What would you do with marshmallow fluff, celery root, and 20 minutes? If you’re Chef Rebecca Newell, you’ll whip up a mouthwatering bread pudding and clinch $10,000 in the process. Chef Newell created quite a buzz for Boston restaurant, The Beehive (at which Newell is the Executive Chef), when she bested three other chefs on the frantic Food Network culinary battle, Chopped. The cooking competition challenges participants to create three courses out of a basket full of random mystery ingredients, with sometimes decadent, sometimes disastrous results. In an historic all-female episode (the show’s first), Chef Newell way cool and smooth under pressure and exhibited some fine technique and incredible creativity. She took a break from kitchen duty to answer some questions for Purcell Murray.
PM: What was the hardest part of Chopped for you?
NEWELL: I think the hardest part about Chopped was watching myself on TV after it was edited. Yoanne (one of the finalists) and I went out for drinks and dinner afterwards and we had a great time. All of the girls and I really got along and you don’t see that during the show. I really enjoyed the experience! It was great.
PM: What was your thought process for some of the weirder ingredients you encountered on the show, such as that bizarre celery root and marshmallow fluff combo you got stuck with for your dessert course?
NEWELL: When I saw some of the ingredients that were on the strange side, I just tried to pair them with ingredients that relate to people. Who doesn’t like bread pudding with caramelized apples, cinnamon and fluff topping, and fresh blackberries? No one would even know there was celery root in there.
PM: How does your “work” cooking style differ from your “home” cooking style?
NEWELL: I tend to be cleaner at home because I have to clean it up! No dishwashers there to scrub a pan after having had too much to drink while cooking dinner for my hubby and splattering grease everywhere!
PM: What’s your go-to meal when you’re feeling lazy?
NEWELL: When I’m feeling lazy, I’m a sucker for take out. Anything, as long as someone else is cooking it.
PM: How about when you’re feeling like cooking something fancy?
NEWELL: I love a good surf and turf. Some nice steaks and lobsters! Yum.
PM: What about when you’re cooking to impress?
NEWELL: My gnocchi are the silkiest, smoothest you’ll ever try.
PM: What would your dream kitchen include?
NEWELL: Large counters, a wine cooler, and french doors leading out to a patio with a killer grill set-up and pool!
PM: What’s the first memory you have of being in the kitchen?
NEWELL: My first memory in a kitchen is watching my mother cook amazing meals for my brothers and I. There were six of us, so every night it would be social time for all of us to get together and laugh. My mom would make everything special, putting pears topped with cottage cheese or baby artichokes with drawn butter in side dishes next to everyone’s plate. From an early age she developed all of our palates.
