Chef makes it to finale

Poplar Bluff Chef Lorelei Morris has won her semi-final round of the “Show-Me Chefs” competition, moving on to the final competition.

Morris describes the semi-final round against Jody Easter of Mama Jean’s Natural Market and Deli in Springfield as “pretty rough” and “I’m surprised I pulled it off.”

Morris is inviting friends to view her semi-final round victory beginning at 6 p.m. Monday, Nov. 11, at Bread + Butter, 2586 N Westwood Blvd., but says don’t expect to find out if she is the overall winner.

Everyone will have to wait until Nov. 17 to view that round on YouTube and see if Morris chops another chef. Everyone is also invited to a final watch party Monday, Nov. 18, at Bread + Butter.

Before the season started, the producers asked the contestants what their favorite things were and what they hated. Morris listed she hated any kind of liver and anything with eyes that looked at her.

In the appetizer round of the semi-final, her basket contained beef liver, which she cooked but could not bring herself to taste. While she didn’t win that round, everyone said the “flavor was fantastic.” She lost points on plating.

The entrée round basket had a whole trout, complete with eyes.

She removed the head and managed to “pick all the bones out. I didn’t have a clue what to do, I just knew I was going home. I would be chopped.” But she wasn’t.

“I made up extra points in the dessert round,” Morris said, explaining baking and preparing desserts is one of her favorite cooking projects.

Her winning dessert was tropical cookies and cream, which included sugar cookies with coconut and pecans topped with a whipped topping made with date syrup, pinacolata tea, cheese and whipped cream crowned with strawberries.

Morris also won extra time to work on one of her dishes, as well as an extra visit to the pantry, but to win these she had to dig through wet noddles and other food, which to her was “nasty.”

Everything was “such a blur when I actually did it,” Morris admitted.

Her family and coworkers are proud and have been sending her congratulatory messages.

Morris won the first episode to move into the semifinal round. While she competed in March, Morris was not allowed to talk about the event until her segment aired. She competed against Chef Paul Allen, who trained at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, in the first round.

Comparing each of their training, Morris said, “he has an actual education with instructors.”

Morris wants to take cooking classes. She describes herself as a self-taught cook and baker, who grew up in Piedmont with a grandmother who loved to bake and a mother who prepared everything homemade. They became Morris’ inspiration, and cooking for her invokes warm memories of her family. Following in their footsteps, Morris mixed their creativity into her cooking and baking style, which is what first captured the attention of the show’s producers.

“I really have a lot to learn,” she said. “I have no formal training. I know I can put flavors together. I do well under pressure and when it is stressful I go into a think mode.”

Preparing for the contest, she continued watching cooking shows like “Chopped,” videos and reading cookbooks.

The winner will be featured on the cover of a magazine produced by the show, receive $3,000 and have bragging rights.

Show-Me Chefs is an award-winning broadcast and webcast culinary competition series produced by the Missouri State University Department of Media, Journalism and Film. It features talent from the local and regional culinary communities..

Since most people are not able to watch the television station in the Poplar Bluff area, they may go to www.showmechefs.net or view the contest on YouTube, Morris said.