Fork it Over: Creating New Ways to Make the Cookie Crumble

On a breezy Wednesday evening in Newbury Park, the Girl Scouts of California’s Central Coast brought together 14 chefs and 9 spirit sponsors for a unique and tasty event to raise funds for their Arnaz Program Center (aka Camp Arnaz). The chefs were challenged to create unique dishes with one requirement: all dishes must contain one or more varieties of Girl Scout cookies. The result was a truly sensational example of the culinary skills of a diverse complement of Ventura County chefs.

I wish I could say I had a chance to sample every one of the 7 savory and 11 sweet creations, but the samples were so generous I ran out of room long before I’d visited all of the tables filling the Palm Garden Hotel’s banquet room and pool side patio. The ones I did sample left my taste buds yearning for the regular fare these talented chefs create.

As if the food itself wasn’t enough, the event offered the opportunity to chat with the Chefs about their techniques and to experience first-hand the passion behind these creators of culinary delights.

So Many Chefs, So Little Time

Here are some of my favorites in no particular order:
• Kneady Bakery’s Liz Lemon Bars: Chefs Kati Angelini and Ashley Guerrero created a delicious lemon curd filled bar using Girl Scout Shortbread and Lemonade cookies.
• Brendan’s Irish Pub’s Shortbread Cookie and Toasted Almond Coated Brie with a Blackberry, Mango and Papaya Bruschetta: Chef David Raigoza used Girl Scout Shortbread cookies to create a crusted Brie which offered a quiet counterpoint to his tangy fruit bruschetta.
• The Cave at Ventura Wine Company’s Girl Scout Chicken Taco: Chef Brandon Worrell used Girl Scout Citrus Cranberry cookies to create a tortilla he filled with lightly seasoned chicken breast and topped with citrus-cranberry coleslaw. The mild mannered chicken served as a perfect frame for the tart-sweet flavors of the tortilla and slaw. This dish was my personal favorite in the savory category. I definitely have plans to sample Chef Brandon’s menu in the near future.
• DJ’s California Catering’s California Lemonade Tuiles: Chefs Doug and Jennifer Biggs used Lemonade cookies to create a lemonade and sea salt crisp they filled with avocado and fresh mango salsa. The delicate flavor of the crisp was a perfect complement to the sweet, zesty salsa.
• Pitfire Artisan Pizza’s Thin Mint Chicken Molé with White Rice: Chef Juan Robles used Peanut Butter Sandwiches and Thin Mints to offset a cornucopia of chilies in this slightly spicy dish. Another of my favorites, the molé was both flavorful and delicately spicy. It’s hard to go wrong when you combine peanut butter and chocolate—wouldn’t you agree?
• Subzero Ice Cream’s Bernoulli Brulée: Chef Rob West used Caramel DeLites and created a creamy frozen caramel confection to dip a cookie so enduring, it dates back to my Girl Scout days, many decades ago.
• Café Firenze’s Thin Mint Cookies Panna Cotta: Chef John Paolone used Thin Mint cookies to create a light, creamy dessert. To further titillate the taste buds, he garnished his creation with more of the cookies he’d cooked into the delicate creation, reminiscent of a light chocolate mint mousse.
• Assisted Home Health Hospice’s Thai Scout Pork Meatballs with Creamy Peanut Sauce: Chef Diana Campos who is also a member of the Fork it Over Committee used Girl Scout Peanut Butter Sandwich cookies to create a Thai inspired meatball with just a hint of front spice. Her creation earned both the People’s choice award and the Judge’s award for best savory dish.
• Plated Events by Chef Jason’s Peanut Butter Patties and Caramel deLites Chicken Molé: Chef Jason Collis used Girl Scout Caramel deLites and Peanut Butter Patties to create a molé catering to those who prefer a little less spice in their lives. Though he opted for less spice than Chef Juan of Pitfire Artisan Pizza, his presentation was more dramatic, utilizing mini martini glasses with a cookie garnish.

A Glass of Wine, A Hunk of Bread and Thou

What is food without the perfect wine? I’m no connoisseur so I won’t be lapsing poetic about the fruitiness of this variety or the earthiness of that one. What I can tell you is I would be happy to serve any of the three I sampled including:
• Labyrinth Winery’s Pinot Noir
• Martian Ranch Vineyard’s Gamay Noir
• Four Brix Winery’s Petite Sirah

The Winner is…

The event culminated with the presentation of trophies in the shape of a giant fork for both People’s and Judges’ choice in the categories of sweet and savory.
Brendan’s Irish Pub took home the trophy in the People’s Choice sweet category for its Caramel deLites Cheesecake.

People’s choice honors were shared by Assisted Home Health Hospice for their savory dish, Thai Scout Pork Meatballs with Creamy Peanut Sauce.

The Cave at Ventura Winery took home the Judges’ choice award for the sweet category with their Caramel deLites Frozen Custard Pie

Unable to break a tie, the judges gave the savory award to two chefs: Assisted Home Health Hospice, again for their Thai Scout Pork Meatballs with Creamy Peanut Sauce and Twenty88 for their Lemonade Cookie Crusted Chicken.

All in all, the coordinators did a spectacular job of gathering an extraordinary group of chefs, putting together an impressive array of silent auction items and staging an enjoyable and well-run event. I look forward to seeing Fork it Over continue as an annual event. May the Girl Scouts of California’s Central Coast enjoy continued success in funding improvements for Camp Arnaz.