ROCKPORT — The Maine Department of Education is promoting locally grown products in school meals by holding the first annual 2016 Maine Farm to School Cookoff. Susan Bovine, food service director for the Five Town CSD and School Administrative District 28 and Charles Butler, school nutrition director for RSU 13, schools  have teamed up to enter the competition to be held today, April 14, at the Capital Area Technical Center in Augusta.

The two will prepare two meals within a specific time frame using at least three ingredients that are grown, caught, raised or manufactured in Maine and meets National School breakfast and lunch requirements.

Their team name is Knox Rocks.

Butler will do breakfast, which will consist of a banana-berry smoothie along with maple-apple-oat muffin tops.

“In the smoothie I have Great Northern beets and Wyman’s blueberries,” he said. “For the muffins I have Maine apples, Maine maple syrup, local eggs and skim milk from Oakhurst Dairy.”

Unusual for a smoothie was the addition of beets, but it added a wonderful texture to the drink and blended wonderfully with the other ingredients. Butler has been at RSU 13 for seven years.

Susan Bovine prepared a Shepherd’s Pie, with local potatoes, local Aldermere Farm ground beef and local Beveridge Farm corn. She also is preparing a lemon-blueberry zucchini cake and apple/carrot slaw.

“I’ve blended zucchini, lemon zest and buttermilk,” she said. “I’ll add homemade applesauce, unsalted butter and sugar, incorporate my dry ingredients and get it in the oven at the one hour mark.”

 Timing is everything in the competition. The team is given one hour to prep and start breakfast, followed by 10 minutes of judging. They will then have one half hour to finish lunch. My visit was their practice run for timing and flavor.

Competition runs both Wednesday and Thursday. On Thursday Knox Rocks will be competing against five other Maine high schools.

Bovine said that through the years she and Butler have competed against each other.

“A couple of years ago I said if we ever get the opportunity we should really do something together,” she said. “And this came up. I’m not sure if they really intended for two districts to join up, but I thought why not.”

Judges will score the dishes based on presentation, taste, creativity, and feasibility to be used in a school breakfast or lunch program. 

For final judging, a Kennebec Valley Community College culinary arts student will join a school nutrition director and professional chef. The winning team will be awarded a plaque and have the opportunity to be spokespeople for the second annual cook-off in 2017.

The cook-off is part of the state’s child nutrition projects and follows legislation to support healthy meals in schools. A cookbook containing all the recipes from the competition will be available.