Lentil Festival names five cook-off finalists

Tase T. Lentil, the long-standing Lentil Festival mascot, waves to the Albion Parade crowd on the Fourth of July. Lentils will be used in recipe creations at the National Lentil Festival Legendary Lentil Cook-off Aug. 22.

Finalists have been chosen for the 2015 National Lentil Festival Legendary Lentil Cook-off.

Festival Director Alexandria Anderson said 109 recipes from 23 states, Canada and England were received.

Recipes were screened and rated in six categories: preparation ease, flavor, texture, creativity, appearance and lentil use. Recipes were limited to a maximum of 15 ingredients and also needed to contain either one half-cup of dry lentils or one cup of cooked lentils.

The finalists are Judith Perkins of Sonoma, Calif .; Helen Fields of Paradise, Texas; Hidemi Walsh of Plainfield, Ind .; Claudia McCarty of Victoria, Texas, and Marissa Rudley of Moscow.

The five finalists will go before a panel of local celebrity judges on Saturday, Aug. 22, at 3 p.m., as well as 100 festival attendees. The first place winner will take home $2,000 and be crowned with the Lentil Festival chef's hat. Second and third place will receive $1,000 and $500, respectively.

The first 100 festival attendees to line up around 2 p.m. will receive a voting token and be allowed to sample all five recipes and choose their favorite. That winner will receive the People's Choice Award prize of $100.

The celebrity judge panel includes Jessie Hunter of the USA Dry Pea & Lentil Council; Heather Niccoli, editor in chief of Home & Harvest Magazine; Nathan Deen, assistant attorney general at WSU; Tony Thompson, Culver Hospitality relations manager for the WSU School of Hospitality Business Management, and Jennifer K. Bauer, reporter at the Lewiston Tribune and Moscow-Pullman Daily News.

The finalists will make their recipes with groceries supplied by Dissmore's and lentils supplied by Palouse Brand. Recipes being prepared for the competition are lentil lettuce wraps with caramelized onions (Perkins), garden burst lentil salad (Fields), baked lentil risotto (Walsh), marinated lentil salad (McCarty) and lentil skillet crisp with jeweled apples (Rudley).

Anderson said there are always unique recipes received, and this year was no exception. She said the most interesting recipe this year was spicy sriracha lentil and salmon towers, made by Fiona Green of Keller, Texas.

Anderson said the 2015 National Lentil Festival Cook-off recipe book is now in the works, and it will be available for sale at the festival for $5. It will include all 109 recipes submitted for the competition. The leftover copies of the 2014 edition, featuring 114 recipes, will also be on sale for $1.