Masterchef: Elizabeth Cauvel

We are well into summer and with summer comes your favorite summer TV shows. This seems to be a popular time of year for the reality show. Some popular titles to consider checking out are CBS' Big Brother, CMT's Party Down South, and FOX's MasterChef.

Now Masterchef is in its fifth season, but for those of you who aren't familiar with the show it's a cooking competition devoted to the home cooks. Gordon Ramsay returns as the host with many challenges for a cook like you and me. Like any show with Gordon Ramsay, you never know what to expect.

I sat down to chat with one of the competitors on MasterChef season 5, Elizabeth Cauvel, about her time on the show and her passion for cooking.

Elizabeth is a 31-year-old Advertising Executive from Brooklyn, New York. She describes cooking as her therapy, where her experience is self-taught. She didn't grow up in a super-foodie family. Her passion for cooking from the basics came from trying a chocolate chip cookie made from scratch.

Thanks so much for joining us today, Elizabeth.

Well, thank you for having me.

Getting right into it, how did you decide to audition for a show like MasterChef?

I'm a huge fan of the show, and was addicted to season 4. I was sitting at home watching the show and thinking 'I could actually cut it on a show like this. I could handle it'. Then I just went to an open call audition and the rest is history.

Were there any dishes that you were known for at home and really wanted to show off bring into the competition?

I was really excited to make lasagna. That's actually what I made for my open call audition. I stood out in the cold with my giant lasagna for a few hours, and then once I got on the show it was really exciting getting to make at least one during the competition.

So for the lasagna made in the competition. What made it stand out from everyone else?

I think that it was just on the fly because it seems like something that is really complicated, but I actually ended up turning it out in under an hour.

That's amazing. Especially for something like lasagna which almost seems like a delicate Italian dish because it usually has a larger cook time so to be able to get all the prep work and cook time done in under an hour must be an impressive accomplishment for yourself.

Yeah, it was super stressful, but I found during the competition (really all the challenges actually) that I was running on adrenaline and working at about ten times my normal speed so I went into super human mode.

So you were able to find that the added pressure and lack of time helped you to stay focused and not necessarily feel that pressure in a negative way.

It's definitely scary watching the time tick away and it's incredibly stressful, but ultimately you keep the win in your mind I felt like it was an advantage to me because I do work best under pressure and always have.

What were some things that you learned on MasterChef that will help you grow in either cooking at home for your family and friends or even to pursue a career in the food industry?

I feel like my biggest takeaway as far as cooking goes is to not over-complicate things. We all realized throughout the course of the competition that almost always what the judges were really looking for was something executed really well, not the craziest idea. They just wanted something that was simple and well thought out and well executed. I think that it's always easy to over-complicate things especially when you're trying to impress someone, but with food when you're using really great ingredients and when you keep the techniques on point then you will always come out with something delicious.

So what piece of advice do you have to help encourage those people don't consider themselves the best cook, and maybe even have a specialty with making a bowl of cereal?

<laughing> I would say to not be afraid to try things. I think everyone is afraid of failure, but I've cooked thousands and thousands of dishes in my life and not all of them have been great but very few have been inedible. So just try things and you are going to learn really quickly. It's just trial and error just like everything else.

It really is about experimenting. Almost as if you are taking those science classes and moving those experiments into the kitchen.

Absolutely. I think you just need to think 'hey is this going to work' or 'how's this going to taste', and you just need to take chances and find out what works for you and what works to your tastes.

So since your time on the show, how has this opportunity opened doors for you?

The show has been really great. I hosted a couple of dinners and I actually got an offer the other day to cook for someone's rehearsal dinner for their wedding which is a big honor. And I've always cooked for my friends and family, but the show has really taken it to the next level of me putting myself on a bigger stage as far as food goes.

Since you've gotten all of these offers to cook dinners and then the rehearsal dinner, could we see you opening up a catering kind of business or will the cooking remain as a hobby on the side so that you continue to have fun with it?

I'm really still trying to decide. I have my whole advertising career that is still going strong. It's meaningful to me and something that I care about as well, but I think that I'm going to take my time and keep writing. I have a blog that I'm committed to, and keep taking pictures. I'm just going to roll with the opportunities as they come, and I think things will continue to come out of the woodwork for me.

Well if that opportunity does turn to having your own food business, I think with the advertising career you have a great background for the business side too.

I would like to think so. I definitely feel like I understand marketing and promoting myself. I think the big question mark for me is always the financial side. I'm not the biggest math whiz so that kind of scares me. But I think that if you're cooking good food, you can find someone to run the numbers for you.

Oh definitely. Now I do want to ask about anyone else from the show that you've been able to remain close with. Because even though it is a competition, we've all noticed that it still becomes a close family.

Absolutely. I would say that for some reason the New York crew ran together. Christine who is the investment banker from Yonkers and I stay in close contact. Jamiee from Queens (the girl with all the tattoos) and I were surprised that we were such good friends. We seem like we would be really different, but Jamiee's one of my closest friends from the show. Then Victoria from Texas lives in Brooklyn as well so I see her quite a bit.

It definitely sounds like the close location helps to keep the friendships from something that developed on the show turn into something even more.

That was one of the most wonderful and unexpected things I gained from the show. I really do feel like I have this food family. You said it well when you called it a family. I have this food family that I'm very lucky I get to live close to and see frequently. It's such a gift to really have people that I can say is a new true family for me.

Aw!!!!! So if MasterChef decides to do an All Star season and they approach you, would you sign up to compete again?

Oh Absolutely!!!! I hope they do it. <laughing> They definitely should. It was a crazy experience and there were a lot of things that were hard about it. It's the coolest thing I've done, the hardest thing, and I would relish with the opportunity to do something with MasterChef in the future.

That's awesome to hear so much passion for something that could be a possible food career or even something to keep as that hobby.

Yeah, nothing makes me happier than being in the kitchen cooking. Every free minute is spent doing that and cooking for other people so whether I do turn it into my next full time career or just keep it as a hobby, I know that it's the thing that fulfills my life and fills my heart. So I will continue to be in the kitchen cooking for people.

I'm so happy for you and hopefully there will be an All Star season where you get the chance to compete again and maybe become the MasterChef All Star.

Absolutely! I hope so too. <Laughing>.

Now you did mention your blog so where can people go to read more posts and stay updated with you?

My personal website is www.elizabethcauvelcooks.com and the blog can be found at www.elizabethcauvelcooks.com/blog if you just want to go straight to the blog.

Great!!! Thanks so much for chatting with me Elizabeth.

Thanks for having me. Have a great day.

You can catch new episodes of MasterChef on FOX every Monday night at 8pm ET/7pm CT. Check back later because I will be talking with another MasterChef contestant, Leslie Gilliams. Those of you familiar with this season have seen him get in quite a few arguments with the other contestants. From the looks of it, it's safe to say that he's not the most well-liked on the show.