Winner $20,000 Winner First Consumer Featured on Famous Soup Label
Click here to view the winning recipe
CAMDEN, NJ (March 20, 2001) – Susan Runkle has cooked up the next Campbell’s classic and earned the title “souper chef” with her M’m! M’m! Good! recipe. Runkle, from Walton, Ky., wins the $20,000 Grand Prize in Campbell’s 20-Minute Recipe Challenge and will be honored as the first consumer ever featured on a Campbell’s soup label.
Runkle’s Polynesian Pork Chops were chosen from nearly 8,000 entries by the Campbell Kitchens as a new 20-minute classic. This inventive recipe features Pacific-inspired ingredients including pineapple, soy sauce and honey combined with Campbell’s Golden Mushroom soup to evoke the goodness of yesterday with the flavor and convenience important to today’s home cooks.
“Soup is one of my secret ingredients for creating fast, exciting meals for my family,” said Runkle. “Campbell’s Golden Mushroom soup really lends itself to the sweet and savory taste of this recipe. It adds just the right flavor without the fuss or time of creating an elaborate sauce.”
Runkle has an eclectic taste for food. She was raised in Great Britain and has spent time in France and the United States, where she now lives in a Cincinnati suburb. She was inspired by Asian and Polynesian flavors during a recent trip to Hawaii where her husband, a retired U.S. military pilot, was once stationed. She worked to adopt this distinctive taste into her own cooking. The result was a unique blend of pineapple and Golden Mushroom Soup that took her family favorite pork chops a thousand miles away in under 20-minutes.
“Susan’s Polynesian Pork Chops incorporate all of the key elements of a souper recipe — great taste, family appeal and, of course, it’s very easy to prepare,” said Cindy Ayers, vice president, Campbell Kitchens. “Soup allows home cooks to save time on many recipes, while providing great flavor and the wholesome qualities found only in soup.”
The contest guidelines were as easy as cooking with Campbell’s Soup — the fourth most commonly used cooking ingredient in the United States. Entrants were asked to prepare a main or side dish in 20 minutes or less using any Campbell’s condensed soup. In addition to the Grand Prize winner, eight other souper chefs received $1,000 and will have their recipes featured on the Campbell’s Web site.
- Janet Barton of Sandy, Utah, used Cream of Chicken Dijon soup to prepare Orange Dijon Chicken Saltimbocca.
- Melissa Carafa of Broomall, Pa., used Cream of Chicken soup to prepare Creamy Pesto Chicken and Bowties.
- Jason Davis of Plainwell, Mich., used Cream of Mushroom soup with Roasted Garlic to prepare Pan-Seared Filet Mignon.
- Julie DeMatteo of Clementon, N.J., used Cream of Chicken soup to prepare Chicken Creole with Chile Cream Sauce.
- Janet Conner-Knox of Fountain, N.C., used Cream of Chicken soup to prepare Fabulous Fast Shrimp.
- Jeffrey Lee of Douglasville, Ga., used Tomato Bisque soup to prepare Jeff’s Tomato Bisque Casserole.
- Debbie Racicot of Brimfield, Mass., used Cream of Shrimp soup to prepare Seafood De-Lite.
- Claudia Shepardson of Loudonville, N.Y., used Cream of Mushroom with Roasted Garlic soup to prepare Thai Noodles and Chicken.
Campbell’s Classics: Past and Present
Since the 1940s, the Campbell Kitchens have been committed to creating great-tasting, time-saving recipes for home cooks. After a half-century of experience and technology, the Kitchens still capture the aromas and traditions of home cooking in every recipe. To receive daily or weekly recipes to be delivered via email, sign up for Campbell’s Meal-mail at www.campbellsoup.com. And while you’re on the Web site, check out the recipes submitted by the contest’s eight runners-up. “We guarantee you’ll find them to be M’m! M’m! Good!,” added Ayers.