Kristen Davis of Easthampton wins Cooking Channel's 'Great Steak Challenge 2'

Davis paired a sauvignon blanc with her Thai lemongrass tenderloin skewers to create the judges' favorite steak.

Most people don't think of pairing white wine with red meat, but Kristen Davis' "edgy, risky" steak recipe earned her a check for $25,000 in the 2nd annual Beringer "Great Steak Challenge" on Cooking Channel.

Davis paired a sauvignon blanc with her Thai lemongrass tenderloin skewers to win the competition's first prize. The show, taped in October at Beringer Vineyards in Napa Valley, Calif., premiered on Cooking Channel on Tuesday night.

"I started developing my recipe around the wine (Beringer Founders Estates sauvignon blanc). I really love and appreciate the sauvignon blanc and formulated my recipe to go with the wine," Davis, who co-owns Popcorn Noir, a restaurant/bar/cinema in Easthampton, with her husband, Tom Doherty, said Wednesday night. The couple lives in Easthampton with their toddler son, Luka.

Davis, who owned and operated restaurants from Thailand to Honduras before settling in Easthampton, said she felt the "Great Steak Challenge" judges appreciated the risks she took.

"I cooked my steak to medium rare, which was very risky. Most chefs in competition go conservative and cook steak to medium," Davis said. "It's a bold sauce, a white wine with steak – that was something that the judges acknowledged and appreciated, that I didn't shy away from my recipe and flavors."

In her profile on the "Great Steak Challenge" website, Davis says her dish:

"... is all about balance. A bold spicy sauce follows the rules by combining hot, sweet, salty, and sour. This balance lays the perfect framework for a crisp, fruity, well-balanced wine. The Beringer Founders’ Estate Sauvignon Blanc has the strength of flavor to stand up against the intense sauce, while still accenting the light freshness of the cucumber slaw."

Davis was a natural in front of the camera, and she acknowledged the "Great Steak Challenge" contestants could do a lot to sell their dishes when presenting their plates to the judges.

"It's a full image that you put forward. I try to put out my personal style – very edgy and very eccentric – that's what the judges see and wanted to see," she said. "I stand out from your average cooks and chefs. Everybody likes something different."

One judge was Karine Bakhoum, known as the "Iron Palate" because of her frequent judging appearances on The Food Network's "Iron Chef America." Davis was not intimidated.

"As soon as I knew she was one of the judges, I was excited," Davis said, referring to Bakhoum's appreciation of bold flavors and daring cooking.

Despite the stress of cooking in front of a live audience, with cameras and celebrity hosts often in your face, Davis appeared comfortable preparing and plating her dish in the 30-minute time limit. She had a 2010 appearance on the super-stressful "Chopped," a weekly cooking competition on The Food Network, under her belt.

The "Great Steak Challenge" rules were relatively simple: recipes had to use beef steak; the chefs had 30 minutes to prepare and plate; side dishes and marinades were optional; and each dish had to be paired with a wine from Beringer's Founders Estates portfolio.

Davis described the day of competition as a bit of a roller coaster – a lot of sitting and waiting, filming interview segments, the 30 minutes of cooking, and a lot more sitting and waiting.

"That 30 minutes goes by the fastest 30 minutes ever," Davis said. "Then it's back to waiting."

The show featured 10 finalists, narrowed from 30 semifinalists from thousands of entries. The 10 were divided into two groups of five to ensure all steaks were served as hot as possible, but all were scored in one group. Davis was in the first group, and was prominently featured.

The hosts of the show were brothers Bobby and Jamie Deen, sons of celebrity chef Paula Deen who have big personalities of their own.

"They're really charming, surprisingly genuine," Davis, a native of North Carolina, said. "They're a lot of fun and supportive and encouraging."

About halfway through her cooking time, Davis dropped a jar of soybean paste that splattered all over her and her work station. Jamie Deen helped to keep the moment light and upbeat.

Judging was on a 100-point scale, divided equally among originality, taste appeal, wine pairing and how easy the dish was to cook. Final scores were not revealed.

The show aired only one of the judges' comments on Davis' dish: "You've really put some thought into the presentation, using the skewer, the spoon for the sauce," said Bill Powell, Director of Culinary Development for LongHorn Steakhouse. "It's a great way to make this steak pop a little bit."

The judges were Bakhoum; Powell; Thomas Dritsas, Corporate Executive Chef for Del Frisco's Restaurant Group; and Laurie Hook, Chief Winemaker, Beringer Vineyards.

After all the cooking and judging was done, the top three winners were announced. Third place ($2,500) went to Mary Hawkes of Prescott, Ariz., for her Tuscan Ribeye with Bocconcini salsa paired with Beringer Founders Estates cabernet sauvignon. Larry Elder of Charlotte, N.C., won second place ($7,500) for his cocoa-dusted tenderloin with caramel mustard paired with the cab.

Then came the announcement that Davis was the winner. On the show, her response to being asked the obligatory "How does it feel?" question was, "Incredible. I've worked really hard and spent a lot of time getting here."

She was given a specially made super-sized bottle of Beringer, and the Deens picked her up and held her horizontally across their arms. The giant bottle has been hiding in a closet for six months to avoid giving away Davis' triumph.

Davis is eligible to enter the 2012 "Great Steak Challenge," and already has a recipe in mind, but she hasn't decided whether to enter. With little Luka and Popcorn Noir keeping her plenty busy, she has no plans for her next TV cooking competition.

"I'm just sitting by the phone waiting for somebody to offer me my own show," she joked.

She'll serve her Thai lemongrass tenderloin skewers at a private celebration party at Popcorn Noir on Saturday night (it opens to the public at 11 p.m.), but she doesn't see the dish going on the menu.

"Later this summer, we're going to be bringing in a barbecue out back. It will probably be one of those special things that I feature (occasionally)," she said.