<p>Here’s a fun article about a Rice grad in the Houston Press:</p>
<p>From Rice to Potatoes: How to Switch Gears and Become a Cooking Contest Winner
By Margaret Downing Oct. 7 2009 </p>
<p>Okay, so William “Trey” Smith went to Rice University, where he graduated in 2006 with a degree in economics. Following a not-unexpected career path, he enrolled in law school at the University of Oklahoma.</p>
<p>Along the way, however, he found he liked his avocation better than his planned life’s work. The son and grandson of accomplished cooks (his grandmother Vita Espinosa introduced him to Santa Fe flavors) and a cook himself since childhood (his mother taught him to cook because she didn’t always have time to make him his favorite dishes), he started working for a chef during his first summer of law school.</p>
<p>“It just felt right,” he says. So he contacted the Culinary Institute of America, which offered him a scholarship if he came right away. He jumped ship and landed in New York City – which is where he spoke to Eating…Our Words in a telephone interview.</p>
<p>Turns out the Houston native has just been declared the winner of the Ethnic category and overall Grand Prize winner in (and we are not making this up) “The Potato Innovation Recipe Contest” sponsored by the (not making this up either) the U.S. Potato Board, for his “Cheesy Southwestern Potato Crisps.”</p>
<p>And the story gets even better.
Eating…Our Words: So how did you happen to enter this contest?</p>
<p>Smith: I was walking down the hall and I saw a yellow flyer and I picked it up. I thought to myself, I can come up with a potato dish that people would like to make. The deadline was two hours after I’d seen the flyer. I sat down and wrote the recipe in 45 minutes. I bought some colored pencils at the bookstore. I didn’t have time to actually make the dish. I had made similar dishes in the past. So I knew how it would look and how it would turn out. I quickly drew a little sketch so they would know what I was talking about, and I turned it in. And I didn’t hear anything for months and had kind of forgotten about it, and then I ended up getting a call out of the blue and it was a win for the contest.</p>
<p>EOW: So when did you actually make the dish for the first time?</p>
<p>Smith: Well, I guess technically, I’ve never made the dish.</p>
<p>EOW: Really?</p>
<p>Smith: Not in this specific [instance]. The dish itself is a potato galette, which is classic French preparation, the actual potato part of the dish. I’ve made that many times. But to actually fill it with what I’ve put in it, I’ve never actually done it.</p>
<p>So there you have it. Trey Smith wins a national contest – he got $2,500 in prize money which he hopes to use to move back to Houston and work for a restaurant here after he graduates in early November – for a recipe he never actually cooked or tasted himself.</p>
<p>There’s a reason Rice is known for turning out really smart grads.</p>
<p>Anyhow, the U.S. Potato Board made the dish and thought it was the best of the best among its other recipes.</p>
<p>Here’s Trey Smith’s recipe:</p>
<p>Cheesy Southwestern Potato Crisps</p>
<p>Servings: 2 to 4</p>
<p>1 large garlic clove
1/2 jalape</p>