Central Market's Hatch Chile Recipe Contest

So I baked my chile-chocolate-cherry bread (as bread and muffins) Saturday morning, put them on a platter, and headed to Central Market.

Hey, cool name card! (Which I forgot to snag afterward, doh.)

Here was our panel of judges, who represented print media, TV media, Central Market's food departments, and maybe some restaurateurs thrown in. They're like, "Bring it on!"

Our dishes were served Iron Chef-style, with each of us giving backstory and recipe info as the judges were served. Thankfully, they didn't berate us publicly for our choices, à la Iron Chef. Instead, they silently scored each dish using several criteria, including flavor, aroma, use of Hatch chiles, and presentation.

Why-oh-why didn't I ask about the criteria when Central Market called? I fell short on presentation. But it's okay because we were "all winners." Heh-heh. First, the presenter handed out 5 honorable mentions. Right before number 5, she said, "This was really close," and several judges nodded. Then she called my name. Central Market gift card - WOOT! (We totally need milk, and I had a shiny $20 card to get it, but forgot to before leaving the store. Sharp as a tack, am I.)

Next was 3rd Place, which was for Bacon-Lettuce-Hatch Toasted Sandwiches and Creamy Hatch-Tomato Bisque (bisque below)...

2nd Place (short of 1st by one-tenth of a point!) were these pretty Hatch Cupcakes with Caramel Buttercream (the reason I served only my bread to the judges, not my poor, nekkid muffins!)...

And 1st went to this elegant Hatch Avocado Ice Cream (love the martini-glass presentation and lime zest garnish)...

And here's Adele, the mastermind of the awesome ice cream, in her winner's chef hat (complete with chiles)...

Congrats, Adele!

Fun. I'd totally do it again. What am I saying? I'm gonna do it again to see if I can crack the top 3. :)  Gotta come up with something yummy that has great presentation potential. Putting on my thinking goggles...