CANTON — For Charmaine Rogers, she didn’t put in any thought when she crafted the recipe that garnered her first place in a local cooking contest.

“Recipe?” Rogers responded with a humorous tone when asked to share what made her ribs the top choice. “It was just a little of this and a little of that.”

Rogers, who lives in Canton, took the top prize in the seventh-annual Rib Cook-Off Competition in Creekside at Prominence Court.

The competition, which was Saturday, featured eight contestants, all of whom reside in the 90-home subdivision.

The first rib cook-off took place in 2005 and only featured a few competitors and a handful of neighbors attending, said resident Kim Yonker, who organized this year’s event

“We have tried to enhance our cook-off every year, but still keep it limited to just the neighborhood,” she said, adding they started to circulate fliers in cook-off’s second and third year.

Rogers received a plaque with her first-place win, which was passed on from last year’s winner, JT Long.

She also received a gift card to Practically Perfect Day Spa & Salon in downtown Canton.

Yonker described the event as an opportunity for “for us as neighbors to come together and get to know each other while having a good time with great food.”

Yonker’s husband, Jeff, was one of three men who founded the cook-off, which has grown every year since its inception.

This year’s event featured eight contestants — seven men and one woman — the largest number of contestants it has ever had.

Yonker said each competitor brought “their own style and flavor” to the event.

“Men always like to talk,” Rogers said in a clever tone. “I gave them something to talk about.”

Rogers isn’t the first woman to outplace the all-male competition.

In 2009, Cathy Endler won the contest. She defeated five other men to win the crown.

“You just can’t beat a woman’s cooking,” Yonker said.

This year was the first time Rogers decided to enter the contest. “I’m not going anywhere,” Rogers responded when asked if she would be competing in the event the following year.

Charmaine Rogers’ Winning Ribs Ingredients

2 full racks/slabs (about

4½ pounds) baby back pork ribs

1 sweet Vidalia onion

1 green bell pepper

Kosher salt

Ground black pepper

2 bottles of barbecue sauce

Directions

Place each rib rack on a sheet of extra-wide, heavy-duty aluminum foil. (The foil should be large enough to wrap the entire rack of ribs.)

Season racks liberally with kosher salt and ground black pepper.

Cut the onion and bell pepper up and place around the ribs.

Turn the ribs, meat side down, and tightly seal each foil pouch.

Place on a half sheet pan and refrigerate about 2 hours.

Heat the grill to 400 degrees Farenheit.

Remove the ribs from the aluminum foil (save the foil, onion and peppers) and grill for 45 minutes.

Remove the ribs from the grill and place back in foil with the onion, peppers, and half of the barbecue sauce. Return to the half sheet pan.

Place the half sheet pan (with the ribs in it, meat side up) on the top rack of the grill and cook on 200 degrees F for 3 hours.

Open the foil and brush on the rest of the barbecue sauce and let sit for 15 minutes.