FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FRIDAY, SEPT. 18, 2009
Buncombe County cooks rise to the occasion for breast cancer awareness
Contact: Tamara Crain, Entries Coordinator
NC Mountain State Fair
(828) 687-1414
FLETCHER—Two categories produced First Place winners at Friday night’s Fleischmann’s Yeast recipe contest at the NC Mountain State Fair. Amber Beysher and Donna Maynor, both of Buncombe County, won First Place in the “Yeast Breads of Any Type and Flavor” and the “Batter Breads” categories respectively. Beysher won the top prize of $150 and Maynor took home $100.
Second Place winner in the yeast breads category was Susie Zuerner of Buncombe County for her Peaches and Cream Bread. The recipe earned her a $75 prize. Third Place and $50 went to Alice Griffin of Buncombe County for her Old Fashioned White Bread recipe.
Second Place in the batter breads category went to Sharon Gates of Buncombe County for her recipe of One Dish Piña Colada Bread while the Third Place winner was Alison Overton of Henderson County for her Strawberry Bundt Bread.
Tonight’s contest aimed to raise breast cancer awareness with the help of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation; for each entry received, Fleischmann’s donated $10 to the non-profit organization. Between the two categories, there were 16 entries. Beysher and Maynor will now have their recipes entered into a national competition where three regional winners will receive a $1000 grand prize.
Tonight’s entries were required to use Fleischmann’s Yeast as an ingredient. Entries were judged based on flavor, presentation, and texture.
For more information on cooking contests at the NC Mountain State Fair, visit www.mountainfair.org or call the WNC Ag Center at (828) 687-1414.
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Yeast Breads of Any Type and Flavor
1st Place – Amber Beysher
Bread Machine Yeast Rolls
2 packs Fleischmann's yeast
3 1/2 cups bread flour
5 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons butter
2/3 cup milk, warm
1/2 cup water, warm
Add liquid ingredients first. Then add sugar, salt, yeast, and flour last. Set bread machine to dough selection. After the bread machine turns off, roll out dough on lightly floured surface and cut out the size you want. Let rise in a warm place for about 60 minutes. Then bake for 15 minutes at 400 degrees. Brush tops with melted butter.
2nd Place – Susie Zuerner
Peaches and Cream Breast Cancer Awareness Braid
Dough:
2 to 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 envelope Fleischman's Rapid Rise Yeast
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup water
1/8 cup butter
1 egg
Filling:
1 10-oz. jar Polaner peach preserves
1 8-oz package cream cheese
1 small egg
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla
Glaze:
2 to 3 tablespoons milk
1 3/4 cups sifted confectioners sugar
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
Beat cream cheese in large bowl until smooth. Add sugar first, then egg, lemon juice and vanilla. Set aside.
In a large bowl, combine 1 cup flour, sugar and undissolved yeast and salt. Heat water, milk and butter until very warm (120-130 degrees). Gradually add to flour mixture. Beat 2 minutes at medium speed with electric mixer. Add egg and 1 cup flour; beat 2 minutes on high speed. Stir in enough flour to make soft dough. Knead on a lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic (about 7 to 10 minutes). Cover and let rest 10 minutes.
Roll dough into a 14 x 12 inch rectangle. Transfer to large greased baking sheet. Spread cream cheese filling over a 3-inch strip in the center of the dough. Spoon peach preserves over the cream cheese mixture. With sharp knife, make 30-inch cuts from dough edges at 1-inch intervals along the sides of the filling. Alternating sides, fold strips at an angle across filling. Cover and let rise in a warm draft-free place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
Brush braid with egg wash. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-22 minutes until done. Remove from sheet, drizzle with glaze.
3rd Place – Alice Griffin
Old Fashion White Bread
3 packages active dry yeast (Fleischman)
5 1/2 cups warm water
1/2 cup sugar
4 teaspoons salt
1/3 cup melted butter
16 to 18 cups unbleached white flour
Place 5 cups flour into large mixing bowl. Add sugar and salt. Melt butter and set aside. Add very warm water and melted butter to flour; stir until well mixed. Add yeast, sprinkling over mixture, and stir those ingredients together until well mixed. Gradually add flour until dough is so sticky that you cannot stir it with spoon. Then place approximately 2 to 3 cups flour on kneading board and pour dough onto the flour. Use your hands and knead flour into dough until consistency becomes elastic and workable. Knead about 10 more minutes, then place dough into lightly greased bowl at least twice the size of the amount of dough. Cover top of bowl with moist towel and let sit in warm place until doubled in size. After it has doubled in size, knead about 3-5 minutes, and again place in bowl, covering with moist cloth. When the dough has doubled in size again, it can be kneaded (punched down) and shaped into 4 loaves of bread.
Shape the loaves first into 4 balls and let set about 5 minutes; shape into 4 loaves and place into slightly greased non-stick bread loaf pans. Let loaves sit in warm place, with a moist cloth over the bread, for about 40 minutes, until doubled in size. Place loaves into 400 degree oven and bake for 20 minutes. After the loaves have baked for 20 minutes, check the loaves - should be a golden brown. Cover loaves with foil and bake for another 20 minutes. Remove from oven and place on rack to cool.
Battered Breads
First Place – Donna Maynor
Rockin’ Reuben Casserole
Batter:
1 – cup plain flour
¾ - cup rye flour
2 – envelopes Fleischmann’s Rapid Rise Yeast
2 – teaspoons sugar
½ - teaspoon salt
1 – cup very warm water
2 – Tablespoons olive oil
15 – ounces sauerkraut with caraway seeds
3 – Tablespoons Thousand Island dressing
½ - pound chipped corned beef
2 – cups shredded swiss cheese
Mix all batter ingredients in greased 8” x 8” casserole dish.
Mix sauerkraut and dressing together. Place over batter mixture. Layer chipped corned beef over sauerkraut. Place shredded cheese over beef. Place in cold oven and bake at 350 degrees until done.
Second Place – Sharon Gates
One Dish Piña Colada
Batter:
1 ½ - cups bread flour
2 – envelopes Fleischmann’s Rapid Rise Yeast
1/3 – cup sugar
½ - teaspoon salt
¼ - cup butter
½ - cup coconut cream or coconut milk, warmed to 120-130 degrees
½ - cup flaked coconut
1 – egg
Topping:
2 – cups crushed pineapple, drained (save juice; see below)
½ - cup flaked coconut
Piña Colada Glaze:
¾ - cup sugar
½ - cup pineapple juice
2 – tablespoons rum or rum extract
In a greased 8” x 8” pan, combine all batter ingredients and stir well. Spread evenly in pan. Top with crushed pineapple and sprinkle with flaked coconut. Place in a cold oven and set temperature to 350 degrees. Bread will rise as oven heats. Bake for 30-35 minutes. If coconut begins to get too brown, tent the bread with aluminum foil during the last minutes of baking.
While bread bakes, in a small saucepan over medium heat, stir sugar into pineapple juice until sugar dissolves. Add rum or extract. Bring to a boil and boil for one minute, stirring often. Remove from heat.
To serve, pour warm glaze over the bread. Cut into nine squares and serve hot.
3rd Place – Alison Overton
Strawberry Bundt Bread
For cake:
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 packages active dry yeast
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup butter
6 large eggs
For syrup:
3/4 cup water
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
For glaze:
1 cup strawberry jam
1 1/2 teaspoon confectioners sugar
In large bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups flour, sugar, yeast, salt, and orange zest. Heat water and butter until very warm (115-120 degrees ). Gradually add to flour mixture. Beat 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Add eggs and 1 cup flour, beat 2 minutes at high speed. Stir in remaining 1 cup flour. Turn into greased 15-cup Bundt pan. Cover; let rise in warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes or until done. Meanwhile, make vanilla syrup by combining water and sugar in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat and simmer about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add vanilla extract. After removing cake from oven, immediately prick with fork and pour the vanilla syrup over the cake. Let stand 10 minutes to allow syrup to be absorbed. Remove from pan and cool on wire rack. Meanwhile, make the strawberry glaze by combining confectioners sugar and strawberry jam in a small saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat and brush cake with strawberry glaze.
