Dietary teams from 22 long-term care facilitates in the Benedictine Health System brought their best appetizer and dessert recipes to the second annual "Taste of Benedictine Hospitality" competition, preparing the dishes for the 360 system and facility administrators attending the system's late-September leadership meeting. "People worked hard, and the competition was stiff," said Mary Mlynczak, director of culinary services for Benedictine's Saint Anne of Winona, a long-term care facility in Winona, Minn.
Like contenders from other facilities, Mlynczak and her staff spent months developing the recipes and designing eye-catching presentation booths for the cook-off.
Residents and staff at competing facilities sampled and critiqued recipes to help chefs refine their entries.
The competition in Duluth took on the air of a cocktail party, Mlynczak said, with beautiful presentations of entries, music, floral arrangements and the elaborate booths with information about the participating nursing homes.
Leadership conference attendees and a team of four judges sampled 44 dishes — an appetizer and dessert from each contender — including fiesta squares, zesty ranch tortilla rollups, chicken chili cheese cups, pizza pinwheels, caramel apple tarts, chocolate-dipped strawberries and mini black bottom cheesecakes.
In the end, the judges chose spicy bacon-wrapped shrimp from St. Isidore Health Center of Greenwood Prairie in Plainview, Minn., as the winner; hammies from St. Michael's Health and Rehabilitation Center in Virginia, Minn., for second place; and Saint Anne's tiramisu for third.
"The leaders are always starstruck and shocked at what their teams can pull off," said Rich Daehn, Benedictine food and nutrition consultant and the event organizer.
But the event is not just a chance for the long-term care facilities to show off their cooking skills and for administrators to sample gourmet-style food. Daehn said the competition — now in its second year — is part of Benedictine's ongoing efforts to improve the quality of food at its facilities by bringing together dietary staffs to share ideas.
Mlynczak said the event accomplished this. She enjoyed the chance to hobnob with her colleagues from around Benedictine and to share new recipes, ideas and tips with them. "It's a great event — and it gets you energized," she said.
We're bringing food service to a whole new level, with dishes that could compete with restaurants," she said.
Winning recipes from the Taste of Benedictine Hospitality cook-off
All recipes serve 150 people
First Place
Spicy Bacon Wrapped Shrimp
Submitted by: St. Isidore Health Center of Greenwood Prairie, Plainview, Minn.
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups sugar
2 1/2 cups lemon juice
1 1/4 cups olive oil
3/4 cup paprika
1/2 cup, 2 tbsp. Paul Prudone Magic Seasoning
180 jumbo shrimp
90 bacon strips
Directions
In a bowl, combine the sugar, lemon juice, oil and seasonings. Pour half of the marinade into a large resealable plastic bag; add shrimp. Seal bag and turn to coat; refrigerate for 30-60 minutes. Cover and refrigerate remaining marinade for basting. In a large skillet cook bacon over medium heat until cooked, but not crisp. Drain on paper towels. Remove shrimp from marinade; discard marinade. Wrap each shrimp with a piece of bacon and secure with toothpick. Coat grill rack with cooking spray before starting grill. Grill bacon wrapped shrimp, covered, over medium heat for 5-10 minutes or until shrimp turn pink, turning and basting with reserved marinade.
Second Place and
People's Choice — Appetizer
Hammies
Submitted by St. Michael's Health and Rehabilitation Center, Virginia, Minn.
Ingredients
150 silver dollar buns
5 lbs. Swiss cheese, sliced
3/4 cup, 2 tbsp. mustard
2 tbsp. poppy seeds
5 lbs. deli ham, sliced
3 lbs., 2 tbsp. butter, softened
1/4 cup, 2 tbsp. Worcestershire
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
Directions
Mix softened butter, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, poppy seeds and brown sugar. Spread a small amount of this mixture on the inside top of a bun. Melt remaining mixture. Assemble hammies with 1/2 oz of cheese and 1/2 cup of ham. Place in pans. Pour melted butter mixture over buns. Cover with foil. Refrigerate overnight. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake another five minutes.
Third Place
Easy Tiramisu
Submitted by: Saint Anne of Winona
Ingredients
12 to 10 3/4 lbs. pound cake loaves
4 cups double-strength coffee
5 cups Starbucks coffee liqueur
9 cups whipping cream
9 lbs. cream cheese, softened
9 cups sugar
5 cups Hershey's syrup
1 cup cocoa powder
Directions
Slice each pound cake loaf into 9 slices. Place 27 slices into bottom of each ungreased 2" deep hotel pan. Mix together double strength coffee and coffee liqueur and drizzle 2 1/4 cups over pound cake. Whip whipping cream until stiff and set aside. Cream together cream cheese and sugar. Mix Hershey's syrup into cream cheese mixture. Fold whipping cream into cream cheese mixture. Place 1 gallon of completed mixture on top of soaked pound cake. Spread evenly. Dust top of each pan as desired. Refrigerate until service.
People's Choice — Dessert
Bread Pudding
Submitted by: St. Mary's Care Center, Winsted, Minn.
Ingredients
75 slices of bread
1 1/2 cups butter, melted
6 cups raisins (optional)
50 eggs, beaten
25 cups milk
9 1/3 cups sugar
1/4 cup cinnamon
1/4 cup vanilla extract
1 1/2 bags whipped topping
2 1/2 bottles chocolate syrup
2 /2 bottles caramel syrup
Directions
Preheat oven to 350º. Break bread into small pieces, put into 4" full steam table pans (greased). Drizzle melted butter over bread. If desired sprinkle with raisins. In a large mixing bowl combine eggs, milk, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla. Beat until well mixed. Pour over bread and lightly push down with a fork until bread is covered and soaking up the egg mixture. Bake for 45 minutes or until the top springs back when tapped. Serve warm, top with chocolate syrup or caramel syrup and add a dollop of whipped topping on top.