Notes From the Fair
If you read my Oct. 8 story about the Creative Collards Contest at the Dixie Classic Fair, maybe you were shaking your head at the fact that a cake won first place.
If so, you’re not the only one.
As I noted in the story, a cake won first place in a Spam contest last year. A cake also took first in a pinto-bean cake three years ago.
Those three winning cakes were all made by different people.
I happened to be one of about 10 judges in all three contests. The cakes were not my top picks. Oh, they were good cakes, all right, but, following the judging criteria, I didn’t think they represented the best use of the featured ingredient, so I didn’t score them as highly as some other entries. In cases, their high scores for creativity were canceled out by lower scores for best use of the ingredient.
Of course, rules can be open to interpretation. Some judges obviously believed these cakes represented the cleverest use of the ingredient. I have to admit they were creative. I can’t really fault the judges. And I certainly don’t fault the contestants for trying something new.
But these cakes were no better than the recipes they were based on that contained no Spam, no pintos and no collards.
In other words, the bottom line is: Who would bother to make these cakes?
And isn’t the desire to get the recipe and make it yourself the ultimate decider of a great recipe?
Are people running out to buy collards to make a collard-greens cake today? I doubt it.
And I just can’t reconcile a novelty recipe as representing the very best of the great cooks we have in our community.
On a different subject, I judged the quick breads last week in the Dixie Classic’s Culinary Department in the Education Building.
One problem that a lot of the less appealing entries had was the noticeable, sometimes overpowering presence of extracts.
Bakers need to be very careful in their use of extracts. These are powerful medicine. In fact, some smell and taste medicinal or chemical when overused. With the exception of pure vanilla, a drop or two of an extract can make the difference between a good quick bread and a bad one.
I won’t go as far as to say never to use extract, but such extracts as banana and black-walnut have a lot of potential to do harm, producing an artificial-tasting baked good.
I would encourage all cooks to use real ingredients whenever possible in making quick breads. If you have to use an extract, use it sparingly.
To return to collards, I was particularly impressed with one recipe in the contest that did not win. The summer collards salad by Audra Pate was attractive, creative and delicious — an unlikely combination whose sum far exceeded its parts.
With grilled beef for substance, watermelon for sweetness and juiciness, feta cheese for tang, and thin strips of raw collards for crunch, this salad had it all.
Here’s the recipe:
Summer Collard Salad
Recipe by Audra Pate. If you can’t find the sweet and spicy pecans, plain pecans will work just as well, though it does help to at least toast them—10 to minutes on a baking sheet at 350 degrees, tossing once or twice, until they become fragrant.
If desired, you can make your own viniagrette, either using raspberry vinegar, or pureeing some raspberries with a plain vinegar.
10 ounces sirloin, cut into stir-fry strips, coated in freshly cracked black pepper and salt
4 cups mixed field greens
4 cups fresh collard greens, cut into thin ribbons
4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
1 5-ounce package sweet and spicy pecans, broken into pieces
3 cups watermelon salsa (recipe below)
1 cup croutons
½ cup chopped carrots
1. Pan-sear sirloin strips to desired doneness and set aside.
2. Spread mixed greens and collard ribbons on a large platter. Top with feta, pecans, watermelon salsa and croutons. Top with the cooked sirloin pieces. Drizzle some of the liquid from the salsa over the salad and serve.
Watermelon Salsa
1 small red onion, chopped
1 container (half-pint) raspberries
6 slices of watermelon, cut into chunks (about 2 cups)
1 large cucumber, peeled if desired, chopped
Handful of sugar snap peas, cut into bite-size pieces
1 bottle Ken’s Raspberry Vinaigrette
In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
