To celebrate the 135th birthday of the English muffin, Thomas’ Breads is holding a coast-to-coast online competition involving, logically enough, 135 chefs. Three of the chefs are from New Jersey. They are hoping to garner enough online votes to move on from the current first round to the second and later rounds and win Thomas’ Hometown Breakfast Battle.
The 135 chefs from around the country—chosen by the company—have each created a sandwich using Thomas’ English muffins, bagels or other breads. On the competition website, thomasbreakfastbattle.com, you can search by state or chef name and see a photograph of each chef, a photograph of that chef’s sandwich and a recipe for the sandwich, should you want to make one at home before you cast your vote.
The three Jersey chefs are…
— Scott Ruddy of Princeton Soup and Sandwich Company in Princeton, offering his Kickin’ Chicken Havarti Breakfast Sandwich, made with bacon, eggs, havarti, chicken tenders, tomato, spinach and chipotle ranch dressing on a cinnamon raisin Thomas’ English muffin.
Scott Ruddy of Princeton Soup & Sandwich. Photo: Courtesy Thomas’ Breads
–Lauren Sacco of Frankie’s on the Bay in Ocean City, offering her Italian Jersey Benedict, made with Taylor pork roll, poached eggs, spinach and Hollandaise.
Lauren Sacco of Frankie’s on the Bay in Ocean City. Photo: Courtesy Thomas’ Breads
—Greg Manning from The Serenity Café in Toms River, offering his Jersey Breakfast Bomb, made with short rib, jack cheese from Cherry Grove farm in Lawrence Township, tomatoes and roasted garlic mayo. Manning’s recipe braises the short rib in Exit 4 beer from New Jersey’s Flying Fish Brewing Co.
Greg Manning of The Serenity Café in Toms River. Photo: Courtesy Thomas’ Breads
Celebrating National Breakfast Month (September) as well as Samuel Bath Thomas’ 1880 griddle-baking invention that created those famous nooks and crannies, the online voting began September 14.
The first round of voting ends Sunday, September 27.
The top 16 vote-getters in Round One will move on to Round Two, September 28 to October 4. The top eight vote-getters in that round will advance to quarter final voting October 5-11. The top four vote getters will advance to semi-final voting October 12-18, and the top two will advance to final-round voting October 19-25.
At the end of that round, the winner will be crowned and will take home the $25,000 grand prize.
Though we proudly live in a country based on the noble principle of one person one vote, the fun is you can vote three times a day in the first round.
Better get with it, proud Jerseyans! As of today, none of the three Jersey chefs are among the top 16 vote-getters.
After the first round, you can vote only once a day.
And, hey, there’s something in it for you!
Voters will be entered into a random drawing each day to win Thomas’ products and a grand prize of $10,000 at the end of the contest.