Contest: The Beef Checkoff Returns to National Harbor for the 4th Annual Wine and Food Festival on May 14 and 15

The Beef Checkoff, through the Northeast Beef Promotion Initiative (www.pabeef.org), is looking to spice up this grilling season with a challenge to chefs around the Beltway that will culminate in a cook-off in the Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner.™ tent at this year’s National Harbor Wine and Food Festival on May 15th.  I'll be there on the 14th presenting my "Spring is in the Air with Wine to Pair" demonstration as well.

Beginning today, professional chefs, caterers and cooks from the DC metropolitan area and Baltimore are invited to enter their signature recipe for a rub or marinade that spices up this local flank steak like no other. These must be original mixtures, and can be as simple or sophisticated as desired.

To enter the Spice My Steak contest, simply email the recipe (enough for an average sized flank steak) to SpiceMySteakContest@gmail.com along with a brief bio and a headshot of the participating chef. Deadline to enter is 5:00 PM on Friday, April 29th. Entries received with a timestamp after the deadline will not be considered for the finals. Full details on the contest are available upon request.

The chefs with the top four recipes, selected by the The Beef Checkoff Advisory Panel, will be given the opportunity to do a cooking demo of their recipe in the Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner.™ tent at this year’s National Harbor Wine & Food Festival on Sunday, May 15th.  Following each demo, the crowd will have an hour to taste that chef’s steak and rank it on a five-point scale. The chef with the highest average ranking will be declared winner of the Spice My Steak contest with bragging rights and prizes provided by The Beef Checkoff and Roseda Beef.