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00:00Welcome back to The Masked Chef Kitchen.
00:15You five have shown us some great cooking so far.
00:19We definitely want you to have fun here,
00:23but we also need you to become better cooks.
00:27And the best way to learn that is from an expert.
00:31So, we've invited a special guest.
00:36Please welcome MasterChef finalist,
00:40who's published two cookbooks, Alexina Anatoly.
00:51Alexina grew up in South London
00:53and developed a love of food from an early age.
00:57I've enjoyed cooking since I was a tiny little toddler,
01:02making cakes with my mum in the kitchen.
01:04My whole family is obsessed with food.
01:07After studying English at Cambridge University,
01:11Alexina spent a decade working in finance
01:14before deciding to pursue her dream of a career in food.
01:19She entered the MasterChef competition in 2021,
01:24where she made it all the way to the final.
01:28For MasterChef, you've got to make an impact
01:31in a really short space of time.
01:32I realised that the best way that I could do that
01:34is by going down the bold flavour route
01:36and pairing something slightly unexpected together.
01:39There's nothing subtle about you, is there?
01:41And that's something that I've sort of taken with me ever since.
01:45In her latest cookbook,
01:47Alexina's bold dishes explore bitter flavours.
01:52Out of the five tastes,
01:54bitterness is the one that people are most scared of.
01:58Bitterness exists on this sort of balance or precipice
02:01between pleasure and disgust.
02:03But bitterness is actually key
02:07to what makes food delicious and Moorish.
02:09I'm on a mission to make the world fall in love with bitterness.
02:14I've given you five of my favourite recipes.
02:17This is about learning how to balance flavour.
02:20There is bitterness in every single one of these dishes
02:23and you have to keep that business under control
02:26to create something delicious.
02:30One hour, 30 minutes.
02:32Let's cook.
02:36Even though they're celebrities,
02:38I haven't made it easy on them.
02:40These recipes are quite involved
02:42and there's definitely some things that can go wrong.
02:46I've never, ever cooked anything to this degree before.
02:50It is absolutely frightening.
02:52I would love the celebrities to learn about flavour.
02:56Flavour comes before anything.
03:00Don't panic.
03:01Don't panic.
03:02They are going to have to work really hard in the time to get it all done.
03:06I don't envy them.
03:07I very rarely follow recipes because I very rarely cook.
03:11So, uh, wish me luck.
03:21There's no way to do this without it looking awkward and uncomfortable.
03:25I'm sorry.
03:27Ashley Kane, TV personality and ultra-athlete.
03:31Ashley's cooking is about family, history, heritage, emotion.
03:36Ashley has been given a bavette steak dish
03:40and will have the challenge of controlling the balance of two different bitter elements.
03:45One comes from the char on the outside of the bavette steak and the other place is that chipotle espresso butter,
03:52which is a little bit spicy, smoky, a little bit bitter, but also kind of indulgent and just gives a bit of added richness to the dish.
04:00Well, how do you feel about making a dressing made from coffee and chilli?
04:06To me, if I'm honest, it doesn't make sense, yeah.
04:09But I've never played by the rules, so it sounds like it could be a bit of me.
04:13I'm down to try it.
04:15When you cook bavette, it needs to be cooked perfectly and not chewy and not tough.
04:21What Ashley's got to do now is tenderise that piece of meat, salt the steak very, very well,
04:27and leave it for at least 40 minutes.
04:30I'm really bad at following rules, but, you know, for the purpose of this challenge, I'm going to try my best.
04:37I cooked this cut of meat in the final of MasterChef.
04:42Oh, wow.
04:42And I remember John saying, I don't like this cut.
04:45And I said, you've just got to cook it right.
04:51Hopefully this will open my eyes to something a little bit new.
04:54It's being served with melting tomatoes, whereby there's little cherry tomatoes with onions and lots and lots of paprika together to make a lovely smoky sauce.
05:04They're really soft and unctuous, and they give a bit of colour and acidity and brightness to the dish.
05:11Oh, that smells delicious.
05:14Before coming into this competition, I was so nervous about my ability to cook.
05:19But I think the longer that this goes on, the more determined I am to do well.
05:28I'm not panicking.
05:30I'm just going to stick to this recipe like no tomorrow.
05:35Jodie Ounsley, known as Fury from the Gladiators.
05:39What worries me is that she's quite a fussy eater.
05:42A carrot.
05:43I don't like it.
05:44The only thing that's brought a joy so far has been sweet things.
05:49But you can't make puddings all the way.
05:52This is a whole big learning curve for me, so I can always get better.
05:56I'm all about just cracking on and see what happens.
06:01I hate the smell of parsley.
06:03It's horrid.
06:04Jodie has got pork and cranberry meatballs, a mustard sauce, caramelised cabbage, and chips.
06:14Although it sounds ordinary, it sounds every day, there's lots of technique here.
06:19I'm going to be your old dear.
06:20I'm only at 15 grams.
06:23It's inspired by Swedish meatballs.
06:26Typically that would be served with like a lingonberry jam on the side,
06:29but instead what we've got is fresh cranberries with their bitter tartness.
06:33And then you've got caramelised cabbage.
06:35Again, we're bringing char in, which adds a little bit of bitterness.
06:38And all together, it's just a really comforting plate of food.
06:41The pork meatball themselves need to be quite generous,
06:45flayed with lots of parsley, breadcrumbs, onions.
06:48I don't know what I'm doing, but I'm trying my best.
06:52Jodie, how are you feeling about it?
06:54I'm terrified.
06:55I am actually terrified.
06:56But this is good.
06:57It's really pushing me out of my comfort zone.
06:59It's important that you get that meatball mix ready,
07:01and then you've got to form them.
07:03So you've got to leave enough time to do that, cook them.
07:06So there's actually quite a lot to do.
07:08OK, time's going to be tight?
07:09Going to be tight, so push on.
07:13I hate touching meat.
07:17She's making something she's heard of before.
07:20It's meatballs.
07:23I just feel there's a lot to do.
07:26There's something about this that's really shook her.
07:30Each meatball that Jodie has to make then needs to be implanted with a whole cranberry.
07:36So you just put one of them in the middle?
07:38Yeah.
07:38Can you imagine, like, a scotch egg?
07:40Oh, yeah.
07:40I love scotch eggs as well.
07:41Yeah, see, it's like, think of that as the egg in the middle of the meat.
07:45Then you close it up and then form it.
07:47Oh, what a good idea that is.
07:48It's just...
07:51I feel like there's a hundred things to do.
07:54That's 15 minutes gone.
07:58Noreen Khan, stand-up comedian and radio presenter.
08:02She loves the spices of India.
08:04It's the food that she grew up with.
08:06And she's a vegetarian.
08:08She understands flavour.
08:10But technique, for me, is the question.
08:12Oh, no.
08:17I'm definitely not relaxed about this.
08:19I know I've got a lot to prove.
08:21This is going to be my chance now to show them.
08:24I can cook!
08:27Well, I feel like I've got so many more ingredients than everyone else.
08:30I'm trusting the process here.
08:31Noreen is in charge of Alexina's take on a Mexican staple inspired by her travels.
08:40The charred mushroom tacos with avocado crema and grapefruit salsa is one of my favourite dishes.
08:49Mexican food is incredible.
08:51It has quite a lot of bitter flavour, like there's chocolate in some of the sauces.
08:55With this dish, bitterness is coming from the char on the mushrooms and also the grapefruit in the salsa.
09:03It's like a party in your mouth.
09:05I like eating Mexican food, but I very rarely cook it.
09:09A taco shell, wonderful thing.
09:11We buy lots of them in supermarkets.
09:13Everybody thinks they're really easy.
09:15They are hard to get right.
09:17It's easy for the dough to be too dry or too wet.
09:21You've got to get it just right so that you can press the tacos out correctly.
09:26I've never made tacos before.
09:28This is the first time for everything.
09:29Well, I've done my dough.
09:30That's great.
09:31Perfect.
09:31So it needs to sit for half an hour.
09:33Yeah.
09:33I've got my timer on.
09:34Love it.
09:35You're so organised.
09:36I've done that bit, so we'll see.
09:39I think one of the trickiest parts is getting good colour on the mushrooms.
09:43They need to be really charred and intensely cooked.
09:49This is like all alien to me.
09:50It's alien.
09:51Noreen is a whiz with South Asian flavours, but this is Mexico.
09:56She's clearly out of her comfort zone.
09:59A lot of the aunties watching this, if they don't like my cooking,
10:02they'll be like sending no marriage proposals.
10:10Alfie seems to love the food of Italy.
10:12Alfie understands really good, tasty food,
10:15but I think now he can actually afford to push himself a little bit more.
10:21Desserts are my downfall.
10:22I can't do desserts.
10:24I think I'm more of an instinctive cook than following a recipe.
10:27When I see cream and sugar, I just panic.
10:31Alfie will have to face his pudding nemesis
10:33with Alexina's version of a classic retro dessert,
10:37pineapple upside-down cake with roasted walnut custard.
10:42I don't do cakes.
10:43This is one of my weaknesses.
10:45This is not a simple cake and custard situation.
10:49There's licorice in there.
10:50There's rum.
10:51There's pineapple.
10:52There's roasted walnuts.
10:53These are quite bold flavours,
10:55and they need to be balanced.
10:58It's a bit dangerous, but I love it.
11:01Alfie's first got to cook all that pineapple,
11:03but also with caramel.
11:05Make it lovely and rich.
11:06Put that into the bottom of a cake tin.
11:08Make a cake mix.
11:09Put the cake mix across the top.
11:11Alfie's got a lot of technique here.
11:14Alfie, hello.
11:15Hello.
11:16How do you feel about bitter flavours?
11:17Licorice is really good for the voice,
11:19for singing voice.
11:20Oh, really?
11:21Yeah, I drink a lot of licorice tea.
11:23So this cake is good for you, basically?
11:24Absolutely.
11:25Yeah.
11:25I'm not very good at doing cakes.
11:27My disaster, my history with making cakes,
11:30goes back to my daughter's birthday party.
11:33I'd grilled some sardines in an oven,
11:37and then I decided to make her a birthday cake
11:39in the same oven.
11:41And she took a bite out of the cake
11:43and said it tastes like fish.
11:4435 minutes gone.
11:49You have just 55 minutes left.
11:54Oh, it's leaking.
11:56Sorry.
11:58Need some help.
11:59Alfie has made the caramel
12:01and put it into an online tin.
12:03It's started to escape from the sides.
12:06I'm going a bit of a mess right now,
12:08and I don't know what to do.
12:09OK, breathe.
12:10It's just a cake.
12:11All right.
12:12It's actually going to be fine.
12:13Alan Wynne-Jones, world-class rugby star,
12:21and he's got great technique.
12:23But when it comes to cooking,
12:24why is he so delicate?
12:26He understands flavour,
12:27but he seems to be shy of it.
12:29I want him to be as bold with flavour
12:31as he is in a scrum.
12:34I've still got bold flavours ringing in my ears,
12:36so I'm going to keep chasing the flavours.
12:39He can't afford to be subtle
12:41with a dessert designed to pack a real punch,
12:44inspired by one of Alexina's favourite cocktails.
12:48Two very classic ideas.
12:50A pavlova married with the flavours of a negroni.
12:55A negroni is made with a really bitter liqueur,
12:58and it's really, really strong,
12:59and it's a bit of an acquired taste.
13:02The flavours in here are punchy,
13:04grapefruit zest in the meringue,
13:06a Seville orange curd,
13:08and then a bitter aperitif and grapefruit caramel over the top.
13:11The challenge is going to be getting the proportions right,
13:15because bitterness in it can really quickly overwhelm.
13:18Pavlova, a lovely crusted meringue
13:20whereby the shell is crispy on the outside
13:23and the inside needs to be marshmallow.
13:26Meringue, in such a short space of time,
13:29is really difficult.
13:31So they have to make sure the sugar's melted
13:33into that egg white properly.
13:38Do you like a pavlova?
13:40Yeah. Do you like a negroni?
13:41Yes, I do like a negroni.
13:43Happy days!
13:43I do like a negroni.
13:44What you're going to have to contend with here is temperature.
13:47Everything's going to have to be cold when you put it together.
13:50If there's any heat left over in the meringues
13:52or in the caramel, it's going to melt the cream.
13:54OK.
13:58Oh, wow, use a scoop for it.
14:01Yeah.
14:01So you do have to like that.
14:04Probably a two.
14:05And then what you want to do is get a spoon like this.
14:08To make the world.
14:09Exactly.
14:09I don't know if this is the right size, maybe.
14:11Yeah.
14:12Do you like that?
14:13It's all like an A socket.
14:15Yeah.
14:16The pavlovas themselves,
14:18Alan Wynn's got to get the right shape.
14:20There we go.
14:21Oh, come on now, buddy.
14:22Blue ball.
14:22Do you have a name for this one?
14:24Which one?
14:24This one.
14:25It looks like a little bird.
14:27Yeah, he's going to grow to be the size of him one day.
14:29Well, we call that one John,
14:30and this one's going to be Alan Wynn, right?
14:31So, this is the moment of truth now.
14:38Cook too long, and they'll go too dark.
14:41Not cook long enough, we won't get that lovely texture of that marshmallow.
14:45We've got 45 minutes left.
14:49We are halfway.
14:51On her meatball dish, Jodie is concerned she's falling behind.
14:56I'm worried about time.
14:59Jodie is definitely up against it.
15:00She's got to finish the mustard sauce.
15:03She's got to get that cabbage cooked.
15:04She's got to get the fries cooked.
15:06Quite a lot of process and different elements in her dish.
15:09I think that is maybe a little bit overwhelming.
15:12But it's fine.
15:13I'll get it done.
15:15The main thing for her is getting those meatballs cooked.
15:18They need time to rest.
15:20Oh, no.
15:21Brick and a pat.
15:22I'll just squish it together a second.
15:27The caramelised cabbage,
15:28actually it's really important that you get some decent caramelisation on the outside,
15:32which adds a little bit of bitterness.
15:37God, I'm not the greatest at multitasking.
15:42Noreen's also feeling the pressure.
15:45Noreen has never made a taco before.
15:48Let's see what happens now.
15:50Tacos are a very tricky thing.
15:52Let's see.
15:53Ooh!
15:54Oh, my God.
15:56Oh!
15:56I'm just sort of impressed that they're coming out a little bit taco-looking.
16:02Too thick, we've got a spare tire.
16:04Too thin, then the taco shell is going to fall apart.
16:08It's a good workout for the arms as well.
16:10Noreen's first time making tacos, and they turned out beautifully.
16:14It looks great.
16:15I hope it tastes great as well.
16:17Her tacos are a success.
16:20Noreen can focus on the accompaniments.
16:22We've got grapefruit salsa.
16:25It's also bringing freshness and acidity,
16:28and that is so great to cut through all the spiciness of the mushrooms.
16:31It's delicious.
16:32You've now got under half an hour.
16:37We need to pick up speed.
16:42Ashley's bovet steak is almost tenderised,
16:45and he's working on a corn polenta side.
16:49That polenta, it should hold up on the plate
16:52and be almost that creamy texture,
16:55but it should be rich in flavour.
16:57I'm getting caught in the crossfire with this polenta.
17:00The polenta's biting back.
17:02Pan.
17:03The success of his dish
17:05will rest upon Ashley's precise cooking of the bovet steak.
17:10We want the steak to be charred on the outside
17:12and a river of pink running through the centre.
17:14Super important to cut the bovet against the grain.
17:17If you don't, it will be really chewy.
17:19The amount of detail in the process is absolutely insane.
17:24After it's seeped out of the cake tin,
17:27Alfie's had to remake the caramel to go on top of the pineapple
17:30before he can add the batter.
17:33Has that got the baking powder in?
17:35Yeah, and the butter.
17:35Great, perfect.
17:36So that needs to go in that.
17:38There we go.
17:39That's looking like a cake batter now, isn't it?
17:41OK.
17:44And he's racing to get the upside-down cake into the oven.
17:49Alfie got the cake in a little late.
17:51So we'll see if that's cooked.
17:54With the cake finally baking,
17:56he can turn his attention to its accompaniment.
17:59I've had better days.
18:03That roasted walnut custard requires you to make a walnut butter first
18:08that you then incorporate into a creme anglaise.
18:11Walnuts, of course, is a bitter nut,
18:13so there's just different levels of flavour happening.
18:18I'm shaking like a leaf.
18:20So that's 15 minutes to go.
18:23Some of you need to start winding this up.
18:29Across the kitchen, Alan Wynne's focusing on his Negroni pavlova toppings.
18:34Stop stirring it.
18:37Sorry.
18:38It's like being at home.
18:42He's got a Seville orange curd.
18:44Seville orange being really sharp and quite sour.
18:47Lovely, silky and smooth, but it should be quite thick.
18:51Almost the thickness of jam.
18:53Why am I stressing?
18:58A grapefruit caramel flavoured with a bitter liqueur.
19:02If that starts to crystallise, it's going to have to start all over again.
19:05When you do a wet caramel like this, you can't stir it.
19:10Ah, OK.
19:11If you do a dry caramel, you can stir it.
19:14Isn't there just one caramel?
19:16There isn't. I'm so sorry.
19:17Start again and you'll be good.
19:19I was just testing to see whether Alex, Zina knew the recipe.
19:24Take two.
19:24So that's ten minutes left.
19:28Time is ticking.
19:32I'm worried about everything, but we'll make it work.
19:36It'll be fine.
19:37How do I plate this up?
19:39Mushrooms in the middle?
19:40Avocado crema.
19:41Yeah.
19:41Spoonful, mushrooms, and then the salsa and the...
19:44The sprinkling of these on top.
19:49So I think it's got to be the other way up.
19:51Yeah, take that off.
19:52Oh, that looks like it's about to...
19:56Looks like it's what?
19:57Looks like it's about to go everywhere.
19:59OK.
20:00What's happened?
20:01It's undercooked.
20:02I didn't get it in in time.
20:03OK.
20:04Can we rescue any part of it?
20:06I'm going to try and present it as best I possibly can for you.
20:09Oh, no.
20:10Celebrities, you've got three minutes.
20:13Why are you so serious?
20:15Are we all done?
20:16I'm quitting this day.
20:17There we go.
20:22Great.
20:25I think they're all right.
20:3260 seconds.
20:33That's it.
20:33Give us what you got.
20:39Ashley.
20:40Yeah.
20:40We need the song plates now, my friend.
20:42Yeah.
20:43That's it.
21:01Time's up.
21:02All done.
21:03Step away from your benches.
21:04Do you want a slice of me mush?
21:06Matt, I do have anything to make, bud.
21:07Thank you very much.
21:09That's all right.
21:10Ashley.
21:11Come up.
21:11Reality star Ashley has cooked Alexina's charred bavette steak with paprika and onion melting
21:21tomatoes on a bed of polenta and finished with a bitter chipotle espresso butter.
21:37I love the way you've cooked the bavette.
21:39It's got a good char on the outside.
21:41And you've also cut it across the grain so it's not chewy or too tough.
21:46I'm really impressed.
21:47You've done a great job.
21:50This is a really beautiful plate of food.
21:55That coffee, you've really nailed that.
21:57It's bitter, but it's delicious.
22:00But what I love the most is the polenta.
22:02You've got so much flavour.
22:03You've got so much flavour.
22:05This hangs together really, really beautifully.
22:08You've got sweet tomatoes then going to that real warmth coming from those spices which
22:13you've roasted really, really well.
22:14This is about balance, about sophistication and about being daring.
22:19And you've done exactly that.
22:24I didn't know what anything was when I received the recipe.
22:26And I'm so grateful that I stuck it out because I'm learning and I'm actually getting better.
22:33Jodie, come up.
22:34Gladiator Jodie has cooked pork and cranberry meatballs, served with a mustard sauce, along
22:44with caramelised hispy cabbage and chips.
22:47When it comes to the meatballs, they actually taste really good.
23:01And there's that nice cranberry bitterness and sharpness cutting through the pork.
23:05What you needed to do was just cut everything a lot finer.
23:08It's big chunks in there and that's what's causing them to kind of fall apart.
23:12Cabbage, all you needed was to just get a bit more caramelisation on there in the pan.
23:18This dish really suffered from the fact that at one point you just became really frozen
23:24by everything that needed to be done.
23:27However, you can make me some more of these chips any day.
23:30We've got some great flavours here.
23:32We've got some issues with technique.
23:34Your mustard sauce, you've cooked it so much it's gone too thick and it's come a bit too claggy
23:40and heavy underneath there.
23:42You were poaching that recipe, I think was probably like a contender approaching Gladiator.
23:46I mean, the fear in your eyes.
23:50Don't be scared of it.
23:51Thanks, Jodie.
23:55I'm feeling a bit gutted because that one, great.
23:59But to be honest, I thought it was going to be a lot worse than that.
24:02Noreen.
24:02Comedian Noreen has made Alexina's corn tacos topped with charred spiced oyster mushrooms
24:10and an avocado, coconut and green chilli crema accompanied by a grapefruit, cucumber and radish salsa.
24:18This is your first ever taco.
24:28Ever.
24:29It's lovely.
24:30It's extraordinary.
24:32There's green chilli, there's cayenne.
24:34I love that as you eat this, the heat just builds and builds.
24:38The roasted corn tacos are great.
24:42Perfect size, perfectly pressed.
24:45The oyster mushrooms have crispiness, which is what you wanted.
24:49Really great job, well done.
24:52Talk about bitterness and sweetness and how these things marry together.
24:56I think it's a great dish.
24:57Working with quite a complex recipe, you're just panicking, thinking, gosh, I'm only on number eight and this has got 16 parts.
25:06So I'm quite impressed with myself.
25:09Alfie, come and talk to us.
25:11OK.
25:12OK.
25:16Singer Alfie has made Alexina's take on an upside down cake with licorice, rum and caramelised pineapple served with a roasted walnut custard.
25:27The caramelised pineapple, I'm getting that lovely, spicy, slightly bittersweet licorice flavour in the background.
25:42I'm also getting bitterness from the rum.
25:45Look, it didn't go perfectly, but actually the flavours that are on the plate are delicious.
25:52The people dying in don't need to know your original plan.
25:55And what you salvaged, as you can see, I've eaten it in huge chunks.
26:01It's a delicious, toffee, sweet, licorice, slightly bitter cake with a boozy slice of very nice pineapple.
26:11Did you get it right?
26:12Did you get it wrong?
26:14Alfie don't mind, it tastes great.
26:16And the texture of the cake is like ginger cake, slightly soggy and soft, but crispy on the outside with that really beautiful, bittersweet caramel.
26:25And I really like that with my cake, you've given me a walnut milkshake.
26:28Thank you very much indeed.
26:29It's way too thin, but the bittersweet of roasted walnuts, through that, is delicious.
26:37Thank you so much.
26:39I've learned that when things go wrong, do your best you can.
26:42What was on the plate did taste okay, so I'm grateful for that.
26:46Alan Wynne.
26:49Up last, rugby legend Alan Wynne has made individual Negroni Pavlovas, topped with vanilla Chantilly cream, fresh grapefruit, a Seville orange curd, and a bitter liqueur and grapefruit caramel.
27:05A nice, crunchy outside on the pavlova, and then it's marshmallow-y inside.
27:23Seville orange curd.
27:25It tastes great.
27:27Just wanted the caramel to be a little bit thicker, so you get that hit of the bitter aperitif that's in there.
27:32But I think you've done really, really well.
27:36There is the distinct flavour of a Negroni.
27:39Lovely bitterness from that grapefruit going with that sweet Chantilly cream.
27:43It's great.
27:45For me, this is extraordinary.
27:47A real whirlwind of sweet and sour and delicate and crunchy.
27:54This is a difficult thing to pull off.
27:59I tried to employ more flavour today.
28:01John wanted me to be bold, so I put a bit of extra in there for him.
28:04I'm just happy that they enjoyed it.
28:07That was not an easy challenge.
28:10You all did me proud.
28:12Well done.
28:12Alexina, how was that watching your recipes being made by the celebs?
28:25I feel like it's a full-circle moment to have been on this show as a contestant.
28:30I hope they learnt something.
28:31Thanks, Sally Jenner.
28:32See you later.
28:34Did anyone else find that really hard?
28:36I thought it was made to be easier with the recipes.
28:37I think I won the prize for the dirtiest apron.
28:41Well done.
28:44That was quite the experience.
28:47There was panic, there was chaos, but I do think they learned lessons along the way.
28:51What they do next really counts.
29:03Now you're back to cooking your own creations.
29:08You've got a brief to cook for us.
29:11Your idea of a dinner party.
29:13Two courses, a main course, a dessert, one hour.
29:17You are all cooking for a place in a quarter-final.
29:21Give it everything you've got.
29:23Sadly, one of you will be going home.
29:26Let's cook.
29:31This isn't a wet Wednesday night dinner.
29:34I want to feel like I'm a big deal round at their house.
29:37This is about being grand and showing off.
29:40This is a dinner party after all.
29:43It's got to be special.
29:44I'm feeling a lot calmer.
29:47The last few challenges, I've been a headless chicken running all over the place.
29:51Right now, it's all to play for.
29:54I'm going to keep a smile on my face.
29:56Try not to let the pressure get to me.
30:00I've put my best earrings on.
30:02I'm here for dinner.
30:03What's going on?
30:03No need to dress up to come round our house.
30:05But no, I think I want to do something relatively simple.
30:08A classic sea bass, a fennel sauce, and then a lemon cheesecake.
30:13A sea bass, I'm not very good at catching it, but I'm better at eating it.
30:17Living on the coast in Gower.
30:19I've got a few friends that will always drop off a few silver bars, as they call them, after a good day's haul.
30:24A piece of sea bass, it's going to take only minutes to cook.
30:29Otherwise, it will start to dry out.
30:31Lovely, flaky, soft bits of fish is what we're looking for.
30:34And a fennel sauce, is that a normal thing in Alan Wynne's house?
30:38We were on the coast, there's a lot of wild fennel.
30:40The smells of home.
30:43Fennel is a bulb, it's quite fibrous.
30:45He needs to extract lots and lots of flavour from that.
30:48And then he's going to add some white wine, really makes the sauce itself quite rich.
30:53That's what we want, bold flavours.
30:56Ah, I don't know, twice now.
30:58Brush in.
30:59Then we've got crushed new potatoes and some asparagus.
31:02Tried lots on.
31:03Dessert, we're being promised, a lemon cheesecake with a raspberry sauce.
31:09We want a lovely, soft, creamy cheesecake.
31:11The biscuit base being crumbly, not too hard.
31:14And the raspberry sauce, tasting of raspberries.
31:18Who's coming to this dinner party?
31:20Even after some of the Welsh greats, Phil Bennett, Sir Gareth Edwards.
31:23They know good food and definitely have some good stories to tell.
31:25And people with big appetites.
31:27Oh, accomplished appetites, I think so, yeah.
31:33I think that's pretty much done.
31:38There's a kind of pressure here because I'm wanting to bring my heritage into this.
31:43You're having a regal dish tonight, a vegetable divani handi.
31:47This apparently was made for the royals.
31:50It was pulled out on special occasions.
31:52Oh, OK.
31:52So it's not your average curry because it's got a special cashew nut sauce.
31:56It will also have cream in there.
31:58I feel honoured already.
32:01But if I'm on MasterChef, I can't just make an average curry.
32:03Whether it turns out regal will be another thing.
32:08Big array of spices in there, including Kashmiri chilli.
32:11Slightly spicy hot but really smoky.
32:15Noreen's got little tiny bits of cauliflower and beans going in there.
32:19Oh, gosh, gosh, gosh.
32:22Just hope they're not going to be overcooked.
32:24Is this a family recipe?
32:26No, it's not.
32:26Even my family will be like,
32:28What are you cooking, Noreen?
32:29We've never seen you make that before.
32:31What's going with it?
32:33So you'll get some buttered rotties if I have enough time.
32:37Oh, my God.
32:37I don't know how my rotties are going to come out.
32:40Can I just apologise in advance in case it doesn't turn out correctly?
32:45For dessert, we've got something called savia or samia,
32:49depending upon where you are from in the subcontinent.
32:51It's a dessert made from vermicelli, very, very fine wheat pasta.
32:56I need to thicken up my vermicelli or kelly, whatever you call it, vermicelli.
33:02And soaked with sweet milk and the flavours of cardamom and cinnamon.
33:08Growing up, it was something that we always had on special occasions like Eid.
33:12So I remember waking up and just smelling that,
33:15ah, samia smell coming from the kitchen.
33:18This is going to be sweet.
33:20Little punches of different spices.
33:22That's what we want.
33:25That's 30 minutes left.
33:26That's halfway.
33:28Oh, God.
33:29Do you not like touching chicken?
33:31No.
33:32You battle people with giant cotton buds
33:35and you're freaked out by a bit of chicken.
33:37Cotton buds?
33:38Yeah, those big things look like cotton buds.
33:40Huge old sticks.
33:41Well, you've learnt something today.
33:42Yeah.
33:44Jodie's going for a pappardelle, thick pasta,
33:47served with spiced chicken, a chorizo and tomato sauce.
33:51Being a professional rugby player, it's all about fueling your body
33:54so you can't go wrong with a bowl of pasta.
33:57Jodie is used to using food as fuel and not worry about how it tastes.
34:03And what she's going to do today has to be full of flavour.
34:07I want to just make it spicy because I am quite bland.
34:10So I'm trying to push myself to be, like, more flavour.
34:15She's using chicken breasts in her rissa,
34:18rich with chillies and red peppers.
34:20Charitha, which is already spiced,
34:23and it becomes really quite hot.
34:26I'm imagining this dinner party.
34:28Gladiators around.
34:29You make a big pasta for everybody.
34:32The gladiators eat a lot of food.
34:35Giant for his breakfast,
34:36he has a massive baking bowl of oats, like, to the top.
34:40It's actually ridiculous.
34:42We've also got tomatoes going in
34:45to make a little sauce that wraps around the whole lot.
34:47This pasta and sauce and chicken all needs to become one.
34:52I'm losing plot at this rate.
34:55Well, that's the hope.
34:57What's your dessert?
34:58Lemon cheesecake.
34:59Cheesecake is my favourite dessert.
35:01So you must know your way round one.
35:02I can eat them, but baking them is a different story.
35:07Today in the Mars Chef kitchen,
35:09we've got lemon cheesecake wars.
35:12I do have concerns.
35:14Alan's is a slight cut above with raspberry sauce.
35:19Jodie may well have the simpler one.
35:23Jodie's making her cheesecake in a large cake tin.
35:27The problem with the big cheesecake,
35:28that if it's not set, it's just going to fall over the plate.
35:31That's going to be a blabber mosh.
35:33She's only got about half an hour.
35:36Let's see.
35:37We'll be fine.
35:42I do like to throw dinner parties.
35:44I remember my 40th birthday,
35:47and the night ended up in me
35:50jumping off the roof of my house into a swimming pool.
35:53I won't be doing that today.
35:55What are you cooking today?
36:00I'm doing a loin of venison with a pork gravy.
36:04A loin of venison, which has been coated in pepper,
36:07which is pan-fried,
36:08so it's got a nice crust on the outside.
36:10That would give us flavour.
36:12With this venison,
36:14we have got crushed swedes and carrots
36:16and buttered cavallonero.
36:18And we've got port going together
36:22with stock to make a sauce.
36:25I hear that you have gravy on your rider
36:28when you're out touring.
36:30I really do.
36:31I don't know.
36:31It's a northern thing.
36:32It must be...
36:33I know, but you must like your gravy.
36:35I do.
36:36That is one of the happiest sides in the kitchen for me.
36:40That sauce is going to take time to reduce down
36:43to give us a lovely, silky, glossy sauce.
36:46I think it should be OK.
36:47Fingers crossed.
36:50Dessert, we have got an orange posset
36:52served with some berries and some flaked almonds.
36:56For a man that doesn't like puddings,
36:59you're making a posset.
37:00I'm trying to.
37:01A posset is science.
37:02I know, I know.
37:03I'm trying to turn a page here.
37:05Orange posset, it's about taking acid and milk
37:10and bringing the two things together
37:11so they don't curdle, but they set.
37:15How do you make your dinner parties feel special
37:17and extra bling?
37:18When a song's requested, I will give them a song.
37:21I will accept a line if you'd like to sing a line.
37:24Please, go on.
37:24Oh, my God.
37:37OK, you're through to the next round.
37:45That's 20 minutes to go.
37:48Oh, God.
37:51This could be back on my seat.
37:52Ashley, you always look so beautifully put together.
37:56I think you have dinner parties.
37:58I wouldn't say I have dinner parties,
37:59but I always host.
38:00Are you saying you're just more about the vibes
38:02of somebody else who's going to cook?
38:04100%.
38:04So I've got fillet steak
38:06with delicious red wine sauce, I'm hoping.
38:09OK.
38:10I'm not a sauce guy.
38:11See, as a northern person, I don't understand that.
38:13We have to have our food quite moist.
38:16It needs to be reduced down
38:18so it's thick enough and not thin
38:20as if somebody's just poured a bowl of wine on the plate.
38:23We want a perfect steak.
38:25I like steak very rare,
38:27but I'm doing it more medium rare today.
38:30Nice and brown on the outside,
38:32seasoned very, very well,
38:33and enough time to rest.
38:36And what we have for dessert?
38:38Chunky chocolate chip cookies.
38:40OK.
38:43Bam.
38:43A good cookie is not easy to make.
38:47Look at that.
38:49Look at that.
38:50And he's got to make sure
38:51he gets that mixture absolutely right.
38:54I've got an absolute concentration face on that.
38:56Ha-ha-ha.
38:58We don't want a hard cookie.
38:59We want a soft, chewy cookie
39:01with lots and lots of chocolate chips through it.
39:03And on the side,
39:04we've got a little bottle of milk.
39:06I always remember having cookies and milk.
39:08And if I was well-behaved as a kid,
39:10I used to be allowed to have it before I went to bed.
39:14The cookie's a nice little treat to say,
39:15goodbye, see you later, I'm going to bed.
39:17If that was my house,
39:18I'd be giving them out at about 8.30.
39:19Ha-ha-ha.
39:28That's ten minutes left.
39:30Ten minutes.
39:33All right.
39:36Oh, no, this is going bad.
39:38I wanted to do a circle,
39:40but that's gone absolute shambles.
39:43So now I'm just trying to save it.
39:45I'm shaking like
39:46this is absolute chaos.
39:50The base is on the floor.
39:56Come on.
40:08You've got just four minutes, everybody.
40:10Four minutes left.
40:11It's an absolute disaster, isn't it?
40:16Man.
40:17You need to get it plated up now.
40:22God, tomatoes are crozzled.
40:24I've burnt them.
40:25I forgot about them.
40:27Guys, you've got just two minutes left.
40:29Finishing touches, please.
40:32Ooh.
40:33A bit of butter on top.
40:35Come on, man.
40:45It's gone.
40:45There's no base.
40:46Look at that.
40:48It was really key when I practice.
40:5030 seconds.
40:52Last thing's on the plate, please.
41:03Shaking again, guys.
41:04Jim.
41:05Look at the stare at that.
41:07That's it.
41:08Time's up.
41:09All done.
41:11Wow.
41:12What a buzz.
41:13I'm just happy that it got done on time.
41:19Alan Wynn.
41:23For his dinner party main, Alan Wynn has served sea bass with asparagus and crushed new potatoes,
41:32along with a fennel, cream and white wine sauce.
41:35Fish skin isn't as crisp as it could be.
41:47However, I love the flesh.
41:49I love how it goes with the buttery potatoes, well-seasoned asparagus.
41:54To me, this is delicious.
41:56It feels like a classy thing that you've cooked for us.
42:00Your sauce is great.
42:01A lovely sort of essence of fennel in there.
42:03A little bit of sharpness coming from the white wine.
42:07I love the texture of it.
42:08It's nice and creamy.
42:10It's an elegant dinner party, Alan Wynn.
42:12I know.
42:13Who'd have thought it, huh?
42:14Huh?
42:15There we are.
42:16For dessert, Alan Wynn has made individual lemon cheesecakes,
42:22topped with lemon zest and served with a raspberry sauce.
42:33What I love is it tastes like actual lemons, sharp and punchy.
42:41And I love the lemon zest that you've got across the top.
42:44It really lifts it.
42:46You've still got a cheesecake wobble.
42:48The biscuit, very, very buttery, slightly malty.
42:51Lovely raspberry sauce, slightly sharp and sour.
42:55The flavour is what we've been asking for through this competition.
42:58Bright, they're vibrant and they're defined.
43:01Good on you.
43:01Thank you very much.
43:02Thanks, Alan.
43:05Big dog.
43:06I think to be able to nail the flavour that they've been asking him for is pleasing.
43:13Really happy, actually.
43:14Noreen.
43:17For her main, Noreen has made Devani Handy,
43:21a mixed vegetable curry in a Kashmiri spiced cashew and cream sauce,
43:26served with buttered roti bread.
43:29Smells great.
43:29Really does.
43:30The sauce and the flavours is great.
43:40First mouthful, a really quite nutty cauliflower,
43:44but then smoky warmth of Kashmiri chilli,
43:47unsuspecting and a bit of a creeper.
43:49The rotis are ace.
43:52Doing this a long time and so many people get them wrong.
43:55They're so lovely and thin.
43:56For me, fantastic.
43:58For me, the veg is a bit under.
44:00It's quite crunchy.
44:02It's just needed a bit longer.
44:04I love the silkiness of the cashew sauce.
44:07I think it's very well balanced.
44:09I like the fact that you've made something royal,
44:12and it does feel decadent.
44:16Noreen's dessert is Sevilla.
44:20Vermicelli noodles in a sweetened milk,
44:22flavoured with cardamom and cinnamon,
44:25topped with crushed pistachios.
44:28I love its texture.
44:37It's like the most delicious, decadent rice pudding.
44:42Creamy and fragrant.
44:45It's a whole new way of eating carbohydrate for me.
44:47I want to taste more cardamom and cinnamon.
44:51OK.
44:51Cardamom's quite strong and ferocious.
44:53Cinnamon's really comforting.
44:54And I feel there could be more of that in there.
44:57It's very, very subtle indeed.
44:59I am so relieved.
45:05I think in that time limit, I did the best I could.
45:10Jodie.
45:11Oh, Jodie.
45:14Jodie's mane is plain pappadelli pasta
45:17with harissa chicken and chorizo,
45:21spinach and roasted cherry tomatoes.
45:24Your pasta is cooked really, really well.
45:34The chicken is cooked nicely.
45:36I can taste harissa, that lovely, rich, smoky flavour.
45:40And there's paprika coming through from that sausage.
45:43You have actually got a dish which is fuel and flavour,
45:47but you seem to have forgotten the sauce.
45:52Jodie, there are some good things in this bowl separately,
45:57but at the moment,
45:58they're all sitting in different corners of the bowl,
46:00not speaking to each other.
46:02They haven't became a dish that hangs together.
46:07For dessert, Jodie is serving lemon cheesecake,
46:12topped with fresh lemon and raspberries.
46:15Jodie, you're shaking your head.
46:16Absolute disaster.
46:17I tell you.
46:18Look at the state of that.
46:29Making a cheesecake in under an hour
46:31in a big container like that,
46:32I didn't think it was going to set at all,
46:34and it's perfectly set.
46:36There's simply not enough butter in your base,
46:38so the biscuit hasn't held together.
46:40Lovely flavour of cream cheese.
46:42I would like it to be more of lemon.
46:44Jodie, I love your cheesecake topping.
46:50Creamy, it's set, it has the zing.
46:53The one thing this cheesecake is missing is a base.
46:57It was just one of those moments where everything that could have gone wrong went wrong,
47:05and I just completely panicked,
47:07but the main thing was just to try and get two plates up by the end of it,
47:11and I did, even if it looked like a five-year-old had done it.
47:15Alfie.
47:15Alfie's main course is peppered venison loin,
47:22crushed Sweden carrot,
47:25crispy and buttered cavallonero,
47:28served with a port cream sauce.
47:31Alfie, the flavours here are just wonderful.
47:44I love the venison.
47:46That is perfectly medium rare.
47:47The colour that you've got round its edges,
47:50you've seared it with some sort of aromatic,
47:52you can really tell.
47:54But one of the things I love the most about this
47:56is the cavallonero done two ways,
47:58because that's when you're just kind of showboating.
48:01Friday night at Alfie's house, I'm absolutely in.
48:04I can make it next week.
48:06OK.
48:07Wow, it packs a punch on flavour.
48:10The sauce, port, and then a little richness of cream,
48:13giving sweet, sharp, peppery flavours really, really good.
48:17You've got heat coming from those Swedes,
48:21and they are really quite peppery and strong,
48:23but sweet carrot as well.
48:25I've got no complaints here, Alfie.
48:28For dessert, Alfie is serving a blood orange posset,
48:33topped with mixed berries and toasted flaked almonds.
48:46We've got a lovely, delicate marrying of cream and sugar and citrus,
48:52and you've really got the sharp flavours of the blood orange into there.
48:55Love it, love it, love it.
48:57There's a lovely, sharp bitterness from that blood orange,
49:00which has then got the sort of creaminess coming from the posset.
49:03There's the bitterness of almonds,
49:05sharpness from those blackberries.
49:06I love the way that's all dancing around.
49:09A posset's a really quite difficult thing to get right.
49:11I think you've done a great job.
49:13Thank you so much.
49:16John said it packed a punch.
49:18I'm like holding back a tear.
49:19It's ridiculous.
49:23Last up is Ashley.
49:25He's serving fillet steak,
49:27crushed new potatoes,
49:29honey-glazed carrots
49:31and a red wine sauce.
49:34Your red wine sauce is very, very thin.
49:41Whoa!
49:44That sauce, it needs to be cooked down more.
49:46You need to get rid of that alcohol.
49:47I love a drink, me.
49:48Sorry.
49:48I think that your steak
49:59is delicious and beautifully cooked.
50:03Your carrots could have been tidied up a bit more,
50:06but the potatoes,
50:07every single one of them,
50:08crispy, well-seasoned,
50:10every one is a treat.
50:12Steak, potatoes and carrots
50:14need a sauce to bring it all together.
50:16It's very hard to make a sauce
50:17if you don't particularly like them.
50:19Yeah, thank you.
50:22Inspired by his own childhood treat,
50:25for dessert,
50:26Ashley is serving
50:27chunky chocolate chip cookies,
50:30along with a salted caramel dipping sauce
50:33and a bottle of milk.
50:35This is what you used to have
50:36before you went to bed?
50:37When I behaved myself,
50:38so it was a very rare occasion.
50:39I would be bouncing off the walls with that.
50:42I mean, look at me.
50:47Good cooking.
50:52Nice and crumbly.
50:53Caramel sauce.
50:54Slightly sweet.
50:55But I like the way you compensate
50:57with that good amount of salt.
50:59There's just something so playful
51:01and endearing about this.
51:03Like a full bar of chocolate.
51:05Just lightly wrapped
51:07in a biscuity cloak.
51:10Heaven.
51:10The milk reminds me
51:12of being five years old
51:14and going to school
51:15in the 70s in Carlisle.
51:18So, thank you for making me emotional.
51:22I was unapologetically myself
51:24for this meal.
51:25But if I manage to get through,
51:28I'm going to have to start
51:30upping my game.
51:32What a round that was.
51:35You really did cook your hearts out.
51:38Now a decision has to be made.
51:40You haven't made this easy for us.
51:44Thanks so much indeed.
51:58Honestly, guys,
51:59I'm really disappointed
52:01that you all actually did well.
52:03I can't help it
52:08that mine was brilliant.
52:13We've got a decision to make.
52:15We've got four quarterfinal places
52:17and that does mean
52:18that somebody's leaving the competition.
52:19It's very difficult
52:20because there's a real fire
52:22in all of them right now.
52:23Their cooking is showing it.
52:25Cook of the day?
52:26Alfie Bow.
52:27You can't deny those flavours.
52:29Great venison.
52:30Really good mash.
52:31The sauce was fantastic.
52:33I love that blood orange posset,
52:35slightly bitter,
52:36the sharpness of the arms across the top.
52:38He's finding his stride.
52:39I think you're absolutely right.
52:40Alfie's got himself a place in the quarterfinal.
52:43Alan Wynne.
52:45The fish, perfect.
52:47Fennel sauce was exquisite.
52:50That cheesecake, for me,
52:52was flavoured fantastically.
52:53It was bold.
52:55Alan Wynne's got himself a place in quarterfinal.
52:56Absolutely.
52:58Three other people to talk about.
53:00Noreen, Jodie, Ashley.
53:04Ashley, piece of steak, potatoes, delicious,
53:08but he promised a sauce.
53:09It was not a sauce.
53:11He pulled it back with that dessert.
53:13He made the most decadent cookie,
53:17which for me was inspired.
53:20Noreen made us divani handy.
53:22Lovely spicing, lovely flavouring.
53:24Rotis were perfect.
53:25The vegetables weren't just al dente.
53:28They were kind of raw.
53:30Dessert, wonderful texture,
53:32but we were promised cardamom and cinnamon,
53:34and we didn't get either.
53:36Today, Jodie had all the makings
53:38of a great pasta dish,
53:40but somewhere along the way,
53:42she ended up with four or five ingredients
53:44in a plate, all sitting separately.
53:47She's trying really, really hard,
53:49but we had a cheesecake,
53:51and the base didn't work.
53:57If I make it to the quarterfinals,
53:59I'll be shocked,
54:00and I'll definitely have to take on the feedback
54:02and try and get a little bit better.
54:05Really want to keep going.
54:07The more challenges you take on,
54:09the more it spurs you on to see
54:10how much further can I go,
54:11how much more potential do I have.
54:13It's done now,
54:15so it's just a waiting game.
54:17I'd say I'm a little bit nervous.
54:19Fingers crossed I'm still in.
54:20E5 started this competition of celebs,
54:36and you've left the celebrity at the door,
54:38and we are seeing cooks emerging.
54:41And I've got to say,
54:41I'm really impressed.
54:42Somebody does have to leave the competition today.
54:52The celebrity leaving us is...
54:58Jodie.
55:07It's been terrifying,
55:08but I've actually enjoyed it.
55:10Thank you, Jodie.
55:11I always liked to encourage kids
55:14to do things that scare them,
55:16and doing this was literally terrifying for me,
55:19but I've done it.
55:20And even if it was a complete disaster at times,
55:23I've learnt a lot,
55:24and I've enjoyed it along the way.
55:29Congratulations, you might have to call the finalist.
55:31Yep, they haven't said it.
55:32I was like...
55:32I mean, I knew I was going to get through it.
55:35Nah, I'm joking.
55:38I'll be honest.
55:39Standing up here was really nerve-wracking.
55:42I'm just pleased that I did enough,
55:43and now I've really got it on my game.
55:47Wow, me, a quarter-finalist on MasterChef.
55:51The pressure is on.
55:53I'm proud of myself.
55:56I want to see how far I can possibly get.
55:59I just want to beat Ashley, basically.
56:01That's the fun.
56:03We had some good fun,
56:04so as long as we can enjoy, learn, keep going,
56:07anything can happen.
56:08I'm looking forward to see Alfie beat Ashley as well.
56:10I can't believe it.
56:18Next time...
56:19Making a right mess.
56:20..it's the quarter-final.
56:22Oh, damn it.
56:23And Alfie...
56:24Playing by the seat of my pants right now.
56:27..Noreen, Alan Wynn...
56:29Squeezy bottom.
56:30..and Ashley are back...
56:33..to fight for a place...
56:35What have you done to John?
56:37..in the semi-final.
56:39Really enjoyed the punchy flavour.
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