BRATTLEBORO — A bagel sandwich that includes Vermont cream cheese, Vermont chocolate-maple flavored peanut butter, and slivers of Vermont honey crisp apples was crowned the winner on June 3 at the the Strolling of the Heifers Ultimate New England Sandwich Competition.
The top prize, which includes a trip to Australia, went to Lynn Perna of Marlboro, for her “Vermont Happy Hiker” sandwich.
Perna will go to Sydney, Australia, courtesy of the Australasian Sandwich Association, to compete in October at the World Sandwichship at the Crave Sydney International Food Festival. There, her creation will be pitted against sandwich competition winners from Europe, Australia, Africa and New Zealand for the world title.
Here is Perna's winning recipe:
• Take four Against the Grain brand cinnamon-raisin gluten free bagels (baked in Brattleboro) and slice them in half (or substitute whole grain oatmeal bagels from The Works Bakery Café in Brattleboro).
• Get 4 tablespoons of Vermont Peanut Butter Company Good Karma dark chocolate-flavored peanut butter (Waterbury), sweetened to taste with Vermont maple syrup, 8 ounces Vermont cream cheese from Franklin Farms (Enosburg Falls), and 1 or 2 Vermont Honey Crisp apples (or your favorite tart apples), thinly sliced.
• Spread 1 tablespoon of the peanut butter on four of the bagel halves. Spread 2 ounces of the cream cheese thickly on the opposite halves. Combine the halves with the sliced apple sandwiched between the cream cheese and chocolate peanut butter. Before combining, sprinkle to taste with cinnamon or cinnamon sugar.
Second place went to innkeeper Joe Kruszewski of the Matterhorn Inn in West Dover for his “Vermontski Kielbaski” sandwich, and third place to Peter and Henny Bennett of Putney, for their “Summer Smoked Trout Sandwich.”
As part of the 10th annual Stroll Weekend, organizers sent out the call to sandwich aficionados to enter the New England sandwich competition. Both amateurs and professionals were qualified to enter, so long as it used New England-sourced bread. Cheese, if used, was also required to come from New England, and for all other ingredients, the preference was for New England sourcing.