By sarah lemon

Mail Tribune

In their sport of choice, Beth Leppek and Jamie Broten prefer flashy equipment — pink-handled, KitchenAid cutlery.

Knives, after all, are indispensable to members of North Medford High School's culinary team. Hoping they've honed their skills as sharp as their blades, 16-year-old Leppek, 15-year-old Broten, 18-year-old John Caldwell and 16-year-old Allen Benitez will vie for top honors Saturday at a statewide cooking competition.

For teens aspiring to culinary careers, Oregon's High School Culinary Championships in Portland are as close as they can get to a professional cooking competition, said LaDon Weston, culinary arts instructor at North Medford High School.

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"They're very serious," Weston said.

The four are hoping to improve North's 2006 showing of seventh place among 35 teams. The first-place team will go on to the National ProStart Student Invitational, in Charlotte, N.C., this April.

Last year's state title went to Bend High School. South Medford High School did not compete.

The emergence of cooking as a competitive sport, credits for restaurant internships and clubs for the wannabe chef all defy previous generations' concept of high-school "home economics." North's current culinary arts classes are just as likely to attract boys as girls, Weston said.

"Home economics is not an existing program anymore," she said. "We are preparing students for real jobs."

In fact, culinary training is now geared toward giving women a leg up in a traditionally male-dominated field, Weston added.

With her own knife bag and an internship doing prep work at Medford's Grilla Bites, Leppek, a junior, is ahead of the game. Selected as a freshman to North's culinary team, Leppek is making her third trip to the culinary championships this weekend and looks forward to a career in the kitchen.

"I'm just really passionate about cooking," Leppek said.

Bringing their own passions, Leppek's teammates pitched in last fall to start planning their competition menu. Students generated all the ideas, Weston said, and faced the added challenge of adapting each recipe to cooking on two individual butane burners. Ice chests hold all the students' supplies and food items.

"They cannot have anything pre-made, bottled or canned," Weston said.

The team's hour of cooking at the Oregon Convention Center should look like a well-choreographed dance, Weston said, with no one student solely responsible for a single dish. Being limited to two burners, the group must work together to precisely time the preparation and cooking of each component.

After six weeks of perfecting — and then eating — the same six dishes, the team is set to offer judges tournedos of beef, almond potato balls, garlic carrots and green beans, creamy tomato and bell pepper soup topped with corn fritters and a pear-apple pie with crumb topping.

Home cooks can judge whether the following recipes, courtesy of NMHS culinary team, are winners.

Roasted Tomato and Red Pepper Soup

2 red, orange or yellow bell peppers, quartered and seeded 2 large garlic cloves, halved

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 pounds medium tomatoes, halved and cored

2 shallots, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices

16 ounces vegetable stock

1/4 teaspoon ground coriander

2 tablespoons heavy cream

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

.5 ounce fresh basil

2 tablespoons sour cream

Preheat a saucepan. Brush the bell pepper and garlic with the oil and roast until edges of vegetables are charred, about 10 minutes. Removed charred skin from the bell pepper and discard skins. Blanch the tomatoes and remove skins. Dice the bell pepper and tomatoes. Sauté the shallot and add the tomatoes along with the bell pepper until tender. Add the stock and, if needed, 1/2 cup water; simmer.

Puree vegetables with any juices from pan in batches until smooth. Stir in the remaining ingredients, except the basil and sour cream. Pour into a medium sauce pan. Simmer over medium low heat until heated thoroughly. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Remove from heat; stir in fresh basil and garnish with sour cream.

Makes 4 servings.

Recipe inspired by Allyson's Kitchen, Ashland.

Stovetop Pear Apple Crumb Tart

1 red pear

1 Granny Smith apple

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 ounces granulated sugar

1/4 cup, plus 1 tablespoon, unbleached, all-purpose flour, divided

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, divided

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 ounces butter, divided

2 ounces brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

To prepare the filling, thinly slice the pared apples and pears. Toss with the lemon juice.

Add the granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon of the flour, half the cinnamon and the salt. Melt 1 ounce of the butter and sauté fruit until tender and flour mixture is thickened. Set aside.

For the crust, cut the remaining butter into the brown sugar, nutmeg and remaining flour and cinnamon. Cook the mixture in a hot sauté pan until golden brown. Divide the mixture into thirds, pressing a third into each of 2 (4-inch) tart pans. Crumble the remaining third, cooled, on top of each completed tart. Makes 2 servings.

Recipe adapted from "The Little Pie Company of the Big Apple: Pies and Other Dessert Favorites," by Arnold Wilkerson, Patricia Henly, Michae L. Deraney and Evie Righter.

Almond Potato Balls

14 ounces small potatoes

1 ounce butter

2 green onions, minced

Pinch of salt

6 ounces all-purpose flour

1 egg, beaten

3 ounces crushed almonds

4 cups vegetable oil

Cook and mash the potatoes. Combine mashed potatoes, butter, green onions and salt. Chill. Shape the mixture into balls. Roll in flour, dip in egg and roll in crushed almonds. Deep fry in the oil until golden brown. Drain on paper towels and serve.

Makes 4 servings.

Recipe adapted from "Crème de Colorado," by Junior League of Denver.

Tournedos of Beef

11/2 pounds beef tenderloin

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 pound tomatoes

2 ounces butter

1 cup beef stock

2 oz. Worcestershire sauce

.25 ounce fresh tarragon

Trim fat from the tenderloin and cut into four equal portions. Season with the salt and pepper; set aside.

Puree the tomatoes and set aside. Melt the butter in a sauté pan and sear both sides of each steak in the pan. Remove meat from pan and deglaze pan with the stock. Add the Worcestershire, 1/2 cup of water and the tomato puree. Return beef to pan and cover to braise. Cook to medium doneness, remove from pan and reduce sauce. Finish sauce with the tarragon. Makes 4 servings.

Recipe adapted from "An American Feast," edited by Julia Child and Burton Wolf.