Winneshiek County Fair's Eat Local Cook-off

This week is our county fair and there was an Eat Local Cook-off on Wednesday. They needed judges and I thought it would be fun so I volunteered. There were 2 other judges and 10 dishes entered. This fun event involved trying to use as many local products(within 100 miles) as possible and in a creative way. The first place prize went to a Bangladeshi student from our local college. His dish was local lamb grilled with spices and served with a yogurt sauce and accompanied by potatoes and julienned squash. It was very tasty. The second place dish was kale and sausage Pie, which was very nice. The cook of this dish rendered her own lard for the crust and, I believe, ground the wheat. Third place went to a couple who entered 2 galettes, one sweet, one savory. The savory really was the winner in my book. It was a tomato, basil and cheese galette. I really had a good time being a judge for this. I look forward to attending again next year but maybe as a contestant.

We also had a great time attending the fair itself. If your an Iowan the food highlight of the fair is Pork Chop on a Stick. However, I had a very good piece of homemade cherry pie, which got my vote. Pork Chop on a Stick just hasn't won me over. For those of you who are not Iowans and are wondering, there really is no stick involved in Pork Chop on a Stick. It is called that because they cut them so that you can hold onto the bone as if it were a stick.