Peter Pahk, Executive Chef at the Silverado Resort in Napa, CA wins Cervena Dish of the Year

Cervena Venison of New Zealand is pleased to announce the winners of their 2008 recipe contest.  Chef Peter Pahk, executive chef at the Silverado Resort in Napa, California takes top prize for his Cervena Venison Shabu Shabu, which will be featured on the menu at The Grill restaurant at the resort as part of its healthy choices selection.

The contest was expanded this year to include four additional categories, best appetizer, salad, and entree and the most innovative use of Cervena,  and each category is sponsored by a regional distributor of Cervena venison.  The winners are: 

 

• The Duncan & Co. Best Cervena Appetizer Award

Cervena Tapas:  roasted Cervena, crispy risotto cake, red pepper oil. 

Chef Chris Albano; based in West Springfield, Massachusetts.

Chris is a freelance chef who works at seasonal resorts around the world.  He created this winning dish while he was Executive Chef at Seven Restaurant, Whistler Ski Resort in British Columbia.   

 

• The Four Season Best Cervena Salad

Cervena Mango Raspberry Salad: avocado, goat cheese, candied walnuts.

Chef Diane Halferty, owner, Culinary Adventures, Corpus Christi, TX

 

• The Broadleaf Best Cervena Entrée

Cervena Venison 3X.

Chef Whitney Flood, owner, Bon Mélange Catering, Venice, CA

 

• The Mountain River Most Innovative Cervena Recipe

Cocoa Nib Crusted Cervena Venison with a black pepper and Strawberry Gastric. 

Chef Antoine Ware, Chef de Cuisine, Catalan Food & Wine, Houston, TX

All of the winning recipes can be viewed here

Innovative Entries from Chefs Across the US

Contestants were asked to create a Spring-inspired menu item with the loin, rack or Denver Leg cuts of the venison; the recipes were judged based on several criteria, including innovation and flavor, quality of plate presentation and recipe precision.  The contest was open to all professional chefs working in any area of the hospitality industry, including restaurants, corporate, catering and institutional.  The recipes were judged by Cervena Chef Ambassador Todd Gray, chef and owner of Equinox restaurant and executive chef of Market Salamander in Washington, DC  and Cervena Chef Graham Brown in New Zealand. 

Chef Todd Gray says, It is impressive to see how the quality of recipes and the level of innovation improve each year. Cervena has a rich red meat flavor, but because of its low fat content, it is an excellent protein to use in light, warm-weather preparations.  We are now seeing that chefs are creating four season dishes that take advantage of all of Cervenas qualities.