Three local dishes ready for national exposure

Wal-Mart was peppered with entries, from soup to nuts, but only 80 U.S. cooks would pass muster.

By BARBARA L. FREDRICKSEN, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published December 26, 2002

[Times photo: Lance Rothstein] Debbie Yaeger, who manages the shoe department at the Zephyrhills Wal-Mart Supercenter, soared with "Spiced Nuts."

For two years, Wal-Mart has held a nationwide recipe contest among its employees, better known as Wal-Mart associates. The only written rules are that the recipe must have an ingredient from one of 11 popular brands found at the stores, and the recipe must have special meaning for the contestant.

The unwritten rules: ingredients should be easy to find and the dish should be easy to make, said Kelley Lavin, who oversees the contest for Try-Foods International Inc.

Winners are published in the Wal-Mart Family Cookbook.

"We got thousands and thousands of recipes," Ms. Lavin said. "We stopped counting how many when bags and bags came in, plus the e-mails had to be emptied every half-hour, there were so many."

A team of food experts, including a retired food tester for Better Homes and Gardens, finally picked 80 recipes from those sent by associates in the south central region of Louisiana, Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi, Georgia, Florida, Oklahoma and Texas.

"We looked for ones that were original or had a new twist on a traditional recipe," Ms. Lavin said.

Out of the thousands of entries, three of the 80 winning recipes are from Pasco and Hernando counties:

"Spiced Nuts" by Dade City resident Debbie Yaeger, who manages the shoe department at the Zephyrhills Wal-Mart Supercenter.

Rizzuto

"Easy Eggplant Ragout Over Pasta," by Spring Hill resident Louise Rizzuto, who manages the lingerie and accessories departments at the Wal-Mart Supercenter on State Road 50 in Spring Hill.

"Sweet Broccoli Salad," by Hudson resident Jann Ellsworth, assistant manager of the Wal-Mart on U.S. 19 in Spring Hill.

"My sister-in-law made some spiced nuts one year for Christmas 15 years ago," said Mrs. Yaeger. "She gave me the recipe, and I changed it a little bit."

Born in New York, Mrs. Yaeger has been in Florida since age 4 and at Wal-Mart for 14 years.

"I consider myself a Floridian," she said.

Mrs. Ellsworth has been with Wal-Mart since 1993, but moved to Hudson only two years ago. She brought her idea for Sweet Broccoli Salad from her native Michigan.

[Times photo: Maurice Rivenbark] Jann Ellsworth, assistant manager of the Wal-Mart on U.S. 19 in Spring Hill, savored victory with "Sweet Broccoli Salad."

"I was just fooling around one day and kind of put it together," she said of the sweetly tangy dish.

Mrs. Rizzuto's ragout over pasta is based on an old recipe she learned from her mother in Danbury, Conn.

"It's easy, it really is," she says of the impressive-looking dish.

So many entries would suggest a big prize, but that isn't the case at all.

"The only prize people received was they got their recipe in the book and a free book," Ms. Lavin said. "The joy of sharing a good recipe -- I think that's why so many people entered."

Wal-Mart Family Cookbook, which has the winners' recipes, plus 15 recipes from the test kitchens of the participating labels, all with full color photographs, is on sale at Wal-Marts for $4.96.

Debbie Yaeger's Spiced Nuts

1 egg white

3 cups walnut or pecan halves (12 oz.)

1/2 cup sugar

1-1/2 tsp. McCormick ground cinnamon

1. Preheat over to 275 degrees. Lightly coat a 15-by-10-by-1-inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray; set aside. In a large mixing bowl, beat egg white until foamy. Add nuts; toss to coat. In a small bowl stir together sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle over nut mixture, toss to coat.

2. Spread nuts in prepared pan. Bake for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove to paper toweling to cool. Break nuts into clusters and store in an airtight container.

Makes 9 (1/3 cup) servings.

Jann Ellsworth's Sweet Broccoli Salad

1 lb. Hormel Black Label Bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled

4 cups broccoli flowerets

2/3 cup raisins

1/2 cup chopped sweet onion

1/2 cup shelled sunflower seeds

1/2 cup Hellman's Real Mayonnaise

1/4 cup sugar

1 tbsp. vinegar

1. In a large bowl, toss together bacon, broccoli, raisins, onion and sunflower seeds. In a small bowl, stir together mayonnaise, sugar and vinegar. Add mayonnaise mixture to broccoli mixture, stirring to coat. Cover and chill for 1 to 24 hours.

Serves 8

Louise Rizzuto's Easy Eggplant Ragout over Pasta

1 medium eggplant, cubed (about 51/2 cups)

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 tsp. McCormick California Style Minced Garlic, wet

2 Tbsps olive oil

1 can (28 oz.) Contadina crushed tomatoes with Italian herbs

8 oz. dry linguine or fettuccine

1 cup Kraft Shredded Low Moisture Part-Skim Mozzarella cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large skillet, cook eggplant, onion and garlic in hot oil about 5 minutes or until eggplant is tender. Stir in tomatoes.

2. Transfer mixture to a 2-quart casserole. Bake about 20 minutes or until heated through and cheese melts.

3. Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions. Drain pasta. Serve eggplant mixture over pasta. Sprinkle with cheese.

Serves 4

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