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Taste of Mira Bay a feast for the senses

By Ernest Hooper, Times Columnist
Published February 15, 2008

From the minute it touched my tongue, I applied for a return engagement.

The combination of pecans, corn syrup, cinnamon, brown sugar and orange flavor had me hooked. The minute I got back to the party at the Mira Bay Club in Apollo Beach, I was going to zero in on a big slab of Laura McDowell's orange pecan French toast casserole, a delight that could turn any brunch into a bonanza.

Don't get me wrong. Plenty of dishes proved tantalizing at last weekend's Taste of Mira Bay recipe contest. Mira Bay residents gathered 450 recipes for a cookbook, and the books are being sold to help fund a covered pavilion/playground at Apollo Beach Elementary School.

However, the five judges were the first beneficiaries, sampling the 33 entries spread among seven categories - sample being the operative word.

Before the throng of chefs, relatives and friends showed up to partake and party, our job was to rate each entry based on a small sample. Then, as we retired to the Mira Bay offices to add up the scores, folks began strolling into the adjacent club to enjoy the offerings.

Some of the judges were close to being stuffed, but I simply had a mental list of items that were going to get crushed soon as I got back into the room.

The crew of tasters came with discerning palettes. Diana Sukup, the pro team director for Panera Bread, comes from a restaurant family. Sandy Quiepo, a longtime Apollo Beach Elementary PTA member, has spent years preparing meals for her five kids.

Cheryl Mellon owns WineStyles in Riverview, so she knows all those terms such as bouquet and texture and aroma. Chris Coughlin, a vice president at Newland Communities, once dined at Tavern On The Green and sent a dish back. Talk about discerning.

Me? Well, I can eat a lot.

Anyway, recipe book coordinator Rae Yingling guided us on this culinary excursion. She's a former Air Force sergeant, Vietnam veteran and is married to a retired Marine Corps colonel. I suspect she could re-enlist tomorrow and whip some troops into shape. Needless to say, this contest turned out to be the most organized of the two-dozen food fights I've judged.

First, we strolled through the room and judged each entree on presentation. Then each judge had a host who brought over neatly prepared samples.

The final tallies were made after we scored each entry for originality and ease of preparation. When we returned, an entire dish of McDowell's tantalizing casserole awaited. I started to get a piece of Reynolds Wrap, cover the dish and take it to the car, but ...

First they had to introduce the judges.

Then they had to announce the winners in each category.

Then there was a raffle.

Then they announced the grand prize winner.

Then the casserole was gone.

All that remained were some crumbs that a guy was scraping out of the dish with a spoon. I was too dignified to lick the bowl, but it crossed my mind.

McDowell stood stunned while holding the grand prize, a gift basket from Bonefish Grill that included a $500 gift certificate. For weeks, McDowell's mother, Mandy Hatcher, had urged her to enter the contest.

But McDowell ran out of time to come up with something elaborate and told her mother, "Just enter that orange French toast that I always make."

Even after her lark became a finalist, McDowell came close to not competing. She struggled to turn an orange into a decorative flower and the frustration almost prompted her to back out at the last minute.

Good thing she didn't.

McDowell, however, wasn't alone in tasty treats. I had earmarked the winning entries in each category, and I had designs on Karen Stone's sun-dried tomato and spinach puffs, Brenda Santelises' sweet potato pie soup and Neysa Smith's coconut custard flan!.

To be honest, I wanted to at least sample everything again. Alas, most of the dishes had been wiped out. I guess we judges did well.

And the chefs did even better.

That's all I'm saying.

Ernest Hooper also writes a column for the Tampa & State section. He can be reached at hooper@sptimes.com or 226-3406.

Taste of Mira Bay

Grand prize winner: Orange pecan French toast casserole, Laura McDowell

Appetizers

First place: Marinated stuffed shrimp, Nancy Lampman

Second place: Corn dip, Ryan and Tara Williams

Third place: Curry chutney almond cheese ball, Joan Dale

Soup & Salads

First place: Black bean soup, Jan Arendt

Second place: Spring tortellini salad, Caren Katz

Third place: Orange walnut salad, Patricia Kelly

Vegetable & Side Dishes

First place: Mexican fried rice, Tammy Franco

Second place: Jambalaya stuffing, Renate Greenfield

Third place: Cheesy scallop potatoes, Ellen McLaughlin

Main Dishes

First place: Orange pecan French toast casserole, Laura McDowell

Second place: Spicy shrimp creole, Joyce Suthard

Third place: Herbed ham and veggie quiche, Janet Chappel

Bread & Rolls

First place: Ham and cheese biscuits, Carol Woodard

Second place: Pumpkin bread, Debbie Wenz

Third place: Banana bread, Ann Rand

Desserts, Cakes & Pies

First place: Peanut butter chocolate mini cheesecakes, Sharon Heuser

Second place: Apple Bavarian torte, Olivia Pagliaro

Third place: Coconut custard, Neysa Smith

Cookies & Candy

First place: Cranberry sour cream bars, Linda Daugherty

Second place: Payday bars, Suzanne Reid

Third place: Cowboy cookies, Vicki Knauff

To order a Taste of Mira Bay Cookbook, contact Donna Sims at 267-1699 or Amy Cribbs at (614) 915-8823.

[Last modified February 14, 2008, 22:31:21]