October 7, 2015 at 1:19 p.m.
Estabrook a finalist in America's Better Sandwich competition
Estabrook a finalist in America's Better Sandwich competition
Estabrook is competing in the Creative Classic category with her "Plum Good Grilled Chicken Salad Sandwich." A unique take on chicken salad, the sandwich features ground cherries.
Estabrook started entering cooking contests in 2000. "That was the year I first entered the Pillsbury Bake-off and I made the finals," she said. "After that I got into a contest cooking website that lists all the contests that are national, regional and how to enter, et cetera, and went from there."
Estabrook has won a number of contests over the years and loves the creativity of coming up with a new recipe.
"I started baking because I was always enamored with the Pillsbury Bake-off and when my kids were little we always used to have coffee clutches and things and I always liked to change recipes," she said, adding that she was in 4-H as a young girl for five years and took baking and sewing. "That kind of inspired me. My mother was a great Italian cook, but she did not bake. I worked in bakeries when I was in high school," Estabrook added.
Her sandwich recipe was inspired in part by a quiche recipe with chicken, grapes, and nuts. She liked the filling so much that she decided to make it into a sandwich.
Estabrook chose the fruits for the sandwich because the nuts and seeds are in the bread.
"I love ground cherries and I thought they would be really good in a salad. But you know, you can always use yellow cherry tomatoes and cut them up." Estabrook said. "Ground cherries are seasonal, at least around here, but if you can't get them, a yellow cherry tomato will work."
"Eating healthy was one of the criteria for this contest, too, that's why I substituted yogurt for part of the mayonnaise, and used a low-fat mayonnaise," she explained.
Most of all, Estabrook loves the adventure that comes with the contest cooking.
"It's a challenge," she said. "I've had a lot of fun with the contests in the past 15 years. I've met a lot of people, been places I never would have gone, cities and parts of the country, out west, New York twice. They pay your way to go to these bake-offs."
Sometimes she is allowed to bring a guest, and she has brought her husband as well as her sister along with her.
"My sister travels with me quite a bit, because for men, it gets a little bit boring," she explained.
Last year, Estabrook competed in the Pillsbury Bake-off for the third and last time.
Bakers are only allowed to enter the contest three times, she said. Estabrook made it to the finals and came home with a $5,000 prize.
"It made me feel good, it was nice," she said. "I started off small, and won with a cake."
To aspiring competitive cooks she suggests starting small and building up with experience.
"What I found is that I'm basically a home cook," Estabrook said. "When you start reading the more sophisticated magazines, then you learn about flavors and combining them, and a little bit more into the upscale recipes. I like to do that. I watch Food Network, I like 'Create' on Public Television."
Estabrook also likes "America's Test Kitchen" because it explains food pairings and how flavors balance with each other, she said.
"That's been really how I get inspired by my recipes. It's a hobby, and it's just grown." Estabrook said. "I love it and I can't wait for the next one."
Estabrook's next goal is to win a chili cook-off at Lambeau Field on Nov. 15.
The contest has several districts and eight cooks will be chosen to represent each district.
"If you make that contest, you will compete four hours before the game and get two tickets to the game," Estabrook said.
"To me, that's great. If you happen to win, then you go on to compete with the other winners for tickets to the Super Bowl." Estabrook said.
To view Estabrook's sandwich recipe, and to vote, visit www.americasbettersandwich.com.
Katie Perttunen may be reached at [email protected].
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