Beach woman is finalist in Pillsbury Bake-Off Contest

VIRGINIA BEACH

It’s a Tuesday afternoon, but at Stephanie Sawyer’s Virginia Beach condo it smells like Super Bowl Sunday.

That’s because Sawyer has her own game on, a spread of original appetizers fanned across her shining granite island.

There’s a bubbling Hot Pastrami Reuben Dip, Stuffed Hulapenos, a row of Buffalo Chicken-Phyllo Fingers. And just out of the oven is her MVP, pizza-like pies called Tapenade Flatbread Appetizers that might just win her 1 million bucks.

Sawyer is among the 100 finalists in the 44th annual Pillsbury Bake-Off Contest and the only finalist from Virginia.

Her winning entry is based on a muffuletta sandwich that had her swooning during a visit to New Orleans. But unlike the classic version – olive salad topped with Parmesan and Emmentaler cheeses and cold cuts – hers gets finished with Parmesan and goat cheeses, roasted red peppers and peperoncini.

It’s colorful, tasty and tantalizingly simple, but arriving at a contender for the $1 million recipe prize was anything but.

Three months separated the announcement of the contest and the deadline. Along the way were disasters and contenders  and some really tough calls.

Tasked with developing a recipe that used two or more eligible products – including slice-and-bake cookie dough, prepared pizza crust, refrigerator biscuits – the options seemed endless.

Sawyer tried pressing a pre-made sugar cookie dough into muffin tins and filling them with baklava – one of the disasters.

She turned to the pre-made pizza crust, which bakes thin and crispy, just the way she likes it. She experimented with spinach pesto toppings and goat cheese but kept remembering that New Orleans sandwich.

“I made muffuletta potato salad, muffuletta burgers,” Sawyer said, her voice drifting off.

Testings took place at weekend gatherings around the backyard tiki bar, which foodie friends built for her husband, Steve Sawyer, for his birthday.

“We’ve all gained weight for her,” said Laura Mason, a regular at the Sawyers’ house.

Stephanie Sawyer, a full-time flight attendant, is not new to the competitive cooking arena.

Her 30-minute Pork Pad Thai earned her $1,000 and inclusion in Southern Living’s 2007 annual cookbook.

That first time on the contest circuit – cooking on deadline among more seasoned competitors – wrecked her nerves.

“Every one of them was a 'contestor,’” Sawyer said, referring to people who enter scads of contests. “I was the only one with a full-time job.”

Now that Sawyer knows what to expect, she’s calmer, although she has started having dreams about not being able to find her cooking station or getting lost on the way to the cook-off.

But already she’s a winner. Finalist status brought her that blue Pillsbury apron she’s wearing in the picture, $125 cash, a new microwave and an all-expense-paid trip to Orlando, Fla., where the April 12 cook-off will take place.

If she returns from Florida a millionaire, she plans to retire after 20 years of flying. And maybe attend culinary school.

Lorraine Eaton, (757)446-2697, lorraine.eaton@pilotonline.com

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Tapenade Flatbread Appetizers
Makes 24 appetizers

1    cup pitted ripe olives
1    cup pimiento-stuffed green olives
4    cloves garlic, chopped
2    tablespoons capers
1/2     cup Italian (flat-leaf) parsley
1    teaspoon dried oregano leaves
1/4     cup Crisco 100% Extra Virgin Olive Oil or Pure Olive Oil
1    11-ounce can Pillsbury refrigerated thin pizza crust
1    cup grated Parmesan cheese
²/³ cup (4 oz.) crumbled chevre, or goat cheese
1/2 cup chopped drained roasted red bell peppers
1/2 cup sliced drained peperoncini  peppers

Heat oven to 400 degrees.

In food processor, place olives, garlic, capers, parsley and oregano. Cover; process with on-and-off pulses until coarsely chopped. With food processor running, pour oil through feed tube, and process until well-blended.

Spray large cookie sheet with cooking spray. Unroll pizza crust dough on cookie sheet; press into 15- by 10-inch rectangle. Bake seven minutes or until light golden brown.

Spread olive tapenade over partially baked crust. Top evenly with cheeses, red peppers and peperoncini peppers. Bake 8 to 11 minutes longer or until golden brown.

Cut into 24 squares. Serve warm or cool.

– Source: Stephanie Sawyer, Virginia Beach, finalist recipe in the 44th annual Pillsbury Bake-Off Contest

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Hot Pastrami Rueben Dip
Serves: 8

8 ounces thinly sliced pastrami, chopped
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
¼ cup spicy brown mustard
½ cup mayonnaise
1½ cups Swiss cheese, shredded, divided
1 cup sauerkraut, shredded and drained
¼ cup thousand island dressing
Rye crackers for serving

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place pastrami, cream cheese, mustard, mayonnaise and 1 cup of the shredded Swiss cheese in a mixing bowl. Stir until thoroughly combined. Spread mixture into bottom of 8- by 8-inch baking dish.

In another small bowl, combine the sauerkraut and thousand island dressing. Spread that evenly over the pastrami and cheese mixture in baking dish. Sprinkle remaining ½ cup shredded Swiss cheese on top.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until bubbly around the edges. Let sit 5 minutes before serving with rye crackers.

– Source: Stephanie Sawyer, Virginia Beach


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Stuffed Hulapenos
Serves: 8

16 large jalapeno peppers
8 ounces softened cream cheese
¹/³ cup pineapple, crushed and drained
½ cup macadamia nuts, coarsely chopped
3 scallions, chopped
1 teaspoon seasoned salt
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
¹/³ cup toasted coconut

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cut each jalapeno pepper lengthwise in half. Clean out seeds and veins.

Combine cream cheese, pineapple, macadamia nuts, scallions and seasoned salt in a bowl. Mix thoroughly.

Stuff each jalapeno pepper half with at least 1 to 2 teaspoons of the mixture and place in nonstick baking dish. Drizzle lightly with olive oil.

Bake for 25 minutes. Remove from baking dish and sprinkle with toasted coconut.

– Source: Stephanie Sawyer, Virginia Beach

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Buffalo Chicken Phyllo Fingers
Serves: 8

1 cup chicken breast, cooked and shredded
¼ cup celery, chopped
2 ounces cream cheese, softened
½ cup blue cheese, crumbled
½ cup white sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
¼ cup hot sauce
1 tablespoon sriracha Thai hot sauce (available in Asian markets)
1 teaspoon cornstarch
15 sheets phyllo dough, thawed
2 to 3 tablespoons butter, melted

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Place chicken, celery, cream cheese, blue cheese, cheddar cheese, hot sauces and cornstarch in a bowl and mix thoroughly.

Place 1 sheet of phyllo dough (about 9 by 14 inches) onto clean work surface. Spray phyllo sheet lightly with cooking spray, then gently fold over lengthwise to make a 41/2- by 14-inch rectangle. Cut in half to form two 41/2- by 7-inch rectangles.

Place 1 tablespoon of chicken filling at narrow end of rectangle, leaving a half-inch border. Fold each end to keep filling from leaking out and carefully roll into a cigar shape. Place on greased cooking sheet, seam side down.

Repeat process with remaining phyllo dough sheets to yield about 30 cigar-size rolls.

Lightly brush each top with melted butter, and bake for 25 minutes or until golden.

– Source: Stephanie Sawyer, Virginia Beach