Blue Ribbon Reggie's Rhubarb Pie

I am the MOST excited that my rhubarb pie won first place overall at the Iowa State Fair this year!  And, it just happens to be vegan -- same recipe my 96 year old grandma has always used -- there's no difference. To enter this contest, the pie made had to be made with fruits or vegetables grown in Iowa.  The rhubarb I used was grown my by Uncle Reggie in Des Moines -- hence, Reggie's Rhubarb Pie.

Reggie's Rhubarb Pie

Servings: 8
Prep time: 40 minutes
Ingredients:

Crust:
2 C. Flour
Shortening (Crisco)
Baking powder
2 T. Sugar
2 T.  Apple cider vinegar
Water

Filling:
3 C. Rhubarb
Sugar
Tapioca

Mix together flour and shortening in medium sized bowl until crumbly.

Add baking powder, sugar, and vinegar.  Mix until well blended.  Then add water 1 T. at at time until crust begins to form a ball. Form into two evenly sized balls.

Roll out one crust and put into a 12" pie plate.

Mix together all filling ingredients and pour into crust.  Top with second crust.  Using a fork, poke holes into top crust creating air vents.  If desired, use left over crust scraps to cut out shapes and place on top of crust.

Bake in oven at 350 degrees for 60-70 minutes.  Watch for filling to boil out.  If it begins to, place tin foil under the drips and remove periodically to prevent your pie from being smoked.  I've had plenty of experience with smoked pies and they're not as good.

Here are the judges' comments: 

Taste: 39, 38, 40, 38 /40 possible points
Appearance: 28, 29, 30, 28/30 points
Best use of Iowa Fruits & Vegetables: 30, 27, 30, 30/30 points
Total: 385/400 points
Comments:

"Very nice appearance, crust and filling compliment each other; nicely baked -- brown on bottom.  I like your choice of crust; cuts and serves easily.  Very definitely rhubarb flavor.  Filling is great consistency."

"Very attractive product.  Very flaky crust -- beautiful.  Very tasty."

"Melt-in-your-mouth crust. Beautiful presentation. Real true and mellow rhubarb filling."

"Nice decoration of the hearts.  Good tart flavor.  Good flaky crust.  Evenly baked." 

What can the Vegan & Meat-eater eat at the Iowa State Fair?

Well, the meat eater can eat A LOT!  The vegan is more limited, but definitely won't starve!

The 2012 Iowa State Fair was blessed with some fantastic weather and the second highest attendance on record.  Thanks in part to one particular meat eater who made the trip up from Florida to get his ISF experience!

Now, just because I am a vegan doesn't mean I don't know my Iowa State Fair foods!  I've been going to the fair my whole life and know just which turkey leg stand and just which pork chop on a stick stand is the best.

Hold on to your heart valves, this is what the Meat-eater can eat: 

Blue Ribbon Grilled Portobella Mushroom Tacos with Salsa Verde

This recipe for tacos and the salsa verde scored very high marks at the Iowa State Fair to earn a First Place Ribbon in the Vegan Main Dish contest.

Blue ribbon for tacos on the right.

Here is what the judges said: 

Taste: 73.25/75 points
Appearance: 23.25/25 points
Total: 386/400points
Comments:

"Excellent taste. Great combination of ingredients"

"Very good combination of flavors and textures.  Sauce very good and does not overpower.  Enhances flavor of avocado."

"Very tasty vegan dish that non-vegans would enjoy because of the mushrooms.  You wouldn't miss the meat.  Wonderful Mexican seasoning.  Healthy and fresh."

"The salsa is delicious.  Perfect punch of spice.  The mushroom adds great texture.  The cabbage adds crunch. Wonderful alternate for a vegan. Perfect flavor balance."

Grilled Portobello Mushroom Tacos with Salsa Verde

Servings: 6

Prep time: 45 minutes

Ingredients & Directions: 

Marinade  6 large portobello mushroom caps in:

⅓ C. Olive oil
1/4 C. Balsamic vinegar
1 tsp. Ground black pepper

Salsa Verde

4 Tomatillos, chopped (or 1 C. canned)
1 Large green bell pepper chopped
1 Large bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
1 Medium onion, chopped
3 Cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp. Olive oil
1 tsp. pepper
½ tsp. salt

Ingredients in my trusty Osterizer

Put all ingredients in a food processor or blender, and process til smooth. 

Salsa Verde

Tacos

6 6-inch soft corn tortillas
2 avocados, sliced
2 cups chopped tomatoes
3 cups shredded cabbage
Vegan sour cream, optional

Directions

Grill mushrooms 3 to 5 minutes per side. Cool until easy to handle, then slice into strips.

Pour the salsa over the mushroom strips and let set for 10 minutes for the flavors to mingle.

Lightly warm tortillas 15 seconds per side in skillet.

On a plate, fill tortillas with sliced mushrooms, avocado slices, tomatoes, and cabbage.

Put Tofutti brand vegan sour cream on the side.  Garnish all with fresh cilantro. Enjoy!

Blue Ribbon [vegan] Cheesecake!

Remember this post from a few months ago?

Vegan Cheesecake with Berry Sauce

It took first place in the vegan dessert contest at the Iowa State Fair! 

Blue ribbon on the left. That blue ribbon on the right is mine too for my Vegan Main dish- coming soon!

For my state fair entry, I made my own graham cracker crust and pressed it into an actual cheesecake pan.

Here is what the judges said: 

Taste: 72.5/75
Appearance: 23.75/25
Total: 384/400 = 97%
Comments:
"Nice presentation. A tasty dessert but you couldn't pass it off for cheesecake. Nice, light, flavorful. I would make this for my company but I think I would give this another name."

"Great combination -- topping excellent. Rest of recipe very good."

"Good texture and nice combination of textures of the different fruits. Looks pretty and tastes good."

"Very good. Texture is exactly like standard cheesecake. The berries make this dish pop. Appearance is beautiful. The berry sauce color is amazing."

In line to be judged!

Vegan Cheesecake with Berry Sauce

Servings: 10
Prep time: 1 hour
Ingredients & Directions:

I use this measuring cup to press the crust in evenly. Make sure your corners aren't too thick!

Crust

2 Packages of graham crackers
1/2 C. Margarine (1 stick)
2 T.  Sugar

Crush graham crackers and put into food processor to ground them finely.  Use a fork to gradually mix in melted margarine.  Add sugar.  Press into a cheesecake pan.

Smooth & creamy cheesecake mixture in the blender

Cheesecake

1, 8 oz. Container, Tofutti Better than Cream Cheese
1/2 pkg. Firm silken tofu
3 T. Lemon Juice
2 T. Maple syrup
3 T. Cornstarch
1 T. Vanilla

Put all ingredients in a food processor or blender and blend until creamy and smooth.  Pour into graham cracker crust. Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees for 50 minutes, or until cracks appear at in the center of the top of the cheesecake.

Pour cheesecake into crust & bake!

Berry Sauce

1 1/2 C. Sugar
2 C. Strawberries, sliced
1 C. Blueberries
1/4 C. Raspberries
Splash red wine

Cook all ingredients in saucepan over med-high heat. Let boil for 5 minutes then remove from heat and cool.  Top each piece of cheesecake with a hearty helping of berry sauce.  BEST if cheesecake has sat in fridge at least overnight.

 

Blue Ribbon Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

This is the second time my Oatmeal Raisin Cookies have ribboned at the Iowa State Fair, and this time they WON!.  I entered them in the "Midwest Living Cookies" division in the "healthy" class -- under NO CHOLESTEROL because they're vegan!  And they're just fantastic.  Here is my recipe adopted from my Grandma's featured in the Church cookbook:

Blue Ribbon Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Servings: 3 dozen
Prep time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:
 
1 C. Raisins
1 C. Boiling water

Pour boiling water over raisins and let set. 

1 stick margarine (1/2 C.)
1/2 C. Shortening (Crisco)
1 C. White sugar
1 C. Brown sugar
1 tsp. Vanilla
1/4 tsp. Watkin's Black Walnut extract -- this is very hard to come by, if you can't get Watkin's, don't bother with it.
2 Flax eggs (2 T. Ground flax seed mixed with with 6 T. water)

Cream the above ingredients in a large bowl.  Mix in water drained off of raisins.  Then add:

2 T. Cinnamon
1 tsp. Nutmeg
1 tsp. Ground cloves
1/2 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Baking soda

Mix thoroughly. Then add:

1 1/2 C. Flour
4 C. Quick oats
Raisins

Mix together.  Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto baking sheet.  Bake at 350 degree for 8-10 minutes.

Here is what the judges said: 

Flavor: 40/40 (Whoa!)
Texture: 39/40
Appearance: 18/20
Total score: 97/100
Comments:
"Very moist and chewy cookie. Nutmeg really comes out. Really good fiber."

I'll take it!

Iowa State Fair Results

After nearly two weeks of furiously baking and cooking up foods for the Iowa State Fair Food Competition -- the results are in!

I entered sixteen contests and earned eight coveted State Fair ribbons and two "Overall" winner rosettes.  Let me tell you, this is no small feat!

Here is a run down of my second and third place winners:

Coming in 3rd Place (white ribbon) was my apple pie, earning 88 out of a total of 100 points (all entries can earn up to a total of 100 points based on different judging criteria).
Taste: 44/50
Creativity: 27/30
General Appearance: 17/20
The judges' comments:
 "Appropriate golden color -- nicely decorated -- apples are nice and tender -- crust is nice and tender -- flavors compliment each other nicely -- the spices overwhelm the apple flavor - interesting list of ingredients."
My meat eater, who is usually pretty critical as well, was in town for the fair and able to try out this pie -- he did not agree that the spices where overwhelming, said the pie was amazing and ate darn near the rest of it.

Also earning 3rd Place was my vegetarian tempeh enchilada recipe I entered into the "Versatile Vegetarian Dish" contest.  It earned 85/100 points:
Taste: 52/60
Appearance: 33/40
The judges' comments:
"The tempeh is a nice addition and good source of protein. Would benefit use of more seasoning.  I also like the potatoes.  Appearance is attractive."

My meat eater was also in town when I made this dish and he loved it! I just made two enchiladas in preparation for the contest, and he ate the one I didn't enter for breakfast the next morning.  He likes tempeh in general and thought the enchiladas were a great flavor and texture combination.

Earning a 2nd Place (Red) ribbon was my pumpkin rice pudding which I entered in the "Cooking with Pumpkin" contest. It earned 93/100 points and was judged by three judges on:
Taste: 38,28,40/ 40
Appearance: 28,28,29/30
Originality: 30, 28, 29/30
The judges' comments:
"Very original recipe. Good taste." "Very original idea. Could use a little more pumpkin. Very nice appearance." "Nice refreshing mixture. Tasted cool."

Pumpkin Rice Pudding

I know, and my friend Jess can attest to it, that a significant factor in your Iowa State Fair food contest success is dependent upon your presentation - so garnishing ALL your entries is a MUST!

This is my third year entering food in the Iowa State Fair food competition but I was a 10-year 4H member many years prior where I learned many a valuable lesson on presentation.

All of these recipes of my own creation.  Look for them to be posted soon!

The Iowa State Fair: Nothing Compares!

Vegan Oatmeal Raisin Cookies took 2nd place in 2010

It is State Fair time here in Iowa (August 9-19th) and that means this vegan food blogger is busy baking cookies, pies, and vegan entrees to enter in the Food Contests at the fair.

With 239 different divisions and numerous classes within each division there are probably a thousand different contest a person cold enter.

Everything from "Let's Cook with Turkey" (Division 151A) to "Kraft Kreations with Velveeta" (Division 76A) to "It's Soy Amazing" (Division 219, recipes made with soy) and "Vibrant Vegan" (Division 239A).

There's also numerous classes for canned preserves, jams, and conserves. No category for the freezer jams I make, probably because its super easy.

Recipes and pictures from State Fair Food entries to come ...