MODESTO, Calif.—The Almond Board of California (ABC) awarded Chef Jennifer Wayland of Morris Plains, N.J., a football season finale prize package valued up to $10,000 for her winning entry in the Board’s Ultimate Snack-Off Recipe Contest.
In a competition that challenged North American foodservice professionals to create almond-centric snack food ideas designed to satisfy a man’s “game day” appetite, Wayland, an executive sous chef and pastry chef at Roxiticus Country Club in Mendham, N.J., defeated competitors with her recipe for Grilled Skirt Steak Sliders with Smoked Almond Romesco, Maytag Blue Cheese and Smoked Almond Butter.
While the sliders took the grand prize, hearty flavors and crunchy proteins were a hallmark of many other entries in the Ultimate Snack-Off Recipe Contest. Recipes were judged based on five criteria—creativity, suitability for the male demographic, distinctiveness of almond usage, ease of preparation and taste.
The three runners-up in the competition were Beer and Bacon Glazed “All-Mans” (Almonds), created by Cory Barrett, pastry chef at Lola Bistro in Cleveland, Ohio; Almond Beer-Battered Catfish, created by Elyse Buckley, Erin Harbacek and Kathryn Goddard of Kansas State University’s Kansas Value-Added Food Laboratory; and Three Chili Honey Almond Fried Chicken, created by Randal Shircel, corporate R&D chef at Ventura Foods.
