SPUDS AND DAIRY CULINARY CUP 2019 AND MY VERY OWN CHEESY POTATO CROQUETTES

Dairy Dish of Chef Robby Goco and Miko Manzano of Lyceum University: Gougeres Trio -Chedder Fonduta, Avocado Ricotta and Buffalo Bleu Cheese.

  A few Fridays ago, the best of the best went head to head to participate in the SPUDS AND DAIRY CULINARY CUP 2019. Chefs and students partnered up to create amazing dishes that wowed the public. Through their creativity and experience, the cooking competition went above and beyond expectations.
Ten pairs made up of a professional chef and a culinary student worked together to plan and cook recipes from a meal category. It could be an appetizer, brunch, main, dessert, and bar food. They must come up with a potato dish and a dairy dish.

Potato Dish of Chef Kalel Chan and Jason Andrada of Tuloy Foundation-Don Bosco: Japanese Potato Souffle Pancke with Potato Flakes, Crusted Chicken and Potato Bacon Gravy

Here's the catch, the chefs can only guide, give tips, and taste the food. The students will do all the prepping, mixing, cooking, and plating. They were given 30 minutes for grocery shopping and a budget of Php 5,000. Afterwards, 1 hour and 30 minutes were allotted for actual cooking of their delicious dishes.

Chef Victor Barangan and his partner Ria Garcia of Enderun Colleges discuss their brunch recipes.

Excellent dishes were presented to the judges which included Mr Ryan Bedford - Agricultural Attache of USDA, Mr Rey Co - President of Hightower, Inc, Chef Sau Del Rosario - President of Culinary Pampanga, Ms. Nina Daza-Puyat - Lifestyle Columnist of Manila Bulletin, Chef Myrna Segismundo- Chairperson of National Food Showdown.

Chef Kalel checks his mentee Jason's deep fried tater tots.

 BUT, there can only be two winners.
The Best U.S. Potato Dish was created by Chef Victor Barangan and Ria Garcia from Enderun Colleges. They made the Potato Royale, Potato Foam, Potato Tuile,  Scotch Egg.  
The Best California Dairy Dish went to Chef James Antolin and Erik Roy San Luis from Center for Culinary Arts Manila.  They created the Mozarella Wrapped Salmon with Smoked Cheese Infused with Citrus Sauce, Grilled Vegetable Salad, Ricotta-Almond Crumbs and Potato Tuille. 
The winners went home with extravagant prices.  Chef Victor and Ria got Php 100,000 each for their amazing work. Chef James and Erik will be having an Immersion Program at the Culinary Institute of America in Napa Valley, California.
Overall, all the participants did well. Everyone was happy and the challenge produced unique, tasty, and artsy dishes. I believe the people from US POTATO and REAL CALIFORNIA MILK were delighted with what they saw that day and kudos to them for organizing a remarkable cooking showdown.

Because of this competition, I was a little bit inspired to make use of my "talents" to make a dish that would be perfect for an afternoon snack.

 I went ahead and made a CHEESY POTATO CROQUETTE. You would basically need a couple of eggs,  a cup of flour, 2 bars of butter, a cup of bread crumbs, 3 cups of CALIFORNIA SUNSHINE MILK, salt and pepper to taste, REAL CALIFORNIA CHEESE,  and U.S. DEHYDRATED POTATO FLAKES.
I chose CALIFORNIA MOZZARELLA because of it's light, milky flavor and soft chewy texture. You could be able to use other cheeses depending on your preference. You need to set aside roughly half a bar and cut it into small cubes. The rest of the cheese needs be grated to make a cheesy dip. Quick tip: always look for the REAL CALIFORNIA MILK seal for top quality dairy.

For the potato base, I went ahead with roughly 250 grams of US DEHYDRATED POTATO FLAKES. Dehy is easy to use and store that's why I chose to us it over fresh potato. The yield and the quality of the end product is pretty good, too. (Also read: 5 Reasons to Bring U.S. Dehy Into Your Kitchen)

 

To rehydrate the potato flakes, I just combined 1,000ml of water and 100grams of butter. Heat it to a boil then remove from heat. I added a cup and a half of cold milk into the mix, then gently stir in the potato flakes. Remember though, do not whip. It really depends on you on how you would like the texture. Add more flakes if you want it to be heavier. You could add a bit of pepper or salt. To be honest, it doesn't need any because it tastes pretty good on its own.

U.S. DEHYDRATED POTATOES are usually available in baking supply stores. If you can't find them in shops near you, you may contact Potatoes USA PHILIPPINES via their Facebook Page.
Btw, if you're interested in frozen potatoes, U.S. FROZEN POTATOES like McMain, Simplot, and Lamb Weston are availabe in most supermarkets nationwide.
After rehydrating, the potato flakes would puff up. I took a couple of spoonful and could actually eat it on its own. Next stop is to make balls and insert those cube of cheese into them.

 You then make a cover for the balls. Envelop them with the flour then the egg and lastly the bread crumbs.

It should look something like this. You can actually do this ahead of time. Just place it in the refrigerator and deep fry it to create a golden brown color.

If you still want it to be cheesier. Use the remaining cheese and grate them. Add the leftover milk and put it on the stove. Let it melt until it has a liquid consistency.

After a few minutes, you have yourself a gooey and cheesy dip. Just remember to heat it up before serving to prevent it from solidifying.
Just be careful, everything would be extremely hot. The outer crispy coating would lead you to a soft and delicious mixture of potato and cheese.  The dip would just make everything cheesier!
It's really fun to play with U.S. POTATO and CALIFORNIA DAIRY. You could absolutely do a lot of dishes with them. From something simple as my CHEESY POTATO CROQUETTES to complex creations like the ones in the SPUDS and DAIRY CULINARY CUP. Now if you'll excuse me, it's time for me to enjoy my masterpiece.

Want to create your own potato and dairy dishes? Visit the Potatoes USA Philippines or the Real California Milk Philippines Facebook Pages to learn more about U.S. Potatoes and California Dairy.

Follow Real California Milk on Instagram @realcaliforniamilkphl
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