64 THE QUEENS COURIER • BUZZ • MARCH 14, 2019 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
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Young Queens chef cooks Gordon Ramsay on ‘MasterChef Junior’
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
cmohamed@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Ten-year-old Ashley Johnson of South
Ozone Park is the latest contestant
representing Queens on the TV show
“MasterChef Junior” Season 7, which premiers
Tuesday night, March 12.
Johnson will compete for a trophy and
a $100,000 grand prize during the show
which debuts March 12 at 8 p.m. with
award-winning chef Gordon Ramsay and
renowned pastry chef Christina Tosi,
joined by celebrated chef and restaurateur
Aaron Sanchez on the judges’ panel.
MasterChef Junior gives talented kids
between the ages of 8 and 13 the chance
to showcase their culinary abilities and
passion for food through a series of fun,
mouth-watering challenges.
Johnson, a fi ft h-grader at Our Lady’s
Catholic Academy in South Ozone Park,
decided to audition for the show in
December 2017. Aft er the audition, she
was notifi ed via phone that she would be
a contestant on the show, she said.
(Photo courtesy of FOX)
“Th ere were so many thoughts going
through my head,” said Johnson, who
auditioned for the show in December
2017. “I was super excited. My heart was
racing when I found out … I was like, ‘Oh
my gosh!’”
Johnson began cooking at the age of 3
by making eggs, and her favorite dish to
cook, she said, is spaghetti and meatballs,
as well as dishes that include Caribbean
fl avors.
“I like to make salmon. I come from a
Caribbean background so I like to make
curry goat,” said Johnson. “I also like to
bake when I get the opportunity … usually
cakes, cupcakes and cookies.”
In the premiere episode, the Top 24
contestants must prove they’ve mastered
the fi rst meal of the day, breakfast, in
a mystery box challenge. Th en, school
lunches get a total makeover as contestants
are tasked with elevating three
classic school lunch dishes into restaurant
quality cuisine.
For her signature dish, Johnson will be
preparing steamed salmon with vegetables
and her secret ingredient of peppers
from her uncle’s garden.
“When I cook, I like to keep it colorful,”
Johnson said. “I don’t like it to be boring,
so okra, tomato, onions, hot pepper, garlic,
carrots, thyme, pumpkin and a combination
of seasonings. It’s really simple but
it tastes delicious.”
If Johnson wins MasterChef Junior,
she said that she would love to one day
open her own restaurant called “Sweet
Baby Cheesecake” and attend space camp,
since she loves astronomy.
“I’m really proud of her because it’s
a challenge of course. She’s a competitor
so I knew from the get-go she would
be great,” said Johnson’s mother, Jene
Robinson. “I’m really proud.”
Photos courtesy of Fox
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