MINOT (AP) - Three teams at Minot Air Force Base prepared for battle with nervous energy.

They had to work quickly, with a substance they would be given on short notice.

It turned out to be ground beef.

Saturday's competition paired three chefs from the 91st Space Wing's three missile squadrons with chefs from Minot's Quentin Burdick Job Corps Center. They had to prepare two dishes of their choice after the "secret ingredient" was given to them.

Airman 1st Class Amanda Kovalcin, Senior Airman Bryant Whittaker and Senior Airman Travis Keele joined with Job Corps sous-chefs Sam O'Donnell, Jeffrey Packard and Jenna Seaboy.

Once they learned they would be using ground beef, each team went to work slicing onions and tomatoes, mixing sauces, and boiling noodles and water.

"It was fun, but you had to be quick," said Jeffrey Packard, a sous-chef from Job Corps.

Packard and Whittaker switched gears and decided to turn noodles to soup.

"We went from spaghetti and meatballs, and changed halfway to Mexican soup, beef fidello," Whittaker said. "We used the water from the noodles for the soup, not wasting time."

The commanders from each team's squadron, as well as friends and family, were there to cheer. The judges evaluated the cleanliness of each team's preparation areas and tasted the dishes.

Whittaker and Packard took the honors with their beef quesadillas and beef fidello.

"The competition was difficult, and it was hard having an extra pair of hands because we usually work by ourselves out in the missile field," Whittaker said. "It was really hard mentally thinking about what you were going to do, but the other was already there prepping."

O'Donnell said he and Kovalcin made a good team.

"It was a lot of fun, and was a great chance of showing off my skills," he said. "This (being a chef) is something I really want to do when I leave Job Corps."