Highs and lows: Wholesome, fatty foods claim victories in Top Chef cook-off

A spring salad with broccoli and green and red grapes made by Larry Ellis of the Courtyard and Hog Heaven Potatoes made by Hill-Ray’s Betty Edinger tied as the best dishes at the first ever Top Chef cook-off Sunday at Hill-Ray Plaza.

Nine local chefs cooked up their best dishes for some 80 diners who feasted on and judged their work at the contest, a feature of the Pullman Art Walk and the area Art Drive, put on by the Pullman and Colfax Chambers of Commerce.

The nutritional content of the two winners could not be further apart.

Ellis’ light spring salad was chock full of tiny bits of broccoli and fresh grapes. He and fellow cook Carla Root came up with the recipe about five or six years ago to serve at the Courtyard assisted living facility.

“The residents here; they just love it,” he said.

Edinger, too talked about the nutritional value of her Hog Heaven Potatoes.

“Very low fat,” she said, after listing off ingredients like sour cream, cream cheese, bacon, cheddar and, of course, butter.

“And then I stuck a little potato in there,” she laughed.

Ellis also grabbed the second favorite dish from the festivants with his date pudding dessert. Top Notch owner Pete Koener grabbed the three slot with his BBQ pulled pork sliders with slaw and special sauce, while the Moroccan orange-spiced chicken served up by Keith Rawls of Food Services of America placed fourth.

In all, the chefs prepared 17 delicacies that were laid out buffet-style in the Hill-Ray dining room.

Along with the Top Chef set-up, the room was decorated with art work by local painters Vicki Broeckel, Cheryl Lothspeich and Janice Behymer. Several authors from the area also signed books at Hill-Ray.