The Washington times., 1909-03-28
RECIPES PRAISED,
PRIZES AWARDED
Chahng Dishes Given TO
Mrs. E. Y. Benner and
Miss F. E. Blake.
MENU CONTEST ON;
RULES ANNOUNCED
Two More Premiums Will Be
Offered and Same Chef Will
Act as Judge.

W. 1SAitSL OtSiidNtS. klle + IGllCu EItl
I. of Demonet's, has selected the winners
in the chafing dish recipe contest for
the past week. They are Mrs. NJ V.
Benner, of All Second street southeast,
and Miss Frances e. Blake, of 3112 o
street northwest. OF the hundreds of
good recipes received. all of which
were carefully scrutinized by NJ. De-
shayes. those submitted by Mrs. Benner
and Miss Blake have been selected by
him as worthy of the highest honors,
and the two handsome nickel plated
chatting dishes of latest design will be
presented to them.
So successful has the contest been
that it has been decided to hold
luncheon menu contest this week, with
two more equally valuable and hand
some chafng dishes as the prizes. Those
who have taken part in the first weeks
contest are eligible to send in menUs
for the coming week. NJ. Deshayes has
consented to act again Judge.
Each menu Will be presented to him
and the ones selected by him from day
to day as among the best will appear in
these columns. It may be that the al
loted space will not accommodate all
of the best ones, but as many as 1t
viii hold will be published daily. At
the end OF the week the best two Of
all will be announced, and to their
writers will be given the chafing dishes.
AS during the past week every contes-
tant will be given equal consideration.
Each menu will be considered strictly
upon its merits
Chahng Dish Ignored.
While the recipes received gave evil
dsnce OF an intimate knowledge OF the
culinary art on the part of their
authors. there was also a great diver
sity of opinion among them as TO what
constituted a chafing dish recipe. in
some cases the chafng dish was COM
pietely ignored, as when a writer direct
ing that the ingredients be put in
pan and placed in the oven until
brown In other cases the quantity
of food TO be prepared was so large
that several chafing dishes would have
been required TO prepare it. One recipe
called for half a dozen pounds OF meat
alone, not TO mention other accom-
paniments which made The bulk enor-
nous.
In order that there may be a clearer
understanding among contestants dur
ing the second week on these points,
NJ Deshayes explained today the way
in which he selected the winners
Il have been greatly interested, saio
he, lin reading over the chafing dish
recipes and have endeavored to decide
the contest in The Washington Times
with the idea always in mind of find
ing among the hundreds of recipes the
best two, judged on the following
points:
First 1 have looked for the recipe
that was adapted TO the limited field
in which the chafing dish can be used:
namely, for the cooking Of light dishes.
II is absurd 10 try TO get the best re-
suits from a chafing dish with recipe
fat would require a least a small
gas range to prepare. The recipe that
did not conform with this idea I dis
missed at once. So tnen il must be
borne in mind that the field for good
culinary work with a chahng dish is
limited
Second, have considered the merits
of a recipe from the standpoint OF
being entirely and completely prepared
on the chating dish For this reason / |
rejected those where preliminary cook
ing was necessary, as in the case of |
one recipe for terra pin stew which 7 /
could rot consider for the reason that
the chating dish played only a final !
szrt in its preparation.
Should Be Simple.
Third. / considered the compreben-
slVeness or the recipe; that is, 1 consid- !
cred that The Times contest was to Sc
cure not only the recipe for a dish that
could be prepared on a chafng dish. but
one that did not require a too expert
knowledge of cookery on the part of
the one preparing it. In other words. |
at this point 1 looked for a recipe that /
Would not be, so 70 speak, toe compli-
Gated or. so TO speak, technical
When this point was reached in the /
wedding out process, / mad A number 1
OF good recipes to select from
Fourth. I considered whether or nS~
the recipe was practicable. For illus /
tration, when the writer Of a recipe di- /
rected placing a lump Of butter and
onions in the chafng dish until brow
and then adding Jumps OF chicken. leav-
ing them with the onions also until
brown, this was palpably bad Judgment
For, the onions would be really spoiled |
before the chicken was properly brown
ed, and the preparation ruined
Applying these tests, / gradually Sc
gregated what I considered the best re-
cfpes from the others. and then TO the
best OF my judgment decided which two
! considered entitled TO the prizes