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KFC: National Search for Unique Side Dish


Gifted Gourmet

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KFC: The contest

LOUISVILLE, Ky.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 29, 2004--Celebrate your creative achievements in the kitchen and enter the KFC® Search for America's Favorite Side Dish Recipe Contest. KFC, creator of some of America's best-loved side dishes, is looking to its customers to showcase their culinary talents with their best, most flavorful side dish recipes - one of which will win its creator $5,000 plus the chance to have their recipe served up at their local KFC.

Perhaps my sidedish should be Gifted Gourmet's Grits'n'Greens? Southern enough to please the Colonel? :wink:

What would you like to submit as a possible sidedish for the contest? :rolleyes:

Edited by Gifted Gourmet (log)

Melissa Goodman aka "Gifted Gourmet"

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Certainly not for a mere $5000. After taxes that would be lunch money.

Gah, I wish I led the style of life you do where that becomes lunch money ;).

He don't mix meat and dairy,

He don't eat humble pie,

So sing a miserere

And hang the bastard high!

- Richard Wilbur and John LaTouche from Candide

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Gosh... seems like a daunting task. Think of a side dish that will stand up to greasy, salty chicken parts, AND maintain under heat lamps/over steam trays for days at a time. :raz:

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Look, if you will, for just a moment at what they are currently using as sidedishes:

Mashed Potatoes w/ gravy

Potato Wedges

Macaroni & Cheese

Corn on the Cob

BBQ Baked Beans

Salads and Cole Slaw

Potato Salad

All good reliable, over-salted starches ... anything else seem feasible? Something that can be eaten with that damned spork that they used to offer? And whatever became of those "wetnaps"?? :rolleyes:

Melissa Goodman aka "Gifted Gourmet"

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KFC can have this one from me for free: pico de gallo/salsa fresca.

Chopped tomatoes and onions, a little lime juice, some fresh cilantro, a touch of garlic and a little bit of jalapeno pepper for heat... nothing simpler.

Salsa, in one form or another, is now the most popular condiment in America. A small dish of pico/salsa fresca is very refreshing as a cold salad, great with chicken whether roasted or fried. It would even go with their godawful honey-coated wings.

And you can eat it with a spork.

enrevanche <http://enrevanche.blogspot.com>

Greenwich Village, NYC

The only way to keep your health is to eat what you don't want, drink what you don't like, and do what you'd rather not.

- Mark Twain

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Look, if you will, for just a moment at what they are currently using as sidedishes:

Mashed Potatoes w/ gravy   

Potato Wedges   

Macaroni & Cheese

Corn on the Cob   

BBQ Baked Beans   

Salads  and Cole Slaw     

Potato Salad

All good reliable, over-salted starches ... anything else seem feasible? Something that can be eaten with that damned spork that they used to offer? And whatever became of those "wetnaps"?? :rolleyes:

Greens - with some sort of pork or (only if pork is to be avoided for religious and/or vegatrian issues) lots of garlic.

Edited by bilrus (log)

Bill Russell

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How about something on the sweet side, like a glob of marshmallow-topped yam souffle? or a cranberry-orange relish using mandarin oranges?

Enrevanche: never give away your recipes for free! They want to pay $5000, which is a drop in the bucket (bad pun, sorry! :laugh:) so why say no??

Seriously, I would love to see one of us eG posters win this and get some national recognition for eG ... :biggrin::biggrin:

Melissa Goodman aka "Gifted Gourmet"

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It also has to be something that can be made from a mix of sorts with pictorial instructions. nothing harder than adding 2-3 parts. Stovetop stuffing comes to mind.

Edited by WHT (log)
Living hard will take its toll...
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It also has to be something that can be made from a mix of sorts with pictorial instructions.

For this KFC ain't gonna fork over $5000 ... perhaps spork over is more fitting? :rolleyes:

Melissa Goodman aka "Gifted Gourmet"

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How about something on the sweet side, like a glob of marshmallow-topped yam souffle? or a cranberry-orange relish using mandarin oranges?

You know, I'm kinda surprised that they don't have those already. That's a pretty good idea.

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Okra.

Slimy manky okra.

Comes in a styrofoam bowl with a straw.

"I've caught you Richardson, stuffing spit-backs in your vile maw. 'Let tomorrow's omelets go empty,' is that your fucking attitude?" -E. B. Farnum

"Behold, I teach you the ubermunch. The ubermunch is the meaning of the earth. Let your will say: the ubermunch shall be the meaning of the earth!" -Fritzy N.

"It's okay to like celery more than yogurt, but it's not okay to think that batter is yogurt."

Serving fine and fresh gratuitous comments since Oct 5 2001, 09:53 PM

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[Greens - with some sort of pork or (only if pork is to be avoided for religious and/or vegatrian issues) lots of garlic.

They used to have greens, at least where I grew up. I think macaroni/pasta salad would be a good one. It could be made in mass quantities and kept cold in miniature buckets.

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I am thinking that with all the bad press on fast food, they are going to need to have some offerings to assuage the soccer moms' guilt.

What about southern style green beans? (Didn't they used to have those?) Those could be made ahead in a commissary and should freeze quite well. You would probably have to leave the pork products out but I have successfully substituted concentrated chicken stock before when a no-pork guest was at hand. Wasn't too bad.

Sweet potatoes are a good idea. Add some cinnamon and nutmeg and you probably have a winner. They can be had in huge quantities in dehydrated form.

How about individual fruit cobblers, heavy on the fruit, light on the sugar? That is another one that can be pre-made and shipped in frozen. Or you could do a baked apple thing without the crust.

Then there are the typical southern casserole dishes that would lend themselves to pre-packaging: brocolli with rice and maybe cheese, squash with cracker crumbs, corn puddings.

Linda LaRose aka "fifi"

"Having spent most of my life searching for truth in the excitement of science, I am now in search of the perfectly seared foie gras without any sweet glop." Linda LaRose

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Fried okra in tomato sauce, baby.

But do those okra pods have true girth? The ones I despise are the stewed pods, flaccid from overcooking and slimy and drippy ... this is not supposed to be sexually explicit, merely food porn at its lowest .. :rolleyes:

but I seriously hate okra with a passion .. in any form ... overrated vegetable if there ever was one ... :hmmm:

Melissa Goodman aka "Gifted Gourmet"

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Entries, which must include an original side dish recipe and photograph that have not been published elsewhere, will be judged on originality, fit with KFC's existing menu, quality of presentation and appearance.

Hmmm... These are some criteria to keep in mind.

Especially the publishing part. Anyone who is going to enter should probably be careful about any "publication" here, maybe even partial publication.

Originality is fine but I think you have to keep in mind what would "translate" to a fast food operation.

Fit with the menu is a no-brainer.

Presentation and appearance is somewhat baffling. What difference does that make since the final product will be plopped into a styrofoam cup? Maybe it is just a way to aid the judging. But I can see things like adding a little chopped red pepper to make it look better in that cup.

Corn bread dressing.

Linda LaRose aka "fifi"

"Having spent most of my life searching for truth in the excitement of science, I am now in search of the perfectly seared foie gras without any sweet glop." Linda LaRose

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but I seriously hate okra with a passion .. in any form ... overrated vegetable if there ever was one ... :hmmm:

Aw, you just ain't never had it fixed right.

Chop into 1/4" thick slices, dredge in cornmeal, and fry in a medium-hot iron skillet in a little melted shortening.

Them's good eatin'. Ripe yellow squash is also good prepared according to this method.

enrevanche <http://enrevanche.blogspot.com>

Greenwich Village, NYC

The only way to keep your health is to eat what you don't want, drink what you don't like, and do what you'd rather not.

- Mark Twain

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Corn bread dressing.

Yet another starch added to their already unappetizing potatoes 'n' gravy, baked beans, corn, and biscuit? :rolleyes:

Actually, I think you ought to enter it, irrespective of the other stuff they offer ....

headlines? Fifi Foodfinds: cornbread dressing to die for! :biggrin:

Melissa Goodman aka "Gifted Gourmet"

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Corn bread dressing.

Yet another starch added to their already unappetizing potatoes 'n' gravy, baked beans, corn, and biscuit? :rolleyes:

Actually, I think you ought to enter it, irrespective of the other stuff they offer ....

headlines? Fifi Foodfinds: cornbread dressing to die for! :biggrin:

Well... My version (actually my mother's that I finally wrote down) does have a lot of veggies in it. :wink:

Linda LaRose aka "fifi"

"Having spent most of my life searching for truth in the excitement of science, I am now in search of the perfectly seared foie gras without any sweet glop." Linda LaRose

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A healthy food at KFC?? :shock: What's this world coming to?? :laugh:

Reality check? Remember, they got clocked by the feds for claiming that their fried chicken was a "healthy addition to a balanced diet" or some such words. That is why I have a sneaky suspicion that they are after coming up with some sides they can make some real claims on and do a publicity blitz in the process. Are they doing this because they think it will be fun? NAAAAHH! But then, I am a cynic.

$5000 seems pretty paltry, though.

Linda LaRose aka "fifi"

"Having spent most of my life searching for truth in the excitement of science, I am now in search of the perfectly seared foie gras without any sweet glop." Linda LaRose

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