Newtown Cooks Dominate Stew Leonard’s Cook-Off

By Kaaren Valenta

Lois Barber was a little nonplussed when she arrived at Stew Leonard’s in Norwalk on Saturday as a finalist in the supermarket chain’s first-ever Customer Recipe Cook-Off and realized she would be expected to show the judges her finished entrée plated in an attractive presentation.

“This was my first contest and I just didn’t know – I hadn’t brought anything,” the Sandy Hook resident explained. “I ran into the store and bought some salsa and chips and Stew’s was kind enough to give me some [silver plastic disposable] platters. I was really intimidated when I saw how elaborate some of the other contestants’ presentations were with fresh flowers and beautiful platters.”

Her worries were for naught, however, because the two-hour contest ended with Ms Barber’s Tex Mex Filet Mignon taking the top overall prize. Not that she was alone. Three other Newtown residents – Nancy Dunn, Kathy Buda and Stacey Lloyd – also took top awards in the cook-off, which featured 24 semi-finalists, three in each of the contest’s eight categories.

Nancy Dunn came in second overall for her Coconut Bread Pudding with Apricots.

“I was inspired by my grandmother’s cinnamon raisin bread pudding recipe and my husband’s love of coconut,” she explained.

Ms Dunn, who was a second-place winner twice in The Bee’s Egg Recipe Contests about ten years ago, works for General Electric as a manager in corporate finance human resources and lives in Sandy Hook with her husband, Sean, and their sons, Julian, 6, Justin, 4, Joshua, 2, and Jared, 1.

Kathy Buda took first place in the contest’s deli category for her Baked Grinder Italiano, a recipe that features marinated artichoke hearts, roasted peppers, and basil pesto along with meats and cheese.

  “I invented the recipe but I hadn’t actually made it until after it was selected for the finals,” she admitted. “ I just thought it sounded great.” The judges obviously thought so, too. 

  A realtor with William Pitt Real Estate in Newtown, Kathy Buda also is the lead singer in the band Charisma, and sang for many years with another popular area band, Moppin’ Sauce. A self-described “wanna-be celebrity cook,” she has lived in Sandy Hook for 17 years with her husband, Ken, and daughters, Jackie and Alyssa. She is also a past winner of The Bee’s recipe contests.

  Stacey Lloyd took the top prize in the coffee category with her recipe for Tiramisu.

“Several years ago I went on a trip to Italy with my mother,” she explained. “We had cooking classes there. When I got back home, I had to make alterations to the recipes because I couldn’t get the same ingredients here.”

Stacey is a stay-at-home mom to Emma, 6, Zoe, 4, and Alexander, 1½ , all of whom came to the cook off along with their father, David, and Stacey’s brother, sister-in-law and nephews to cheer her on.

Lois Barber got the inspiration for her first-place recipe from a restaurant meal that she had in Manhattan many years ago.

“It probably cost me $50 to make it for the contest, so I was hoping to win at least that much in prizes,” she said, laughing.

“I had a great time,” she added. “But I never thought that I would win. I actually threw out my food and had to fish it out of the garbage when they said contestants had to be photographed at the end with their finished dishes! Now I’ve been invited to appear on a cooking segment with the Channel 8 weatherman on Sunday morning.”

Ms Barber works as a dental assistant in Danbury and writes a gardening column for the Waterbury Republican-American. She volunteers for the Newtown Junior Woman’s Club and is a member of The Duffle Bag, a living history group that honors the veterans of World War II.

More than 150 entries qualified in the Customer Recipe Cook-off and from that, three finalists were chosen in each of the contest’s eight categories. The contest was open to customers who shopped at any of the three Stew Leonard’s locations, In Norwalk and Danbury, and in Yonkers, N.Y.

Recipes were judged on taste, creativity, ease of preparation, and appearance.

The winning recipes will be featured in the store’s cookbook, tentatively titled Stew Leonard Cooks, which will be published to time with the opening of the fourth stew Leonard’s store, this one in East Farmingdale, N.Y, in late 2004. In addition, the overall top three recipes won $500, $200, and $100 gift certificates, and all category winners received a $50 gift certificate.

Celebrity Chef Marc Weiss, known as DJ Chef with his radio show DJ Chef Food 411 on Long Island’s WLIR was master of ceremonies. Stew Leonard Jr., Stew Leonard’s chefs and local media personalities made up the panel of judges along with the Stew Leonard cookbook editor, Anne Egan, a former food editor and cookbook publisher at Rodale Press.

Tex Mex Filet Mignon

8 filet mignon steaks, about 1½ inch thick

3 Tbs olive oil

1 medium onion

2 or 3 Mexican peppers of different color, variety, and/or hotness (adjust for quantity if using a small-size variety of pepper), sliced into thin strips, or a small can of mild Mexican chili peppers

3 garlic cloves, crushed

Salt and pepper to taste

4 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, sliced thin

6 ounces yellow cheddar cheese, sliced thin

1 jar of salsa or homemade salsa (recipe follows)

Heat oil in a non-stick pan or wok. Add garlic and onion. Cook briefly until the garlic just starts to turn brown.  Add the onions and cook over medium heat, stirring for 1 minute. If using fresh peppers, add peppers and cook until the onions start to become transparent. If using canned peppers, wait until the onions are almost finished cooking before adding them. Push all vegetables to one side of the pan, slightly tilt the pan, and soak up excess oil with some paper towels. Add cheeses. Stir, cover, and remove from heat. 

Take each steak and slice it as if you are slicing a roll to make a sandwich but don’t slice it all the way through. Leave about an inch connected, to create a butterflied piece of meat. Open up the steak and on a flat surface, pound the sides with a flat mallet.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

If cheeses haven’t melted, turn heat to low and stir constantly until they do; remove from heat. Divide cheese and pepper mixture evenly onto one side of each steak. Fold over the other side and press together along the edge to form a seal. Toothpicks soaked in water can help keep them closed, but really aren’t necessary.

Cook on a grill about 4 minutes on each side for medium doneness.  Serve with salsa and tortillas. Serves eight.

Homemade Salsa

2 large tomatoes, diced

2 tablespoons diced chilies

2 tablespoons fresh coriander

¼ cup chopped onion

1 tablespoon of limejuice

2 tablespoons water ½ teaspoon of salt

Combine all ingredients. Crush. Let sit ½ hour to blend flavors.

Kathy Buda’s Baked Grinder Italiano

Long loaf Italian bread, sliced lengthwise

1 lg tomato, sliced thin

3 Tbs basil pesto

1/3  lb sliced provolone cheese

1/3  lb sliced ham

1/3  lb sliced salami

1-2 lg fresh mozzarella balls, sliced

½ cup roasted peppers

1 small jar marinated artichoke hearts

Spread basil pesto on both cut sides of bread. Layer on tomato, provolone, ham, salami, and fresh mozzarella. Top with roasted pepper and marinated artichokes. Wrap in aluminum foil and warm in 350 degree oven for 20 minutes or until cheese is melted. Serves 6.

Nancy Dunn’s

Coconut Bread Pudding

With Dried Apricots

1 lb loaf firm white bread, crusts trimmed, cut into 1” cubes

¾ cup sweetened shredded coconut

1/3  cup dried apricots, thinly sliced (about 2 oz)

2 ½ cups canned cream of coconut

2 cups whole milk

½ cup sugar

1 Tbs vanilla extract

6 large eggs

Powdered sugar/whipped cream (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Arrange half of bread cubes in 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish. Sprinkle with half of the shredded coconut and all of the apricots. Arrange remaining bread on top. Top with remaining shredded coconut. Combine cream of coconut, milk, ½ cup sugar and vanilla in a heavy large saucepan. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves and mixture is just warm. Remove from heat. Whisk in warm milk mixture.

Pour mixture over bread in baking dish. Using back of spoon, push bread gently into milk mixture. Let stand 15 minutes. Bake until pudding is set and golden brown, about 50 minutes. Transfer to rack and cool slightly. Serve warm. Optional: sift powdered sugar over bread pudding and serve with whipped cream, if desired. Serves 10.

Stacey Lloyd’s Tiramisu

1 lb marscapone cheese

4 eggs, separated

4 Tbs sugar

Pavesini or Savoiardi Italian biscuits

1 cup strong coffee or espresso

Brandy

Bittersweet baking chocolate

Beat the egg yolks with the sugar until they look white. Whip the whites until soft peaks form. Fold the cheese softly into the egg yolk mixture, then fold in the egg whites.

If desired, and using a clear glass bowl, line the inside of the bowl with some of the cookies.

 Wet the cookies with a mixture made from the brandy and the coffee (just a splash of the brandy). Layer them on the bottom of the bowl, then the cheese mix, then another layer of the cookies, then the cheese. Refrigerate for at least an hour, until set. Grate some chocolate and sprinkle over the top before serving. Serves 6 to 8.