Sophomore Thomas Bedward won the UCA Iron Chef competition on Thursday in Christian Cafeteria and won $100 Dining Dollars and a $25 Dick’s Sporting Goods gift card.
Sophomore Katie Diedrich won 2nd place along with $50 in Dining Dollars and senior Jammie Chen won 3rd place along with $25 in Dining Dollars.
The three contestants were accompanied by three chefs from UCA, who helped the students prepare their menu and cook their entrées. The chefs were Robin Flynn, hot food catering chef; Buddy Seals, cold food catering chef; and Noé Gomez, executive chef.
The students had two hours, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. to prepare the menu and present their finished entrée to the judges, who were executive chef Jason Knapp, athletic director Brad Teague and public safety commander Christopher Bentley. They were allowed to use any of the items in the pantry, which included meats, vegetables, cheeses and fruits, and they had to include the secret ingredient: pears.
There were only a few points separating contestants after the judges tasted each entrée and scored them accordingly. All of the judges said they were impressed with the talent the competitors have for cooking.
“It came down to use of the pears and presentation,” Teague said.
Chen was the first contestant to finish cooking and she and Seals made a sweet and spicy pear-marinated pork chop with assorted vegetables and a mixture of mashed potatoes and mashed cauliflower.
“Pear is pretty versatile and we chose the pork chop because it’s also pretty versatile,” Seals said.
Chen said she was nervous during the competition because she knew her competitors were also good cooks, but she said she had fun competing. Seals said he was nervous about only having two hours to cook and prepare the menu, but they ended up being the first team done with plenty of time left.
“I love Iron Chef and I love making food and eating food and being around food,” Chen said.
Diedrich and Flynn finished their entrée second, which was smothered chicken with sautéed pears, potatoes and red and green peppers, and sautéed carrots and squash and an orange and parsley garnish. Diedrich said they chose to make this entrée because it had “a little Southern flare in it” and they wanted it to be Southern to keep it close to the Arkansas tradition.
“Everybody likes chicken, so you can’t go wrong with chicken,” Flynn said. “Everybody loves chicken and potatoes.”
Bedward, who won the competition, was the last to finish his entrée with help from Gomez. They cooked pork stuffed with pear, jalapenos, onions and assorted herbs on a bed of sautéed carrots, squash, pear, red and yellow bell peppers and splash of white wine and mashed cauliflower with assorted vegetables. Bedward received an Iron Chef certificate along with his other prizes.
Knapp said it was a very tough decision and a very close match and made a comment that the competitors could be three potential hires. While the students had until 3 p.m. to present their meals to the judges, the last entrée was on the table well before that time.
“Everybody did a phenomenal job,” Knapp said.