Brookhaven cook nails the gremolata for a win
Published 10:16 am Thursday, June 23, 2016
Brookhaven’s Katie Dixon impressed celebrity judges on MasterChef Wednesday night, earning herself a spot in the next episode of the Fox reality show.
Chefs Gordon Ramsay and Christina Tosi handpicked Dixon and three others from the blue team to automatically advance to the next round.
Dixon, 33, chose to be on the blue team for the wedding challenge, and it almost cost her a shot at the MasterChef prize.
The team, led by Nathan Barnhouse of Pennsylvania, performed poorly in the first part of the challenge, attempting to serve raw scallops to the 150 guests at the wedding of season 6 contestant Nick Nappi.
They didn’t complete the challenge, leaving some guests with empty plates.
After a pep talk from Ramsay, Barnhouse focused more and communicated better with his team as they began to prepare a rack of lamb for the main course.
Barnhouse’s change of leadership style impressed Dixon, a personal trainer in Hattiesburg.
“It doesn’t matter sometimes how hard you fall, it’s how you bounce back up,” Dixon said about her team’s leader during an on-screen interview. “He has absolutely pulled this team back on track. His energy, his work ethic, just everything is on point.”
The blue team rallied and completed their service. And although guests raved about their lamb dishes — and Dixon’s gremolata that accompanied it — it was the red team who won the challenge.
Dixon was one of four of the nine contestants on the blue team who were saved from instant elimination.
“These four, Gordon and I believe did too much to face elimination,” Tosi said, praising Dixon’s herb condiment. “Katie, great gremolata.”
Barnhouse was also saved.
“I feel like Nathan deserved to be safe,” Dixon said. “For a young leader, he did step up to the plate.”
Dixon will compete in a mystery box challenge in the next episode Wednesday, where she and the remaining 17 contestants will be tasked with preparing a dish based on the mystery ingredients found in a large covered crate they’re given.
Dixon is the daughter of Henry and Vickie Newman of Brookhaven.
“A big thank you, Lincoln County for always teaching me to believe in myself and pushing me to be my best,” she said. “I am so blessed to be from such an amazing town as Brookhaven. So many of you have influenced me along the way and I can’t give a big enough thank you.”