BETTY SCORES AGAIN!

It was a rainy night in Georgia when we decided to test the corn chowder recipes...even though Spring is clearly on the way, it still felt like a good time to indulge in a little comfort food.

Soups and chowders always seem like a production when you get into it, but the Betty Crocker version was quite simple.  Connie felt guilty using canned ingredients (high on sodium, but way low on effort)!  Bruce's version definitely took more work and we were all betting that using fresh corn and potatoes would carry the day.

Tyler agreed to be this week's judge.  He is a two-time second place winner in our annual cooking competition and this past year he won for his rendition of chicken empanadas.  He especially loves cheesy dishes, so Bruce continued to feel confident going into the tasting.

We presented both chowders on one serving dish so that comparisons could easily be made.  The minute Tyler saw them he stated with confidence that it was "obvious which one was the Betty Crocker recipe; clearly the chunky one was made with fresh vegetables"...wrong again, Skippy!

          The Challenger's Version is on the Left; Betty Crocker's on the Right

This was the first time that Bruce and Connie tasted both recipes and we instantly knew which recipe rocked...Betty Crocker's!  Tyler commented on the creaminess of her recipe (guess that canned cream style corn has a real benefit of upping the richness factor). 

The Challenger's chowder was OK, but it was Betty's version that we wanted for leftovers.  Gotta give the old girl (Betty, not Connie) credit:  she knows how to cook!

Current Scorecard:
Betty:            2
Challenger:  0

Corn Chowder is Next!

Our next competition features corn chowder.  Connie will be the Betty Crocker cook this week and Bruce will be the challenger.  According to Betty Crocker, this corn chowder is "filling and flavorful -- one of our favorites".  With a comment like that we felt compelled to try it.  And how can you resist a recipe that includes canned potatoes?

Betty Crocker's Corn Chowder:

• 1/2 pound bacon, diced
• 1 medium onion, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
• 1/2 cup chopped celery (with tops)
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 4 cups milk
• 1 can (1 pound 1 ounce) cream style corn
• 1 can (1 pound) tiny whole potatoes, diced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• Snipped parsley
• Paprika

In a large saucepan, fry bacon until crisp; remove and drain.  Pour all but 3 tablespoons drippings from saucepan.  Add onion and celery to drippings in pan; cook and stir until onion is tender.

Remove from heat; blend in flour.  Cook over low heat, stirring until mixture is bubbly.  Remove from heat.  Stir in milk.  Heat to boiling, stirring constantly.  Boil and stir 1 minute.

Stir in corn, potatoes, salt and pepper; heat through.  Stir in bacon.  Sprinkle each serving with parsley and paprika.

Makes 6 servings (1 cup each).

Challenger's Corn Chowder

Bruce is speculating that this dish is going to be the winner because of one special ingredient:  white cheddar cheese!  We shall see....

1 Tbsp unsalted butter 

1 strip of bacon or 1 teaspoon of bacon fat

1/2 large yellow onion, chopped (about 1/2 cup)

1/2 large carrot, chopped (about 1/3 cup)

1/2 celery stalk, chopped (about 1/3 cup) 

3 ears of sweet corn, kernels removed from the
   cobs (about 2 cups), cobs reserved

1 bay leaf

3 1/2 cups milk, whole or low fat

1 medium Yukon Gold potato, or Russet, peeled and diced

1/4 red bell pepper, chopped (about 1/4 cup)

Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

1/2 cup white cheddar cheese

1 In a large saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the bacon strip (skip this step for vegetarian option, just add more butter) and fry until the bacon renders its fat, but doesn't begin to brown, 3 or 4 minutes. Add the onion and sauté for 4 to 5 minutes, until soft. Add the carrot and celery and cook for 4 or 5 more minutes.

2 Break the corn cobs in half and add them to the saucepan. Add the milk and bay leaf. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a bare simmer. Cover the pot and cook for 30 minutes. Make sure the heat is as low as can be and still maintain a gentle simmer (on our stove we had to use the "warm" setting) to prevent scalding the milk on the bottom of the pan.

3 Discard the cobs, the bacon strip, and the bay leaf. Raise the heat, add the potatoes, red pepper, 1 teaspoon of salt, fresh ground pepper to taste, bring to a simmer and reduce the heat to maintain a simmer for 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are almost fork tender.

4 Raise the heat, add the corn kernels and the thyme. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for 5 minutes. Add cheese.

Serves 4 

And the Beef Stroganoff winner is......
Betty Crocker!

Special thanks to this week's judges:

Eric (who doesn't like mushrooms or onions)

Val (who doesn't like mushrooms or onions)

Eric and Val are long-time participants in our annual cooking competition.  Val won one year with a killer lobster bisque and Eric is a 3 time winner (twice for truffles) and the current reigning overall champion for his rendition of Greek Lamb Sliders.

We did not let them know which recipe was cooked by Connie and Bruce and they did not know which was Betty Crocker and which was the challenger.  They both guessed incorrectly when asked to identify the Betty Crocker stroganoff.  And, both of them were shocked at how much better it tasted than the challenger's version!

Although neither of them like mushrooms, they gamely tested each recipe and provided the following opinions:

                                   Betty Crocker's Beef Stroganoff as Prepared by Bruce

Betty's dish had a much better color/appearance and the sauce was super yummy!  We decided that the ingredient that put Betty's dish over the top was....ketchup!  It provided a slightly sweet taste which complemented the mushrooms and made the sauce a buttery color. Who would have thought plain old ketchup could have so much impact?

Surprisingly, the challenger's crock pot dish received rave reviews about the meat (even though it was also a cheap cut).  Once again, it's hard to beat a crock pot for super tender meat.  However, the color was off-putting...it had a kind of sick looking grey appearance that was not appetizing at all...perhaps it was because it used portobella mushrooms instead of white mushrooms?

                         Crock Pot Beef Stroganoff as Prepared by Connie

As far as the health aspects of the two recipes, Betty's clocked in at 439 calories per serving versus the challenger version which had 419 calories per serving.  Not a huge difference, and the challenger version included a small amount of white wine and fat-free sour cream.  Both dishes were easy to prepare.  It would be interesting to use Betty's ingredients in the crockpot and see how it comes out since the sauce was so good.  We would definitely make this dish again...it would even be delightful served atop toasted French baguettes.

Current Scorecard:
Betty:            1
Challenger:   0

Let the Games Begin

For our first competition we'll be using the 1977 version of the Betty Crocker cookbook. We decided to start with an old-fashioned classic (Classic Beef Stroganoff) and then drew names to determine who would cook the Betty Crocker recipe (Bruce) and who would challenge it (Connie).

For this challenge, Connie had to include some type of beef, mushrooms, and sour cream.  She decided to combine several crock pot recipes for her dish....because, gee, what's more old-fashioned than crock pot cooking?

Full disclosure:  Connie is a pescoterian (eats veggies, seafood, and dairy) so cooking a meat dish is going to be a challenge!

Classic Beef Stroganoff (From Betty Crocker)

                                                    photo from the Betty Crocker cookbook

Makes 6 servings:

1 1/2 pounds beef sirloin steak, 1/2 inch thick
8 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced (2 1/2 cups)
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 1/2 cups beef flavored both
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sour cream
3 cups hot cooked egg noodles

Cut beef across grain into about 1 1/2 x 1/2 inch strips.  Cook mushrooms, onions and garlic in butter in 10-inch skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until onions are tender; remove from skillet.
Cook beef in same skillet until brown. Stir in 1 cup of the broth, the salt and Worcestershire sauce.  Heat to boiling; reduce heat.  Cover and simmer 15 minutes.  Stir remaining 1/2 cup broth into flour; stir into beef mixture.  Add onion mixture; heat to boiling, stirring constantly.  Boil and stir 1 minute.  Stir in sour cream; heat until hot (do not boil). Serve over noodles.

Tip from Betty Crocker:  Beef is easier to cut when it has been partially frozen for about 1 hour first.

Crock Pot Beef Stroganoff (The Challenger)

Makes 8 servings:

3 lb. beef round steak, ½ inch thick

½ cup flour

2 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. pepper

½ tsp. dry mustard

1 onion, diced

½ tsp. garlic powder

½ lb. portabella mushrooms, sliced

1 (10 ½ oz.) can condensed cream of mushroom soup

¼ cup dry white wine

1 cup water

1 ½ cup fat-free sour cream

¼ cup flour

Fresh Parsley for garnish

4 cups hot cooked egg noodles

Trim all excess fat from steak and cut meat into 3 inch strips about ½ inch wide. Combine ½ cup flour, salt, pepper, and dry mustard; toss with steak strips to coat thoroughly.  Place coated steak strips in crock pot; stir in onion, mushrooms, garlic powder, and cream of mushroom soup.  Add wine and water; stir well.  Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours.  Before serving, combine sour cream with ¼ cup flour; stir into crock pot.  Serve stroganoff over egg noodles or rice.  Garnish with fresh parsley.

Let us know who you think will win this week's competition...Betty Crocker or The Challenger??????

We are two cooks (Connie and Bruce) in Atlanta who love competitions of all types!  Our family has a long history of competing...first there was Family Fear Factor (we blindfolded everyone and they had to go from the farthest point in the backyard to the front mailbox).  Fortunately, only one teenager ran into a telephone pole and he lived to tell about it!

Then we had a competition involving backward running around a track (we have a lot of runners in our family).  No one got too sick and it was pretty funny.

For the past 5 years we have held a cooking competition during the holidays.  You can check out this year's competition on http://www.trailmixfortwo.blogspot.com/. See the article entitled, "May the Odds Be Ever in Your Favor!"

Connie loved cooking from her 70's Betty Crocker Cookbook and she still keeps a treasured copy of it.  We thought it would be fun to challenge each other with a cooking contest that we call the Betty Crocker Cookoff.

Here are the rules:

1.  Each week we will select one Betty Crocker Cookbook recipe.
2.  We will draw names to determine who will cook that recipe and who will
     challenge it with a new creation using similar ingredients.
3.  The main ingredients in the Betty Crocker recipe must be used in the
     challenge recipe (e.g., you can't substitute filet mignon for hot dogs)
4.  The dishes will be judged by assorted friends and family members and
     we'll post the winner and both recipes on our blog each week.

That's the concept...now for the first challenge stay posted!