Meat and vegetables, from Thai beef salad to corn salsa, was judged at today’s cookoff at the Wood County Fair.
Norma Lybarger was the only cook to place in all four categories.
“I was just lucky,” she said about the streak.
Lybarger, of Bowling Green, has competed for many years in the cookoff. She is a cook for Bowling Green State University.
“If I do something, I want to do my best. And this is one way to verify that I know how to do this,” she said.
Cooks competed with their best recipes for vegetable appetizers, corn side dishes, beef entrees and chicken soup.
There was no theme this year, said organizer and fair board member Jessica Nagal.
They were random categories, “something we hadn’t done before,” she said.
Alice Godsey, Perrysburg, took first place with her vegetable appetizer of feta cheese, garlic, Italian seasoning, cream cheese, green onions and lemon juice with cucumber and pita bites
It has great flavor, said judge Steve Stachoviak.
Godsey said she was not confident in the dish.
“I thought it was too tart,” Godsey said in critiquing her own dish.
“They were all good,” Stachoviak said.
Bruce Kidder placed second with hummus on cucumber slices while Lybarger took third with her cauliflower tots.
Lybarger placed first with her corn salad, which was crisp with tomatoes, white corn, beans, green peppers and red onions. Angel Mercer placed second with her confetti corn and Shelly Shank took third with corn salsa.
Joyce Fausnaugh won the beef entre competition with BBQ meatloaf with a bacon weave. Godsey took second with her Greek meatballs and Lybarger placed third with Thai beef salad.
White chicken chili was the common denominator in the soup category with Debbie Weihl placing first with her recipe and Godsey placing second with her entry. Lybarger took third with her buffalo chicken soup.
There were three judges: Two were emergency responders while the third was a student in Owens Community College culinary program.
Stachoviak, who has judged before, said he picked up a couple new recipes he may try at Mid-County 120 Ambulance District, where he is an EMT.
His favorite was the first-place white chicken chili.
“That was really, really good. And the cucumber and hummus was really good too,” he said.
This was Garrett Genson’s first time as a judge.
“I thought it was interesting,” said Genson, a Bowling Green High School graduate now at Owens.
Sam Eiven also picked up some pointers and said he wants to try the corn recipe similar to what he called cowboy caviar.
He said he also wanted to try smoked meatloaf like that which won first place.
Eiven lives in Bowling Green and works full time for the City of Waterville Fire Department.
The cookoff was originally designed to promote local commodities, such as beef and pork, Nagel explained last year. It has since been changed to incorporate the local vegetable production and more home-cooked, family-style dishes.
There were 24 entries in today’s competition.
The event may be one of the best kept secrets on the fairgrounds and is open to anyone who wants to sit and enjoy a home-cooked lunch.
“I don’t want to divulge the secret but there is a lot of good food here,” said fair board Director Doug Michaelis. “I like samples, and this is the best place to go for that.”
