Winner’s circle

When Chef Gene Fritz and a crew of students from the Washington State University School of Hospitality came to town late last week they didn’t know exactly what they would be cooking on Saturday evening.

Judges first had to choose winners in the entrees and dessert categories of the Flavors of the Inland Northwest recipe contest. The two finalists in each category battled it out Friday during a live cook-off at The Spokesman-Review Cooking Expo.

Though huckleberries starred in each of the four finalists’ dishes, it was the regional combination of apples and huckleberries that dominated. Within hours of learning that the winners were the Apple-Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Huckleberry Chutney and a Country Apple Cake with Huckleberry Sauce, Fritz and his crew transformed each recipe from simply the best to incredible.

Stressing that he loved the regional flavors used in both dishes, as well as the Potato Dumplings with Chanterelle Cream Sauce, which was selected as the winner in the sides and salads category, Fritz mostly gave the recipes a tweak and a little more showy presentation.

The original recipes are featured inside today’s IN Food. Here’s a summary of how Fritz and his students adapted them.

Potato Dumplings in Chanterelle Cream Sauce

Fritz used two spoons to shape the potato dough into quenelles – small dumplings instead of the large ones the original recipe makes. Sticking with the traditional quenelle method, Fritz gently poached the dumplings in a vegetable broth instead of boiling the dumplings in water. His advice, “Make sure you over-season the dumplings. It’ll get more subtle as it sits.”

He sweated the shallot and garlic in butter then added the chanterelles, allowing them to cook, uncovered, over medium to medium high heat to caramelize. “We’re looking for some color,” he said. When the mixture reached a nice golden brown color he deglazed the pan with the white wine then added the cream, crème fraîche, salt and pepper and allowed it to reduce slightly over a gentle simmer. “Always taste it before you serve it,” he said.

Looking to round out the dish and give it more texture, he topped each plate with a Cougar Gold Cheese tuiles which he made by spreading small spoonfuls of grated cheese onto a Sil-Pat and baking for just 1 to 2 minutes at 350 degrees. “The key is that the cheese caramelizes.” Don’t clump the cheese, but rather spread it thinly so that when it melts it makes a gentle lacey pattern. Before the tuiles have time to cool, roll them around the handle of a wooden spoon and let them cool that way. They’ll form delicate crunchy, cheesy tubes. For the final touch he sprinkled some fried sage leaves on the edge of plate. Sage leaves can be fried in a small amount of oil or butter until crispy and dark green.

Apple-Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Huckleberry Chutney

Instead of marinating the chicken as the original recipes calls for, Chef Fritz opted to butterfly chicken breasts and then gently pound them in to 1/3 - or 1/4 -inch-thick rectangles. “Nice and gently work your way around. Work the flesh down.” He covered each breast with whole fresh basil and oregano leaves before adding the stuffing.

For the stuffing he started by sweating chopped celery, onion and garlic (the original recipe didn’t call for garlic). Then he added chopped Fuji apples. (He prefers this variety because it holds up well during cooking and has a nice crisp, sweet flavor.) He used Italian-flavored bread crumbs instead of plain. He spread the stuffing mixture atop the herbs, across the entire chicken breast and then rolled it up and secured it with kitchen twine. Then, instead of baking the chicken immediately, Fritz seared the chicken in hazelnut oil just until brown on all sides. “You always want to season your protein before searing,” he said, sprinkling the chicken with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper. “Don’t be scared to use salt and pepper,” he said.

Also, he said don’t overcrowd the pan when searing the chicken, to make sure you get good, even browning.

“I love the chutney,” Fritz said. “(She) did a very nice job on the chutney.” But instead of using chutney as the main sauce for a dish, he said he prefers to serve it as an accompaniment. So he made an apple cider cream sauce to go with the chicken. He deglazed the chicken-searing pan with white wine, reduced it and then strained the reduction into an apple cider cream sauce.

To round out the plate, he served the chicken with a sweet potato puree, baby carrots and asparagus tips. He sliced the chicken crosswise to show off the stuffing and spooned some of the apple cider cream sauce under the chicken. He also made a huckleberry reduction by pureeing huckleberries and reducing the liquid, which he drizzled lightly on top of the chicken and vegetables. Finally, he spooned some huckleberry chutney on the side.

Country Apple Cake with Huckleberry Sauce

Chef Fritz made the cake batter just as the recipe describes. But instead of baking it in a single 9-inch cake pan, he used individual ramekins lined with walnuts. When the cakes were cooked, he inverted them out of the ramekins to showcase the crunchy walnuts. He spooned the huckleberry sauce on top. But even though the original recipe stops there, Fritz and his students didn’t.

“One thing we were looking for was a little bit of cream,” he said. So he dressed the mini cakes with a scoop of high-quality vanilla bean ice cream. Then he stuck thin apple chips in the ice cream. He made them by slicing an apple on a mandoline and dipping it quickly in syrup made by boiling water and sugar, measured in equal proportions. He cooled the slices in the refrigerator and then crisped them in the oven for a minute or two.

But he still wasn’t finished. He made a caramel sauce that he drizzled around the edges of the plate.

He had one more piece of advice: Serve hot foods on hot plates and cold foods on cold plates.