Judges for the Florida Tomato Committee's 2007 "Best of the Best" Recipe Contest recently announced the top four winners for the US and Canada. John Hannon, a June 2007 graduate of The CSCA's Professional Chef's Program, received second place in the contest for his "Reconstructed BLTs." Hannon received a $1000 cash prize and national publicity for his efforts.

John competed against culinary student entries from schools across the United States. Entries were judged on taste, appearance, originality, ease of preparation, and the importance of tomatoes in the dish. The committee plans to publish the recipes to promote the use of Florida tomatoes. John's name will appear with his recipe. An article about the recipe contest was featured in the July 3 issue of The Produce News.

Selected to represent The CSCA during a student competition held at the School in March, Hannon created a pecorino-Romano and panko crusted slice of Florida tomato, topped with sun-dried tomato aioli, crispy pancetta, diced tomato, and basil. CSCA chef/instructors judged the student entries based on the criteria established by the Florida Tomato Committee for recipe submission, choosing Hannon's dish over a handful of student submissions. Student contestants were encouraged to use fresh tomatoes as the central ingredient in an appetizer, salad, main dish, side dish, sandwich, and baked goods.

Hannon is the second CSCA student to place in the Florida Tomato Committee "Best of the Best" Recipe Contest. April Beané '05, graduate of the Professional Chef's Program, also received a second place for her "Fiesta Shrimp and Tomato Gazpacho with Mango-Tomatillo Salsa" in 2005.

The judging panel for the national contest included Rob Bleifer, executive chef at the Food Network; Nancy Burgos, a food consultant with JC Food Consulting in New York City; Scott Campbell, a chef and consultant; Molly Gise, an editor of a national food publication; Chef Alex Guarnaschelli of Butter Restaurant in New York City; Jason Stemm, senior account manager at Lewis & Neale Inc., the public relations firm in Manhattan that hosted the event; and Joanne Hayes, Claire Lewis, and Janet Budhram, recipe testers and developers, and test kitchen assistants at Lewis & Neale.

The winners of the contest are as follows:

First Place: "Tomato Bisque with Goat Cheese Flans and Fresh Compote" by Jared Braithwaite, Culinary Institute of America

Second Place: "Reconstructed BLTs" by John Hannon, The Cambridge School of Culinary Arts

Third Place: "Spicy Grilled Steak with Fresh Tomato Relish" by Brian Radford, American River College

Fourth Place: "Pasta Filled Tomato Bowl" by Michael Goller, Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts