SIDNEY — Three area chefs will select winners of the 31st annual Sidney Daily News Harvest-Holiday Cookbook Cook-Off when finalists take their prepared dishes to the cook-off Oct. 24 at the Crossroads in Hardin.
Michell Bridges, executive chef of Wilson Health in Sidney; Todd Uhlir, of Troy, owner of Basil’s on Market in Troy; and Adam Ruis, of Troy, head chef and kitchen manager of the Bridge in Sidney, will consider four entries in each of six categories before selecting category winners and a grand prize winner.
Uhlir served as a judge of the newspaper’s 2014 contest. He is a certified Chef de Cuisine. He trained at the top restaurants in the greater Cleveland area before taking over as executive chef of the Troy Country Club in 2004, where he worked until he decided to establish his own restaurant, which has been open since June 2014. He is vice president and secretary of the Greater Dayton Chapter of the American Culinary Federation and donates a great portion of his time to training young chefs and judging culinary competitions.
Bridges is certified by the American Culinary Federation as a culinarian and executive pastry chef. She is also ServSafe-certified, having passed the ServSafe Food Protection Manager Certification exam. In 2013, Bridges was named the Chef of the Year by the American Culinary Federation, Dayton Chapter.
Prior to joining Wilson, Bridges served as a chef instructor at Sinclair Community College in Dayton, where she taught culinary and bakery arts as well as menu planning and marketing. Bridges also has hands-on experience, having worked as the executive chef of Kent’s Wood Fired Steaks in Troy. In addition, she was the pastry and garde manger chef for the Bistro Off Broadway in Greenville and The Inn at Versailles in Versailles.
Bridges graduated from Sinclair Community College in Dayton with a degree in food service management. She also received associate degrees in applied science hospitality management and applied science culinary arts, also from Sinclair. Bridges obtained a Bachelor of Science in marketing and a Master of Business Administration from Wright State University.
Ruiz began his career as a dishwasher at Brookdale Senior Living in Englewood. During his five years there, he trained under several master chefs and achieved his ServSafe certification. He has been on the staff of the Bridge for two years.
To participate in this contest, home cooks have until 5 p.m., Sept. 25, to submit up to three recipes in each of the following six categories: main dishes; salads and sides; desserts; holiday traditions; appetizers and snacks; slow-cooker creations.
All recipes must be typed. They must include the names of the dishes, the categories their submitted in, complete lists of ingredients and instructions, and the names, addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses of the submitters.
Emailed recipes are preferred and can be sent to [email protected]. Recipes in hard copy can be mailed or delivered to the Sidney Daily News, 1451 N. Vandemark Road, Sidney, OH 45365.
For information, call 937-538-4824.
