Prize-winning SC cook dishes up whimsical fare

Tag : Sweet potatoe


A South Carolina woman's whimsicalapproach to food is helping her crack the insular world of cookingcontests with such novel dishes as pecan-encrusted oysters overasiago cheese grits. And she's taking home a lot more than blueribbons and kitchen gadgets. Candy McMenamin has won more than 105 prizes in the five yearssince she began competing around the country.

Her Wild Wild West Beef and Smoked Gouda Grits won her $10,000 atthe National Beef Cook-off a few years back. Soon afterward, hersweet potato encrusted chicken earned her $10,000 in appliances atthe first Simply Manischewitz kosher cooking contest. And nobodyminded that she isn't Jewish. Cooking contests have long been part of American culture; thinkblue ribbons for the best pies at county fairs. But televisionshows and million dollar prizes have ramped up the culinarycompetition to the point where innovation and ingenuity reallycount.McMenamin, who taste tests her creations on her husband and twochildren in this Columbia suburb, isn't letting success go to herhead. Cooking, she said, is a hobby that began growing on her inrecent years as a way to "reinvent herself."

"The boys had gotten older and I had more time and it's somethingthat I always enjoyed doing when I did have time," she said. "Itgave me something that's mine to do — maybe mine to be proudof." But she isn't taking herself or the cooking contests too seriouslyas she prepares for her next venture — a garlic cookoff inGilroy, Calif.

Her advice?

"I'd say don't be afraid to try different things and put differentthings together," said McMenamin, who hopes to wow the judges witha stuffed quail recipe. "What's the worst thing that could happen?You throw it out and order pizza." It's that attitude that has folks in the world of competitivecooking talking about the newcomer from the South. "Being a consistent winner gets people's attention and that is whatCandy has done and why her name is recognized," said Roxanne Chan,a 64-year-old from California who has won more than 740 prizes in24 years of competitive cooking. "Also when actual cook-offs areinvolved, her friendly personality and enthusiastic spirit make herstand out." Onju Sturlaugson, contest manager for the venerable PillsburyBake-off, said some competitors relish creating an original recipe,while others bask in praise about great cooking.

"They all have a passion for being creative in the kitchen, andthey are all excited about the possibility of winning a big prize,"she said. "There are many opportunities for today's home cooks toshare their passion for food and be rewarded, whether it's viachallenges on food TV channels, a state fair contest or evenonline." This year, McMenamin's triumphs include first prize in a WholesomeSweeteners contest for her Amazing Apricot Cookies and top honorsin the side dish contest at a North Carolina sweet potato showdownfor her rosemary-roasted sweet potatoes with charred lime drizzle. Her unexpected approach to recipes helps her stand out in a fieldof hundreds, said contest officials. In her first cooking contest,she was a finalist for the $1 million Pillsbury Bake-off with herApple-Stuffing Mini Meat Loaves.

Or take the simplicity of her sweet potato encrusted chicken. "We loved Candace's recipe because it was so simple and yetdelicious," said Stacey Bender, spokeswoman for ManischewitzBrands. "She used a variety of Manischewitz products verycreatively to turn everyday chicken into a Sweet Potato EncrustedChicken — that had the judges asking for seconds." Then there's McMenamin's offbeat use of grits, a southern stapleshe spruces up with cheeses, even pumpkin. Her pecan-encrusted oysters over asiago cheese grits was not onlythe judges' favorite entree in one Oyster cook-off. It's also afamily favorite, said Reta Coffman, McMenamin's mother and No. 1fan.

"She knows what flavors go with what flavors and that's almost asense," Coffman said. McMenamin's son, Jack, has his own theory how his mom deliversprize-winning recipes: old-fashioned trial and error.

"Every once in a while I'll taste something she makes and say,'This one didn't work,'" he said. "Most of the time I'll just lookat it and go out to McDonald's."