Jane and Tom Barthell’s granddaughter wins the Rachael Ray Burger Bash contest
Those watching the Monday television episode of daytime’s Rachael Ray Show may have been interested in a segment which featured a scrumptious-looking burger by San Diego resident Jen Barthell. The host certainly was.
And so were Jane and Tom Barthell of International Falls. Jen, 31, is their granddaughter — and daughter of the couple’s son Fred and wife Patsy Barthell.
Out of a year-long list of monthly “Burger Bash” recipe submissions to Ray’s magazine “Everyday With Rachael Ray,” Jen was the top winner with her pomegranate-feta burger creation. She was flown to New York with a friend on Feb. 22 to tape her appearance on the award-winning cooking show.
In addition, she and the winning recipe were featured in the March edition of Ray’s magazine as well as on the show’s Web site at www.rachaelrayshow.com.
But Jen’s ultimate award was a trip for two to Miami Beach to represent the Rachael Ray Show with her winning recipe at the 2010 Food Network South Beach Wine and Food Festival and competition. “I think we’ve got a shot this time,” Ray, who added that she was obsessed with burgers, told the TV audience Monday.
The renown four-day (Feb. 25–28) prestigious food event brought top chefs, including Ray, from all over the world. It also drew 50,000 visitors. Jen was assigned two sous chefs as she cooked in a grilling booth alongside many celebrity chefs.
While Jen enjoys cooking, that’s not what she does for a living, according to her grandma. However, the Burger Bash winner does work in entertainment business — booking transportation, meals, hotels and special events in the Los Angeles/Hollywood area for big-names in the performing industry.
Jen also won another California cooking contest, said Jane. But she waited until the last minute to submit her unique pomegranate burger to the Rachael Ray Show. Just two days prior, she had whipped up the burgers for some friends, and then decided she should enter the contest.
The rules of the Burger Bash say only 10 ingredients are allowed in the recipe including salt and pepper — and the bun. So Jen left out pepper, hoping the arugula topper on the burger would balance the flavor. She need not have worried. Ray thought the taste was a standout as she told audience members Monday. The celebrity cook said what she loved about the burger is that it’s so original with fantastic flavors and textures.
Ray also offered tips on the show about extracting the seeds from the color-bleeding pomegranate while submerged in bowl of water, which cuts down on messiness. Jen said that the sweet-tart pomegranates are one of her all-time favorite foods. Combining its rich color and texture to the lamb burger and feta cheese was just something her instincts told her would be great. She instructed the host on the show to add “a ton” of the pomegranate seeds over the feta cheese on the bottom bun (prevents toppling) of the burger.
Locally, her grandma says that when family members made the recipe over the holiday season, they added a bit of beef to the ground lamb. “I think finding ground lamb around here might be kind of tough,” she said, adding that any kind of burger may be used.
Jane said she loved seeing her granddaughter on TV. “She is neat ... and she looked neat,” she said. Jen has a brother, John Barthell. Parents Fred and Patsy Barthell live in Santa Maria, Calif., where Fred is a nuclear engineer at the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant.
