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Cookie season has passed in Minnesota. But, thanks to the amazing chefs from fine area restaurants in and around Rochester (March 25) and Mankato (March 27) who participated in Cookie Creations, cookie-lovers can enjoy their favorite snacks in a whole new way… as delectable appetizers, entrees, drinks, and desserts.
The following represent the best of show at the event and just a sampling of the delectable appetizers, entrees, drinks, and desserts enjoyed. Click on the links below to download copies of the recipes. Or take home more recipes by purchasing a cookbook for $20.
ROCHESTER
- Best Appetizer - Jason Mills from Metro Grill at Radisson Plaza Hotel (Rochester) – “Lemon Battered Shrimp With A Citrus Beurre Blanc ”
Recipe for Lemon Battered Shrimp With A Citrus Beurre Blanc
Ingredients:
- Shrimp, large, butterfly
- 1 box - Lemon Chalet Cremes
- 1 cup - Heavy cream
- 2 cup + 2 heaping tbl - Flour
- Lemons, whole
- 1 tsp - Sea salt
- 6 tbl - Butter, melted
- 1 bottle - Sauvignon Blanc, ½ for recipe, ½ for consumption
- To taste - Garlic, cloves, minced
- Canola oil
- Fresh saffron
Directions:
Start by grinding Lemon Chalet Cremes into a mixing bowl. Add heavy cream and 2 heaping tablespoons of flour. Mix until it has reached the consistency of pancake batter. Add salt, 1 teaspoon butter, and zest from 2 lemons and continue to mix.
Pour remaining flour on to any plate. Hold shrimp by tail, and dip into batter, placing them onto floured plate, place shrimp into canola oil on med-high heat until golden brown.
To make Beurre Blanc, combine wine, garlic, juice of 2 lemons, and saffron in stainless-steel pot. Bring to simmer and reduce. Add cream and reduce by half. Turn the heat to high and whisk in butter, 5 tablespoons total, one tablespoon at a time until all butter is well incorporated. Finish with a hand-held mixer.
Serve shrimp tail-up on a plate, drizzle with Beurre Blanc.
- Best Drink - Josh Sudemeier from Avocado's World Bistro (Rochester) – “Thin Baileys Mint Milk Shake”
Recipe for Thin Baileys Mint Milk Shake
Ingredients:
- Thin Mint Cookies
- Ice, scoops
- 2 ½ - Banana Rum, shots
- White Chocolate Liqueur, shots
- 2 ½ Bailey’s Irish Crème, shots
- Banana, whole
Place all ingredients in blender and blend for 30 seconds. Pour in margarita-style glass and serve.
- Best Entrée - George Psomas from Mac's Café (Rochester) “Greek Chicken Over Rice”
Recipe for Greek Chicken Over Rice
Chicken
Ingredients:
- 1 - Box Lemon Crème Chalets, separate filling from cookie
- 4 - Chicken Breasts
- Bread crumbs from 5 slices bread
- 1 tbl – Oregano
- 2 - Eggs
Directions:
Preheat Oven to 425. Create the egg wash for the chicken using 2 eggs. Crumble cookies finely, mix with oregano and breadcrumbs. Dip chicken into egg wash, then into crumble mix
Pan sear lightly, then transfer to oven for 20 minutes or until chicken juices run clear.
Rice
Ingredients:
- 4 cups - rice
- 1 tbl - garlic
- 2-3 tbl - Parsley flakes
- 1 tbl - powdered chicken bullion
- 1 cup - olive oil
Directions:
Make rice following package instructions. Rinse through a strainer under cold water when done. In a bowl, mix rice with garlic, parsley, and bullion and oil. Heat and serve under chicken, sauce over chicken.
- People's Choice - George Psomas from Mac's Café (Rochester) “Mintziki Sauce” (recipe not publishable, visit Mac’s Café to try this.)
- Best Dessert - Chris Rohe from Prescott's (Rochester) – “Blood Orange Cheesecake”
Recipe for Blood Orange Cheesecake
Ingredients:
Crust:
- 2 cup - Lemon Chalet Cremes, crumbled
- 1 tsp - Butter, salted
Cheesecake:
- 1 lb - Cream cheese, room temp
- ½ cup - Brown sugar
- Blood oranges, juiced and zested
- 2 tsp - Butter
- 1 tsp - vanilla
- 1 tbl - Flour
- Eggs
- 1 tbl - Citron vinegar (can substitute lemon juice)
Compote:
- Blood oranges, segmented
- 1 tbl - Ginger, fresh, minced
- ½ cup - Sugar
Directions:
Preheat Oven to 350°
Crust:
Mix and put into spring form pan. Bake 8 minutes. Place pan of water in oven to add moisture to crust as it bakes. When crust comes out of the oven, reset oven temp to 275°
Cheesecake:
Mix cream cheese and brown sugar until blended. Add juice and zest, butter and flour, and mix well. Add eggs, one at a time, scraping sides after each. Add vanilla and vinegar. Pour into crust and bake at 275° until set, about one hour.
Compote:
Mix all and bring to a simmer in a sauce pan until sugar is dissolved and thickened slightly. Dress plate and drizzle over cheesecake when serving.
- Golden Samoa - Dean Dickie from Paradise Pete's (Rochester) – “Chicken Satay”
Recipe for Chicken Satay
Ingredients:
- 2-4 oz - Chicken breast, grilled & thinly sliced
- 2-4 - Lettuce leaf
- 1 box - Do-Si-Dos
- ? cup -Water
- 3 tbl - Soy Sauce
- 2 tsp - Lime juice
- 2 cloves - Garlic, fresh
- 1 tbl - Ginger, ground
- 6 tbl - Coconut milk
- ? cup - Brown sugar
- 2 tbl - Sriracha hot chili
- 2 tbl - Sesame Oil
- ¼ tsp - Salt
Directions:
Combine sauce ingredients and mix until smooth in food processor. Makes 1 quart. To assemble: lay one lettuce leaf down, lay chicken on top of it. Spoon one teaspoon of sauce over chicken, and roll. Secure with toothpick and serve.
A special thank you to all of this year’s sponsors.
Rochester Sponsors
Media Sponsors: Charter Communications, Cumulus Radio (Y-105 & KROC), and KAAL-TV (ABC 6)
Cash Sponsors: Little Brownie Bakers, Maguire Agency, Nancy Emerick, Ameriprise, Premiere Bank, U.S. Bank, Weis Builders, and Wells Fargo Bank
In-Kind Sponsors: Andy’s Liquor, Spectrum Pro Audio, Griggs, Cooper & Co, Johnson Brothers Liquor Company, Insty-Prints, Hart Photography, and Radisson Hotel
Participating Restaurants: Avocado’s World Bistro*, Best Western’s Shady Hill Grille, Blooming Grounds, Canadian Honker, Daube’s Bakery, Jaspers Alsatian Bistro & Wine Bar, Kahler Hotel’s - Lord Essex Restaurant, Let’s Dish!, Mac’s Café*, Marriott’s Grand Grill, Marriott’s Saints on 2nd, Mayo Clinic’s Sodexho Dietary, Paradise Pete’s*, Prescott's*, Radisson Plaza Hotel’s Metro Café*, Ramada Hotel’s Teresa's & Rookie's, Rochester Golf & Country Club, Roscoe's Barbeque, and The Jewel’s Sapphire Grill.
* Cookie Creations 2008 Award Winners
Silent Auction Sponsors: Arthur Murray Dance Studio, Commonweal Theater, Family Wellness Center, Home Improvement Professionals, Illusion Theater, Jaspers Alsatian Bistro & Wine Bar, Karen Brinkman, Mayo Clinic’s Sodexho Dietary, Rochester Repertory Theater, Rochester Symphony Orchestra, Theater in the Round, and Treasure Island Resort & Casino.
MANKATO
- 1st - Diane Kittelson from The Roadhouse Bar & Grill (Wabasso) - “Samantha’s Surprise”
Recipe for Samantha’s Surprise
Ingredients:
Crust:
- 30 Trefoils cookies, crushed
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup melted butter
Instructions: Mix and press into an 8x8 ungreased pan. Bake for 8 – 10 minutes at 375 degrees and let cool
Topping:
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 package vanilla instant pudding
- 2 ¼ cups milk
Instructions: Mix and spread evenly on cooled, top with eight ounces of thawed Cool Whip. Then top Cool Whip with four Samoa Cookies and drizzle with caramel. Cut and serve.
- 2nd - George and Karen Cottom from George’s Fine Steaks & Spirits (New Ulm) – “George’s Thin Minted Truffles”
Recipe for George’s Thin Minted Truffles
Ingredients:
- 1 box of Girl Scout Thin Mints, crushed
- 15 each Oreo Sandwich Cookies, crushed
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened
- 12 oz white almond bark
Instructions: Mix crushed Thin Mints, crushed Oreos, and cream cheese until well blended. Using your hands, shape into small balls, about one inch in diameter. Melt almond bark over double boiler; dib and cover balls with melted bark until completely coated; then place on wax papered tray. Refrigerate until chilled thoroughly with the bark-coating hardened. Store truffles in a covered Tupperware-type container refrigerated. Eat when necessary!
- 3rd - Jackie LeMay from Lemay’s Humphrey Street Grill (Lake Crystal) – “Trefoil Crusted Teriyaki Salmon”
Recipe for Trefoil Crusted Teriyaki Salmon
Ingredients:
4 – 6 oz Salmon fillets
1 tbl – Granulated garlic
1 tbl – Celery seed
1 tbl – Black sesame seed
2 tbl – Flour
2 tbl – Honey
Teriyaki Sauce and crème fraiche
Directions:
Grind Trefoils in food processor. Add/mix in garlic, sesame seed, celery seed, and flour. Salt to taste. Dredge fillets in above mixture. Drizzle sesame oil over fillets. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.
Plate salmon fillets over puddle of teriyaki sauce and drizzle crème fraiche. Garnish and serve with Bok Choy salad.
- People’s Choice – Tim Graves from Holiday Inn (Mankato) – “Mini Corn Dogs”
A special thank you to all of this year’s sponsors.
Mankato Sponsors
Media Sponsors: Three Eagles Communications - Country103.5, Breeze 93.5, KLGR 1490 AM and 97,7 FM, K101, Charter Communications, and Comcas
Participating Restaurants: Café’ Ambrosia – North Mankato , Best Webster’s at Best Western Hotel , in North Mankato*, Blue Bricks - Mankato, Charley’s – Mankato, George’s Steaks & Fine, Dining – New Ulm*, Holiday Inn Downtown – Mankato*, LeMay’s Humphrey Street , Grill – Lake Crystal*, McGoff’s Irish Pub – Mankato, Roadhouse Bar & Grill - Wabasso*, Turner Halle – New Ulm, Wabasha Creek Restaurant at Dakotah Ridge Golf Club, and Jackpot Junction Casino, Morton. * Cookie Creations 2008 Award Winners
Silent Auction Sponsors: Brave New Workshop, Karen Brinkman - Windom, Girl Scout Memorabilia , History Theatre, James Sewell Ballet, Jeune Lune, Jungle Theater, Manhattan Toy Company, Marriott Vacation Getaways, Ordway Performing Arts Center, Park Square Theatre, participating restaurant, Saints Baseball, Twins Baseball, and Vetter Stone Company.
In-Kind Sponsors: Insty-Prints, Chris Roelike Music, Best Western Hotel, and KEYC - TV
Proceeds from the event benefit local girl members of the Girl Scouts of Minnesota and Wisconsin River Valleys with thousands of leadership development programs and resources.
River Valleys thanks all of the participating chefs, Girl Scout members, and sampling guests for helping to make Cookie Creations a successful event.
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