Posted 12:53 am Friday, February 10, 2012
Longview Resident Competes In Food Network Show
By CHRISTINE GARDNER
Food Editor
Food Editor
"Worst Cooks in America," the Food Network competition series that turns hopeless cooks into confident kitchen mavens, returns for a third season Sunday at 8 p.m. This season the show is hosted by Food Network chefs Bobby Flay and Anne Burrell and one of the competitors is 27-year old Longview resident, David Shelton.
Shelton will compete against 15 other hopefuls for a $25,000 grand prize that will be awarded to the contestant who achieves the most progress and overall best performance.
The show pits Burrell against Flay, each leading a team of eight contestants in an eight-week boot camp designed to transform them into competent cooks.
"Once I got there I realized the basics I thought I knew were way less than what you really need to know to do well in cooking," Shelton said.
Shelton was part of Bobby Flay's team and was thrilled to meet one of his favorite Food Network chefs.
"Bobby couldn't be more down to earth and easy-going," Shelton said. "He loved the fact that I came from Texas and that I represented what Texas is all about. We had a good connection. He was patient with us and gave a lot of credit for trying.
In Sunday's season premiere, the sixteen competitors, each nominated by family and friends, for their horrible cooking skills, arrive at the Food Network studios in New York City.
"My wife found out they were having open auditions and she knew how bad of a cook I really am," Shelton said. "I say that I am bad but as you will see in the first episode it is very evident that I don't have the basics down on many different things."
During the audition process the show producers recognized that Shelton was a bad cook and could really use some help. They offered him a spot on the show and within a couple of months he was in New York taping the episodes.
"The experience itself was indescribable. It was a lot of pressure because I really wanted this and wanted to learn," Shelton said. "I thought it was the highest honor to potentially learn from Anne Burrell and Bobby Flay.
"Once you get there, everything you had pictured about what it would be like is very different. With nine cameras and everything around you, you very soon start to forget about the cameras because you are focusing at the task at hand," Shelton said.
In the first episode, Shelton attempts to impress Burrell and Flay with his dishwasher salmon. From this dish, the two decided who they wanted to pick for each of their teams.
"They are professionals in the business and know food better than anyone else, so you are very nervous going up there and admitting you are a horrible cook," Shelton said.
When he made the dish in the past he had placed the salmon on foil, added spices and a marinade, wrapped it up and put it in the dishwasher. For the show he covered the salmon with mayonnaise and added a generous amount of Southwest seasoning. He discovered there was no dishwasher in the kitchen and instead, baked it for 30 minutes at 400 degrees.
"I didn't realize fish was one of those meats that cook very quickly," Shelton said.
After the salmon came out of the oven he garnished it with tomato paste and lemons.
Flay and Burrell were not impressed and told Shelton he didn't know what he was doing and the salmon was overcooked.
"It was very humbling," Shelton said. "I admitted it probably didn't taste good and they let me try it and I spit some of it out."
After the teams were picked the contestants competed in their first elimination challenge - a high-stakes breakfast battle.
The outcome cannot be revealed but the contestant with the least successful dish on each team was sent home, while the remaining fourteen competitors continue to cook in next week's episode.
"I have to live with who I am and what I show on national television and I hope people will come up to me and say you were hilarious and there were some funny things that happened but it was real and I feel like I know you," Shelton said.
"I can definitely say that I am a better cook now. I really feared the kitchen. There are so many different things you can cook but there are some key basics that if you follow them you can do all types of different dishes," Shelton said. "I really want all of North East Texas and Tyler to be able to enjoy this with me and learn about cooking."
Shelton had been laid off from his job in the medical industry shortly before auditions for the show began.
"It's weird how everything works out because then this happened and there's no way I would have been able to commit to this if I had a full-time job. I really do think the universe and everyone else thought it was important for me to learn to cook," Shelton said.
