Italian Pork Burgers with Pecan Basil Pesto and Maple-Glazed Blueberry Pecan Cookie Bars have won Coast Packing Company’s first #LardLovers Recipe Contest. The Vernon, California, company released the results on December 12, 2017. The timing was deliberate, since the winners came out around December 8, the first unofficial National Lard Day.
That day is set to become official in 2018. Chase’s Calendar of Events lists December 8, 2018, as the first official National Lard Day.
The winners
The contest had two categories, savory and sweet. Dianna Wara of Washington, Illinois, took first place in savory with her pork burgers. Alesy Ortiz of Union City, New Jersey, came second with Winter Squash Sopapillas. Third went to Keith Landry of Lansing, Michigan, for a Tourtiere Pie.
In the sweet category, Tiffany Aaron of Quitman, Arkansas, won with her cookie bars. Mary Gosnell of Hot Springs Village, Arkansas, placed second with Apple-Raisin Baked Hand Pies. Shauna Havey of Roy, Utah, finished third with a Coconut-Chocolate Babka.
The sweet result changed after the first announcement on Friday, December 8. The original winner had entered a recipe that was already published, which broke the rule that entries be original. Coast screened entries for this, but that one slipped through. Then a social media follower flagged it, and Aaron moved up to first.
Each category paid the same prizes. First place earned a KitchenAid Professional 600 Series stand mixer worth about $600. Second earned a Le Creuset stoneware bakeware set worth about $250, while third received a Gotham Steel frying pan worth about $50.
How the judging worked
Coast staff picked the finalists for creativity, looks and how easy they were for a home cook. Staff then cooked every finalist recipe. After that, three judges chose the top three in each group by creativity, looks and flavor.
The panel was Evan Kleiman, host of KCRW’s Good Food; Gustavo Arellano, former OC Weekly editor and author of Taco USA; and Katherine Spiers, former LA Weekly food editor and host of the Smart Mouth podcast.
Spiers, who calls herself a burger expert, ranked the pork burger among the best she ate all year. Arellano finished his whole burger and even joked it could be the next In-n-Out. Kleiman, by contrast, singled out the hand pies for a crust as flaky as lard should make it.
Corporate chef Ernest Miller said lard always brings flavor and stays true to its roots.
Coast Packing was marking its 95th year in business. It is the leading supplier of animal fat shortenings, mainly lard and beef tallow, in the western U.S. It is also a founding member of the Healthy Fats Coalition.