Suburban moms hope for shot at cooking show
Kelly Donlea has it pretty good. She lives comfortably in Northwest suburban Barrington with her husband and three kids. She works part-time, teaches cooking classes to busy moms like herself and last year published her own cookbook.
Yet she's willing to walk away from it all, fly to New York City, live in a house with nine strangers for five weeks and wage daily battles for a shot at her dream - to be "The Next Food Network Star."
"I never would have thought I would be in any reality competition," says Donlea. "I'm surprising myself by how much I'm willing to do."
Donlea is among the hundreds of people from across the country who applied for a spot on Season 5 of "The Next Food Network Star," the cable food station's most popular show. The show pits home cooks, chefs and food enthusiasts against each other in culinary competitions, with the winner landing the starring role in his or her own show on the Food Network.
"I had people telling me 'you need to submit a tape for this show.' I would cook anytime, for anyone," she says. "It was serendipity. I saw the information about the show on a Friday, and I had a class that night. I called a friend and she came and taped my class."
Donlea, as well as Michelle Miller, a mother of two from Bartlett, made it through the first round of auditions, in which they submitted three recipes and a three-minute video. Both were asked by casting directors to provide additional photos and recipes, feeding their excitement and raising their hopes.
Donlea's dream show, "Organizing Dinner," plays off her self-published book, "70 Meals, One Trip to the Store."
"I used to be a person who cooked with fresh ingredients every day," Donlea recalls. Then came the fussy daughter who turned trips to the grocery store into trips to hell. "I had to find a middle ground."
Her show would share her philosophy for stocking the pantry with core items that help "bridge the gap between learning one recipe and being able to make dinner every night of the week."
Miller would approach her show in a similar fashion. The self-dubbed "Secondhand Gourmet" shares her strategies for being "Penny-wise and Organized" in the kitchen in her audition tape.
"Up until recently I was a single parent with a full-time job and two kids; not only did I have to watch my dollars, I had very little time to allocate each evening for good meals," Miller says. "My video shows how you can take the leftovers from one meal and make another creative dish for your family out of it."
On her audition tape, she takes sausage, peppers and potatoes left over from giambotta, puts them onto refrigerated pizza dough with some cheese and other vegetables and rolls it into a calzone.
Miller says the time is right for her show.
"Times are really hard right now. You have more and more families out there with both parents working, people being laid off, less time allowed for meal preparation and certainly less dollars allocated for meals," she says. "I believe that with a little guidance and a little effort that we don't have to sacrifice creativity or taste in the kitchen - regardless of the budget or time constraint."
Unfortunately for Miller and Donlea, the time is not right for them.
According to a Food Network spokeswoman, Season 5 is proceeding without them. Sources declined to reveal the 10 contestants for the upcoming season, saying that information would be released later this spring.
Previous winners and their fates
Season 1: Steve McDonagh and Dan Smith, a catering couple from Chicago, won the first season and were rewarded with "Party Line With Dan and Steve." The show still airs in the early morning hours. In 2007, the pair released a book, "Talk With Your Mouth Full."
Season 2: Guy Fieri, the spikey-haired, shaded chef with a make-no-enemies personality has been the most successful winner to date. Fieri's stable of shows include "Guy's Big Bites," "Guy Off the Hook" and the currently popular "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives" and "Ultimate Recipe Showdown." Food Network also has tapped him for holiday specials.
Season 3: After being sent home, Amy Finley returned for the finale after news surfaced that another finalist fibbed on his application. Her show, "The Gourmet Next Door," ran one season.
Season 4: You can catch winner Aaron McCargo Jr. now on "Big Daddy's House," a casual cooking show the whole family can watch. And while he didn't end up with the grand prize, runner-up Adam Gertler was picked to host Food Network's "Will Work for Food," a show that gives viewers a glimpse at jobs across the food industry.
Chicken Strata
2 chicken breasts, cubed
6 slices of bread, or equivalent, cubed
4 tablespoons butter, divided
1 can (6 ounces) sliced mushrooms, drained
1 cup mozzarella cheese
1 fresh tomato, cored and diced, or 1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes, drained
3 eggs, beaten
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup bread crumbs
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-by-13-by-2-inch buttered baking dish; line with bread. Top with chopped chicken.
In a small frying pan, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter over medium heat. Add mushrooms and saute until browned, 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat and add to baking dish. Top with cheese and tomatoes.
In a large bowl, combine milk, eggs, salt and pepper; mix until well blended and pour over chicken. Bake 1 hour, until a toothpick comes out clean. Sprinkle on bread crumbs; dot with slivers of remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Bake for an additional 10 minutes, until crumbs are lightly browned.
Serves eight.
"70 Meals, One Trip to the Store" by Kelly Donlea
Apricot Mustard Glazed Corned Beef
2 chicken breasts, cubed
6 slices of bread, or equivalent, cubed
4 tablespoons butter, divided
1 can (6 ounces) sliced mushrooms, drained
1 cup mozzarella cheese
1 fresh tomato, cored and diced, or 1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes, drained
3 eggs, beaten
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup bread crumbs
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-by-13-by-2-inch buttered baking dish; line with bread. Top with chopped chicken.
In a small frying pan, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter over medium heat. Add mushrooms and saute until browned, 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat and add to baking dish. Top with cheese and tomatoes.
In a large bowl, combine milk, eggs, salt and pepper; mix until well blended and pour over chicken. Bake 1 hour, until a toothpick comes out clean. Sprinkle on bread crumbs; dot with slivers of remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Bake for an additional 10 minutes, until crumbs are lightly browned.
Serves eight.
"70 Meals, One Trip to the Store" by Kelly Donlea
Reuben Sandwiches and Potato Salad
Leftover corned beef, thinly sliced
2 cups sauerkraut
4 slices Swiss cheese
French or Thousand Island dressing
8 slices rye bread
Potato salad
Leftover boiled potatoes
2 hard boiled eggs, chopped
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon vinegar
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup diced celery
3 tablespoons diced green onion
1 teaspoon mustard
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
For the potato salad: Quarter boiled potatoes and add to a medium bowl. Stir in vinegar and lemon juice to coat. Mix in remaining ingredients. Stir well and chill for at least 30 minutes.
For sandwiches: Place cheese, sauerkraut and beef on bread to make sandwiches. Lightly butter a warm pan and grill sandwiches over medium heat until cheese is melting and bread is toasted.
Serves four.
"70 Meals, One Trip to the Store" by Kelly Donlea
Guava Glazed Pork Chops With Caramelized Onions and Cranberries
4 pieces of apple smoked bacon (regular will work fine too)
4 boneless pork chops
Dried thyme
Salt and pepper
Flour
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium red onion, sliced thin
1/2 cup sparkling or dry white wine
1 cup chicken stock
21/2 cups guava concentrate (see note)
2/3 cup dried cranberries
2 cups of cracked bulgur wheat
Heat oven to 350 degrees.
In large cast-iron pan, cook bacon over medium heat until crispy. Remove bacon from pot, crumble and save for later.
Season pork chops with thyme, salt and pepper. Dredge with flour and brown in bacon grease. Remove from pot once all sides are well browned.
Add butter and oil to the pan and saute the red onion until soft, about 4 minutes. Add garlic and cook for an additional 2 to 3 minutes.
Deglaze pot with wine, scraping bits left on bottom of pot. When all bits are removed, add stock and guava concentrate. When mixture starts boiling, add bulgur and stir well.
Add cranberries and browned pork chops into the pot. Cover and bake 30-35 minutes. Remove from oven, sprinkle with crumbled bacon and serve.
Serves four.
Secondhand Gourmet Note: Leftover pork works wonders in sandwiches; get creative with ciabbata bread, some pepper jack cheese and fried onions. Or, use leftover pork in a salad with some diced green apples and gorgonzola cheese.
Michelle Miller, Secondhand Gourmet
Strawberry Salad with Creamy Mascarpone Dressing and Candied Almonds
1 cup slivered almonds
1/4 cup plus 1/2 teaspoon sugar, divided
1 shallot, minced
3 tablespoons pear vinegar
2 tablespoons mascarpone cheese
6 tablespoons almond oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
6 cups of mixed greens
18 strawberries, slices
1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion
In a heavy frying pan over medium heat, stir almonds and 1/4 cup sugar until all of the sugar has melted and coated the almonds. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
In a food processor or blender add shallot, vinegar and mascarpone cheese and blend. While blender is on slowly pour in almond oil. Add 1/2 teaspoon sugar, cinnamon and salt and mix until well blended.
Divide greens into six salad bowls; add 3 sliced strawberries to each bowl; srinkle with red onions. Drizzle creamy mascarpone dressing over greens and top with candied almonds.
Serves six.
Michelle Miller, Secondhand Gourmet
<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Video</h2> <ul class="video"> <li><a href="/multimedia/?category=14&type=video&item=35">Michelle Miller audition </a></li> <li><a href="/multimedia/?category=14&type=video&item=34">Kelly Donlea audition</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>