Sheboygan Mother of Four Wins Great American Spam Competition
A Sheboygan mother of four won the grand prize in the 25th annual SPAM recipe contest, also known as Great American Spam Competition.
She now wins a $3,000 all expense paid trip for two to the SPAM JAM Waikiki Festival from Hormel Foods.
Lisa Dziadulewicz first won a blue ribbon for the sandwich at the Wisconsin State Fair in West Allis.
The GemÜtlichkeit Spamwich sandwich ranked best overall for theme, taste, ease of preparation and presentation, the contest's key judging criteria.
Lisa won out of 26 first place finalists across the U.S.
"As a college student, I used to cook SPAM (products) on a hot plate in my dorm," Dziadulewicz said. "I rediscovered it cooking with my children, and the SPAM recipe contest has been a big motivator. This was my first ever entry."
Lisa is the first national winner from Wisconsin in the history of the contest.
RECIPE:
Ingredients
8 ounces HORMEL® BLACK LABEL® Bacon
1 cup diced yellow onion
1 cup all-purpose flour, divided
2/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup sugar
Salt and pepper, to taste
4 cups thinly sliced green and red cabbage
12 hamburger sized pretzel rolls
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 (12-ounce) cans SPAM® with Bacon
3 large eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup sweet spicy mustard
Cooking Directions
Dice bacon into 1/2-inch pieces. Cook over low heat until crispy; drain on paper towels and set aside. Sauté onion in skillet with 2-3 tablespoons of the bacon drippings. Cook over medium low heat until softened, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle onion with 1 tablespoon of the flour. Cook and stir for 2 minutes. Add vinegar and sugar; stirring until the sugar dissolves. Season as desired with salt and pepper. Add cabbage and stir until it slightly wilts, about 1 minute. Add reserved bacon. Remove from heat and set aside.
Preheat oven to 300°F. Cut pretzel rolls in half. Lightly brush rolls with a small amount of oil and place face-side down on a baking sheet. Lightly toast rolls in the oven for about 5-10 minutes; set aside. Place remaining oil in large nonstick skillet (enough to cover the bottom of the pan) and heat over medium heat. Slice each can of SPAM® with Bacon into 6 lengthwise slices (for a total of 12 slices). Place flour, eggs and panko crumbs into three separate pans. Dip each slice of SPAM® with Bacon into flour, following by egg and then into the panko crumbs. Sauté the SPAM® with Bacon slices until golden brown on both sides. Place SPAM® with Bacon in warm oven and hold until all slices have been browned.
For assembly, spread the bottom half of each toasted pretzel bun with mustard. Top with SPAM® with Bacon and the cabbage slaw. Top with roll tops and serve immediately. Makes 12 sandwiches.