Home cookin' among the best

Two local chefs are finalists in the third annual AgriMissouri Chef Recipe Contest.

Two of the state's top chefs who are the best at using Missouri agricultural products work in Cape Girardeau.

DeWayne Schaaf and Jason Elspermann are finalists in the third annual Chef Recipe Contest sponsored by the AgriMissouri Program and Missouri Department of Agriculture. The contest focuses on building a demand for agricultural products grown, raised and processed in Missouri.

Both men are chefs at Celebrations Restaurant at 615 Bellevue, where they prepared dishes Thursday for the contest judges.

Schaaf is a veteran of the contest. He has placed in the top three for the past two years. For this year's competition, he specifically wanted to use products from Southeast Missouri.

The meal he prepared was plum- and chambourcin-poached pork tenderloins with shitake spaetzle and kohlrabi slaw. Almost all of the ingredients came from local producers Tower Rock Winery, Farrar Out Farms and Show Me Fresh Farms.

As Schaaf presented his dish to the three judges, they stood up and carefully inspected the food as if it were a piece of art.

The meals were judged on appearance, taste, texture and the number of Missouri products used in the recipe. "The main focus is to get more chefs to use Missouri produced products," said Sarah Shultz, member service coordinator for AgriMissouri. "You can get so many products which are produced right here in Missouri."

Elspermann has been working as a chef for eight years but was nervous before the judging began. This was his first year to enter the contest. The dish he prepared included pan-fried eggplant with sautZed catfish and sauce Choron.

Celebration Restaurant owners James and Pat Allen said they use as much local produce as they can at their restaurant. The dishes prepared by both chefs are occasionally on Celebrations' menu.

Approximately 20 recipes were entered in the Chef Recipe Contest. Seven finalists were chosen. The other five chefs are from St. Louis, Columbia and Independence.

"We feel very fortunate that we have two chefs in the finalists," James Allen said.

Winners of the Chef Recipe Contest will receive medals and cash prizes. The grand prize winner receives $1,500 in cash.

The winners will be announced within two weeks.

jfreeze@semissourian.com