'Bailout burger' wins ECC-Grand Victoria burger contest

Three top culinary arts students walked away with scholarships Wednesday in the Elgin Community College-Grand Victoria Casino Prime Burger scholarship competition.

The casino, in turn, walked away with not one winning recipe - but six.

The third and final round of the competition, held at the Elgin casino, saw six ECC students grilling, flipping and artistically arranging their gourmet burger recipes for a panel of guest judges.

Among the judges were Heaven on Seven chef and owner Jimmy Bannos, ECC Professor Emeritus Mike Zema, Daily Herald Food Editor Deb Pankey and David Russell, Hellman's Mayonnaise corporate chef and a former College of DuPage professor.

Zema said judges scored the burgers in four categories: sanitation procedure; presentation; texture, flavor and taste; and creativeness and feasibility.

Earning first place, a $2,000 scholarship and a permanent spot on Grand Victoria's soon-to-be opening Prime Burger House restaurant's menu was Harry Park's "bailout burger."

Park, of Schaumburg, served up his Angus beef burger with Béarnaise sauce, applewood bacon, tomato slices, honey-balsamic caramelized onions topped and a fanned avocado.

The recipe's many components put the burger "over the top, but in a good way," Pankey said.

Second place, along with a $1,000 scholarship, went to James Scanlan's garlic-herb burger stuffed with goat cheese and topped with garlic butter prawns.

Earning third place, and a $500 scholarship, was Zac Anderson of Elgin for his "big brat burger"- a bratwurst burger grilled with a homemade mustard beer glaze and topped with a slice of Cheddar cheese served on a pretzel bun. Bannos said the recipe was "definitely juicy" and boasted a lot of flavor.

The three top burgers were selected from an original list of 19 entries. In November, 13 students advanced to the semifinals.

While only Park's burger will be featured on the restaurant's permanent menu, casino officials said each finalist's recipe will be featured as a special.

"This has been a lot of fun," Anderson said.

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=340942">ECC culinary students look to build a better burger <span class="date">[12/02/09]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>