05/30/05 Beef Cook Off entries evaluated

American Rancher May 30, 2005 Entries for the 2005 National Beef Cook-off, a major showcase for creative beef recipes and dishes, were evaluated by a team of judges recently. Ginny Lee of Nebraska, the national chair of the beef cook-off, says the entries were very high quality. Lee: "There were about 25-hundred recipes and we felt like the recipes that came in this year were especially good. They were of good quality. They had a nice variety of choices of beef they used. We thought that the recipes would have a great amount of consumer appeal." Lee says the entries included a wide range of ethnic dishes and recipes that are kid-friendly and convenient for families were also prominent. She says paring the entries down to twenty finalists is a difficult but fun process. Lee: "It was just a wonderful process. Eight different people went through and judged the recipes. I think we have a pretty good cross-section of consumers. And I just wish everybody had the opportunity to do that." Finalists will travel to South Dakota in September. Lee: "The Cook-off this year will be held in Rapid City South Dakota and it will be September 19-21 and twenty contestants will be vying for 50-thousand dollars." The National Beef Cook-off is funded in part by the national Beef Checkoff Program, which is administered by the Cattlemen's Beef Board. Find out more at beefcookoff dot com. I'm Bob Hoff.