Masterchef: Daniel McGuffey

This time on MasterChef, it came down to three rounds of egg cooking. While the competition of who would stay was tight, we sadly said goodbye to the 32-year-old video game designer from Los Angeles, California, Daniel McGuffey.

I'm excited to say that I got to chat with Daniel about auditioning for the show, his elimination, and what he's been up to since filming.

Daniel, while it's sad to see that you left the MasterChef competition, talk to us about that fateful elimination.

Well it was definitely a bummer. Ultimately you're there because you think you have a shot. When you're there, some part of you thinks about the fact that you want to be a humble a student and grow, but at the same time you begin to think that you can win this. It's weird because every step of the way you see someone go home and there was a part of me that was amazed because everyone there is passionate and gave up something incredible to be there. Everyone is really making a sacrifice, and every step of the way that I continued the journey I thought how lucky I was or how incredible I was.

Then at the same time, when I went home I thought I could have done better or I could have kept going. That's not what I hold on to now that it's all said and done. You just have to let it sink in and take it for what it is and learn to rebuild yourself by strengthening those weaknesses that got you booted.

So I can imagine being in the competition was really about taking it week by week since you didn't really know what was to come in future weeks on the show.

Yeah, absolutely. I tend to over analyze everything, and that's just how I am in life. I am working at getting better at that by just constantly putting myself in situations that are beyond my control. But definitely in the beginning of MasterChef, I was trying to (and a few of us on the show were guilty of this) analyze the pieces and guess what was next including guessing what was the next challenge. 100% of the time we were wrong.

We quickly learned that you never know what's coming up, it's always a surprise and is always bigger, more elaborate, and more challenging than you really ever thought it was going to be.

Now one thing I've heard from some of the other contestants is that the fans of the show really seemed to be the ones that were guessing and over analyzing. So were you a fan of the show before you auditioned?

Oh yeah. I've been a huge fan of MasterChef, but even more I've been a fan of Gordon Ramsay for a long time. I think that everything he does is gold, going all the way back to when he was on The F Word.

So this was something you watched from the beginning and then heard once you heard about the casting, you thought this was something you could do?

I've been in the kitchen my whole life. It's always been something really important to me. It's something I'm finding out that is so important to me that I don't even think about it. It just happens. Since I'm always in the kitchen, it's become my zen place.

As far as me auditioning for this season, my friends were mainly responsible for convincing me to do this. At first, it just sounded ridiculous to me then eventually I really started to believe them.

So if you're friends saw how special of a talent you had, what kind of food would you consider your specialty that showed them you should be the next MasterChef?

It's funny. I've definitely tried to expand my knowledge a lot since leaving the show. At the end of the day, the thing that I liked the most and I wish I stuck with on the show more is the simple rustic stuff. I like really simple seafood that's lightly seasoned with those fresh bright flavors.

I like that stuff that you feel good about, know where it came from, know what you're eating, and that is healthy. Now I'm not saying that I'm a health nut, but that is one of the things that made me hone my skills in the kitchen. It's about learning how to diet and learning the benefits of cooking. It just naturally makes you very health-conscious.

That's cool that you learned to get into the kitchen as much as you did. For you it seems to be that realization of different health factors, but I can also imagine that cost became a major factor as well.

Oh yeah. That's definitely a huge part of it. I grew up with not a lot of money and my dad had a garden and hunted so I would go hunting with him when I was about six years old and watch him bring deer and fish home. I got to see at a very young age where food came from. At some point in life, in getting older and getting money you can lose that focus a little bit because of the excitement of starting to eat out. But I've tried to make sure that I'm even more conscious than ever and remembering that understanding of being cost-effective.

It has really brought on some great practices. I love going down to the fish market and buying a whole fish and fileting it myself and using all the parts to make a stock. It's amazing how much money that saves. I swear the food tastes so much better when you control and are intimately connected to every aspect. When you're doing everything except for catching it yourself, it can be incredibly rewarding.

Sounds like it! Now do you find that living in a city like L.A, it's really easy to stay at home and make your own dishes or do you have to push yourself a little more than normal because of the glitz of getting to the hottest new restaurant that a famous chef or celebrity opened up?

Honestly, I do love going out. That's one of the beautiful things about this city because there is so much to experience, but it can also be a hassle to get out in L.A. It can be a really big deal. Some things are only five miles away, but it will take you a whole night because you have to get there and get home. I have a lot more fun these days doing something at home and bringing people over and getting to focus on my craft. That's something I enjoy a lot more right now.

Oh I agree. Sometimes getting to go out just seems like a hassle and you're just not in the mood for it. That's really cool though that you are able to really hone in on something that you're passionate about. Now since you have such a passion for food and cooking, can we expect you to move into a career in this? I know on the show you were a video game designer, but can we find you moving out of that field a little bit and into the food industry?

Yeah, so let me tell you what I've been up to. We filmed the show back in February and March, and ever since I've been off the show I've made it a real focus to do all the things that I love, and make sure I'm focusing on the things that are really important to me. I work in a professional kitchen now, and I've also put a band together with some really good friends of mine. This happened pretty much the day I left the show, and we've been recording an album. The band's name is The Pride, and we are looking to release a free record in the next couple months. It's basically just really dirty rock and roll. I'm just taking every opportunity I can to really embrace the unknown right now and see what comes of it.

The real thing that MasterChef taught me is to take risks and not be afraid or even doing something just for a paycheck. I'm taking some huge gambles right now, and while it is challenging it is also very rewarding. I'm in a kitchen everyday and we shall see what happens. I talked about opening an arcade on the show. While that sounds crazy and it even sounded crazy to me at the time, but I'm now really starting to believe it is possible. I have a very specific vision for it now, and it's really about creating an experience. I want it to be about creating the feeling of being in an arcade in Tokyo, which for a guy like me is almost like a very religious experience. I've just been thinking about that every day, but for now I'm working on my skills in the kitchen, learning how to say yes sir and no sir, taking direction, and making the rock and roll record. That's what is in the short term.

Well, it sounds like you're a great example of someone who is following there dreams from a passion for food to a passion with music and soon to be (or hopefully soon) a passion with this arcade. Where can people go to stay updated with you as all of these new opportunities are unfolding?

I'm really vocal on Twitter. I'll talk to everyone that talks to me. Twitter has been a real blessing during the show. The best thing to come out of the show is all of the incredible people that I've met. There have been so many fascinating people, and I think when I was going on the show I always felt different or strange and this experience brought all these people into my life that love the same things I love and think the same way I think. It's really strengthened me and given me courage to do some of this crazy stuff, but Twitter is definitely where you want to find me. It's @MC5Daniel.

You can tune in to see new episodes of MasterChef every Monday night at 8pm on FOX. And for those of you home cooks who have a passion for food like Daniel, MasterChef has just begun casting for season 6. Check out www.masterchefcasting.com for more information.