A night of fun and recipes as chef wows cooking show crowd

Relish® magazine chef Jon Ashton shares a sample of his cooking with an audience member at the cooking show Tuesday night. (T-G Photo by Mary Reeves) [Order this photo]

"It's really, really lovely of you to believe in me and believe in the magazine and let us in your life and have a bit of a laugh," the English cook said at the event, staged at the Calsonic Arena.

There was more than a bit of laughter involved over the evening. There was a lot of it. Ashton, playing on his own Liverpool origins and his discovery of the American South, with all of its language and culture idiosyncrasies, had the crowd roaring with laughter throughout his demonstrations.

Ashton elicits cheers from different sections of the crowd. "Now I know what it's like to be on 'The Price is Right,'" he joked. (T-G Photo by Mary Reeves) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

Laughs on menu

"I was driving around Shelbyville -- on the wrong side of the road, by the way," he said. "I got behind a tractor. They don't go very fast, do they?"

He told the crowd how he had spent his day, going to a school, the hospital, and a walking horse stable, where he got to ride a performance horse. It was a little more than he had expected.

"I didn't know Tennessee walking was like Michael Jackson," he said, waving his arms in imitation of the big lick. "This thing's got moves!"

At one point, during an earlier cooking demonstration for those with VIP tickets, Ashton coaxed Heritage Medical Center's Dr. Frank Jayakody into being his assistant. Once, he asked the doctor to say "you-all."

"I've finally found someone from the South who is worse at saying it than I am," said Ashton.

The good doctor took to the role of straight man for Ashton, playing a part of the act that carried over into the main show.

"Note to self," muttered Ashton into the microphone when Jayakody teased him in return. "Don't give Frank any more food."

Expo wows crowd

The evening was the result of the combined efforts of the Shelbyville Times-Gazette and relish® magazine and offered not only the cooking demonstrations but an expo as well, with dozens of booths offering products, services and information.

Visitors could get everything from fresh squash to chocolate-dipped strawberries, and there were information booths from the hospital, the Christian Care Center and other agencies.

From jewelry to banking accounts, almost every facet of the community was represented on the mezzanine at Calsonic -- which was a good thing, as far as Sandy Finstad was concerned. The Minnesota native moved here two years ago and is now a nutritionist at the hospital.

"I love to cook and see the demonstrations," she said. " I really want to see the vendors -- I'm still getting to know a lot of them around here."

Vendors impressed

The vendors themselves were happy with the turnout. Judy Osborne is from Canada, but was down visiting J. Gregory and Jeanette Heinike, who own the Bell Buckle Café and Banquet Hall.

They're getting ready to expand and explore new directions for the popular restaurant and venue, she said, and were offering a chocolate fountain at the expo. As a chocolatier herself, she volunteered to help out.

"I think it's fabulous," said Osborne, looking over the crowd. "I'm a hospitality consultant in Canada and I think it's wonderful. It would be a real shame not to continue this as an annual event. I'm very impressed to see the quality of the vendors and venue that's available. To start with this many people for their first year -- why not run with it?"

Staff pleased

The cooking and support staff assisting Ashton were also pleased -- not only with the turnout, but with the attitude of the crowd.

"It's one of the best shows we've done," said Misty Morris of Nashville, who worked behind the scenes with her husband, Brian Morris. "The audience makes it awesome -- Jon really responds to that."

Laughter wasn't the main course of the evening, although it certainly added flavor. One of the things Ashton stressed was how to make extraordinary meals out of ordinary ingredients.

Easy meals

"Some of these TV chefs will say, 'Now you need this mushroom that only grows on the side of Mount Fuji,'" he said. "Or they'll do a special sauce, a demi-glace, that takes 18 hours -- you can't do that for your wee ones."

What he wanted to demonstrate, he said, was a menu that was simple and could be made in your own home. As he cooked, he chatted and joked with the crowd. When someone called out for the third or fourth time a different pronunciation for a word he used, Ashton shook his head.

"I'm never going to get my green card at this rate," he bemoaned.

Ashton shared his experiences with famous TV chefs such as Paula Deen and Emeril Lagasse, both of whom he considers good friends, as well as Bobby Flay.

Crowd likes 'bomb'

Flames soar upward as Ashton adds rum to his bananas flambé. (T-G Photo by Mary Reeves) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

When the dishes were prepared, the young chef took a mad dash into the crowd, balancing plates or bowls in his hands, and giving out samples to those in the main audience.

"It's the bomb!" said one man, after tasting the beef dish.

Ashton turned to the crowd.

"Is 'the bomb' good? Is 'the bomb' good?" he asked, and when they yelled "Yes," Ashton dashed back to the stage again with his trademark "Happy day!"

Principal praised

Sometimes, he invited members of the audience onto the stage for their tasting -- including Janice Womble, principal of Eakin Primary School, where Ashton visited earlier in the day.

"He made us grape smoothies," said Womble. "And he is a real smoothie!"

Ashton batted her praise away and handed out some of his own, reminding the crowd that Womble was recently named the Tennessee Principal of the Year.

"I just want everyone to recognize how hard you have worked," said Ashton.

Chef enjoys visit

He then turned to the crowd, suddenly serious.

"I do really like being here," he said. "I want you to know that."

Ashton spoke of coming to America with only $2,000 and a dream.

"Some people say the American dream is dead. You can say to them, 'I've met Jon Ashton and he's living his dream!'"