Jolene Benoit sorts through her collection of recipes to select which ones she will submit for 2012 Cajun/Creole Cookbook.

Jolene Benoit is passionate about cooking and like any good cook she has a recipe collection filled with family-treasured dishes and many innovative recipes she has created in her own kitchen. But the New Iberia resident is just as passionate about sharing her treasured recipes as she is collecting them.

Benoit has been busy going through the hundreds of recipes she has collected over the years to decide which ones she will submit for the publication of the 2012 Cajun/Creole Cookbook presented by the Cajun Sugar Co-op and The Daily Iberian.

“There’s no point in collecting recipes if you can’t share them with other cooks. The cookbook provides the perfect opportunity to share and swap recipes,” said Benoit.

Benoit is hoping one of her recipes will be selected for the cookbook cookoff competition. The final competition will be judged by a special group of diners who will put up big bucks to sample the competitors’ dishes and at the same time raise funds for the endeavors of United Way of Iberia.

An experienced cook, Benoit is not a stranger to the annual cookoff competition. She has competed in the competition for the last nine years, garnering five first place awards and numerous second and third places.

“I always look forward to submitting new recipes each year for the cookbook, in hopes of being invited back to compete in the final competition. There is a friendly rivalry among the cooks who compete for the top awards. I’ve made a lot of new friends along the way,” Benoit said.

“The fun part of collecting recipes is to share. Whenever I find a new recipe that is good and it is something my family likes, I want everyone else to try it.”

This year’s competition will again include an award for a best dish submitted by a first-time competitor.

John Olivier swept up the award for first-timers in the 2011 cookbook cookoff with a recipe he created featuring seven different smoked meats. His dish, Olivier’s Smoking 7 Meat Jambalaya Mix” was set apart from other jambalaya dishes with smoked marinated pork and rib eye steak.

“I had never entered any recipes before this, but my family and friends always seemed to like the jambalaya, so I decided to share the recipe with others. I’m hoping to be invited back this year. It was such a good experience,” said Olivier.

Olivier, who enjoys cooking for church functions and cookoffs, said his jambalaya also received top honors at the first Soul Food Showdown Cookoff.

“I just love cooking and like to share recipes. This is the perfect way to share recipes with other cooks,” said Olivier.

This year, Olivier is hoping his recipes for “I yi I Red Beans and Rice” cooked jambalaya style or his Seafood Mustard Green Gumbo will get him another invitation to the annual cookoff competition.

“The art of Cajun Creole cooking can get lost in society and I want to make sure this doesn’t happen in my family,” he said.

Cooks can compete for awards in eight categories which include vegetables, salads, appetizers, soups and gumbos, desserts, meat/fowl, rice and jambalaya and seafood. There is no limit to the number of recipes or number of categories that can be entered. Deadline for submitting recipes is June 27.

In addition, a drawing will be held among all who submit recipes for a chance to win $250 in free groceries — $150 first prize, $50 second prize and two $25 third prizes.

Besides good recipes, The Daily Iberian is also interested in hearing about local cook’s best cooking tips, which will be included in this year’s cookbook.

Recipes can be dropped off at The Daily Iberian office, emailed to dailyiberian@cox.net or mailed to P.O. Box 9290, New Iberia, LA 70562. Include name, address and daytime phone number on each recipe.