HAGERSTOWN -- I felt as if I almost ate a cow the other day. I had five different beef dishes for lunch. I started with meatballs with bow-tie pasta. Then I ate a salad -- made with chunks of precooked pot roast, kidney beans and chopped peppers -- served in an edible tortilla bowl. I also had slices of precooked pot roast served with ravioli covered with pesto and cream sauce.

I had Asian "moons," pockets of pie dough shaped like crescent moons and filled with tangy ground beef. And I finished with a tortilla stuffed with rare roast beef, mushrooms and Asiago cheese.

By the time I stopped eating, I figured I was part Angus. I also thought I might have to put more air in my car tires for the ride back to Baltimore.

The reason for the big feed was the 1999 Maryland Beef Cook-Off, a cooking contest sponsored by the Maryland Beef Council that I judged. Five contestants from throughout the state whipped up beef creations in makeshift kitchens at the Hagerstown Sheraton. As one of three jurists, I ate and ate and picked winners in two categories, dishes using ground beef and dishes using pre-cooked beef.

The first-place winners were Westy Gabany of Olney, who cooked the beef moons, and Marjorie Farr of Silver Spring, creator of the beef-stuffed edible tortilla bowls. They picked up $150 each and an opportunity to compete in the national beef cook-off that will be held later this year in Omaha, Neb.

Recipes for the dishes -- including meatballs and bow-tie pasta made by Elizabeth Barclay of Annapolis, the ravioli and pesto dish by Julie Fox of Annapolis, and the tortilla stuffed with deli roast beef and Asiago cheese by Judith Murphy of Baltimore -- can be obtained by sending a self-addressed, stamped envelope to the Maryland Beef Council, P.O. Box 259, Sykesville, Md. 21784

Unlike some contests I have judged, each entry in this competition was well made. But after eating five beef dishes for lunch, I had enough red meat. That night, I had chicken for supper.

Westy Gabany's Asian Beef Moons

Serves 4

1 pound fresh ground beef or chuck

1 teaspoon cornstarch

2 teaspoons water

1/3 cup stir-fry sauce (mild or hot)

1 tablespoon fresh cilantro leaves, minced

salt to taste

ground black pepper to taste

1 (15-ounce) package refrigerated pie crusts (2 shells), softened as directed on package

1 egg, beaten

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a 10-inch, nonstick skillet, cook the ground beef over medium-high heat until brown, about 4-5 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix cornstarch and water, and add mixture to stir-fry sauce, stirring well.

Drain drippings from cooked beef pan, add the cornstarch-and-stir-fry mixture, cooking until thickened, about 1 to 2 minutes.

Remove pan from heat, add cilantro and salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

Using a round cutter, cut out circles of dough from prepared pie crusts.

Fill each circle of dough with equal amounts of beef filling. Apply beaten egg to edges of dough as a glue as you fold the dough in half, sealing the edges. Place a cilantro leaf as garnish on outside of dough moons, and brush the exterior, including the cilantro leaf, with beaten egg.

Place the moons on cookie sheet and bake at 400 degrees until slightly brown and crisp, about 10 to 15 minutes.

Pub Date: 03/14/99