The Next Level Chef Challenge Everyone Should Try, According To Richard Blais - Exclusive

Watching cooking shows is a surefire way to increase both your appetite and your enthusiasm for being in the kitchen. From these shows, we can learn all about new flavors and dishes and feel ready to take them into the kitchen to create our next masterpiece. The problem is that many home cooks may not feel entirely comfortable in the kitchen just yet. We do not have the same hands-on experience as someone with culinary training. Thankfully, Chef Richard Blais has a suggestion to help home chefs hone their cooking skills. 

Blais is a mentor chef on the TV cooking game show "Next Level Chef," where he helps to coach chefs from all different walks of life all the way to the top. This includes professional chefs, internet chefs, and, yes, even home chefs. Mashed sat down for an exclusive interview with Richard Blais to discuss the show and his cooking career, and he gave us his challenge to home chefs who may be looking to take their cooking to the next level: "They should play 'Next Level Chef' at home. ... Go to a neighbor's house, or you can even do it in your own kitchen."

Who does not love gamification? Richard Blais suggested that while learning to cook can be hard, there is a simple home challenge you can play to bump up your skills: "Stand in front of the fridge, set a clock for 20 minutes, and open up the fridge. In 20 seconds, grab a couple ingredients, close it, and you can't go back to the fridge. Now you have to cook and just go for it." 

He explained, "The point there is [to] cook a little bit more in the improv setting. Open up the fridge, open up a box of pasta, and go for it. That's the tip. Cook a little bit looser and have more fun. Add vinegar. If I have to be real chef-y about it, a little splash of vinegar or acidity, a little lemon juice, always usually wakes up a dish."

Playing "Next Level Chef" teaches home cooks to think on their feet and break out of set cooking routines. Not only will this improve cooking skills, but it also requires no additional money to be spent, making it an accessible challenge for any home cook.

The Season 2 finale of "Next Level Chef" airs on Fox tonight at 8:00 p.m. ET.