Six West Coast Regional Finalists Win $1,000, Move on to Finals of Foster Farms West Coast Chicken Cooking Contest

LIVINGSTON, Calif., Sept. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Washingtonians Marci Adelsman of Kent and Monica King of Vancouver; Californians Alexandria Boswell of La Jolla and Rebekkah Leber of Hayward; and Oregonians Russell Kool of Hillsboro and Timmy Baker of Eugene; have been named Regional Winners in the first-ever Foster Farms West Coast Chicken Cooking Contest. Three Regional Final Events were held this past week culminating yesterday with the Oregon competition at Le Cordon Bleu in Portland. Each of these Regional Winners received a $1,000 cash prize and will now compete at the Finals in person on September 17, 2010, at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone, in California’s Napa Valley. A $10,000 grand prize and a one-year supply* of fresh Foster Farms chicken will be awarded to the Contest’s grand prize winner.

During the three Regional Competitions held at Kathy Casey Food Studios (Seattle, Wash.) and Le Cordon Bleu (Sacramento, Calif., Portland, Ore.), panels of media judges selected their top picks based on contestants' use of fresh, local ingredients, including Foster Farms locally-grown, fresh chicken. For complete recipes visit www.fosterfarms.com/cookingcontest. Recipes competing for the grand prize include:

• Brown Rice Chicken Salad - Marci Adelsman, Kent, Wash.
• Balsamic Mushroom Chicken with Honey Goat Cheese - Monica King, Vancouver, Wash.
• Spinach Stuffed Chicken Breasts - Alexandria Boswell, La Jolla, Calif.
• Panko-Crusted Lemon Butter Chicken with Israeli Couscous Salad - Rebekkah Leber, Hayward, Calif.
• Basil Fontina Fondue Chicken Tenders - Russell Kool, Hillsboro, Ore. 
• Sesame Chicken with Chili Dip - Timmy Baker, Eugene, Ore. 

The six candidates beat out more than 2,000 home, amateur and professional chefs residing in California, Oregon and Washington who submitted their prized, original chicken recipes for consideration. Recipes featured fresh Foster Farms chicken and were inspired by local ingredients as a testament to Foster Farms' commitment to foods that are fresh, locally-grown and always natural.

"The selection of creative chicken recipes submitted was inspiring, and the competition was tough," said Ira Brill, director of communications for Foster Farms. "But in the end, the candidates' recipes that made it to the top were flavorful and made the best use of ingredients local to each region. We look forward to hosting the Finalists in Napa in just a couple weeks."

For more than 70 years, Foster Farms has been providing fresh chicken to West Coast consumers. The company remains family owned by the Foster family, and holds true to its commitment to fresh and natural poultry grown local to each region. The company works closely with more than 40 local, family-owned farms throughout Washington and Oregon to provide chicken to Pacific Northwest families and all California chicken is grown local to Southern California and Northern California regions by Foster family-owned farms.

About Foster Farms

Since 1939, West Coast families have depended on Foster Farms for premium quality chicken and turkey products. Family-owned and operated, the company continues its legacy of excellence and commitment to quality established by its founders, Max and Verda Foster. Foster Farms specializes in fresh, all natural chicken and turkey products free of preservatives, additives or injected sodium enhancers. Based in California's Central Valley, with ranches also in the Pacific Northwest, the company's fresh chicken and turkey are produced in or near each region served. Foster Farms also produces delicious pre-marinated, ready-to-cook and fully cooked products that meet the quality and convenience needs of today's home cooks, retailers, warehouse clubs and foodservice customers. The company's commitment to excellence, honesty, quality, service, and people is a source of great pride, and, a longtime family tradition.

* Grand Prize winner will receive 104 $10 vouchers good for fresh Foster Farms chicken.

SOURCE Foster Farms