Five Grade 10 students from H. Hardcastle School in Edam placed second in a provincial cooking competition Oct. 22 weekend.
The competition, which took place at Kelsey SIAST in Saskatoon, was jointly sponsored by Agriculture In The Classroom and the Chicken Farmers of Saskatchewan and open to high school students enrolled in Food Studies 10, 30 and Commercial Cooking.
Students ShaeLynn Nedelec, Brent Kobes, Jessica Cadrain, Hailey Shewchuk and Jessica Bec were required to prepare and serve a two course meal and then deliver a brief oral presentation on their recipe choices.
Arriving at the school at 9:45 a. m. along with their teacher, Andrea Thom, the students were taken to the kitchens and set to work. They planned to serve a cream of chicken soup as a starter and baked chicken breasts with stir-fried carrots and zucchini on top with a side of rice as a main course.
"We had to do everything except the cleanup within that hour and a half," said Jessica Cadrain. "It was a little rushed, and we panicked a bit but it turned out just fine. Ms. Thom couldn't help us at all."
"I had to watch and stay silent the whole time," said Thom. "That was hard!"
The students were judged on many factors: everything from clothing and appearance, safety and sanitation, equipment and time management to teamwork and cleanup was taken into consideration by the team of judges. The food itself was graded on appearance, serving temperature, taste, garnishes and recipe selection.
"They commented that they liked the fact that the soup was hot, but suggested that we could have added more spices," said ShaeLynn.
"They said it was very good that we used lemon throughout - from lemonade as a beverage to the slices of lemon with the chicken," said ShaeLynn. "We also zested the lemon and mixed it in with the julienned carrots and zucchini," said Hailey, "and they really liked that."
"We had roles in the preparation of the meal," said Hailey. "The two Jessicas were doing the soup. I helped out with both the soup and the table setting, ShaeLynn took care of the julienning of the vegetables, while Brent helped with the main course and made the rice."
The students received a second place certificate and a cheque for $300.00 to be put towards the Home Economics lab. All of the students are looking forward to next year's competition.
When asked about the overall experience the students were unanimous in their enthusiasm: "It was great getting out and showing other people what kids from a small town could do," said ShaeLynn. "It was really cool getting judged by professionals, and seeing Kelsey," said Brent and Hailey. "But the best part was when we didn't get fourth, and then we didn't get third," said Jessica with a huge smile on her face as she conveyed the suspense felt by all of the students as they heard the results, "and then we got second!"
All of the students were very grateful to have been given the chance to participate. "We'd like to thank the judges," said Hailey. "They were really nice and encouraging" " and especially Ms. Thom," all the students chorused. "Ms. Thom took us there, let us have the experience," said Hailey, "and helped us by pushing us to do better," ShaeLynn chimed in.
"We also want to thank the Chicken Farmers of Saskatchewan for their support," said Jessica. "They gave us the chicken, $100.00 towards our recipe ingredients, the $300.00 in prize money, and made the competition possible," said Brent. "All in all it was a really great group of people who helped us and kept us grounded during the competition," said Jessica Cadrain. "All of the other students were good sports about it all."
"It was just a great experience," said teacher Andrea Thom, "to be able to compete in a different atmosphere - rather than say on a volleyball court or in a debate."
"I'm really proud of them," she continued. "They went in and their goal was to get at least a third place. I was just watching their faces when they announced the placements - and just the looks on their faces was reward enough for me. They were so excited!"
And the recipes?
Chicken and Vegetable Packages
(ref: Fabulous Chicken - Chicken Farmers of Canada, pg. 124-25)
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (1 lb./500 g)
2 lemons
3 carrots, in julienne strips
1 zucchini, in julienne strips
2 tsp. fresh chopped thyme
Salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Cut four pieces of tin foil big enough to wrap around the chicken. Cut 1 lemon into 8 thin slices. Arrange 2 slices on each piece of chicken. Season chicken with thyme, salt and pepper. Wrap chicken in tinfoil and place in oven. Bake for 20 minutes or until the chicken is no longer pink inside.
Stir-fry carrots and zucchini in 1 tbsp. canola oil. Add lemon zest and a little lemon juice once the vegetables are tender. Arrange vegetables on top of chicken.
Creamy Chicken Soup
(ref: Company's Coming: Chicken, Etc., pg. 120)
2 cups peeled, diced potato
cup chopped onion
cup chopped carrot
cup chopped celery
Boiling water
10 oz. condensed cream of mushroom soup
2 cups milk
1 cup diced, cooked chicken
tsp Worcestershire sauce
tsp. parsley flakes
tsp salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1/8 tsp. thyme
1 cup grated medium or sharp Cheddar cheese
Stir-fry diced cooked chicken, set aside.
Cook potato, onion, carrot and celery in some boiling water until tender. Drain. Mash together. Add next 8 ingredients. Stir. Heat to a simmer. Stir in cheese until it melts. Serve.
