Beverly Campbell’s meatloaf cups and Madison Gay’s beef tenderloin were selected as the top dishes in the Chilton County Beef Cook-Off competition Tuesday.

“I have always enjoyed cooking,” said Campbell, a senior at Jemison High School. “I found the recipe for the meatloaf cups on Pinterest, and thought it would be something neat to try.”

Campbell’s three-tiered display of meatloaf cups are easy to assemble and taste “really good,” Campbell said.

The bottom portion of the cup is compiled of meatloaf baked in muffin tins, with the top portion consisting of a mashed potato topping with herb seasonings.

Campbell was the third place winner of the beef cook-off in 2013 and said she enjoys taking the time to research recipes and figure out how to make them.

The idea for Gay’s beef tenderloin came from her mom, who provided her with the recipe.

“This took me about four hours,” said Gay, a freshman at Jemison High School. “I love to cook.”

Students from Maplesville, Thorsby and Jemison high schools participated in the event, which helps train youth to become more involved in learning how to cook beef.

Alabama Cooperative Extension Agent Josine Walter led the program, which was held at Jemison Municipal Auditorium, and said this year’s attendance was higher than last year.

“We have 34 students here today, which is wonderful,” Walter said.

Although Walter said different factors could be attributed to the increase in attendance, she thinks it could be due to more families cooking at home as opposed to eating out for dinner.

“I think there has been an increase in interest from kids whose parents have learned the value of cooking at home,” Walter said. “I also think an increased interest in technology from popular things such as Pinterest or Facebook make it fun for kids to try out different recipes.”

Although the majority of participants in the cook-off on Tuesday were female, several male students also provided dishes and participated in the activities.

Six judges were on site to taste the dishes, which were judged according to flavor intensity, healthfulness and nutrition, appearance and palatability.

The Alabama junor/senior high beef cook-off was originally started in 1961 by the Alabama CowBelles.

The organization is now known as the Alabama Cattlewomen’s Association.

The event started as a cooking contest but sparked enough interest in high school home economics students and teachers that the CowBelles started holding competitions in each county.

The winners from each county move on to compete in a state beef cook-off competition each year

Those participating in Tuesday’s event were required to find a recipe with beef as one of the ingredients, cook the dish and present it to judges.

Sonja Horn helped judge the dishes and told the students she thought all of the entries were “amazing.”

“I don’t know much about beef other than going off of taste, but I thought all of the dishes were fabulous,” Horn said.

While the judges tasted the dishes in a separate room, students participated in a beef quiz competition and built free-standing towers made out of spaghetti noodles and marshmallows.

Walters encouraged the students to work together as a team, and said the pasta used in the project would also be used in many recipes with beef.

Top winners for the cook-off included:

Junior Division (grades 7-9)

•Amber Ward won honorable mention for her hickory stuffed bacon burgers recipe.

•Taylor Price won third place for her lasagna dish.

•Alyssa Benton won second place for her beef pasta shells.

•Gay was the first place winner for her beef tenderloin recipe.

 

Senior Division (grades 10-12)

•Nikki Mims won third place for her mini baked steak burritos.

•Jarrett Price won second place for his applewood smoked beef ribs recipe.

•Campbell won first place for her meatloaf cups.