Chandler Campos will be in charge of making breakfast at home from now on, according to her father.
Joe Campos made that pronouncement after his daughter, a fifth grader at Woodland Hills Elementary School, won the Future Chef competition on Friday with Chandler’s French Toast Muffin Cups. Chandler was one of 13 elementary school students who participated in the annual competition. She will advance to the national competition, where she will prepare the same dish.
Chandler said she did not expect to win the local contest with the breakfast dish that she and her mother created, which is a cross between French toast and a muffin.
“I really like breakfast and I like dessert,” Chandler said of the original creation.
“Breakfast is our favorite thing. We wanted to make something transportable. We thought about French toast and then thought why not blend muffins with it. We practiced at home a couple of times,” said her mother, Tiffany Campos.
The budding chef said the muffins, which are topped with maple syrup and powdered sugar, are her favorite breakfast food. She said she usually cooks a lot of dinner food, but not breakfast.
“I like that you can get your hands dirty and be creative,” she said of why she likes cooking. “I really just like cooking for fun.”
Chandler was not the only one surprised by her victory.
“I’m so happy and so excited. I knew what she made was good. I tried several of them (other entries), so I knew it was tough competition,” her father said.
Aminah Eldridge, a fellow fifth grader at Woodland Hills Elementary School, was one of those providing stiff competition for Campos. Eldridge, who competed last year, placed second this year with her Mexican Honey Cheesecake; she entered chicken pot pie last year.
“I chose this because my sister makes it,” she said of why she chose the dessert this year. “It’s one of her favorite dishes to make and I love my sister very much.”
Eldridge said she didn’t place last year, although the judges “said it was one of their favorite dishes. I love to cook very much. Last year was very interesting.”
Eldridge said she had made the Mexican Honey Cheesecake three or four times in preparation for the competition. Since presentation is part of the competition, Eldridge took great care with how she displayed her cheesecake.
First, she carefully spread some cinnamon in the center of a plate before circling the plate with a ribbon of honey. She said she would put more honey on top of the dessert.
“I’m going to put it on top as well, but put it around the plate so they can dip it,” she said. “It came out perfect.”
Orin Harroun, fifth grader at Hugh Bish Elementary School, also was a repeat contestant from last year. This year, in keeping with the theme of Passport to Flavor, he made his version of ono loco moco, which is a hamburger patty on a bed of rice topped with a sunny-side up egg. He said he discovered the dish on a trip to Hawaii and decided to enter it this year.
“Sometimes you can substitute hamburger meat for Spam,” he said, which is what he did because he doesn’t like Spam.
Harroun placed second in last year’s competition and decided to try again this year.
“I entered for fun. I wanted something to do and I got something to do,” he said as he chopped an onion. “I’m feeling pretty confident about it.”
Vicky Pettit, fourth grader at Whittier Elementary School, also was feeling confident about her Mexican casserole dish, which had a layer of crushed Tortilla chips topped with sour cream, olives, green onions, tomatoes and cheese.
“It’s like a taco but in a casserole,” she said.
She said her grandmother taught her to cook, and the two of them created the recipe. She had made the Mexican casserole three times at home before preparing it for the competition.
“I can add any ingredient,” she said as to why she enjoys cooking. “I like to wing it sometimes.”
Another entrant who was “winging it” was Jade Mankin, fifth grader at Sullivan Village Elementary School, who placed third with her 6 7 pizza.
“I’ve made it literally once. I made it last night,” she said of the recipe, which is her father’s. “My dad called it 6 7 pizza just to annoy me.”
Mankin started from scratch by making her own pizza crust, which she used a fork to poke holes in before adding the ingredients.
“If you don’t, then it will bubble up and push all the ingredients aside,” she said as she spread pesto on the dough before adding spinach, Feta cheese, grilled chicken and cherry tomatoes.
Mankin said she enjoys cooking, and her favorite dish to make is spaghetti.
“I don’t normally do a lot of homemade dishes. I do other stuff,” she said.
Future Chef is a national challenge to teach students about healthy foods and basic cooking skills. Recipes are judged on taste, kid friendliness, ease of preparation and presentation.
Judges were Ron Harrison, district chef from Sodexo; Matt Lewis, culinary chef at the Life Ready Center; and Patty Neuwirth, Lawton Board of Education member. Cafeteria cooks throughout the district served as sous chefs for the students.