By Krystal Smalley
ksmalley@wbcowqel.com
Madalyn Kimmel may just have a successful career as a chef in her future. The Bucyrus fourth grader, who was last year’s reigning Future Chef champion, took home the top honors again Monday night.
Madalyn swept the competition with Maddie’s Magnificent Fruitie Salsa with Cinnamon Tortilla Chips. The tortilla chips had been brushed with butter and dipped into cinnamon before being baked. The special chips were then combined with a fruit salsa consisting of peaches, kiwis, mango, strawberries, blueberries, and honey crisp apples.
She said it felt pretty good to win.
“I knew most of the other people and they said, ‘you were my biggest competition, you won last year,’” Madalyn explained with a shy smile. “It feels good to win again.”
Madalyn said she had combined a couple different recipes – mainly because there were some fruits she didn’t like – and experimented with different toppings before settling on the lemon juice and strawberry jam.
Madalyn had won last year’s competition with a yogurt chicken salad wrap with cranberries. That recipe also got her selected as a regional winner in the 2014 Sodexo Future Chef Competition and had her competing against 35 other contestants for a spot as a national semi-finalist.
Runners-up for the competition were third grader Melody Burke (Mel’s Famous Burrito), fourth grader Christian Linn (Tortilla of Wonders with Banana-Apple Surprise), fifth grader Karys Boyd (No Sugar Chocolate Chip Cookies), and fifth grader Natalie Stover (Nutty Natalians).
Below is a video of Natalie demonstrating how to make her Nutty Natalians.
“We see a lot of our kids looking to eat healthier even at a younger age,” remarked Food Services Manager Lorie Pennington. “They try to be creative with their recipes . . . I’ve always encouraged them to pick their favorite but change it up to make it their own recipe.”
Pennington said the biggest thing about the competition was that the students were having fun and learning to cook.
“It gives them another opportunity of looking at things to do when they grow up,” Pennington said about the competition. “This is a new type of career where a lot of the kids who have been in the Future Chef program before still come up and want to talk about recipes with me. They’re really serious about thinking about becoming a chef.”
Pennington said she hopes to be able to grow the competition and offer it to other age groups sometime in the future.
Below is a video of Christian demonstrating his knife skills and how to make his Banana-Apple Surprise.
To be eligible for the competition, Bucyrus students in grades three through five had to submit a recipe highlighting their favorite healthy snack.
Here is the winning recipe:
Maddie’s Magnificent Fruitie Salsa with Cinnamon Tortilla Chips
Fruit Salsa
- 2 peaches (peeled and diced)
- 4 kiwis (peeled and diced)
- 1 mango (peeled and diced)
- 1 pint strawberries (diced)
- 1 cup blueberries
- 2 honey crisp apples (peeled, cored, and diced)
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- ¼ cup strawberry jam
Preparation Method: In a large bowl, thoroughly mix peaches, kiwis, mango, strawberries, blueberries, apples, lemon juice, and strawberry jam. Cover and chill in refrigerator.
Cinnamon Tortilla Chips
- 6 whole wheat tortillas (small)
- 1 teaspoon butter
- ¾ cup sugar
- 4 teaspoons cinnamon
Preparation Method: preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. In a small bowl melt butter in the microwave for 30 seconds. Set aside. Take one tortilla and brush it with melted butter on both sides. Take the second tortilla and stack on top of the first tortilla and brush with melted butter. Repeat for all tortillas. Cut the tortillas into six equal triangles. Take each triangle and dip it into the sugar and cinnamon mixture and place on a baking sheet. Bake for 12-14 minutes until golden brown.
Photos from the competition can be found on the Photos page.