Kathryn Hyatt of Maple Valley will participate in the regional finals for the Foster Farms chicken cooking competition Friday in Ballard.

Hyatt became aware of the competition when she was shopping one day at a grocery store and saw an ad for the competition. Although it was near the deadline, Hyatt said she was encouraged to do so by the contest guidelines, which she thought were relatively simple. A contestant had to write a recipe to cook Foster Farm chicken. Much of the emphasis was placed on simplicity.

“I saw the recipe that won last year,” she said. “I thought, ‘How easy is that.’ So I started thinking and I came up with this recipe.”

Hyatt created a pecan chicken breast recipe, with avocado and blackberries.

Hyatt has had an interest in cooking ever since she can remember. With a mother from Puerto Rico, her background makes her partial to Spanish and Mexican dishes, though she said she will cook just about anything.

“I have the ability to see something on TV and I can make it,” she said. “I get tired of the same old thing, so I try to make things up.”

Originally from Galastan Island, Texas, Hyatt and her husband, Jerry, came to Maple Valley in July 2009 after Hurricane Ike caused their home to flood.

After she entered her recipe into the contest, she received an email shortly afterward saying she was among those nominated for regional semi-fianlist. A few weeks later, she received a phone call informing her she had won.

Hyatt will now advance to the regional finalist competition, which will be at the Kathy Casey Food Studio. There she will cook her chicken recipe for three or four media judges. If her recipe is chosen, she will move on to compete against four other regional finalists in the final competition at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in St. Helena, Calif., in September to coincide with National Chicken Month.

Hyatt said she feels relaxed about it.

“All I have to do is cook chicken,” she said.

If she wins in St. Helena, she will take home the grand prize of $10,000, which she finds amusing.

“Ten thousand dollars for cooking?” she said. “I cook for free everyday.”

Her husband is equally confident.

“I think she’s heading for California,”Jerry Hyatt said. “It’s (the recipe) very good and it’s very simple. Your tastes are all there.”