Kelsey Barnard Clark shares how her upbringing in small town Alabama shaped her as a person and chef and how she uses her garden and seasonal foods to drive her culinary creativity.
Kelsey Barnard Clark shares how her upbringing in small town Alabama shaped her as a person and chef and how she uses her garden and seasonal foods to drive her culinary creativity. She shares her thoughts on leaving home to explore the world and her hopes for increased diversity and experiences for her own kids. Kelsey talks about how her formal French training reignited her interest in Southern cooking and why she is typically considered the underdog as a Southern chef. She tells the shocking story of catering a wedding solo at just fifteen years old and how she fosters curiosity for food with her children. Kelsey shares her thoughts on food sourcing and reducing food waste, especially in her own restaurant, and how she knew from a young age that she would be an entrepreneur. She talks about the process of curating recipes for her cookbook and the difficulty of translating traditional family recipes that often are without measurements. Kelsey shares her thoughts on competing in Tournament of Champions and the difficulty of cooking against the clock. She talks about Guy Fieri being their biggest cheerleader and the joy of reuniting with her former castmates for the show.
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Find episode transcript here: https://food-network-obsessed.simplecast.com/episodes/kelsey-barnard-clark-on-why-we-leave-home-small-town-charm
[MUSIC PLAYING] JAYMEE SIRE: Hello, hello, hello, and welcome to Food Network Obsessed. This is the podcast where we dish on all things Food Network with your favorite Food Network stars. I'm your host Jaymee Sire and today we have a Southern chef on the show to chat about catering her first wedding at just 15 and what she's planting in her garden this spring. She is a chef, restaurant owner, a cookbook author, she's on Food Network's 2022 hot list, and she's competing on the new season of Tournament of Champions. It's Kelsey Barnard Clark.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Kelsey, welcome to the podcast. You've been very busy lately on your Southern Grit book tour. What are your days looking like currently?
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: Yeah. Thanks for having me. I'm thrilled to be on here. What do my days look like? That is quite the loaded question. Truly, it depends on the day I guess I would say. Some days, I am very much living the mom life and that's what I'm doing. And then other days, in three different places at once. So lots of traveling going on for sure.
JAYMEE SIRE: Yeah. What's been your favorite stop so far?
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: I think going back to New York. My husband went with me. We took our four-year-old. And I used to live there for a stint, worked out there, and I haven't been back in years because of COVID. So going out there and taking my family and taking my child and kind of seeing New York through his eyes was really fun. It was really, really fun.
JAYMEE SIRE: Where did you eat?
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: We actually took him to see a Broadway play so we saw Lion King.
JAYMEE SIRE: Oh, nice.
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: And we went to quite a few places to eat but probably my favorite-- are you familiar with Keens Steakhouse?
JAYMEE SIRE: Yes I am. I love Keens.
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: I love that place. It's just so classic New York and--
JAYMEE SIRE: It is.
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: --just the best. When you think of a steakhouse, that is it to me. So we took him and it was just so fun, so fun.
JAYMEE SIRE: That's awesome. Yeah, that is definitely my go-to classic New York steakhouse as well. You are currently in your hometown of Dothan in Alabama, a place that has really shaped I think who you are as a person also as a chef. If you encountered someone who had never experienced the South, how would you describe it to them?
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: It's so hard to, I feel like for me, to describe the South because in my opinion if you're from the South, it is so different from depending on where you grew up. So I can only speak to what my South is and where I'm from really which is a fairly small town in South Alabama. And I think that when you're talking about the South, Alabama is quite literally a Southern as it gets, especially where I am. I'm essentially on the Florida State Line.
So for me, I think that the biggest thing that people don't understand about the South and maybe just is sort of our little best-kept secret, is that we have some of the most beautiful places down here. And we're so close to the beach. We're so close to all these lakes. And to me, that's the coolest part about being down here is that it's almost like a time capsule when you come down. If you've been traveling or whatever you come back home and things are just slow down.
People take their time a little bit more down here. And it's not as hustle-bustle as the rest of the world can be. For me, that's what I love about coming home. And that's what kind of drew me back and made me stay with just that. It's a breath of fresh air, it really is. And it's very friendly and people are fairly kind which is nice.
JAYMEE SIRE: Yeah. I mean what are some of those other hallmarks of that Southern hospitality that you speak of that you kind of embody in your home and anywhere else you go as well?
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: The entertainment factor to me is very Southern. I learned that when I actually left the South and moved up to New York for a while. People don't really invite you into their homes so much as down South. Specifically, with that, there's a lot of, "come to my house, we'll have happy hour. Let's have dinner, bring your kids." It's very much like all of us welcome where you go places, which is I think fairly unique and very rare.
JAYMEE SIRE: If you are having someone over for dinner you're saying, come over to the house. What are you making for them?
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: I love to cook from the garden. So a lot of the time-- not currently because Lord, if I tried to cook from this garden right now, we'd all be eating dead things. But everything froze over. But typically for me, I try to be very influenced by the season and by what looks good. So the way that I usually cook is I'll go to the garden. I'll start there, kind of get things at that I'm using out there or it'll be blue crab season. So I want to use blue crabs or fish or I start with that usually and kind of go wild. And then another thing to me is I really like to think about the person I'm cooking for when I cook. What's their favorite food? What's their favorite thing? What dish makes me think of them? And I cook a lot like that. I would say that a lot of chefs are people-pleasers in that way. And so we definitely want to please the people that we are cooking for. So very rarely do I cook for me, I guess I would say.
JAYMEE SIRE: What do you love about gardening?
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: Oh, it's just so peaceful. It's just very dirty. I like to tell people that it's not like it's just a Pinterest board where you're going out there with a dress on like my book looks like and I'm picking tomatoes.
[LAUGHS]
It is very dirty but to me, it's therapy for me comes in a lot of forms. But being busy with my hands and keeping my mind busy at the same time is very therapeutic for me. I'm not someone who's going to take a bath or sit to relax. I'm more of a doer in terms of zoning out and trying to just get some therapy for myself, so I like anything that's with my hands and that's creative.
And gardening, it's such a cool thing. And you go out there and every day, especially during the spring and summer, it's so one week gone and you come home to a whole new garden. And that's the cool thing about it as well as it's ever-evolving, ever-changing, and you really can't fail at it. You can always just change the recipe next time.
JAYMEE SIRE: What are you looking forward to planting this spring?
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: I'm always looking forward to tomatoes. There's nothing better than that first tomato. In fact, every year, I eat the first tomato that I grow. And I think to myself, why do I even eat tomatoes at any other time? It's just not even the same. This is what tomatoes are supposed to taste like. So I'm always looking forward to planning tomatoes. We love Shishito peppers, we eat them a lot. That's a staple in our garden.
And I always try to do some wild card thing, something I've never tried. A lot of times, it doesn't work. A lot of times, it's things that people say, we'll not grow in the South and I try to do that. And then I started planting flowers last year, which has been really fun because it's-- I have a little cut garden now, so I have fresh flowers in my house all year round besides when it's freezing.
[LAUGHS]
And that's been really enjoyable, just to have little pieces of hobby in your backyard to cut.
JAYMEE SIRE: Yeah. Now that sounds a very nice thing to look forward to. If someone wanted to dip their toe into gardening this year, what are some must-haves in a small starter garden?
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: Yeah, that's a great one. I get that question a lot. And the first thing I always tell people is start with herbs. Herbs are very forgiving. They are typically-- they're basically a weed. And so with herbs, they'll come back. They require very little upkeep. And don't start with tomatoes.
[LAUGHS]
Tomatoes are quite literally the opposite. So tomatoes are very finicky. You can do everything right and they get diseased or they start out with a disease. And then there's insects and birds. And so I would say peppers and herbs are the first ones. Peppers are also very weed-like, so they'll just-- they mass produce and they don't stop.
JAYMEE SIRE: You also have chickens.
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: Yeah.
JAYMEE SIRE: And a rooster named Dolly Parton, by the way, which I think is amazing. Are there plans for more animals there on the little homestead?
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: There, we also have three bunnies and they are all living in the little coop. And we have bees as well. I'd never say never. I'm a big animal lover and I'm a big, big dog person, so I keep up with the local animal shelter and humane society. And literally just yesterday, my friend is running it now, and she posted a dog that is elderly and they're desperately trying to find a foster and I was like, whoa, here goes another dog probably.
[LAUGHTER]
So there's always, I would say, there's always room here for more.
JAYMEE SIRE: The more the merrier, right?
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: Yes, yes.
JAYMEE SIRE: Well, you kind of touched on it a little bit. You left Alabama for a period of time when you dropped out of college at 20 to attend the Culinary Institute of America. You started your professional career in New York. But as we know, you ultimately returned to plant roots back home. What do you think compels many of us to leave our hometowns? And then in the end, what was it that brought you back home?
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: Well, I don't know anyone that I went to high school with that did not say, I'm never coming back here.
[LAUGHTER]
I can already probably hear my son saying that and I hope he does say that. I hope that he does want to leave and go and learn and make himself better. And if he wants to come home, he comes home. But if he doesn't, it's not going to upset me. That's just sort of how I feel. But I went to the same school from 3P until I graduated high school. I was with the same class of 50 people roughly from 3P to end of high school. You date the same boy. It's just really like-- that's the part about it that can be, to be frank, very stifling. So by the time you're 18 years old, you're like, get me out of here.
And I think that that's necessary. I really feel strongly that you don't really learn about yourself, you don't know yourself until you get away from yourself. So for me leaving was the best decision I ever made and then coming back was also equally the best decision. And I wasn't someone who necessarily dreamed and planned and plotted to come back home and to get married and to start a family, I really didn't. I just kind of took day-by-day steps. And I think for me what stuck was when I left, and that there were a lot of things that I felt were missing from this town. And a lot of things I felt deserved some attention, could use some attention and needed some positive change.
I mean, while I love my town, there definitely were some negatives to it. And there definitely are some things that I think that people need to get back here and shake it up. People need to wake people up and talk about the uncomfortable stuff and make changes that I think are important. And that was sort of for me, what made me stay as I was like, there's a lot more I can do here than I could do somewhere else. And why not start with where I'm from.
JAYMEE SIRE: How does it feel to be able to come back home? And like you said, kind of bring some of these things to your hometown that we're missing as a child growing up?
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: It's been a very crazy journey. So in the very beginning, it was hard. It's always hard. You know, you're in a town where you might not believe in the same things as people. You might not-- people here, in general, are kind of singular in terms of the way everyone is, it's very similar. And so there isn't a whole lot of diversity, which was one of the things that I kind of wanted to just shake like a snow globe and see what happened.
That for me was something that I really lacked growing up in terms of when I left, I was like, golly, like, I didn't know any religion outside of my religion. I didn't know any of these things and what a wonderful thing it would have been if I did, to learn that young and to grow up with that being the normal. And so for me, that's just what's incredibly important for bringing people home is to have diversity here. And to have just-- you could be a small Southern town and also have some big-city type player here, which is the goal for me.
JAYMEE SIRE: Yeah. And you obviously were able to gain that perspective and those experiences when you were in a big city like New York. And of course, you learn the classic French techniques in culinary school, able to kind of build on what you already knew as a young home chef. How did the classic training elevate your Southern cooking style and your recipes?
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: It was the coolest thing. Still is the coolest thing for me because I think it's always really interesting when you go the farthest place from home and all you think of is home. And that's happened to me in so many times in my career, where I was in Vietnam, for example. And I kept getting flooded with memories of childhood cooking. And I think that's the coolest thing about cooking. It's that it connects everyone because you can all kind of find common ground and similarities within food. And that was French cooking for me.
For me, it was French cooking and the way that I was trained is very similar to the way that people cook in the South. It's very classic, classic tools, classic techniques. It's all about tradition and it's all about doing things properly. And it's very teaching-based. It's very hands-on, conversation stories passed down, people, that is French cooking. And so the more I got into French cooking and I was in this kitchen some more, I just kind of fell in love with, number one, French cooking. And number two, it made me very interested in Southern food which I'd never really been interested in before because it's not very interesting to dive into something that you grew up with. It's just what you know. And for me, it really just made me want to learn more.
JAYMEE SIRE: When you were in New York or maybe on a national platform like Top Chef, did you ever feel underestimated or not taken seriously as a Southern chef?
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: Oh, God. Yes. Every hour, every day.
[LAUGHS]
I've actually had people reach out about going on Top Chef and other shows, and this is only the ones where they know who's going to be on there. They're like I looked up all these people and I was like, just stop. Does it really matter?
[LAUGHS]
If I had known who I was competing against, I would have also been like, what am I doing? But you can't. You have to just-- I think it's the most important, just to work on yourself. And that's for me the biggest competition for myself is no one around me. It's who I was yesterday and can I be better today. And I'm harder on myself than anyone could possibly be on me, for sure. And I think that's just my mentality with my staff, with my restaurant, within myself as we're working on ourselves.
I want you to be so focused on being better for yourself. And you being better, you do not even care about who else walks in this room. And I think that was my reminder on Top Chef and certain times, I did not remember.
[LAUGHTER]
But it's a daily-- just got to work on it every day.
JAYMEE SIRE: Yeah. I mean this path that you were on that you continue to be on, I guess isn't too surprising considering you catered your first wedding at the age of 15. First of all, how did that come about?
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: I don't freaking know.
[LAUGHS]
I mean, I look back and I actually talked to this person randomly and I'm like, why did you do that? What were you thinking? It was both of their second marriages, they were older. And at the time I started baking cakes and decorating cakes when I was about 14. And it was one of those things that kind of just like took off like wildfire and my teachers would ask me to make their child's birthday cake and it would be cars-themed. And I mean, it was just crazy what sort of started happening. And that started when I was 14.
And then at 15, this person-- I don't know how she even-- I don't even remember how it all happened but she said, first she said, will you do my wedding cake? And I said, yeah, sure. I'd already done a ton of cake so it wasn't that big of a deal. And then she was like, you know what? I'm not really doing a wedding, we're just going to get married at our church and then do a little reception in the hall at the church afterwards. Do you think you could cater it and just make some food? It's only about 50 people. I was like, yeah, OK.
[LAUGHS]
And it was just so-- looking back, it was so comical. Because I just-- the things I remember the most were I had to check out a school for three days, which thank, God. My mom let me. But I also needed help and so I asked my boyfriend to help me. And then he had to check out of school for three days and we got in so much trouble I remember because he had football practice that he missed and I had stuff and it was like, what in the world is happening? We're 15 years old. Why am I doing this?
[LAUGHS]
JAYMEE SIRE: What did you make? Do you remember?
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: I don't really remember. I know I did like pimento cheese. I think I did deviled eggs, so I really haven't strayed too far. They probably didn't look that great but--
[LAUGHS]
--we got food out.
JAYMEE SIRE: Hey, everyone loves a deviled egg.
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: That's sure.
JAYMEE SIRE: That's always a winner I mean you kind of mentioned your parents. How supportive were they of this energetic and intense interest in cooking during your childhood?
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: I always get back to that and especially now that I am a mother, I think to myself, wow, that was crazy. That was crazy. But I think to be frank and if my mom was sitting next to me, she would probably agree. I was someone who wanted to get in trouble. I was someone who wanted to be rebellious. So I think that the fact that I was tuning it towards a positive rebellion, they're like, we'll just keep supporting this. Let's just keep her on that path because otherwise, she might take a left, and then we're, bye, Kelsey. See you never.
So I think that was part of it was I'm definitely a wild-at-heart type person and very rebellious and don't like to listen to rules and don't like to be told what to do. And that could be positive or it can be freaking terrible. So I think that my parents were sort of thinking to themselves, she's putting that into a positive root, and let's just support that. But definitely, I think that there were times that was not easy. It was expensive. It's not a cheap hobby to support someone in culinary school but I was so sure of it, which was very weird. I look back and I think to myself a lot, why was I so sure of this career because it is not a sure one.
[LAUGHS]
But I was. I really just felt very strongly that it was the right decision and really didn't have a whole lot of freak outs about it.
JAYMEE SIRE: Yeah. I mean, they built you a kitchen when you were younger, right?
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: Well, it was like a kitchen that was in the pool house and then they just let me take it all over.
JAYMEE SIRE: OK.
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: Kind of just go for it.
JAYMEE SIRE: That's awesome. I mean, when you think about your own kids Monroe and Evelyn June, how do you get them excited about food and cooking?
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: One thing I try to do is not to force them to eat anything and not to just to get them to try everything, which is sort of my mentality with them in general, is I want them to try everything. Whether it's food or just life in general, I want them to be curious and explore and feel like they're free to make their own choices within reason obviously until they're a certain age. But I think that to me, the most important thing with kids and food is, to feed them what you're feeding yourself. They want to be you. They want to do what you're doing. So season their food, make their food taste good, and they'll probably like it.
But you see so often, people just like cracking open a can of green beans and putting it on a plate-like, she doesn't like green beans. I'm like, I don't like those green beans either so-- you know, try to cook them and make them taste good. And for Monroe-- June's not quite-- yeah, she's still so young. But Monroe for sure, anything that's working with his hands where he feels like he can have the control and do it by himself, he's into it. So any time I can roll the dough or crack the eggs, he's all about that stuff.
And I think that just let them be curious is the best way as I would say it with food is get them curious. If they see you enjoying it, they probably will want to do it too. And that's sort of my motto with it.
JAYMEE SIRE: Does he get interested in the gardening aspect at all?
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: He does. He gets really excited when things-- not right now. No one's excited about what's happening out there.
[LAUGHS]
During the spring when we finally get the first tomatoes and I'm out there picking, he's all about it. And he loves to dig in the dirt and kind of help. He likes the planting process, which is the seeds, he loves all that. But the maintenance, no. He's like, eh. I'm going to go jump on the trampoline.
[LAUGHS]
JAYMEE SIRE: He just wants to play in the dirt and get--
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: Exactly.
JAYMEE SIRE: When you are so close to that process of harvesting food, whether it be the plants or the meat, how does it shape your perspective on food preparation and more importantly, food waste?
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: I'm a crazy person about food waste. So that was one thing that I could not get down with. With fine dining, I really had to struggle with it. We would take an entire butternut squash to use just the middle of the butternut squash and then throw away everything else. That was something that I just said to myself, what are we doing? An entire country could eat from the scraps in this one kitchen. And that is not the way that I run my kitchen at all now. So for us, it is how can we use everything based. And sometimes that means the food is not as beautiful and it's not going to be the most perfect cut, but to me, that's more worth it. That we used every bit of the product and we didn't waste it.
Now, do we still have waste? Of course, we do. No one is a zero-waste type kitchen really, but we do our best and we definitely-- that's a decision I made when I opened the restaurant. It was, I could go that route and make this gorgeous perfect food or we could be real. And to me, it's being real, and being reality-based is more important to me. And it just grosses me out to waste that much food. I can't even-- there's no other way to put it in my mind.
JAYMEE SIRE: Yeah.
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: It's just any other country would look at us and be like, what are you all doing?
[LAUGHS]
JAYMEE SIRE: Yeah. Let's talk a little bit about your restaurant KBC downtown, Dothan, in your hometown. You actually drew the logo for this restaurant when you were just 12 years old. How did it feel to bring this childhood dream to life?
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: I didn't even remember that. Actually, my art teacher years ago, she brought this to me. And she said, did you know you did this? And I said, no. I really didn't. It's weird to me because these things that have happened, I guess they always were in me. But I was not the person who said, at 14, I'm going to have a restaurant at 20. I don't have five-year plans. I don't have five-minute plans hardly.
[LAUGHS]
I'm really a risk-taker. And I'm certainly someone who I think it's more important for me, and I can't speak for everyone, but for me, it's more important that I seize the moment than it is for me to plan out my life because I don't know everything. I just am so surprised by it, when I hear the stories of me doing those things because I'm like, I didn't even know I wanted a restaurant then. What to me is still a pinch-me moment, is where we are now. The restaurant that I have, the staff that I have, it exceeds any dream I could have possibly dreamt of and imagined because the people that I have on my team have been with me for a long time. We don't really have a big turnover. And that's what I'm proud of, it's the team that we have and the people that work with me. And they're loyal. And they're protective of me and the brand. And that's something you really can't-- you can't teach that. It just is-- it is what it is. It's just there.
JAYMEE SIRE: What's the community response been like for your restaurant?
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: Shocking, I would say very shocking. Because in the beginning, I played it safe for the first few years just because you kind of have to. And then we sort of just kind of making some big moves and doing some bold things with food and with the culture of KBC and who I hire and who we hire. And I didn't know how it was going to go over. I still know that people aren't probably thrilled with it but I don't care anymore. And there's a big difference now as I just, we are who we are. We will always be the restaurant we are.
And my most important thing is that anyone feels like they can come and apply at KBC. And that's something that I think is incredibly important. It is to have this culture where people feel safe for the most part and aren't embarrassed by their past no matter what it is. And that's certainly what we're working towards every day at KBC.
JAYMEE SIRE: That's awesome. I mean, the menu looks amazing as well. I love the names for all the menu items. Yes Sir, Yes Ma'am, Kitchen Sink Salad, Steel Magnolia. What ingredients rule most of your menu?
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: It's a lot of Southern stuff. There's a lot of okra, a lot of bacon.
[LAUGHTER]
JAYMEE SIRE: Yes.
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: A lot of pimento cheese. In fact, if this joke people will be making something as a special or coming up with a new concept, and like we laugh about it now, but the amount of times, we'd say, oh, we should have pepper jelly. We should have bacon or we can't add any more bacon or pepper jelly to this menu.
[LAUGHTER]
I know we clearly all love it, but we got to stop. We love pickled okra. We love deviled eggs. But we definitely try to touch on a lot of stuff. I would love for our menu to be more seafood-focused, but that goes back to this no-waste thing. And that's very difficult, especially postcode but we really got-- we really edited the menu a lot because it had to be practical and safer. And we have to keep our doors open more than anything. So sometimes, the food is based more on the people eating it and what the people want than it is what I wanted for sure.
JAYMEE SIRE: Do any of the recipes from the restaurant make it to the cookbook? Your debut cookbook, Southern Grit?
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: Yes. Yes. So I didn't include a ton from the restaurant because I didn't want the book to be an extension of the restaurant or vice versa. So I wanted them to have their own personality, to have their own voice if you will. But there were some things that there's no way I could not put in the book that are at the restaurant, which is our deviled egg. That recipe, it was one of those that I came up with some at the very beginning people. And it's something that's really not changed. Same with our fried chicken. What else? Oh, our cookies.
The corn-flake cookies were also really known for those are in the book. And then the Snapper Pontchartrain, which is one of my absolute favorite dishes. And that's in the book and I teach it in virtual classes. I teach that one a lot. And it probably won't ever come off the menu. It actually just did recently. And to the team this week I said, we're putting it back on and I don't want to ever take it off unless something happens.
[LAUGHS]
JAYMEE SIRE: Tell me about these deviled eggs, like what makes them so special?
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: They're so simple, but that's the way I cook. That's the way that I like food to be, is incredibly simple. It just tastes very balanced. And it tastes like the best deviled eggs you've ever had. And that's sort of my goal with all food is to take it back to the basics, do it right, season it well, balance it well. And we do them a lot different ways. So we've got six to eight versions of it, where we garnish them differently, the fillings, just add a few more things to the filling. And that's what's really cool about it, is it's a very universal recipe that can be altered very simply to make it a whole new thing.
JAYMEE SIRE: I mean, you kind of mentioned this earlier in our conversation that Southern cooking is notorious for not being guided by a recipe, especially the ones that are passed down from generation to generation. So what was the process of curating the recipes that you wanted to include in this book? And do you have one that's the most special to you?
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: It was actually the worst.
[LAUGHTER]
The recipe portion of the book was awful. There's no way-- into anyone who's writing a cookbook that they're using family recipes or recipes that they wrote as a chef and not a home cook, I am sorry, I totally feel your pain. Because we don't write recipes for the home cook. And if you're using family recipes, they're not accurate. And they do not have numbers a lot. And it'll say things like a can, a coffee cup.
[LAUGHS]
And you're going, what size can? I was lucky enough that my grandmother and my great-grandmother-- so they had their notebooks of recipes that they typed out on typewriters and wrote out their versions. Number one, they wrote these probably in the '50s and '60s, so things are drastically different.
And number two, they needed to be tweaked in some ways. And I had to really decipher some-- I remember there was one ingredient that was on a recipe that we always made. And I went to a pastry chef and I was like, what the hell is this? It was some kind of milk, but it wasn't evaporated milk and it wasn't condensed milk. It said like some kind of brand. And that's what's comical too is family recipes they'll say-- rather than saying a cup of sour cream, it'll say like, a cup of daisy. And you're like, what the hell is daisy?
And there was a lot of that two of them talking about brand-specific things that are no longer even here, so I had to figure that out. It was really fun. It was actually-- it was really fun, but it's also a lot of hard work. I will say, writing a cookbook and writing a book with recipes is very time-consuming and very tedious.
JAYMEE SIRE: What is your favorite recipe from the book?
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: I would say the gumbo. I love making that more than most things. It's just very calming and it's fun to make. And I like things that take a long time. I really do. I love slow food. And I love the act of cooking. It really, to me, is just there's nothing in the world like it than being in the kitchen and listening to music or watching a show and cooking and that's the gumbo. It takes a long time. It has to take an hour to develop properly and this recipe is actually three different-- it's my great grandmother, two of my great grandmothers, and my grandmother's recipe that I just read through all of them, made them all separately. And then made it sort of my own.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
JAYMEE SIRE: Coming up next, Kelsey gives us the inside scoop on the new season of Tournament of Champions. And she shares what it means to her to be on Food Network's 2022 hot list.
Well, you get to put your cooking to the test once again on Tournament of Champions this season.
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: Yes.
JAYMEE SIRE: What did it feel like to be back competing on TV?
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: Oh, you know, I said I was never going to compete again, so here we are.
[LAUGHTER]
JAYMEE SIRE: Never say never.
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: Yeah, I've learned that one real quick-like. But getting the call about-- and I still say to myself, I don't know if I'll ever compete again. But I'll do Tournament of Champions because it's not like a typical competition show. It's not, to me, going into it. I remember thinking, this is not-- and Guy said it. Thousands of times, so this is not a win or lose type of show. This is a-- you just got asked to be on Tournament of Champions so stop right there. And that was sort of the way that I-- when I got the call asking me to go on there, I didn't think to myself I'm going on another competition show. I thought to myself, Oh, gosh. I just got asked to be on Tournament of Champions. And that is the mentality that I saw with it. I don't even consider this another competition show because it's not.
It is the best of the best. We've already won. We've already won a big competition show. And now I remember thinking, well, I want to know who's on there. Tell me who's on there, obviously, I'm going to do it but I'm just curious. And then they start naming the people I was like, that's enough. I'm there.
[LAUGHS]
That's enough. They got to like seven. And I said, all right, we're good. And it's one of those where you even say to yourself, are they judging or are they competing? Because I don't really-- like, what?
[LAUGHS]
And that's the caliber of the people as it's people that are-- some of which are 20 years older than me, so they're 20 years in the game more than I am. And I said to myself, if I can be in the same room with these people and maybe hang out and listen to them and just try to get some advice or whatever, then yeah, I'm there.
JAYMEE SIRE: I mean, like you said, you're no stranger to cooking in a competition on television. But give us kind of a peek inside what makes Tournament of Champions so difficult?
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: Listen, I did 16 quick fires in 16 challenges on Top Chef. I never was eliminated. And I cooked every single one. So I've done my fair share of the Quickfire round and the challenge round. But I think very often, viewers think that we're getting intel that they don't see. Or they think that well, it's not actually that hard. They don't actually not know. They don't actually have 25 minutes. So no, we actually do. And we're in a place we've never been in before and we don't know where anything is and we're nervous and there's an audience and, and, and, and, and, right?
And so to me, the really challenging part of Tournament of Champions is there is the randomizer, which is a freaking devil.
[LAUGHS]
There is an impossible time. So you've got the time constraint. You've got the fact that we don't know where anything is. So you spend a solid eight minutes gathering ingredients. So at the end of the day, you have roughly 15, 18, 20 minutes to actually cook anything. And it's blind. So no one knows who you are, so you can't like talk about your story and sell your story and talk about your style food. And you have to be describing your dish to someone who then will speak for you while you're also being like, I don't know what I'm doing.
[LAUGHS]
I don't know what to tell you.
[LAUGHS]
JAYMEE SIRE: I mean, we've had so many competitors on the podcast from that show. Yeah, they all say the same thing. It's just so wild because you can't have a plan. The randomizer actually prevents you from having one. So what is that moment like when you guys spinning the different wheels? And how do you kind of formulate that plan on the spot?
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: I'm telling you, I don't know.
[LAUGHS]
The only thing I can say that I've learned through mistakes on all the quickfires I've done and everything is you have to have in the back of your brain, and I tell this to people who've never done it before who've asked me, what do you know-- think very logically here, what do you know you can do within 30 minutes. Be smart and just remember it will be 30 minutes or less. But actually, that's 20 minutes or less as it's going to take you eight or 10 minutes to gather things. Two of those minutes will be plating, so 10 minutes is gone. You had 20 minutes or less. Can you cook risotto in 20 minutes? No. Honey, you can't.
[LAUGHS]
Can you cook grits in 20 minutes? No, you can't. So when you're in your mind going through these things like, oh, I can do this. I can do this. No, you can't.
[LAUGHS]
You can't, so be smart. I know for me, I'm going to fry it. I'm going to make a sauce or I'm going to make a soup or it's going to be raw. And that's it. That's all I got. I'm not going to try anything else or I'm going to sear it, but you can't even really bake anything. By the time you get to the oven and realize, oh, God. It's at 350, I need it at 500. You're screwed.
[LAUGHS]
So there goes that. So I would say, it's all to me, technique focus. You have to stop and really think, you do really stupid things. I'm just going to say, your brain does some really silly things when you're panicking like that. You think, oh, I could do risotto. I can do this! It's like, no, you can't. No, you can't.
[LAUGHS]
You are a chef, you know you cannot. Editing is the hardest thing in those moments. Just editing what you think you can do, make it as simple as humanly possible, and decide on a technique before you decide on the dish.
JAYMEE SIRE: Is there something that the randomizer might reveal that would just make you quit on the spot?
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: Yeah. I actually thought of that going into it, really odd proteins or two things that are very challenging to me is something that you typically would only cook for a very long period of time, like a braise. It's like you get short ribs, right? Another thing for me that is a big no-no is trying to use equipment that I'm not familiar within this time frame, so I'm not going to grind meat on a grinder I've never used. If you've never ground meat before, let me just tell you all. Every grinder is got like 78 pieces.
[LAUGHS]
You have to have it perfectly lined up. They can be the best. But if you've never used said brand before and then you try to figure out how to use the grinder during your time frame, you're done. You're not going to even finish. So for me, I would say losing has always been less of a fear and not finishing has been more of the fear. So everybody wins and loses sometimes but not getting my food on the plate is the worst, that is what I wake up in cold sweats thinking about. What if I don't get busted? Or if you serve something raw and it's inedible and then they can't eat your food, those two things are like, oh, my God. I can't.
I would say for me, getting something chicken because you can't just eat chicken underdone. You can eat pork underdone. You can eat beef underdone, fish. You cannot eat chicken underdone. You'll be totally, whoever is judging you is going to look at you and be like, get out of here. I can't even eat this. That's a big fear for me. And then something really random seafood-wise like, I have to get it out of a shell and I can't get it out of the shell-like jellyfish. That's the thing. People do eat that but it's very challenging. And I've never worked with it before. So I would say proteins you have never worked with are very tearful. It's always protein for me. Anything else it's like, yeah, I can figure that out. Any vegetable whatever, you can figure that out. But proteins are very-- they can be very scary and tricky.
JAYMEE SIRE: Had you met Guy before being on the show?
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: No. I have not.
JAYMEE SIRE: What was your first impression?
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: So nice. I think he is-- people don't really, they think people are like superstars and they don't understand that they're also just people. And he is definitely one of those people that he's so nice. He's so kind. He's very uplifting. I've never done a show where we started out with basically a pep talk and he's like a cheerleader. He truly was just, listen, y'all. This is not about-- I want you to sit here and realize where you are and realize the room you're in and you should be honored to be asked. And it was just all positive. There was a lot less fear once we got there because I just thought to myself, OK, we're just cooking. We're just cooking with friends and he's right, we're lucky to be here and that's what we should think.
JAYMEE SIRE: And like you said, so many talented people in the field this year. What competitors were you either most excited to see again or meet for the first time?
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: You know, it was fun to have Justin and Eric there. I would say, for sure. In fact, when we found out he was going to be on there before we got there, and I texted them both and I was like, Oh, my God. I'm so excited. So it is fun because we were all obviously on Top Chef together and we were together for 10 weeks. So we've kind of gone through a battle together. I really respect those two, so that was really cool.
I would say, I mean, there's not one person over anyone else. It's just as a whole, the group of people there, it's pretty wild. Specifically, the people who are more seasoned, that's the type of people that always love to be around because they've already walked this path. They've already made the mistakes that I'm probably about to make. And just hearing any time you can be in a room with people that are better than you and have done it longer, that is a gift. And that's sort of the way that I saw it.
JAYMEE SIRE: No spoilers of course, but do you think that we will be surprised this season?
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: I do not think it's possible to not be surprised on Tournament of Champions.
JAYMEE SIRE: This is true. That's true.
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: Because none of us-- we're surprised.
[LAUGHS]
This is one of those competitions and shows where you could never possibly try to figure out who's going to win or lose. And just because they did wonderful last season doesn't mean anything because it's not you against a person, it's you against the randomizer. And I think that that's what people don't really understand is we don't even-- when you're in it, you don't even care who's cooking over there. You're like, I don't care. I'm just freaking out by myself here. And I got to cook the stuff that I was just given, so I think that's the thing that makes such a fun show to watch. It's that you cannot possibly bet on this because we can't either.
Some people spend way harder, I would say, way harder things than others. And the thing about it too is you might have two people and they spin that randomizer, and one person is going, this is my wheelhouse. This is the stuff that I do. And the other person is going, this is not what I do. I am freaking out. I don't know what to do with this. And that's the game right there. You just don't-- everyone's brain works differently and you have no idea how they're going to take the randomizer. They might be thrilled and the other person might be devastated.
JAYMEE SIRE: Well, we are looking forward to seeing you and everybody else compete on there. It's always a great time every spring. And you're on quite the streak right now because you're also on Food Network's 2022 hot list as a star to watch alongside your friend Eric Adjepong, who we also had on the podcast, and several others of course. How did it feel to be recognized by the network and fulfill another dream?
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: That really is a dream. And I say that because being from a small town and not having a whole lot of access to things, Food Network was all I had. So I would-- every single afternoon I would get home from school, I would sit in the kitchen and I would watch Ina Garten or-- that's all I would do, is just sit there and watch Food Network and study. And that was my only source of the outside world and what could be and what I could possibly be. And it was this dream, it was like a dream catcher and I just would sit there and watch Food Network.
So I remember when I got the email or the call about it, I was kind of going, oh, my gosh. Like someone might be watching me one day and someone-- there might be a child that's also in a small town that all they have is Food Network, and this is what's going to change their life of knowing they can do something different. And I think that it's just the coolest. It's really is such an honor.
JAYMEE SIRE: So what is next for you?
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: Hopefully, everything.
[LAUGHS]
I'm always wanting bigger and I'm very content and happy but I am not a settler by any way, shape, and form. If I feel like I've reached a goal, I'm going to set a new one. So I would love to be on more TV. I love TV so much. I have another book I'm working on. Yeah, I mean, those are just a few things. I'm going to be undergoing a huge restaurant renovation this year, that's not so exciting because so much as it's just necessary. But yeah, I'm hoping for a lot more TV time for just getting myself out there more, maybe some brand collaborations, all of that.
JAYMEE SIRE: Well, we're looking forward to seeing what comes next for you for sure.
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: Yeah, thank you.
JAYMEE SIRE: And this has been so much fun. We're going to finish things off with a few rapid fire questions and then we have one final question for you.
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: Got it.
JAYMEE SIRE: All right. What leafy green should be the new kale?
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: Collard greens.
JAYMEE SIRE: Favorite season?
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: Summer.
JAYMEE SIRE: What's your ideal meat-and-three meal?
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: Barbecue, I would say barbecue. So I would go with ribs, really good coleslaw, collard greens, apparently, that's all I eat. I'm kidding.
[LAUGHS]
And probably mac and cheese or something really good mashed potatoes, just some carbs for sure.
JAYMEE SIRE: Yeah. Go-to Sunday morning breakfast?
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: Oh, biscuits. Biscuits and jelly, biscuits and honey.
JAYMEE SIRE: Favorite Southern summer activity?
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: Boating, fishing.
JAYMEE SIRE: Auburn or Alabama?
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: Oh.
[LAUGHS]
I like that one. You know, I'm a big fan of the state. I went to Auburn and I go for Alabama football, so that's a tough one for me. I would say, as long as someone wins in the state, I'm pretty happy to it.
JAYMEE SIRE: OK, all right. Show you are binge-watching?
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: Oh, my God. I cannot stop watching Outlander. It's embarrassing.
JAYMEE SIRE: Oh, I don't know that one. I'll have to check it out.
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: I'm a big like period piece person, so taking me back in time that makes my brain get somewhere else, Outlander does it.
JAYMEE SIRE: All right.
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: For sure.
JAYMEE SIRE: Favorite cocktail?
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: Champagne. It's not a cocktail but--
JAYMEE SIRE: I mean, I'll take it because that would be on my list as well.
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: Yeah.
JAYMEE SIRE: A kitchen tool you can't live without?
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: Truly, a knife. If I have a knife, I can survive. And I'll only cast iron skillet, I cannot cook without my skillet.
[LAUGHS]
JAYMEE SIRE: All right. we have one final question and this is something that we ask everybody at the end of our interviews here on Food Network Obsessed. So the question is, what would be on the menu for your perfect food day? So we want to hear about what you're eating for breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert. You can time travel, spend however much money you want, calories do not count. Yeah, no rules.
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: Of course not.
JAYMEE SIRE: Yeah, of course not. You can have as many courses for all these as you want, so we want to hear your perfect food day.
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: Something that I've fallen in love with is the soup for breakfast, Peruv. They did this quinoa chicken. It was on the side of the road and everywhere I went. But that and then like Vietnam bowl of noodles broth, that's my perfect breakfast. Probably fly to Vietnam, have breakfast in the form of broth and noodles. But for me, it's all about eating all day. So there's meals in between the meals.
JAYMEE SIRE: Sure. Yeah, let's hear them.
[LAUGHS]
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: I would say as like a mid-pre-lunch snack, fly to Paris, have champagne and caviar and oysters.
JAYMEE SIRE: OK. I will meet you there.
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: Not Paris.
[LAUGHS]
Yeah, maybe like, I don't know. On the coast of France. I'm not entirely sure where, somewhere where the oysters are just perfect.
JAYMEE SIRE: Super fresh? OK.
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: Then I want to fly to Italy for lunch. I went to watch them make my pasta and then just have 17 different types of pasta.
[LAUGHS]
One bite of each one. And then I want to have gelato for dessert for lunch, for sure. Before dinner, I want to have drinks all over the world. So we just stop at a different place and have a cocktail.
JAYMEE SIRE: I love that, like a little bar hop but--
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: Yeah.
JAYMEE SIRE: --to different countries.
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: A bar hop to different countries. So maybe hit up like, I just got back from the Bahamas, so I'm thinking tropical. I would say, stop it in island bar and have a rum punch of sorts. Go to a few island bars and boat between the islands. And somehow, get there in five minutes and not hours.
JAYMEE SIRE: Sure. Yeah, there's no rules.
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: Free book, right? There's no rules.
JAYMEE SIRE: Exactly.
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: And then I think for dinner, I would want to end up at home. I'd want to end up at home, have all my people here. We do steamed lobster or crab or gumbo and we're all sitting around a table getting so dirty and messy with our hands and eating and having fun. And just eating until we pass out, that's the goal.
JAYMEE SIRE: That sounds beautiful. Are you cooking that meal or someone else?
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: Yeah, I probably would want to cook it.
JAYMEE SIRE: Yeah.
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: And somehow be sober enough to do so.
[LAUGHTER]
JAYMEE SIRE: Well, that sounds like an epic food day. And it's been such a joy getting to know you and chatting.
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: You too.
JAYMEE SIRE: Thank you so much for taking the time, and we look forward to watching you on Tournament of Champions.
KELSEY BARNARD CLARK: Thank you. I appreciate you all for having me.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
JAYMEE SIRE: Suddenly, I have a craving for, I don't know, fried chicken, deviled eggs, and some champagne. I love getting to know Kelsey and certainly, felt the warmth of Southern hospitality through the screen. You can catch her on the new season of Tournament of Champions, premiering February 27 at 8:00/7:00 Central on Food Network and streaming on Discovery Plus.
Thanks so much for listening. Make sure to follow us wherever you listen to podcasts so you don't miss a thing. And if you enjoyed today's episode, please rate and review. We love it when you do that. That's all for now. We'll catch you, foodies, next Friday.
[MUSIC PLAYING]