Local man serves up “World’s Best Steak”

DES MOINES – One local chef, Phil Dicks of Grundy Center, ‘steaked’ his claim as one of Iowa’s best chefs after he won first place in two different cooking competitions at the Iowa State Fair this year.
Dicks demonstrated his culinary expertise when he first place, and a $300 cash award, in the Des Moines Register’s Hog (and Corn) Heaven Competition.
For this competition, contestants were tasked with creating a dish using both pork and corn as the main ingredients.
Dicks beat out the other entries to win the competition with his mouthwatering four-layer roulade of rolled pork and corn. The first layer consisted of a basket weave of bacon; the second was a layer of freshly ground pork topped with tri-colored sweet peppers in cornbread and fresh corn stuffing; the third was a layer of cooked pork Italian sausage and roasted corn silks; and the fourth was a layer of BBQ pulled pork. Between each layer was a coating of original honey-mustard sauce to add to the flavor.
But that wasn’t the only prize that Dicks took home during this year’s Iowa State Fair; he also managed to bag the blue ribbon, and the $500 cash award, during the Neubrand’s World’s Greatest Steak Contest.
Dicks said he was surprised, and a bit overwhelmed to win the competition.
“I always enjoy competition at this level, however, a ‘World’s Best Steak’ at the Iowa State Fair is too much to pass up,” Dicks said of the award. “I was expecting Iowa’s Best, but this was over the top with the designation of ‘World’s Best Steak.’”
For the full story, see the August 25 edition of The Grundy Register.