Debbie’s nutrient challenge

22nd May 2009, 2:52pm

Champion school chef Debbie Mumford says the biggest problem she faced in winning the 2009 title was not preparing a two-course meal for £1.10, it was meeting the nutrient standards.

"I wanted to make it as healthy as possible and with the right nutritional values. Getting tasty ingredients with the budget was not that difficult, but when I sent away the ingredients for computer analysis I had to make some changes.

"It was tweaks mostly. For instance, I had to include some red pepper to get the iron value higher," said Debbie, who works at Ermington Primary School in Devon.

Her winning menu consisted of a main course of salmon herb balls with rosti potato, cherry tomatoes and salad followed by a dessert of butternut squash muffin with cream cheese topping.

Judges, who were led by development chef Wayne Child of sponsor Nestle Professional, had no problem naming Debbie as School Chef of the Year 2009 in the annual competition run by the Local Authority Caterers' Association (LACA).

"The judges really liked the butternut squash muffins, which sound quite simple but taste delicious. I got the inspiration for mixing a vegetable in with the dessert from a recipe I came across for chocolate cake that included courgette.

I tried it out on staff at the school and they really liked it. Now I want to get my winning dishes on the menu here for the children to try."

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• 09 Jul 2009 - School meals take-up sees marginal increase

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