Competition for the first-ever Hood® New England Dairy Cook-Off™ presented by Hood Sour Cream was held in Portland, Maine, at the Ocean Gateway venue on November 1, 2009.

Katherine Stetson of Bath, NH, outlasted 29 other amateur cooks from across New England to take home the $10,000 Grand Prize in the inaugural event.

Competitors were divided into five categories: breakfast/brunch, soups/chowders, appetizers/side dishes, lunch/dinner (entrée) and dessert.  One person from each New England state competed in each category.  Competitors had 45 minutes to prepare and plate their dishes. Winners from each category went on to compete in the finals later that evening.

With NECN’s personality Billy Costa emceeing, the five finalists went head-to-head in front of a live audience for the $10,000 Grand Prize.

Judges Steve Corry (owner of 555 Restaurant, Portland, ME), Rick Tarantino (Home Shopping Network), Rachel Forrest (Food Editor and Restaurant Critic for The Portsmouth Herald), Peggy Poole (Vice President of Quality Systems & Regulatory Affairs, HP Hood), and J. Desmond Keefe, III, (Program Chair Southern New Hampshire University’s Culinary School), determined that Katherine Stetson’s Apple Butter Aebleskivers with Maple Chantilly best combined the qualities of taste, presentation/appearance and creativity/originality.