‘MasterChef’ season 11: Fishers’ Kelsey Murphy on winning, what’s next

Kelsey Murphy on winning ‘MasterChef’ season 11, her signature look, what’s next and more

Kelsey Murphy was a beast all season on the set of “MasterChef.”

The Fishers physical therapist prepared 20 dishes from monkfish to fresh pasta in challenges as a contestant seeking to impress more than a dozen celebrity chefs over episodes aired weekly on Fox.

Hoping to launch a career in the culinary industry, Murphy, 33, started as one of 15 competitors. That journey ended when she was named MasterChef, winning the 11th season of the series in a finale aired Wednesday night.

The victory comes with $250,000 and a new kitchen.

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A star performer for much of the competition, Murphy won the two-hour finale with a four-course meal — initially, the assignment was for three courses — showcasing her culinary philosophy, modern fine dining.

Guest judge/chefs Curtis Stone and Michael Cimarusti joined regular judges Gordon Ramsay, Aaron Sanchez and Joe Bastianich for the finale. Stone weighed in for the appetizer and a surprise canape course, while Cimarusti judged the entrée and dessert dishes.

Murphy’s menu: A canape of beef tartare on toasted brioche crostini, topped with fried caper; an appetizer of lobster and crab ravioli with a blood orange and saffron nage topped with caviar; an entrée of crispy skin duck breast with a honey nut puree, a cherry bigarade sauce, endives and pearl onions; and a dessert of blueberry and lavender panna cotta with lemon curd, lemon sable and cookie crumble.

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The last dish she made was also her favorite over the course of the season.

“I was so proud of it. It was probably the riskiest dish I did throughout the season,” she told IndyStar. “And so that was just the best way to end my journey on ‘MasterChef.’”

Steady in performance

The desert garnered her rare praise from judge and restaurateur Bastianich, who said it was the kind of dish he would aspire to have at his restaurants.

“He’s just like the ultimate kind of critic, even more so than Gordon. His standards are just so high,” she said. “When he gave me that critique on my dessert, it was one of those ‘Oh, you’ve made it’ moments.”

The season started recording at a Los Angeles soundstage in March 2020, before being shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic and resuming in late October. Murphy had won her spot in the season by preparing a crispy skin steelhead trout dish. Guest Paula Deen presented Murphy with an apron for the competition.

Then, she won the first elimination challenge — preparing a monkfish dish — and with it a trip to dine at chef Masaharu Morimoto’s restaurant at the MGM Grand.

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During the entire competition, Murphy only had one bad performance, a French dish made during the 11th cooking challenge. But she sprang back to be the first to earn a spot in the finale. Before that, she had logged three consecutive wins, including two as part of teams, and two that won her trips to restaurants — one to Dominique Crenn’s Atelier Crenn in San Francisco, and one to guest judge Niki Nakayama’s n/naka restaurant in Los Angeles.

She hasn’t taken any of the trips yet. Those arrangements had to wait until after the finale.

Not sidelined by injury

Murphy is the first “MasterChef” champion from Indiana. She also reps Chicago, where she grew up.

She and the two other finalists, Boston bartender Autumn Moretti and Houston food blogger Suu Khin, also made for the first all-female finale in the show’s history.

And she logged the win with a hand injury.

Murphy had suffered a deep cut to her thumb during one of the later challenges — one in which she was teamed with Moretti and Khin.

“I was definitely learning how to maneuver around it. So those first couple of challenges, like right after the French challenge and then the cookoff that we had to get into the finale, I was definitely really struggling,” she said. “And there were quite a few days between that and the finale, where we would practice dishes and stuff. So I had time to learn how to use my hand for what it was.”

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The pain got worse, making her job as a physical therapist difficult.

She got surgery to get rid of the pain in December, about a month after they wrapped taping of the show.

Signature look

Another thing Murphy had to get used to while the season was being broadcast was answering questions about her signature look. Viewers saw her in a headband for every challenge.

Murphy wasn’t a fan of the look, which she tried for an initial photo for the show and wardrobe kept.

“I tried to say, ‘Can we drop the headband? No more headbands,’” she said. “And production was like ‘Sorry. It’s your look now.’”

Women on social media, she said, would always ask where she got them. (Target.)

She was given the opportunity to ditch the headband for the finale, but then was reminded that cooking without wearing one might jinx her.

“I was like, ‘Argh! Okay, fine. I’ll wear it.”

Career launch and deals

Murphy plans to use the exposure to build a brand in the culinary industry.

She left her job as a physical therapist last week to concentrate on a career in food.

Her next step won’t necessarily be as a restaurateur, she said.

“I don’t know if that’s going to be how I start my journey or what really the first goal will be,” said Murphy, who has an affinity for working in the food TV space.

She’s given regular interviews with local news outlets since the season began and plans to launch a website and social media channels for her brand and do private events and dinner parties.

“It’s definitely taking a little bit of a risk, a big risk. But I’m lucky enough to have a great career in my back pocket that if I completely fall on my face, I can go back to being a physical therapist,” she said. “But I’m hoping that I’m going to be able to make this work and figure out what’s next for me.”

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Murphy didn’t have to wait long for her first deal.

She will be among those MasterChef alumni featured in a partnership between MasterChef and Grubhub launching later this year to bring their recipes to diners. Details will come later this year.

“It’s a way for diners and viewers at home to be able to have the opportunity to get our food delivered to them,” Murphy said, “so they can taste some dishes that were created by us.”

Changes at home

Murphy has no formal culinary training but grew up learning to cook as a child, loving foods from her Italian and Polish heritage.

She and her husband, Brandon, moved to Fishers from suburban Chicago December 2017 to continue their work as therapists with Athletico Physical Therapy, setting up shops in the Indianapolis area. Each has a doctorate in physical therapy. Brandon Murphy grew up in the Indianapolis area.

“He has been my ultimate cheerleader,” she said about her husband’s backing of her culinary ambitions. “And he’s just been so supportive, and really just saying, ‘Yes! Let’s go for it. We’ll make it work!’”

When she started taping “MasterChef,” the Murphys had two small children. She became pregnant with their third during a COVID-19-related break between the seventh and eighth challenges and returned to the set 24 weeks along. Their baby boy, Lucas, was born in February.

Since her stint on the show, the family is seeing her take more chances in the kitchen. The kids are still eating mac and cheese, hotdogs and nuggets, she said. But the adults are trying new things as Murphy flexes her skills.

“It’s been a little bit more fun. You have a couple nights a week where I just kind of play with what I have, and see what happens and just experiment a bit more,” Murphy said. “So many families get stuck in their weekly rotations of like five meals that they rotate through every week. We’ve kind of broken out of that.”

Contest spoils and avoiding spoilers

The prize money — again, that’s a quarter of a million dollars — will be parked for the immediate future.

“It’s going into savings, sitting there until we kind of coordinate a plan,” said Murphy, who also won a new kitchen from Viking. “Part of it is going to be to help finance and supplement my income as I work to figure out my career in the culinary world and how to monetize that.”

Finalists Moretti and Khin received Viking ranges. They are among the contestants with which Murphy has been in frequent contact since the finale was recorded in early. The trio did an Instagram live broadcast together as recently as Monday.

There’s also a trophy, which is all Murphy’s, but currently perched atop daughter Aniston’s dresser.

The five-year-old now has aspirations of being a MasterChef, Murphy said.

Aniston almost gave up the outcome of the show to a teacher when she talked about a trophy in their home.

“The teacher when I went to pick her up was like, ‘Aniston said you have a trophy?’” she said. Murphy deflected by talking about soccer awards.

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Murphy’s husband, mother and two siblings are the only people in her circle who knew about the win prior to Wednesday when she hosted a viewing party for her supporters, although co-workers and clients tried to get her to spill the beans on the outcome. Murphy wrapped the finale on a Friday, flew home the next day, and by Monday was back on the job.

“I was very impressed with myself actually. Usually, I’m not good at lying and holding secrets,” she said. “But with this one, I’d say, ‘That’s no fun! I’m not going to tell anybody!’”

Contact IndyStar reporter Cheryl V. Jackson at [email protected] or 317-444-6264. Follow her on Twitter: @cherylvjackson.