The mouthwatering results are in as General Mills Foodservice announced the winners of the 2017 Neighborhood to Nation Recipe Contest. In its third year, the annual contest celebrates independent family or “neighborhood” restaurants and gives them an opportunity to showcase their local flavor by submitting an original breakfast, entrée or dessert recipe that uses at least one General Mills ingredient for a chance to win a $50,000 grand prize.
Three “Recipe Winners” will travel to General Mills’ headquarters in Minneapolis for the June 14 finale where they will join celebrity chef Amanda Freitag of Food Network’s “Chopped” for a day of celebration and the official Grand Prize Winner announcement. One of them will be named the Grand Prize Recipe Winner and will receive $40,000 in cash, a $10,000 donation for a local charity of their choice and a visit to their restaurant from Freitag. The First Place Winner will collect $15,000 and the Second Place Winner will receive $10,000.
“Each year, we continue to be impressed with the quality of recipes that are submitted for the Neighborhood to Nation Recipe Contest and this year is no exception,” says Alyca Judge, senior marketing manager for General Mills Foodservice, which supplies restaurants with high quality products to help make the signature dishes and familiar favorites their customers love. “We are pleased to announce this year’s winners and share their amazing recipes that showcase the creativity and local flavor that independent restaurants bring to the table every day.”
The 2017 Neighborhood to Nation Recipe Winners who will visit General Mills on June 14 to find out if they are the Grand, First or Second Place Winners include:
Breakfast Recipe Winner: Carrie Hudson of West Egg Café, in Atlanta, Georgia for her Butternut Squash & Goat Cheese Turnover
Entrée Recipe Winner: Jennifer Shearer of Press Bistro in Johnstown, Pennsylvania for her Strawberry Cornbread Panzanella
Dessert Recipe Winner: Michael Minden of Michael V’s Restaurant & Bar in Tulsa, Oklahoma for his Butterfinger® Cream Cheese Brownie Pie
In addition, three individuals received Honorable Mention honors for their recipes and will receive $500 cash as well as $500 to share with a charity in their community. They include:
Breakfast Honorable Mention: Donal Clark of Miller’s Seawall Grill in in Galveston, Texas for his Southern Cajun Shrimp ‘n Grits
Entrée Honorable Mention: Rebecca Alarcon of The Richmond Arms Pub in Houston, Texas for her Chilled Turkish Yoghurt Soup with Braised Lamb
Dessert Honorable Mention: Dennis Chan of Blue Bamboo in Jacksonville, Florida for his Pecan Hand Pie with Creamy Lemon Schmear
The Neighborhood to Nation Recipe Contest was open to foodservice operators, chefs and line cooks who develop and prepare recipes for menu items served at independent, commercial restaurants. Recipes for the Neighborhood to Nation Recipe Contest were judged based on taste, appearance, creativity and foodservice viability.
Neighborhood to Nation was created to inspire culinary creativity among independent restaurants, giving operators an opportunity to experiment with high-quality and consistent products from General Mills Foodservice as well as exclusive access to trend information, insights and ideas to help them differentiate their menus and delight their diners. For more information on Neighborhood to Nation, the winners, the finale celebration and the announcement of the Grand Prize winner, please visit www.NeighborhoodtoNation.com.
News and information presented in this release has not been corroborated by WTWH Media LLC.
