Five Quick Questions with Logan Guleff of MasterChef Junior

He cooks beets and Brussels sprouts, talks about the unique layering of smoke flavors, and his cooking has taken him all the way to the White House to meet the President, yet he just turned 12 years old! Logan Guleff, who calls Memphis home, is about to take his culinary talents to a new national audience on the Fox reality cooking show MasterChef Junior. It's a show in which young cooks compete to see who can come up with the perfect dish under imperfect circumstances. It's a bunch of fun to watch, and now we Memphians have a hometown guy to cheer on!

The premiere of this season of MasterChef Junior is coming up on November 4. There's going to be a watch party downtown at Bridges on November 4th from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Kim, Logan's mom, tells us that it'll be $2 at the door, and the proceeds go to support the great work Bridges does in our city. 

Logan took some time out of his busy schedule to answer a few of our questions -- and coming up soon on The Chubby Vegetarian, we'll have a great vegetarian recipe Logan created just for us.

TCV: Besides making coffee for your mom, what's the first dish you remember cooking, and how old were you?

Logan: "I’ve always been in the kitchen, but I guess my earliest memory of a true dish is making pasta by hand with my mom for Christmas. Maybe I was 3 or 4, mixing eggs in the dough. I loved it."

TCV: It's a plain old Tuesday night without company or anything, and you're cooking dinner for the family; what are you making?

Logan: “What was on sale or in the house? I would start there and work on something that might end up being dinner or it might be a pizza night! Who knows?  I do have a Mediterranean Pork Roast that is pretty tasty that I could make."

TCV: What technique or ingredient has your undivided attention right now?

Logan: "I am having fun learning about smoke and BBQ. I’ve discovered some unique layering of wood flavors. I am working on a few desserts too, along with creating a few new spice blends - I have been busy."

TCV: I just finished shooting photographs a cookbook for Whitney Miller, MasterChef season 1 winner. Is a cookbook something that you see in your future? What's next for Logan?

Logan: "That is a great project, we might have to talk! I am working on a cookbook and have all kinds of ideas for it. I’ve also created 5 new spice blends I want to sell. I really want my own cooking show, so I am working hard on that and school, too. My people need to talk to your people about this cookbook idea. "

TCV: What effect has being from Memphis and living in the South had on your style of cooking?

Logan: "I don't know, I mean, I am from Memphis, and the city is just exploding with great food and chefs. So many folks in the restaurant business have been super nice to me and have shared some of what they do in the kitchen. And my blog, Order Up with Logan, helps me with being a food explorer. Maybe being from Memphis means I work harder -- grit and grind and all that. "