The recipe in this news item was mentioned in People & Places
(page 8) of the January 2009 issue of Chef Magazine.

Select Registry: Distinguished Inns of North America has announced the winners in the celebrated culinary competition, "The Inn-Credible Breakfast Cook-Off." The finalist teams, which consisted of professional chefs and innkeepers from the best B&Bs, inns and small hotels in North America, competed during a live culinary competition, at Select Registry’s Annual Conference Nov. 10, 2008, at the Williamsburg Lodge in historic Colonial Williamsburg, Va.

Competition entries were judged by an esteemed judging panel with superlative culinary backgrounds on the following criteria: creativity, presentation, overall appeal and taste. Chefs and innkeepers participated in the competition, creating an original breakfast "main dish." Though each recipe was unique, the one ingredient in common was eggs.

Winners of the professional chef category:
  • Gold: Casa Laguna Inn & Spa, Laguna Beach, Calif., "Dungeness Crab Benedict with Choron Sauce, Fried Shallots & Curry Oil," submitted by Cale Falk (recipe below!)
  • Silver: L’Auberge Provençale, White Post, Va., "Provençale Eggs Benedict with Caramelized Onion Tartlet, Merques Sausage, Vegetable Stew and a Garden Sorrel Hollandaise," submitted by Alain Borel and Scott Myers
  • Bronze: 1906 Pine Crest Inn and Restaurant, Tryon, N.C., "North Carolina Granny Smith Apple & Sweet Vidalia Onion Quiche," submitted by April Wilson and Amanda Greene
Professional chef winner Cale Falk received an all-expense paid trip with Oneida Global Foodservice to Chicago for the National Restaurant Association's annual show in Chicago May 16 to 19, 2009. The winning chef will assist Oneida representatives with "Plate-Scaping," a method that uses the plate as a canvas for an artistic food presentation.

Winners of the innkeeper category:
  • Gold: Inn at Riverbend, Pearisburg, Va., "Breakfast Sushi," submitted by Linda Hayes and Eric Hanson
  • Silver: Swann House, Washington, D.C., "Swann House Sunday Morning Swans," submitted by Patrick Richardson and Rick Verkler
  • Bronze: Goldmoor Inn, Galena, Ill., "Pumpkin Medley French Toast," submitted by Patricia Goldthorpe
Innkeeper winners Linda Hayes and Eric Hanson received an all-expense paid trip to the exquisite five-star Coeur d'Alene Resort for the opportunity to cook with executive chef Rodney Jessick, recognized by the ACF Chef’s de Cuisines of the Inland Northwest as "Chef of the Year."

Dungeness Crab Roesti Benedict with Choron Sauce

Chef Cale Falk, Casa Laguna Inn & Spa, Laguna Beach, Calif.

Yield: 5 servings

Ingredients
3 Yukon Gold potatoes
10 oz. Dungeness crab
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 shallot, minced
3 oz. sour cream
2 T. Old Bay
Salt and pepper, to taste
5 eggs
Arugula, as needed
Choron Sauce (recipe follows)
Fried shallots, for garnish
Curry oil, for garnish

Method (1) Put potatoes in pot, fill with water and bring to a boil. Cook potato until skin starts to give, about 15 minutes after water comes to a boil. Remove from water, and cool. After cooled, peel off skin using your fingers then grate on large-hole cheese grater. (2) In a bowl, mix crab, garlic, shallot, sour cream and Old Bay until well-incorporated. In a 2" ring mold, layer grated potato, crab mix, then grated potato, and press to keep the potato tight. Season outside of roesti with salt and pepper. (3) Pan-fry roesti until golden brown on both sides and center is hot. (4) Poach egg in simmering water with vinegar until whites are cooked and yolk is still runny. (5) When plating, put roesti in center of plate, arugula on top of the roesti then poached egg, drizzle with Charon Sauce. Garnish with fried shallots and curry oil.

Ingredients (Choron Sauce)
3 egg yolks
1 1/2 T. tomato paste
Juice of 1 lemon
2 T. water
1 lb. butter, clarified
Salt and pepper, to taste

Method (1) In a bowl, add egg yolks, tomato paste, lemon juice, water, and set over double boiler. Start whisking until it is thick, then remove from heat. (2) Drizzle in warm clarified butter, whisking until incorporated and has a nice sheen, and season. Keep warm.