First Place Winner Michelle Anderson of Eagle, Idaho

Michelle Anderson of Idaho won first place and the grand prize of $100,000 in the National Chicken Cooking Contest held May 4, 2007, in Birmingham, Alabama. Her dish was “Thai-Inspired Stuffed Chicken Breast and Slaw.” “I enjoy playing with different ingredients and putting things together,” Ms. Anderson said. “I love to create recipes. I’ve become very fond of Asian food. I especially enjoy Thai cuisine and wanted to create a recipe inspired by the flavors found in Thai cooking.” Ms. Anderson has entered other cooking or recipe contests, but NCCC was her first win in a national contest. She cut it close in getting her dish to the judges in the time allowed, however. “I wanted to allow time for the flavors to develop, but the rice was too wet and I had to do it over again,” she laughed.

Second Place Winner Sally Sibthorpe of Shelby Township, Michigan

Sally Sibthorpe of Michigan, who took second place and $10,000, said she developed “Warm Chicken Black Bean Salad with Mango Dressing” for the NCCC. “I wanted to do some sort of salad because they are popular and easy. I created it just a few months ago.” Ms. Sibthorpe was the Michigan contestant in two previous national chicken cook-offs, so the third time was the charm.

Third Place Winner Susan Scarborough of Fernandina Beach, Florida

In third place was Susan Scarborough of Florida with a dish that she first made as a “Middle Eastern and Southern stir-fry” with diced chicken. Why the unusual combination? “I wanted to make a stir-fry, but I had only couscous and leftovers.” In getting the recipe ready for the contest, however, Ms. Scarborough replaced the diced chicken with drumsticks and added pecans and maple-mustard sauce “to make it more restaurant-like.” Her “Pecan Chicken Sticks with Collard Couscous” was worth $5,000.

Fourth Place Winner Susan Cortesi of Northbrook, Illinois

In fourth place was Susan Cortesi of Illinois, who said she is always on the hunt for recipe ideas from cookbooks, magazines and cooking shows, and drew on all of those sources for “Chicken Paillards with Asian Salad,” which won $2,000. “I saw the paillard idea on a cooking show, the marinade I made up, and the dressing on the salad was my mom’s recipe -- she used it on cole slaw,” Ms. Cortesi said.

Fifth Place Winner Jennifer White of Columbus, Ohio

A taste for ginger beer paid off for Jennifer White of Ohio, the youngest of the 51 contestants at the age of 23, who took fifth place and $1,000 for “Zesty Ginger Beer BBQ Pulled Chicken Sandwiches.” “I was always very fond of ginger beer and always wanted to make a recipe centered around it,” she said. "It is such a delicious and unusual drink."