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Rodeo, cook-off conclude Fair
  
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By Andrew Amelinckx
Hudson-Catskill Newspapers
The Columbia County Fair’s final day included a cook-off featuring dishes incorporating local ingredients and a nationally-sanctioned rodeo, which included bronco riding and steer wrestling.
A crowd of culinary enthusiasts and cooks were at the fair in Chatham for the Columbia County Bounty cook-off. The Culinary Institute of America’s Master Chef Joseph DiPerri and several assistant chefs judged the dishes that were made, at least partially, with local ingredients. DiBerri said that everyone did an outstanding job and that he could tell there was love put into the dishes.
There were four categories—side dish, entrée, dessert and a youth category for those aspiring chefs 12 and under.
Two grand prizes, of $1,000 for the adult category and $500 for the youth category were also awarded.
Ginsberg’s Foods Inc., a local foodservice purveyor, sponsored the event.
“We feel very strongly about supporting and promoting (culinary events),” said Nancy Ginsberg, the company’s executive vice president.
She said her father-in-law, Morton Ginsberg, who passed away two years ago, always believed in giving back to the community.
The prize money for the event—the Morton A. Ginsberg Memorial—is given in his honor, she said.
The new youth division of the cook-off was done in honor of the company’s 100th anniversary, she said.
Ginsberg said she believes it’s important to teach children both about the culinary arts and about what they eat.
“We have to make them aware of what they’re putting in their little tummies,” she said. “And we hope they’ll grow up to shop at Ginsberg’s as well.”
The top honors went to Gail Wittwer-Laird, from Claverack for her Goat Cheese Gratin a Philmont.
“All the ingredients came from within a 20-mile radius, maybe even less,” she said. “Everything but the salt and pepper was local.”
Wittwer-Laird said she got all the ingredients from Hawthorne Valley Farm Store in Harlemville and at the Philmont Farmer’s Market, which she was quite exuberant about.
“It’s great,” she said.
She said that there were several new farms and vendors and that there is also live music there.
She numerated the ingredients, which included Ronnybrook Farm’s butter, Milk Thistle Farm’s cream, Bench 8 goat cheese and Hawthorne Valley Havarti cheese, which she said her kids, Ethan, 6, and Maxwell, 7, love.
“I put it in everything,” she said.
Not all the ingredients came from local farms.
“Some of the herbs and two onions came from my own garden,” she said.
Even the ramekins the dish was served in were local, being from Berkshire Pottery in Hillsdale.
Wittwer-Laird said the dish is versatile and that different seasonal vegetables could be substituted, from peas in the spring, to others.
“With goat cheese and caramelized onions you can’t go wrong,” she said, calling these ingredients the armature from which one could build the dish.
She said she hadn’t entered a county fair cook-off since her childhood in California. In that contest she entered an apple dish, made with her own apples. She won that time too.
Keeping the theme of food—and winning—in the family, Ethan won Thursday’s watermelon eating contest for his age group.
In the youth category Mikala Menegio-Stahl walked away with the grand prize.
The 10-year-old from Ghent, whose birthday is in three days, said she was very excited to have won.
“I thought I would win something, but I never thought I would win the grand prize,” she said.
She had never made the dessert named “Local Decadence”—described by her as a “Blondie with white chocolate chips topped with ice cream with raspberries and chunks of fudge”—before the competition.
She made both the Blondie and the ice cream.
“That’s why she won,” said DiBerri.
In the side dish category Michelle Haner from Chatham came in first with her sweet corn & truffle chowder; Deirdre Malfatto, also from Chatham, came in second with her herbed potato salad; and Sandi Kelly from East Chatham came in third with her bacon and potato torte.
For the entrée category Ericka Edwards’ “Ultimate Macaroni and Cheese” took first place; Michael Castellano from Valatie came in second with his Southwest chicken; and Chatham resident Beth Anne Rippel took third place with her butternut squash lasagna.
In the dessert competition Evie Ullman from Claverack won first prize for her apple spice gateau; Hudson’s Jessica Hatch came in second with glazed apple tarts; and Corinne Fayo of Valatie came in third with a caramelized peach almond tart.
The youth division saw Chatham’s Finn Green take the number one spot with a caramelized onion tart; Second place went to Ira Lynn of Hudson for a “Homegrown Pizza;” Lillian Witaszek of Ghent came in third for white cake with raspberry filling; fourth place went to Max Freeman of Valatie for his grilled-filet pizza; while Elishava Malfattoof from Chatham came in next with blondies; and T.J. Guilianelli-Dow of Niverville, won for TJ’s Fun Foods.
After all the winners were announced fairgoers were invited on stage to try the treats for themselves. The food went fast.
On the other side of the fair, roping, wrestling and bronco riding were keeping the crowds enthralled as the Painted Pony Rodeo got underway.
The Lake Luzerne based outfit is under the ownership of Shawn Graham, a former rodeo rider who broke his neck during an event and after recovering decided to own a rodeo, as opposed to riding in one.
This is the third year the rodeo has been featured at the fair. It included a number of traditional events, such as saddle bronc riding and steer wrestling and also featured a demonstration by Texas Kid" Rodney Hayes, who rides "Billy the Kid," a Brazilian Gir bull, with which he performs a number of tricks.
Hayes performs with Dusty Lynn Stockton, a seven-year-old cowgirl.
Of course a rodeo wouldn’t be complete without a rodeo clown and Dusty Barrett didn’t disappoint, from riding a pint-sized pony in the opening parade to catching stray riderless horses.
***
To reach reporter Andrew Amelinckx call 518- 828-1616, ext. 2267 or e-mail aamelinckx@registerstar.com
To comment directly on this story, go to www.registerstar.com.
A crowd of culinary enthusiasts and cooks were at the fair in Chatham for the Columbia County Bounty cook-off. The Culinary Institute of America’s Master Chef Joseph DiPerri and several assistant chefs judged the dishes that were made, at least partially, with local ingredients. DiBerri said that everyone did an outstanding job and that he could tell there was love put into the dishes.
There were four categories—side dish, entrée, dessert and a youth category for those aspiring chefs 12 and under.
Two grand prizes, of $1,000 for the adult category and $500 for the youth category were also awarded.
Ginsberg’s Foods Inc., a local foodservice purveyor, sponsored the event.
“We feel very strongly about supporting and promoting (culinary events),” said Nancy Ginsberg, the company’s executive vice president.
She said her father-in-law, Morton Ginsberg, who passed away two years ago, always believed in giving back to the community.
The prize money for the event—the Morton A. Ginsberg Memorial—is given in his honor, she said.
The new youth division of the cook-off was done in honor of the company’s 100th anniversary, she said.
Ginsberg said she believes it’s important to teach children both about the culinary arts and about what they eat.
“We have to make them aware of what they’re putting in their little tummies,” she said. “And we hope they’ll grow up to shop at Ginsberg’s as well.”
The top honors went to Gail Wittwer-Laird, from Claverack for her Goat Cheese Gratin a Philmont.
“All the ingredients came from within a 20-mile radius, maybe even less,” she said. “Everything but the salt and pepper was local.”
Wittwer-Laird said she got all the ingredients from Hawthorne Valley Farm Store in Harlemville and at the Philmont Farmer’s Market, which she was quite exuberant about.
“It’s great,” she said.
She said that there were several new farms and vendors and that there is also live music there.
She numerated the ingredients, which included Ronnybrook Farm’s butter, Milk Thistle Farm’s cream, Bench 8 goat cheese and Hawthorne Valley Havarti cheese, which she said her kids, Ethan, 6, and Maxwell, 7, love.
“I put it in everything,” she said.
Not all the ingredients came from local farms.
“Some of the herbs and two onions came from my own garden,” she said.
Even the ramekins the dish was served in were local, being from Berkshire Pottery in Hillsdale.
Wittwer-Laird said the dish is versatile and that different seasonal vegetables could be substituted, from peas in the spring, to others.
“With goat cheese and caramelized onions you can’t go wrong,” she said, calling these ingredients the armature from which one could build the dish.
She said she hadn’t entered a county fair cook-off since her childhood in California. In that contest she entered an apple dish, made with her own apples. She won that time too.
Keeping the theme of food—and winning—in the family, Ethan won Thursday’s watermelon eating contest for his age group.
In the youth category Mikala Menegio-Stahl walked away with the grand prize.
The 10-year-old from Ghent, whose birthday is in three days, said she was very excited to have won.
“I thought I would win something, but I never thought I would win the grand prize,” she said.
She had never made the dessert named “Local Decadence”—described by her as a “Blondie with white chocolate chips topped with ice cream with raspberries and chunks of fudge”—before the competition.
She made both the Blondie and the ice cream.
“That’s why she won,” said DiBerri.
In the side dish category Michelle Haner from Chatham came in first with her sweet corn & truffle chowder; Deirdre Malfatto, also from Chatham, came in second with her herbed potato salad; and Sandi Kelly from East Chatham came in third with her bacon and potato torte.
For the entrée category Ericka Edwards’ “Ultimate Macaroni and Cheese” took first place; Michael Castellano from Valatie came in second with his Southwest chicken; and Chatham resident Beth Anne Rippel took third place with her butternut squash lasagna.
In the dessert competition Evie Ullman from Claverack won first prize for her apple spice gateau; Hudson’s Jessica Hatch came in second with glazed apple tarts; and Corinne Fayo of Valatie came in third with a caramelized peach almond tart.
The youth division saw Chatham’s Finn Green take the number one spot with a caramelized onion tart; Second place went to Ira Lynn of Hudson for a “Homegrown Pizza;” Lillian Witaszek of Ghent came in third for white cake with raspberry filling; fourth place went to Max Freeman of Valatie for his grilled-filet pizza; while Elishava Malfattoof from Chatham came in next with blondies; and T.J. Guilianelli-Dow of Niverville, won for TJ’s Fun Foods.
After all the winners were announced fairgoers were invited on stage to try the treats for themselves. The food went fast.
On the other side of the fair, roping, wrestling and bronco riding were keeping the crowds enthralled as the Painted Pony Rodeo got underway.
The Lake Luzerne based outfit is under the ownership of Shawn Graham, a former rodeo rider who broke his neck during an event and after recovering decided to own a rodeo, as opposed to riding in one.
This is the third year the rodeo has been featured at the fair. It included a number of traditional events, such as saddle bronc riding and steer wrestling and also featured a demonstration by Texas Kid" Rodney Hayes, who rides "Billy the Kid," a Brazilian Gir bull, with which he performs a number of tricks.
Hayes performs with Dusty Lynn Stockton, a seven-year-old cowgirl.
Of course a rodeo wouldn’t be complete without a rodeo clown and Dusty Barrett didn’t disappoint, from riding a pint-sized pony in the opening parade to catching stray riderless horses.
***
To reach reporter Andrew Amelinckx call 518- 828-1616, ext. 2267 or e-mail aamelinckx@registerstar.com
To comment directly on this story, go to www.registerstar.com.
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