Guilty Eats chats with chef Kelsey Murphy about new MasterChef x Grubhub promotion

If you’ve ever watched MasterChef and thought “I really wish I could try that food,” you are finally going to get your chance thanks to a new partnership between the show and Grubhub.

Starting Wednesday, June 1, people in 20 different cities can order unique dishes from MasterChef Table, a delivery-only restaurant concept that’s only available on Grubhub. You simply have to go to the Grubhub app or the website and check out all the dishes.

The 11 dishes were created by MasterChef alumni Kelsey Murphy, Dorian Hunter, Gerron Hunt, and Michael Silverstein.

And if you’re in New York, you can enter to win one of the chef-inspired meals as well as maître d’ service and an actual table. To enter, you simply have to order one of the new MasterChef Table meals and use the promo code TABLE when you checkout.

Our interview with MasterChef’s Kelsey Murphy about new Grubhub promotion and more

We were lucky enough to talk to chef Kelsey Murphy about this new promotion as well as how MasterChef changed her cooking and what she has coming in the future.

GE: Hi Kelsey! Let’s first talk about this new promotion!

Chef Kelsey Murphy: The whole MasterChef and Grubhub thing is so exciting. It’s been a long time in the making. We’re excited to finally get it launched and get out food out to everybody in the country, I think people are going to love this idea behind it. So it’s just fun, and I think, an idea that was a long time coming just because so many people watch Master Chef and for 11 seasons, almost 12, they see our food and they never get to taste it, and finally we’re going to get it out to everybody.

GE: Exactly! Can you tell us a little bit about what you contributed to it? Like what food did you create for the menu?

Chef Kelsey Murphy: Yeah, so I have two main dishes on the menu. The first is a honey hot chicken sandwich. There’s a maple bacon with cayenne pepper on it and fried chicken with a hot, honey drizzle over it and then like the jalapeno and cilantro creamy coleslaw with like, a ton of spicy mayo. It’s like the glutton chicken sandwich of all chicken sandwiches. It’s so good!

And then my second one is an elote-style dish with some skewered shrimp overtop. It’s deconstructed with a big bowl of corn and yummy mayo and lime zest and some cayenne pepper, paprika, and then some spiced skewered shrimp over top. It’s great for summer. It’s going to be such a crowd-pleaser. Light but still fulfilling.

GE: What inspired you to make these specific dishes?

Chef Kelsey Murphy: So we were given a lot of freedom in creating these dishes which was fun. So I thought “what would I like to eat?” and an elote smear is like my favorite think in the world and who doesn’t love an awesome chicken sandwich? They are so hot right now.

And basically, how do I put my MasterChef spin on it? How do I elevate that so it’s not just something they could order anywhere?

We really want to show our personalities, and what our flavors are like so they [the customers] actually feel like they’re getting our food and actually kind of feel us in the kitchen cooking for them even though they know we’re not the ones actually cooking it.

GE: Speaking of MasterChef, has it changed how you cook at all? Would you say it’s made it better or has it changed what you cook?

Chef Kelsey Murphy: Oh yeah, absolutely. It’s really given me a lot more freedom and confidence in the kitchen. Even when I was on MasterChef, every episode the judges will be like “that was amazing! We would serve this in our restaurant!” and part of you is like “you’re full of it. You wouldn’t do that!” and then the more I served people here and do big private dining events and do really high-end private dinners for people, the more I trust myself and feel like ‘wow I’m actually really good at this.’

It’s given me a lot more freedom to start cooking and make really cool things and just experiment more.

GE: Okay, let’s talk about the cookbook! I’m so excited about this!

Chef Kelsey Murphy: Yes, I’m so excited about the cookbook! The book is going to be the cookbook that teaches you how to not use cookbooks. So it’s going to be a lot on this whole intuitive cooking revolution [that’s] going on.

The first half is going to be technique-based; teaching you how to make things like a bechamel sauce or how to cook eggs properly. Just basic things that are questions that I get all the time.

And then the second half is going to be recipes based on what we learned in the first half, incorporating all those things. And the recipes are going to be specifically written to give the reader a lot of freedom in how they’re making it and what goes into it.

It’s kind of hand-holding people into having more freedom in the kitchen and teaching them they don’t have to be so tied down to a specific recipe. And that’s scary for people that are just learning to cook or even [people] who have been cooking for a while.

GE: Is it more savory versus sweet or both?

Chef Kelsey Murphy: It’s going to be a little bit of both. And even desserts, I’m going to teach people how to get a little more freedom with their desserts too which is difficult.

But yeah, I’m excited about it. I think it’s a really needed book. And it’s supposed to be kind of a book you can sit down and actually read and enjoy reading. I’m adding a lot of fun and personality to it, a lot of stories. And it’s something you can really learn from but have a lot of fun with too.

GE: And do you have a release date for the cookbook or not yet?

Chef Kelsey Murphy: Not yet, but it’s going to be like spring 2023.

GE: You were a physical therapist before this, correct? How was that move? Was it difficult or did you feel like this is where you’re supposed to be?

Chef Kelsey Murphy: Yeah, I totally felt like this is where I was supposed to be. I was actually just saying about it this morning when I was getting ready I was like “oh, normally I would have been getting ready and going to treat all my patients” and it just didn’t give me the energy I innately feel right now. I’m so energized about what I’m doing and so passionate about it. And whenever I start talking to people about it, I feel good and other people feel that too. I feel totally at home.

GE: Now let’s talk about the studio kitchen. You’ve been building that. How has that been going?

Chef Kelsey Murphy: [motions to the kitchen behind her] This is not it. This is getting blown out. So I’m going to build a whole home and studio kitchen in two kind of separate areas. I’m really excited about that! That’s my ultimate goal: to get more focused on more video content for everybody, showing people recipes, showing people recipes from the book when it comes out, and be able to show a lot of those techniques. I cannot wait! We will have some really nice chef appliances that I actually got from the show.

GE: And final question: what are you making for your family right now? Like, what’s your favorite thing to make for them right now?

Chef Kelsey Murphy: Whatever I’m trying to film that day is what my kids eat!

Honestly, that’s kind of the fun part. It’s whatever I have in the house at the time. My husband will come home and say “what is this? We haven’t had this before” and I’m just like “just eat it! just try it.” He’s getting to try new things. I’m getting to experiment more. My kids still just eat macaroni and cheese and hot dogs. So I’m still making multiple meals throughout the day. But most chefs do that.

That’s the number one question I get: “do your kids eat everything?” and I’m like no, they eat all those things [macaroni and cheese and hot dogs] too.