Halkirk Young Farmers cook up a storm at Highland elimination competition
Young Farmers from Halkirk cooked up a winning dish to impress the judges at a Ready Steady Cook-style contest in Tain at the weekend.
Five teams battled it out at the elimination round in the Scottish Association of Young Farmers Clubs north region competition.
The Halkirk Young Farmers duo of Lyndsey Dunnet and Erin Mcguire created a premium steak mince burger served with smashed sweet potato fries, followed by a delicious cake that caught the judges’ attention.
The winners of the Ready Steady Country Cook regional heat will go onto the national finals which are set to take place in Stirling in February next year.
In the local contest, supported by Forbes Farm Fresh and judged by Gus Forbes (of Forbes Farm Fresh, near Nairn) and Paul Wilson, teams were given one hour to cook dishes using a bag of eight mystery ingredients.
Within the list of ingredients was quality steak mince, provided by Forbes Farm Fresh, peppers and cheese. Without the aid of recipe books, teams had to create their very own meals in a Ready Steady Cook-style competition.
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They were judged on all aspects of their cookery skills, including hygiene, technical skill and team work as well as the balance, taste, and appearance of the dishes prepared.
The tidiness and methodical prep score helped secure first place for the Halkirk pair, who scored 88 points out of a possible 100. They were very closely followed by Forss sisters Chloe and Alana Ross, who scored 87, with the other Forss team, Abbie Mill and James Swanson, coming third with 82 points.
Erin Hewitson and Alyssa Gunn of Bower scored an impressive 69 points, followed by Caitlin Coghill and Lexie Swanson who scored 61 points.
The judges praised all the teams for the excellent dishes they managed to create and were impressed with how well they worked together to make such a variety of tasty treats.
