucky.com at 1 p.m.
Peppered halibut steak salad
1 tablespoon coarsely ground black pepper
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
11/2 teaspoons vegetable oil
4 6-ounce halibut fillets
3/4 teaspoon sea or kosher salt
Cooking spray
Variety of lettuce greens
Salad dressing of choice
Prepare grill to medium-high heat. Combine first 3 ingredients; rub over halibut. Cover and let stand at room temperature 10 minutes. Sprinkle fish with salt. Place fish on grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 4 minutes on each side, or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Serve on lettuce greens with your favorite dressing. Makes 4 servings.