Teams compete in Dutch Oven Cook-off

Winners of the Jefferson County Conservation Board?s fourth annual Dutch Oven Cook-off have been announced, with first- through fourth-place winners named in four categories.

A total of 15 teams competed June 18 for cash prizes in dessert, vegetable, bacon dish and bread categories. Together, the teams made 47 dishes. Three of the teams reside in Jefferson County with the others coming from all over Iowa and Illinois.

Les and Kim Ferguson of Carlisle took home first place in the dessert category for their Bourbon bread pudding. Second place went to Jennifer and Dennis Hammel of Fairfield for their marzipan filled rolls, followed by Dan Peterson and Meg Rose of Mount Pleasant with a mango cake. Richard and Kortney Heald and Kaitlin Post of Packwood finished in fourth with their ?caramel apple delight.?

In the vegetables category, Steve and Ruth Baker of Birmingham earned first place for roasted vegetables. Michelle Shock and Dennis Laughlin of Waterloo finished in second with a hash brown casserole, while Greg, Karen and Chris Jacobs of Mundelein, Ill., were awarded third for their stuffed jalapeno peppers. Fourth place in the vegetables category went to Mike and Wanda Anderson of Des Moines for their creamed peas.

Shock and Laughlin took home first in the bacon category for their ?bacon explosion? dish. In second was Marlyn Hoksbergen of Pella for her wrapped peppers. Third went to the Jacobs family for bacon-wrapped chicken thighs, and the Fergusons finished in fourth for their jalapeno bacon poppers.

In the bread category, Shock and Laughlin again took first place with ?south fork surprise,? while the Hammels finished second with their sweet potato bread. Peterson and Rose?s Cuban bread earned third prize, and the Bakers finished fourth for their fococcia.