LuAnn’s Kitchen Contest for junior chefs collaborates with non-profit, Homemade Hope

Houston’s junior chefs can get cooking to win a $1,000 Grand Prize and more with the LuAnn’s Kitchen Contest while also having the chance to help area nonprofit, Homemade Hope in the process.

The LuAnn’s Kitchen Contest, designed for junior chefs ages 10-15, provides the opportunity to win a $1,000 grand prize and have their dishes featured and credited on the Luby’s restaurant line throughout the Houston area. A portion of the sales from the showcased dishes will benefit Homemade Hope, an initiative that brings a taste of home to kids in Houston shelters and transitional living centers through culinary arts programming.

Blair Bentley, founder of Homemade Hope, explained that when Luby’s began planning the Junior Chef competition they thought Homemade Hope would be the perfect partner and beneficiary.

“Luby’s commitment to affordable, well balanced meals aligns perfectly with the Homemade Hope mission of nurturing the souls of homeless children through cooking classes and healthy family meals Children living in shelters tend to feel isolated from the world around them. The beauty of the kitchen is that it brings people together around a common purpose: creating nourishing food that feeds body and soul,” she said. 

Junior chef contestants must go through the two-phase contest for the preliminary round.  Entrants are asked to submit – either online or via mail – original and typed side, entrée or dessert recipes crafted from a list of ingredients found on the contest page.

All entries, which are due by midnight on September 30, 2016, must be accompanied by a title of up to 45 characters.

It must also include a short description of how the recipe came about or family/friend taste taster feedback (up to 1,000 characters), an ingredient list (up to 1,000 characters using common U.S. household measures), the resulting number of portions, step-by-step preparation instructions including cooking times (up to 2,000 characters) and a photograph or drawing of the completed dish (digital files must be no larger than 6 mb).

Submissions will be reviewed by a panel of corporate chefs from Luby’s, who will select up to 10 finalists based on perceived taste, presentation depicted in the photo or drawing, creativity/originality and written description.

Finalists will then be invited to the Luby’s Uptown Houston flagship at a soon to be determined date in October for a cook-off challenge. Each junior chef will be paired with a junior sous chef from Homemade Hope plus a Luby’s manager. Each team will be tasked to replicate the recipe in the kitchen for final judging by a group of VIPs including Houston area media, personalities and chefs.

Homemade Hope’s children are ready to be part of the action said Bentley. Their partnership with Luby’s has allowed the participating children to have interactive restaurant tours to learn about the restaurant business, tour the kitchen, prepare a Luby’s dish and eat a delicious lunch.  

“By participating in Luby’s Jr. Chef Competition as sous chefs to the finalists, these children will get to meet other young people from different backgrounds who share their passion for cooking,” said Bentley. “They’ll be able to use the kitchen skills they’ve learned in Homemade Hope’s classes to give back while strengthening their teamwork skills as they work with their partners toward a winning dish.”

For more information about the LuAnn’s Kitchen Contest, log onto www.lubysluannskitchencontest.com. Recipe submissions can be uploaded at that page or mailed to: LuAnn’s Kitchen Contest c/o Luby’s Fuddruckers Restaurants, LLC 13111 Northwest Freeway, Suite 600 Houston, TX 77040.

Additional details on Homemade Hope and how you can help can be found at www.homemadehope.org.

photos courtesy of Homemade Hope