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Food and festivals make a great fundraising recipe

Photo by Jaden Hair

This Korean-style BBQ beef appetizer will fill the need if you've just got to have red meat.

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By JADEN HAIR

Tribune correspondent

Published: May 8, 2009

Fundraising events these days usually include children hawking stuff I don't need (Enough magazines already!) athletic events (Can't I just drive that 5K?) or food and wine events (Oh yeah, sign me up, baby!)

These folks who run food and wine festivals sure got the formula right: A bunch of local restaurants dish out samples of their food, wine and beer companies dole out unlimited pours. All they need to complete this formula is maybe a few tour buses; you know, the good ones that have reclining seats and drive you around town while you sleep off that gorge-and-glug fest.

The Florida Winefest in Sarasota was held a couple of weeks ago, and Chef Derek Barnes from Derek's Casual Cuisine showed off his Duck Confit on Aged Cheddar Gruyere. He gets props for getting a James Beard nomination — the Academy Awards for food — in the "Best Chef in the South" category.

While many attend these festivals to discover great wines, I go to find the great people behind the wines. If a winemaker is a cool guy, like Andy Wilcox of Lambert Bridge Winery, I will most definitely love his wine. Andy's handsome dog, Gus, is part of a book called "Wine Dogs USA 2," a little coffee table book that profiles more than 400 dogs who live at wineries.

I don't know whether I've been to a fundraiser quite like The Florida Aquarium's SeaGrapes event on April 25. Tables and tables of vendors snaked in and out, around and about the aquarium. More than 800 people sipped and snacked their way through the event. It was a record year; they netted more than $87,000. People were bidding like crazy at the silent auction!

These silent auctions are such a smart thing. Get a bunch of people happy drunk and let them compete with each other to bid on prizes.

Love it.

If you're free Friday and Saturday, come to the Tampa Bay Food and Wine Festival. It's at the Don CeSar Beach Resort in St. Pete Beach. (Yes, directly on the sand, so wear flip-flops). See www.unleashyourpalate.com.

KOREAN STYLE BBQ BEEF ON WONTON CHIPS

At SeaGrapes, almost every restaurant vendor served seafood. You know I love my fish, but it was sorta weird to be saying hi to Nemo while enjoying one of his mates on my plate. But then I found Chef Rick from Publix Apron Cooking School who made a beef appetizer that my meat-lovin' husband just raved about. I've modified the recipe a bit, making it easier for the home cook.

2 green onions, finely chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 pear, peeled and grated

4 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 mirin (Japanese sweet rice wine)

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1/2 teaspoon cornstarch

1 1/2 pounds flank steak

1 package wonton wrappers, cut into triangles

Oil, for frying

1/2 cup apricot marmalade, warmed

Place the first 8 ingredients in a large Ziploc bag and mix well. Add the steak and seal the bag, squeezing out all the air. Refrigerate overnight.

Thirty minutes before grilling, remove steak from the marinade (reserve the marinade) and set on counter to take off the chill. In the meantime, make the wonton chips. Heat 2 inches of oil in a wok or sauté pan (or use your deep fryer) to 375 degrees. Slide the wonton wrapper triangles into the oil and fry for 1 minute each side until crisp.

Drain and cool on a rack.

Pour the reserved marinade in a small pot. Bring to a boil, then turn heat to low. Cook for 5 minutes until sauce is thickened.

If grilling outside, preheat your grill. If cooking indoors, you can set your broiler on high and place the rack 3 inches below the heat source. Cook 5 to 6 minutes each side, until medium-rare. Let rest for 5 minutes on cutting board. Slice the steak very thinly across the grain. Combine the steak slices with the thickened and cooked marinade (sauce).

To serve, place a couple of slices of the beef onto a wonton chip. Top with a spoonful of warmed apricot marmalade.

Serves 6 as appetizer.

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