Career center students show off culinary skills at pork cook-off

The Wayne County Schools Career Center Culinary Arts program hosted the 2012 Culinary Affair with Pork Cook-off Thursday, Feb. 23, at the Career Center. Students from four Ohio culinary programs competed: Normandy High School, Knox County Career Center, EHOVE Career Center and Wayne County. The contest is sponsored by the Northeast Ohio Pork Producers, who provided the pork, the prize money and medals.

Winners were:

First: Samantha Steiner, of Smithville, winning a gold medal and $200, and $500 for the school toward classroom equipment for earning first place.

Second: Heather Gibson, of Knox County, winning a silver medal and $100

Third: David Perl, of Normandy, winning a bronze medal and $50

Fourth: Brittany Yost, of Wooster

Fifth: Hannah Rubutis, of EHOVE

To qualify for the cook-off, students submitted original pork recipes.

Winner in the recipe contest were:

First: David Perl, of Normandy, with Pork Rollantini.

Second: Maggie Hale, of Knox County, with Apple-Stuffed Pork Tenderloin.

Third/tie: Heather Gibson, of Knox County, with Brined Pork Chops with Pomegranate Glaze; and Jonathan Fuchs, of Normandy, with Pork Lasagna Pie.

Fifth: Jessica Hill, of Knox County, with a Pork-a-licious Sampler.

Sixth: Trisha Farriss, of Dalton, with Pork and Gnocci with Spinach Tomato Cream.

Seventh/tie: Hannah Rubutis, of EHOVE, with Hot and Spicy Stuffed Pork Loin; and Samantha Steiner, of Wayne County, with Tropical Tenderloin with Pineapple Sauce.

Tenth/tie: Brittany Yost, of Wooster, with Pork Chops with a Fall Chipotle Sauce; and Courtney Pauley, of Chippewa, with Parmesan Stuffed Pork Chops. Also tied for tenth place was Valerie Ouwerkerk, of Wooster, with Feel Good Pork Stew with Dumplings, who was eliminated by a tie-breaker, but was named first alternate.

In the recipe contest, students were judged on neatness, creativity, plating instructions and illustration, clarity of recipe, nutritional value, appropriate use, balance of menu, recipe properly written, correct spellings, and that the recipe contained all the necessary information.

During the pork cook-off, contestants all prepared the same menu: spinach salad with warm bacon vinaigrette, pecan-crusted pork chop with cranberry sauce, wild rice pilaf, green beans, orange pecan muffins and a hot fudge brownie sundae. Recipes were provided for all items except the green beans. They had 90 minutes to prepare the meal and present it to the judges.

Each student competing chose another student from their school to assist with the contest. Austin Pamer, of Northwestern, assisted Steiner; Jessica Rinker, of Chippewa, assisted Yost; Lyndsey Simons, of Chippewa, assisted Ouwerkerk, who competed in place of Courtney Pauley; and Farriss was unable to compete.

Students were judged on team organization, working well together, having an organized work area, use of time and motion, timing of preparation and service, following recipes, grooming and dress, cleanup, safety and sanitation, and the food temperature, texture, flavor and appearance.

Judges were: Ken Edwards, executive chef at The J.M. Smucker Company; Charles Shanley, general manager at DeNovo; Nichole Crossman, dietary manager at Glendora Nursing Home; and Stacey Ramseyer, caterer and author. Shanley, Crossman and Ramseyer are all alumni of the Wayne County Culinary Arts program.

Coordinator of the event was retired Wayne County Culinary Arts instructor Bob Bercaw. Current Wayne County Culinary Arts instructor is Andrew Arko, and Culinary Arts aide is Lesa Krites.