Our Town, Sheetz win cooking contests

Jimmy Mincin, jmincin@altoonamirror.com
They came. They cooked. They conquered.

Last weekend’s Taste of the Alleghenies Show at the Blair County Convention Center featured two cooking competitions offering the area’s unsung culinary artists a chance to flex their most formidable flavors.

On Saturday, the Altoona Firemen battled representatives of Operation: Our Town, a nonprofit corporation dedicated to fighting drugs and violent crime in the area.

Operation won by a narrow margin, but event presenters (Altoona Mirror and the Alle-gheny Mountains Convention and Visitors Bureau) decided to award equal money prizes to both groups’ chosen charities. The Altoona Firefighters donated their winnings to the Muscular Dystrophy Associa-tion and Miracle League of Blair County. Operation will use their funds in the area’s anti-drug efforts.

Initially, the winner was to receive $250, and the runner-up was to receive $150, said Cheryl Ebersole, executive director at the convention center.

‘‘We felt that they both did such a great job, and took the contest so seriously, that we gave them both the $250 cash prize,’’ she said. ‘‘Both of their dishes were delicious, and their presentations were very nice. Plus, the money was going to really good causes.”

Operation: Our Town offered chili made from hamburgers and hot dogs, a casserole made of smoked ribs with pork, chicken and beef brisket topped with cheddar cheese, mashed potatoes and jalapeno vegetables. Dessert was apple dumplings.

The Altoona Fire Depart-ment made beef-venison noodle soup, a chicken-wild turkey cajun parmesan casserole and a cinnamon apple crisp with apple pie ice cream.

Bill Gunnett, equipment manager at Leonard S. Fiore Inc., Altoona, and head chef for Operation, enjoyed the rapport between cooks and audience.

‘‘It was a light atmosphere, with the people asking a lot of questions,” he said. “Overall, it was a real pleasant experience.”

He was proud of his team’s win, and looks forward to another cook-off between the two departments next year.

“This definitely has a lot of potential,” he said. “I think it’s helped people to realize that there’s a lot of curiosity out there (about cooking).”

But if and when it happens again, there are some things he’d do differently.

“We probably should’ve handed out copies of the recipes, so people would have them and be able to follow along step by step with what we were doing,” he said.

Altoona Firefighter Kirk Mitchell used his culinary prowess with wild game to tantalize audience taste buds.

“With the recipes we had, it wasn’t really what you would call fast-paced, but we enjoyed being there and talking to the spectators,” he said. “We didn’t anticipate that many people being there. For 10 o’clock on a Saturday morning, the turnout was pretty impressive.”

Even without a technical win, the department enjoyed the experience, he said.

“We got a lot of feedback from the spectators, and that was nice,” he said. “Everyone was very supportive. We’d definitely be more than happy to do it again, but with one caveat — we’d like to be able to compete with the actual Altoona Police Department next time.”

On Signature Sandwich Contest, in which four area restaurants competed for a chance to create the official 2008 Signature Sandwich of the Alleghenies. Participants included McIntyre’s Candies, Allegro Restaurant, Jethro’s and Sheetz Inc., all in Altoona.

Sheetz Inc. took top honors for their “Forgetaboutit Italian Ciabatta,” a spicy sandwich featuring Italian meat, provolone cheese, lettuce and roasted red peppers seasoned with basil pesto, spicy sport pepper relish and Italian dressing. Jethro’s took second place with its “The Big Jethro,” an Italian specialty sandwich comprised of three homemade meatballs, pulled pork, several breaded, deep-fried vegetables and a side dish of ranch dressing.

For Keith Boston, director of culinary development at Sheetz Inc., winning the contest was a proud moment in his cooking career.

“It’s quite an honor, considering the other contestants,” he said. “I hope there’s more competition next year, but I think that will happen, the more people hear about it.”

Boston said he didn’t design a sandwich for the contest, but rather “took existing sandwiches and made them more contest friendly.”

“It lends itself to a portable gourmet experience that’s more diner friendly,” he said. “It’s got some nice layers of cheeses and meats, and the flavors all blend real well.”

The sandwich, whose actual store name is “The Spicy Italian Ciabatta,” can only be purchased at Sheetz stores that have a “Made To Go” bin, but will be available at all Sheetz locations by September, he said. It sells for $4.79.

Both contests were judged by professional chefs from Giant Eagle and U.S. Foods, Ebersole said. A culinary professional from Indiana University of Pennsylvania was on hand for the sandwich competition.

She said the entire Taste of the Alleghenies weekend was a big success.

“It was a lot of fun, and very exciting,” she said. “I believe it was very well-received. We’re already beginning to tweak how we’ll do things for next year to make it bigger and better.”

Mirror Staff Writer Jimmy Mincin is at 946-7460.