This past Wednesday was 107.7 The Bronc’s Rider Student Top Chef: Oodles Of Noodles, where our top three contestants took over the back corner of Daly Dining Hall as they boiled pasta, cut vegetables, and shredded cheese. Which of the three dishes, Family Style Baked Mac and Cheese, Desi Chowmein, or Fiery Shrimp Pasta, would win was the question racing through everyone’s heads when the contest officially started at 5 p.m. and a flood of students ran in to get their first bite!
As the votes were trickling in, all three dishes were neck and neck until the very end when the traditional dish with a colorful twist took the lead. At 7 p.m., the winning announcement was made live on the air and live at Daly’s. And, after making over 20 pounds of penne pasta, Jenni Profera took home the win and was crowned the “Queen of Noodles.”
The student body loved this Family Style Baked Mac and Cheese and highlighted the exceptionally gooey cheese and breadcrumbs on top, that gave it the perfect crunch. Jenni, who is a senior Acting major, felt a lot of support from her fellow acting and musical theater peers, many of whom came out to give the widely talked about mac and cheese a try. Students all said you can’t go wrong with a classic, but there are a few key ingredients that take this mac and cheese dish to the next level: yellow onion, garlic, Pepper Jack cheese, cheddar cheese, white cheddar cheese and Tumeric.
Jenni took the air for our live, on-air interview, “We got here at 12 p.m.. and realized we had to double our recipe by 10. We used 20 pounds of pasta, 5 pounds of cream cheese, and over 30 pounds of cheese… It was a lot of fun, and then we started measuring with our hearts.”
When our broadcasters tried the dish, all they could say was “Wow.”
When asked about how she created this recipe, Jenni said, “I experimented with a lot of different pasta shapes. I went with penne because the ridges allow the sauce to collect better. Now, I make it every Christmas and Thanksgiving for my family!”
Jenni won first place and got to take home a grand prize basket full of prizes including: a $300 Visa gift card, a 10-person group jump with pizza and drinks at Sky Zone Trampoline Park, a Coca-Cola Sonosphear 8-inch wireless speaker, an all-access salon week package from Tanning Zone, and so much more!
Try Jenni’s winning recipe, or any of the recipes students entered this summer, for a picnic, backyard barbecue, and more go here.