one pot competition

A St Helens home chef won the One Pot Cook Off championship as part of the Chester Food and Drink Festival.

Dave Purcell, won the cook off held at the Macdonald Hill Valley Hotel Golf & Spa.

More than 50 entrants were short-listed to three Finalists who were judged by last year's winner, Bhupinder Virdee-Lace, Jane Casson of Made in Cheshire and Reaseheath College and Mark Astbury, Head-Chef at the Whitchurch based hotel.

Dave, an educational welfare officer for Halton Borough Council, cooked his lamb casserole, winning a professional cookery pot and a complimentary weekend for two at the Hill Valley Hotel. Dave, 52, will also have his dish showcased at the Chester Food and Drink Festival at Chester Racecourse on Monday April 13, from 11am to noon.

Runners-up were gardener Steve Beech, 48, of No Man's Heath, Malpas, with his hash lemon gherkin dish, which included local lamb, vegetables and red wine and Darren Chard, 29, a soldier at Chester's Dale Barracks, who cooked chicken supreme.

The dishes could not take any longer than 30 minutes to prepare and 30 minutes to cook, using just one pot and competitors could not work as a chef in a professional capacity.

The Chester Food and Drink Festival 2009 runs from April 4 to 18, with the Taste Festival at Chester Racecourse from April 11 to April 13 and fringe events happening around the city.