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00:04It's the battle for the ultimate culinary prize.
00:10Brand new competition, brand new judges.
00:14Grace, let's find some talent.
00:1748 of the country's best home cooks...
00:20Come on.
00:21...have their hearts set.
00:24Oh, my God.
00:25It's fine, it's fine.
00:27Oh, no!
00:28Dropped it.
00:28On the coveted MasterChef Trophy...
00:32It is an explosion of flavour.
00:35This is absolutely yummy.
00:37Fantastic.
00:38Each week, 12 extraordinary amateur talents...
00:43I think I'm struggling.
00:44...battle for a place in the quarterfinal.
00:47There's something quite Dracula about this dish.
00:50Ooh, a nice.
00:51But only the best can earn their passport
00:54to the ultimate cookery showdown.
00:58The 100 guests are here.
01:01Keep going fast.
01:03Cheers.
01:04If this has been cooked by an amateur, we all need to watch out.
01:16It's the first week of the competition, and the next six passionate home cooks are arriving at the MasterChef kitchen.
01:24I feel like I'm sitting inside my TV right now, so it's surreal, but super exciting.
01:31Since I retired, my goals have been to challenge myself and do new things.
01:36And this is definitely something new and challenging.
01:40I, under pressure, either am really great and really, really calm, or I could fall down like salmon.
01:51Guys, welcome to the MasterChef kitchen.
01:55This is your chance to show us what you love about cooking.
02:03Your first challenge is to cook us your signature dish.
02:09This is a dish that you would serve to your family and friends to delight them.
02:15It's going to show us your passions, your technique, and above all, what you think is tasty.
02:24At the end of this round, two of you will be presented with one of our much coveted MasterChef aprons.
02:34The rest of you will have to cook again for the remaining two aprons.
02:40You have an hour and a half to show us what you're made of.
02:46Let's go.
02:55Now, you've got to do this.
02:58You've got to do it.
03:01Tattoo artist Maddy has run her own studio in Southampton for seven years.
03:06With a love for home comfort classics, she dreams of one day having her own food truck.
03:11My signature dish is based on the first dish I ever made that people requested I make again.
03:16It goes back to when I was, like, 13.
03:18So it's something I cook with a lot of love.
03:20This feels like who I am as a cook.
03:23Maddy, welcome to the MasterChef kitchen.
03:26Thank you so much.
03:27What's your signature dish?
03:28King prawn and scallop Alfredo with homemade tegnatelli.
03:32What's Alfredo?
03:33Like a cream-based sauce with parmesan and butter, which, like, just kind of sums me up as a person.
03:40Cream, butter and cheese, that's who I am.
03:43You're so zen to be around right now.
03:45What are you doing to stay so calm?
03:47I'm a single bum.
03:48I've got a three-year-old.
03:49So cooking is not normally this peaceful for me.
03:54Pan-fried prawns and scallops.
03:57Two jewels from the sea.
03:59I don't want her to cook them for too long and then they become rubbery.
04:04Maddy's tagliatelle needs to be in beautiful, very thin, uniform strips.
04:11And with Maddy's Alfredo sauce, if it has too much cream, the whole dish will feel heavy and claggy.
04:18And we've all had a heavy, claggy pasta dish.
04:26Now settled in Hertfordshire, Italian-born Luca was inspired to take up cooking after travelling the world as a flight
04:33attendant and working on cruise ships.
04:36Mostly I taught myself, with my girlfriend, we'd like to do experiments and try new flavours and try new food.
04:44And not everything goes well.
04:46Many times I would eat things which are not very edible.
04:51So I didn't want to do a classic risotto.
04:55So I'm taking you, hopefully, to Morocco with it.
04:58I'm going to have a risotto that has got rascal anut, which is a blend of spices in Morocco.
05:05And I'm going to serve that with the mint and lemon pesto and the side of beetroot sauce, beetroot cubes.
05:12You seem to have a real curious spirit.
05:15In Italy, you kind of grow up with the belief that we have the best food in the world.
05:19Don't get me wrong, I love it.
05:20But I think there's also a world of tastes and flavours that we don't know yet, and I like to
05:26flavour those.
05:28Rascal anut in the risotto could be a stroke of genius because one of its base flavours is cinnamon.
05:35And cinnamon goes really well with beetroot.
05:39These are the mint and lemon pesto.
05:43But he's already got some very big flavours in here.
05:47There is a lot going on on this dish.
05:50I hope they like it.
05:52Actually, I hope they love it.
05:54So that's half an hour gone.
05:56You have one hour left.
06:00I mean, it still doesn't feel real.
06:02I feel like this is probably one just really expensive prank.
06:05Once a competitive cheerleader, mum of two Maria grew up in a family of food lovers in West London,
06:11and still shares recipes with her older sisters.
06:15Welcome to the kitchen, Maria.
06:16What are you cooking for us?
06:18It's a mix between my two sisters' favourite desserts.
06:21So one of my sisters loves my pineapple cake, the other one loves doughnuts.
06:25So I'm mashing them together to make a baked doughnut with a grilled pineapple marinated in like lime and chilli
06:33with a ginger custard.
06:37When you hear a doughnut, your expectation is kind of that it's going to be deep fried.
06:42But this is a baked doughnut.
06:44And essentially, it's more similar to a cake.
06:47So you need to be careful because it has to be soft.
06:51You don't want a crunchy, you know, bite doughnut.
06:54It will.
06:56Maria is marinating her pineapple in tamarind, lime zest and scotch bonnet.
07:02If she uses the scotch bonnet correctly, it should give a lovely little kick.
07:11Wolverhampton-born Michael learned to cook watching videos online.
07:15In 2014, he catered for his own wedding.
07:18And now, as a stay-at-home dad, he cooks daily for his wife and family.
07:24So I've got three kids.
07:26They're all under five.
07:28So they're a bit of a handful.
07:30Yeah, I think trading children for judges, we'll see which is the better scenario.
07:39So today I'm doing a Parmigiano risotto with short rib braised in a pressure cooker with dandelion and burdock, which
07:48is one of my childhood favourites.
07:49Mine too.
07:50See, dandelion and burdock to me is caravan holidays.
07:53Yeah, absolutely, yeah.
07:57What's very difficult about a pressure cooker is that you don't really know what's going on in your pot until
08:01you open it.
08:02So there's a gamble on will the meat be actually tender enough to serve.
08:08I love that Michael is taking this sweet drink dandelion and burdock and braising ribs in it, but on a
08:17Parmesan risotto, will that work?
08:20Guys, loving the smells in the kitchen, but you've only got 40 minutes left.
08:28Originally from Massachusetts, humanist wedding celebrant Amy spent 20 years as a US diplomat living and working in the Middle
08:36East and Africa.
08:38When you live somewhere, you need to understand the culture and a huge part of that is diving into the
08:45food.
08:46So my dish is a pistachio Persian love cake with Persian rose water and saffron ice cream.
08:55My first assignment was in Turkey and I worked with Iranians and Persian food is spectacular.
09:03And so I sort of thought that would be a nice place to start.
09:06What makes a Persian love cake?
09:09Almost like a glorified cookie, I guess.
09:13But it's lovely and moist and flavoursome, I think.
09:16I just felt myself drool.
09:21Amy's got some really bold flavours in her pistachio cake.
09:25I love green cardamom, but if you use too much of it, it's really quite dominant.
09:30She's got mahleb powder going in there.
09:33Mahleb is like a ground seed and it's got a lovely aromatic smell, but it's got quite a bitter flavour.
09:40So a little bit goes a long way.
09:43She's putting saffron and rose water in her ice cream.
09:48Rose water divides the crowd.
09:50It needs a deft hand when you're adding it to a meal.
09:56OK.
09:58Over his 20-year career, music producer Jim has worked with artists including Donny Osmond and spice girl Jerry Halliwell
10:06Horner.
10:06Cooking is my wind down basically.
10:09I can do a long, long day in a studio and I come back and I just think nothing of
10:13spending like a couple of hours in the kitchen.
10:16Jim, what's your signature dish?
10:18I'm going to do some pan-seared Iberico pork with a nice little manchego croquette and some romesco sauce.
10:25This is my wife's favourite dish.
10:27Any time that we don't know what's for dinner, she goes, oh, can we have romesco sauce?
10:32And she is the one that pushed me to apply, so it's a bit of a tribute to her today.
10:36What's her name?
10:37Esther.
10:37This is all Esther's fault.
10:40Absolutely, yeah, yeah, yeah.
10:45Iberico is a type of pork that has been fed a specific diet of acorns.
10:51So it's extremely tender, the marbling in it is excellent and you should serve it pink.
10:58Romesco sauce, smoky paprika, and tomatoes, onion, red pepper, and a lot of chopped almonds.
11:05When you blitz them together, you make a delicious, vibrant, piquant sauce.
11:11Romesco's on the thick side of sauces.
11:14I don't want it loose and thin and runny.
11:17OK, we're in the closing stages now, that's ten minutes left.
11:26Come on, pork.
11:32I still feel chilled, but I do recognise the fact that I'm a little bit behind time.
11:40Love cake is out, just letting it cool a bit.
11:44It's lovely, the love cake.
11:47OK, guys, you've only three minutes left.
11:50Oh, my lord.
11:54Come on.
11:58So that's 60 seconds.
12:06Shake your hands.
12:12All right, that's it.
12:14Step away from your benches, it's time to serve your food.
12:20Maddy, come on up.
12:23First up is tattoo artist Maddy, whose signature dish is scallop and prawn tagliatelle
12:30in an Alfredo cream butter and parmesan sauce, with a breadcrumb and herb topping.
12:41Your pasta is lovely and thin, and it's perfectly cooked.
12:47Your prawns and your scallops are just cooked.
12:50You've managed to keep your sauce light and not claggy.
12:54Really, really delicious.
12:57The thing I love most about this is your commitment to garlic in the Alfredo sauce.
13:04The garlic is soft, yielding, it's not bitter.
13:08I really like this.
13:10Wow, thanks, guys.
13:13I'm in shock.
13:15I did not expect that kind of compliments from people I admire so much.
13:19That was so good.
13:20That's wild.
13:22For his signature dish, stay-at-home dad Michael is serving beef short rib,
13:28fast braised in dandelion and burdock, with parmesan risotto and fried sweet potato strings.
13:36Michael, what I'm gathering about dinner at your house is that no one leaves hungry.
13:41We like big portions in our house.
13:48I think you've timed the short rib really well.
13:52It's gelatinous and soft when you eat it.
13:55But dandelion and burdock, a sweet, herbal, nostalgic taste,
14:01I think if that's what the dish is promising, it needs to deliver it.
14:05The risotto is just cooked and it's still wet, which is excellent.
14:11The sweet potato, I was like, shh, what's the point of that?
14:14And then I ate it and I went, oh, it's quite delicious with the beef.
14:18So I think you have given us a plate of skill.
14:22It just needs a little refinement.
14:27I'm not good at scaling down.
14:29There's more in the pan.
14:32The presentation is not one of my strong points.
14:35Music producer Jim's dish is pan-roasted Iberico pork with romesco sauce,
14:42a manchego cheese croquette, charred fennel, pork jus and a chive oil.
14:52Jim, your Iberico pork, it is amazing.
14:57It's so tender.
14:59You're croquette, crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside.
15:03An absolute perfect example of somebody who has passion and skills.
15:09Well done, Jim.
15:10Wow, thank you very much.
15:11You said your wife asks for this romesco.
15:15I can tell why.
15:17Smoky paprika, toasted almonds, fabulous.
15:22Thank you very much.
15:23Well done.
15:25I'm super proud.
15:26I cannot wait to tell my wife because that's one of her favourite things that I cook.
15:30So, you know, she's obviously got a good palate.
15:34Flight operations controller Luca is serving Moroccan spiced risotto with mint and lemon pesto on beetroot sauce with a courgette
15:44and almond crumble and diced beetroot.
15:51I think that your risotto has got good structure. The cinnamon and the heat of the ras el hanout is
16:00lovely, but I think that the lemon and mint pesto was always going to be a bully on this plate.
16:08It's making me lose all the other great flavours.
16:11OK.
16:12The spices perhaps could have been cooked out a little bit more.
16:15The beetroot on top, there isn't a huge flavour coming off that.
16:19All in all, I think you've given us visually a stunning dish, but it just needs a few little tweaks.
16:27A lot of mixed fillings, but it's not over yet, so let's see what happens. Let's enjoy the journey.
16:38Advertising executive Maria has made a baked doughnut topped with caramelised pineapple spiced with Scotch bonnet, tamarind and lime on
16:48ginger custard with a pistachio crumb.
16:56So this baked doughnut just feels a bit heavy. It's a little bit dry, but your pineapple has got loads
17:03of flavour in it. There's a kick from the Scotch bonnet.
17:05The custard's really, really delicious. There's nice, elegant notes of ginger off it.
17:11The main event here is perhaps letting it down. This would definitely have benefited from having a big, fat, deep
17:22-fried doughnut.
17:26Most people like fried doughnuts, so it was a bit of a gamble going for baked, which didn't seem to
17:31pay off.
17:33Finally, retired US diplomat Amy has made a pistachio and cardamom Persian love cake, with pomegranate gel, candied pistachios, a
17:44rosewater and saffron ice cream and pomegranate caramel sauce.
17:54I think the cake is so rich in cardamom. I love the denseness of it. I love the moistness of
18:02it.
18:03For me, I think there's too much mahlep in that cake. There is a tang off it that is too
18:09bitter.
18:11Your ice cream is absolutely silky smooth, but there is too much rosewater in it and it tastes quite soapy.
18:21It didn't go great, but I'm still here. You know, there's another shot.
18:29Thank you so much. One thing's for sure, we know you all a little bit better now.
18:38We've chosen our two favourite dishes.
18:42The first apron goes to... Jim.
18:49Well done, Jim.
18:53The second apron goes to...
18:59Maddy.
19:01Super pasta skills.
19:05Come up and collect your aprons.
19:10Well done.
19:11Absolutely great round.
19:12Thank you so much.
19:19I feel elated.
19:22I can't believe it. I'm going to wear it to bed tonight.
19:26I'm so happy. I'm so happy with my apron.
19:29But also, the FOMO part of me is so curious about what they're going to do.
19:32So, can't wait for the gossip.
19:36Now guys, don't be disappointed.
19:39There's two more aprons still up for grabs.
19:44This is the classic recipe test.
19:48In front of you, you have all of the ingredients to make us.
19:53Chicken breast, green beans, creamy mash, and a red wine sauce.
19:59Sounds delicious.
20:01You do have a recipe.
20:04It doesn't have the measurements or the timings.
20:09So you'll have to rely on your instincts.
20:14You have 45 minutes.
20:18Remember, two of you will be going home today.
20:22Start cooking.
20:27Even though it's a free recipe, I'm happy we have one.
20:32It's kind of a fancy Friday night dinner.
20:35They should be able to handle it.
20:37Pleasantly pleased to see some chicken.
20:40I don't mind how they cook their chicken breast.
20:43I just want it to be juicy.
20:46I generally don't cook meat.
20:49This is a challenge.
20:52Sauce making.
20:53We really want that red wine sauce to have depth of flavour and a beautiful shine.
21:00Everybody makes mash, but not everybody makes good mash.
21:04What we're looking for is a cook who elevates this.
21:09Every element becoming something magical.
21:13Amy, we gave you half a chicken.
21:15How did that feel?
21:16It's a little scary.
21:17I eat meat, but my partner is vegetarian, so that's what I cook.
21:23You've been a diplomat.
21:24Surely that means you can handle pressure.
21:27You know, what's the worst that can happen?
21:29Amy, you're unflappable.
21:33Amy did a great job deboning her chicken.
21:36She has got the chicken in early enough so that it will be cooked.
21:40Amy caramelised off her chicken bones for her sauce.
21:44She's got lardons, mushrooms, shallots, garlic.
21:48So I'm really hoping that we're going to get a lot of flavour.
21:53I think it's creative, I think.
21:57It seems easy-peasy.
22:00Getting it right, I think, is going to be the real challenge.
22:03I'm going to pan that right on the skin, and then I'm going to finish it cooking in the chicken
22:07stock to give a bit of juiciness.
22:09Are you a mashed potato fan?
22:11Yeah, I like mashed potatoes.
22:13Mashed potato is where so many of these cooks come across.
22:18A little bit of milk, a little bit of cream.
22:21We want silky smooth, buttery, creamy mashed potato.
22:25I think my mash is a bit too liquid, so I have to use some thickening agent like flour.
22:32Luca has added far too much milk to his mash.
22:35And as a result, it has turned into a potato soup.
22:40In a desperate effort to fix it, he's added flour.
22:45I think it's just gone from bad to worse there.
22:48Uh, most stressful though, I thought this.
22:50Okay, you've got 25 minutes left.
22:55Oh, my lord.
22:57I did notice that Maria was the first to get her chicken on cooking, and she's already had it resting.
23:04So the timing is crucial.
23:06I don't want any dry chicken, and I certainly don't want any raw chicken.
23:10Is that help?
23:13So your chicken's cooked.
23:14So I've seared it on both sides.
23:16I wanted some of the juices to go into the sauce.
23:19So I'm going to finish it off.
23:21It's all going to meet back together again.
23:24So Maria has decided to cook the vegetables for the sauce and the actual liquid of the sauce separately.
23:30Now I understand that might be good for speeding it up, but she's likely to miss out on the layered
23:35flavours you get when you actually cook them together.
23:3915 minutes to go.
23:43Chicken's done and can just sit and rest.
23:46Mash is just a few minutes away, and the sauce is just sourcing.
23:51And how do I make this look pretty is the question.
23:54So the first dish, we can both admit, lacked a little bit of refinement.
24:00Are we going to improve on that?
24:01Hopefully we're going to go for something a bit more polished.
24:04La-dee-da is what we're looking for.
24:06Yes, la-dee-da.
24:09Not too sure how to make this look fancy.
24:12I would expect Michael to be able to produce tasty plated food, but can he produce a beautiful plated food?
24:19I think that counts as fancier.
24:22Yeah.
24:23So we've got six minutes left.
24:25This is when food should really be moving towards your plate.
24:29This is make or break time.
24:36Beans have just gone on chicken.
24:37I'm just finishing off in the sauce.
24:40I think it's okay.
24:45You have about 60 seconds.
24:47We're going to have to do this very quickly.
24:50And then that can catch the sauce.
24:56That's it.
24:57Time's up.
24:58Stand back from your benches.
25:00Everybody happy?
25:01No.
25:04I don't think the chicken's cooked enough.
25:09Bring up your dishes.
25:19What we asked you to cook was chicken breast with creamy mashed potato, green beans and a red wine sauce.
25:28Maria, you're up first.
25:33Maria, this chicken, we've got a bit of a problem here in that it is undercooked.
25:39I know.
25:41Sorry.
25:47It's hard to taste the mash because the chicken is sitting on top, so I've only had a little bit
25:51of the mash.
25:52It just needed a bit more butter and a bit more seasoning.
25:55Your sauce is nice, but it's missing some layers of flavour.
25:59I think that you suffered from a bit of panic.
26:03You completely underjudged the chicken.
26:09Oh, my gosh.
26:10I don't think it could have gone any worse, to be honest.
26:15Right.
26:16Michael, you're up next.
26:20We asked you for more refinement in this course.
26:23Did that refinement come in the bringing of the fork through the potato?
26:35Michael, I think your chicken is nicely cooked, still moist.
26:40There's a good colour on it.
26:41I think your sauce is great.
26:43Your potato is smooth and creamy.
26:46You have the potential to do really great food, but you need to refine your presentation.
26:55What I put on the plate, I'd be more than happy to serve to family and friends.
26:59But it needs to go up an extra level.
27:03Amy.
27:05The moment of truth.
27:12Your chicken is perfectly cooked, so it's not dry.
27:16Your mash is buttery and lovely.
27:19You absolutely have come back fighting.
27:22The comeback queen, I would say.
27:25I like the way that you've taken the pan juices and the wine and the vegetables and made a sauce
27:33that feels like it's somebody standing in a restaurant that's done it for five or six years.
27:40I have no faults with this.
27:43I think I've redeemed myself in this round.
27:46I am thrilled with those comments.
27:49Luca.
27:53I've never seen anybody pour potatoes onto a plate like custard before.
28:04So, Luca, what we have now is not mash.
28:08All I can taste is, like, raw flour.
28:11Your sauce is quite salty, but your chicken is juicy-loosy.
28:18This is a great piece of chicken.
28:21Beautifully brown, moist in the middle.
28:24There are big issues with other parts of this plate there.
28:31Big mistakes.
28:33Flour and mashed potato.
28:36Probably going to be banned from the UK for this.
28:39But I heard about the chicken.
28:44Anna, that was difficult to watch at times.
28:48Some things happened there that I watched through my fingers.
28:51I don't think they're ever going to eat chicken again.
28:53Could you imagine my chicken over your mash?
28:55It would have probably ended them.
28:57There was a classic understated elegance about Amy's cooking that really impressed me.
29:03Amy cooked the chicken nicely.
29:06She made a delicious sauce.
29:08Amy gets an apron.
29:11Michael mightn't have the finesse of presentation yet, but I think he definitely has a good command for flavour.
29:18His chicken was perfectly moist.
29:21He clearly cares about his food.
29:24Who would ever add flour to a runny mash?
29:28I would have said nobody.
29:30But now I can say Luca.
29:32His one saving grace was that his chicken was beautifully cooked.
29:37Maria's chicken was uncooked to a level that we really couldn't get round it.
29:44MasterChef is like a magnifying glass, and you can't hide raw chicken.
29:50I mean, it would be great to stay in the competition, but I think I'd feel pretty bad to go
29:55through on raw chicken.
29:58I think I've done a good job with what I presented, and I think I've got a decent chance. I'm
30:04in the running.
30:05I just want one more chance to show what I can do. One more chance to show my passion for
30:10cooking.
30:19Thank you so much for all of your hard work that you put into today.
30:25But you can see there's only two aprons left.
30:30Our first apron goes to...
30:34Amy.
30:37Come back, Queen.
30:41And our second apron goes to...
30:48Michael.
30:50Well done, Michael.
30:54Luca, Maria, thank you for your effort.
30:57But you are leaving us.
31:03I mean, it's been a day. It's been a rollercoaster.
31:07Then the second round, yeah, it just all went a bit piton.
31:13A little bit disappointed, but I made some unforgivable mistakes.
31:19Yeah, that's part of life. And then tomorrow is a brand new day.
31:25Amy.
31:27Michael.
31:29Congratulations.
31:29Come take your aprons.
31:32Thank you so much.
31:35You live to fight another day. Well done.
31:38Here we go.
31:44It's turned around, didn't it?
31:46I think I'm getting a t-shirt made with the comeback queen on it because I love that.
31:52I don't think it's sunken yet. I'm just really glad I wasn't completely petrified and useless. It's fantastic.
32:17If you thought the other challenges were hard, well, buckle up. It's about to get a lot harder.
32:24There are four of you here now, but only three of you can go through to the quarterfinal.
32:32Today we've invited three incredibly discerning guests to help us judge.
32:38Former finalist, Alexina, Anatoly, and two previous winners, Eddie Scott and Jane Devonshire.
32:50Two courses, four plates of each, one hour, 15 minutes. Let's go.
33:03Pants, pants, pants.
33:08Yeah, I'm really excited to be cooking this. The starter especially, it's a bit of a weird one, so I'm
33:13hoping it all comes together.
33:15So my starter is pan-seared scallops with some cinnamon and some black pudding foam.
33:24It's inspired by two authors that I love. H.P. Lovecraft, who writes really great gothic horror stories.
33:29There's a passage that's stuck with me where Lovecraft's describing unknown horrors of the deep, inky and unguent and thick.
33:38So that's where the black pudding foam came from.
33:41The other one is Dune by Frank Herbert, where the spice in that is said to taste like cinnamon.
33:48Cinnamon on hot cross buns, cinnamon on porridge. I love it. Cinnamon on scallops.
33:56I'm a little concerned about the black pudding foam. There is cinnamon, squid ink, Worcester sauce, black pudding, cranberry, cream.
34:09Have we got a genius or have we got a nutty professor?
34:13So the main dish is a bit of a twist on a classic. It's a Diane sauce, but it's with
34:19venison loin instead of steak.
34:20And some rosemary potatoes and some sprouts done with cranberry. But I'm going to try and make it look good.
34:28Diane sauce is a punchy, robust flavoured sauce with garlic, shallots, a bit of brandy in there, mustard, Worcestershire sauce.
34:40And it complements beef steak so well. Will it complement venison? I don't know.
34:52Jim, how are you feeling?
34:54I'm cooking the food that I grew up tasting, so hopefully it'll be all right.
34:59You grew up in Yorkshire?
35:00I'm half Yorkshire, very proud. Half Sri Lankan, very proud as well.
35:04All my summers were spent in Sri Lanka playing cricket with cousins and eating mangoes fresh from the tree.
35:10So my starter is a panseared scallop with a little mango relish and a little tamarind sauce.
35:15And then my main is my grandma's fish curry with some fragrant rice, a little coconut sambal.
35:22My grandma's passed the love down to me and I'm hopefully going to pass that to you today.
35:29Jim's starter. He's serving these scallops with the mango relish and a tamarind sauce.
35:35A tamarind sauce, however, has dates in it, so that could be sweet too.
35:40If he doesn't balance that sweet and sour, we're just getting scallops with sweet.
35:49Sri Lankan curries are complex and Jim's bringing 18 different spices to this.
35:57I think mugfish was a very clever fish to choose.
36:02It goes so well in a curry because it's more meaty.
36:06You can cook it for longer, resulting in the flavour being absorbed by the fish.
36:13Oh, I don't want to check the time.
36:16Time management, as a general rule, is something I struggle with in life, I think.
36:20Obviously, an hour and 15 minutes to get out two courses is actually insanity.
36:28Maddy's first course, duck breast, confit du bonbon, blackberry jus, star anise carrots.
36:37I love the sound of this.
36:39So what's the inspiration behind the dish?
36:43It's kind of the first, like, big girl dish that I cooked for someone where I felt like I was
36:48being a bit fancy.
36:50Duck breast is not a meat that benefits from airing on rare.
36:55Too much, and it's tough.
36:58Under, and it feels like it should be quacking.
37:01A bonbon has to have a bread-grunt crotch.
37:06And a lovely succulent inside.
37:09For dessert, I'm doing a lavender and lemon posset with, like, a little buttery shortbread biscuit.
37:16I didn't like lemon desserts at all.
37:18And then when I was pregnant with my son, I started intensely craving lemon desserts.
37:24So I still get that same, like, satisfaction of eating a lemony dessert like I'm satisfying a craving.
37:32There's a balancing act with a good posset.
37:34You want it sweet and tart at the same time.
37:38The addition of lavender is quite good, but you need to have a very precise and delicate touch with that.
37:47My menu today, I feel like it's got a really nice combination of exotic and homey, and so I'm hoping
37:54that the judges find that that all works well together.
37:58First, I'm doing poached salmon with passion fruit sauce on a parsnip puree.
38:05Where did you first try passion fruit and fish together?
38:08My husband and I went to Peru, and I saw it on the menu in a number of places, and
38:13I thought it was amazing.
38:15Passion fruits, parsnip, salmon.
38:18I can't wait to taste this.
38:20I don't know if I believe you, though, Grace.
38:24I'm a little bit worried about poaching her salmon in passion fruit and serving it with a passion fruit sauce.
38:31If the passion fruit is supposed to replace lemon, there's only so much lemon you could have on a dish.
38:37So she needs to be very cautious with that passion fruit.
38:42My second course is a chocolate fondant with a peanut butter center and strawberry cream.
38:49It was inspired by my childhood, really, because I was a fan of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, as most
38:56American kids are.
38:58It takes a brave soul to do a chocolate fondant in the MasterChef kitchen.
39:03An extra minute or two in the oven, and it's just chocolate sponge.
39:13It's really difficult for the contestants this round because they want to impress.
39:17They get caught up in this fine dining game where they think they have to have gels, purees, foams, and
39:22they lose sight of the fact that they just have to cook a plate of food, which is truly delicious.
39:27I think the main thing is time management.
39:29It's the first time you're cooking multiple dishes, and they've all got to be identical, and you're really showing off
39:35your cooking skills.
39:37This was actually one of my favorite rounds.
39:39It's really important that you just focus on delivering a great flavor, clean, elegant presentation, and then you'll be golden.
39:47Cheers, guys.
39:48Cheers.
39:49Cheers.
39:52So these are our cinnamon scallops?
39:54Yeah.
39:54And seasoning?
39:56I'm counting on the cinnamon to do most of the heavy lifting.
39:59So I'm a little bit nervous of cinnamon and scallops.
40:03That's a combination I've not tried before.
40:05I always think scallops have a sweetness to them, so I'm wondering if there's going to be enough balance.
40:11Is this our black pudding foam?
40:13That is, yes.
40:14Is it supposed to be that dense?
40:16Not quite. It's meant to be a bit foamier.
40:19So the black pudding foam. How much black pudding flavor are we going to get from that?
40:24Michael, have you made an octopus?
40:25So there's a very famous monster in Lovecraft law called Cthulhu, and lives very deep at the bottom of the
40:30ocean, and he's very scary.
40:32Let's hope it doesn't scare them too much next door, right? Hopefully.
40:36Right, come on, Michael. Time to serve.
40:41Cthulhu looks a little bit like me if I've come in after a night out and just rubbed my eyes.
40:47Hi, Michael.
40:48Hi, hello.
40:49I think this one's for you.
40:50Thank you, Michael.
40:53So today I've cooked for you some pansy scallops with cinnamon, a black pudding foam, and some pickled radishes.
41:03Hope you enjoy.
41:05Thank you. Thank you, Michael.
41:07This is an interesting presentation, isn't it? It's almost like an octopus or something.
41:15The cooking of the scallop is fine. That shows ability.
41:20My biggest problem with this dish is that foam.
41:22The black pudding hasn't broken down, so you've still got the goodness of the black pudding going through it.
41:27These very strong kind of building flavour, squid ink, black pudding, cinnamon, they're not all balancing and they're overpowering that
41:35scallop.
41:36It's such a classic combination of the scallop with black pudding. He should have just kept it a bit more
41:41simple.
41:43Does cinnamon go with scallops? No.
41:47The black pudding foam, it's just sludgy and it's dominating any finesse from a scallop.
41:55You've got 15 minutes left on your main course. What's left to do?
41:59Pan sauce, venison check.
42:02I like a steak Diane. I've never had a venison Diane.
42:06You need to get that crust on a venison because it's got no fat in it and without the crust
42:11it isn't a very nice meat to eat.
42:13You need that to add the flavour.
42:14That looks nice.
42:16This is my rosemary potato, which usually I would do really big chunks, but I wanted to try and layer
42:22it in.
42:24Now it's our sprouts.
42:26Venison traditionally is done with a kind of game sauce.
42:29The mustard Diane sauce with the brandy and venison might not be a great match.
42:35Happy?
42:36I think so, yes.
42:39Hiya.
42:40Hello again.
42:42So today I've prepared for your main some venison steak Diane with rosemary potatoes and some cranberry sprouts. Enjoy.
42:53Thank you very much.
42:58The venison has been cooked really, really nicely, but I've run out of potatoes after a few bites of my
43:04venison. I was crying out for a big bowl of spuds.
43:06I actually really enjoyed the flavours in this dish. The sauce could be a little more glossy, but it tastes
43:12nice. I'd happily finish the whole lot.
43:15The brussel sprouts were delicious. I ate them all. I think this was a really great improvement on the first
43:21dish, so I'm really happy for Michael.
43:24I think of venison spawn. I really like the sprouts. I think that's delicious. And one thing's for sure, he's
43:31really trying to show us some refinement with that presentation.
43:37I'm feeling conflicted. I think some things went well. Other things, I think if I would have given messes off
43:42a bit more time, I could have done better.
43:47Right, Jim. 15 minutes until your first course needs to be served. How are you looking?
43:51I've got to cook the scallops. We've got to finish the mango salsa. The tamarind sauce is done, so...
43:56You've got to kick into fifth gear now, Jim. Yeah, I will.
43:59This dish will live and die on how Jim cooks the scallop. It's got to be slightly under inside and
44:04quite a good crust and char around the outside.
44:07Mango, herb and chilli relish. Really spicy and tangy with the tamarind, which should be sharp but well balanced.
44:17Are you happy with your scallops? Could have got a bit more caramelisation, I think. I think they'll be okay.
44:23It's the moment of truth, Jim. Yeah. Let's do it, let's do it.
44:27Hi, Jim. Hello. Thank you.
44:30For his first course, Jim is serving pan-seared scallops with mango relish and a tamarind and date sauce.
44:40The scallop is translucent in the middle. It's quite lovely, but I think it needs a more aggressive seal on
44:46it.
44:47The tamarind chutney and the mango relish had quite a lot of chilli, fresh flavours, but it's just that they
44:53completely overtake the scallop.
44:55There's some promising flavours here, but I think it needs a bit more balance.
45:00The mango relish is delicious and a nicely roasted scallop. The tamarind sauce for me is too sweet.
45:08OK, Jim, time to get that curry going.
45:12The Sri Lankan fish curry. That is the food of dreams. I'm really looking forward to this.
45:18Monk fish really stands up well to spice, but you don't want to overcook it because it can quickly become
45:24a bit dry.
45:25You brought 18 spices. Have you got them all in?
45:29Yeah, pretty much. I think the sauce has balanced quite nicely.
45:33OK. Ready to go? I think we're ready to go, yeah.
45:36Off you go.
45:39Hi, Jim. Hello again. Hi.
45:41Oh, wow, the smell is good.
45:43For your main course today, I've cooked you my Archie, which is the Sri Lankan word for grandma.
45:48My Archie's fish curry with fragrant rice and a little coconut sambal.
45:52Thank you. Thank you so much.
45:57I hope the guest judges feel the love that I felt from my grandma through these dishes.
46:02I'm hoping she'll be proud. I'm hoping she sends me some luck.
46:07Hats off to Jim. I love this.
46:09I think the depth of flavour he's got in that curry in a short space of time is impressive.
46:14The monkfish is well cooked. The rice is fragrant, buttery.
46:19And the sambal gives you that little bit of kind of coconutty chilli hit.
46:24The flavours are delicious. This is really hitting the spot.
46:27I think this monkfish is cooked beautifully and it's soaking up that sauce.
46:32It's really Moorish.
46:34This is a good example of a Sri Lankan curry.
46:38Maddie, have we got a flood happening here?
46:41It's not my first of the day.
46:43We've got 15 minutes left on your main course.
46:48There is a lot on this plate. Maddie has set herself a tall task and I'm nervous for her.
46:54The whole joy of a duck breast is pink perfect meat and crispy duck skin.
46:59So why did you decide to sear your duck on a tray instead of a frying pan?
47:04I did not decide to but it did happen.
47:07Oh, I think I left the heat on.
47:10Comfy duck like bonbon.
47:12I don't want it fatty. It needs to be lovely and crisp.
47:15Bon puree, how much batter can we get in there please?
47:19Pleased with that?
47:20Honestly, it's rarer than I wanted it but I'm happy to be putting something on a plate right now.
47:28So we're over time but we're going to get some sauce into jugs.
47:31I'm so sorry.
47:33And now I pray.
47:37Hi Maddie.
47:38Maddie's first course is pan seared duck breast with pom puree, a comfy duck leg bonbon, star anise glazed carrots
47:48and a blackberry and port jus.
47:53I find my duck is lovely and pink and the meat is juicy but the bonbon, it's a shame that
47:59it's not crispy.
48:01The glazed carrots are gorgeous. They've got a delicate hint of the star anise but the sauce needs way more
48:07depth of flavour.
48:08And the mash needs to be a little bit smoother.
48:10I think it's all very rushed. It's just about detail and continually tasting.
48:15I think the duck is cooked perfectly.
48:17But mashed potato needs more butter, it needs to be smoother.
48:21This feels like a dish where time got away from her.
48:26Okay, biscuits, please happen.
48:29Lemon and lavender posset.
48:30The problem with using lavender is it can veer into Nanny's nickel drawer very quickly in that overpowering soapy way.
48:36If she balances it, the two flavours work beautifully.
48:40The buttery shortbread biscuit, you want it to snap, you want it to melt in your mouth.
48:45How long do you think the biscuits need?
48:48Oh, longer than I have.
48:51Okay, so that's time up.
48:53The question is, do you serve a raw shortbread or not?
48:57I feel it would be better without.
48:59Right.
49:02And then there's laid back and there's laid back.
49:04And Maddy's horizontal.
49:09So I've served you a lavender and lemon posset without shortbread biscuit.
49:15Enjoy.
49:16Thank you so much.
49:22It's set beautifully.
49:23It's got a lovely silky texture that's very well executed.
49:28I'm not getting any lavender in that, which I'm not sure I'm upset about.
49:32I can taste the lemon, but we are missing the shortbread biscuit.
49:36This is a silky smooth, lemony sweet posset, but the lavender is, it's barely there.
49:45I can't get away from the fact that it needs shortbread.
49:50I don't know if anything went to plan, but I'm pleased that I actually got eight plates of food out.
50:00So, Amy, poached salmon in passion fruit sauce with a parsnip puree.
50:05Completely new flavour combination for me.
50:08Passion fruit is very sharp and can be overpowering.
50:12There's nothing on the plate, so you've got one minute to go.
50:15Not a problem.
50:16It's an interesting choice to also go for one of the sweetest vegetables, parsnip puree.
50:21I feel nervous, but I'm hoping Amy's going to surprise us.
50:25Okay, what's next? Just the sauce.
50:28You're out of time. Good, I'm finished.
50:32I just can't imagine how passion fruit...
50:36You don't have to imagine. It's going to be in your mouth soon.
50:40I've cooked for you a poached salmon with passion fruit sauce on a parsnip puree with some parsnip crisps.
50:49A little unusual, but I hope you enjoy it.
50:52Thank you, Amy. Thank you very much.
50:57It's not that the passion fruit sauce isn't nice, and the salmon's quite nice, but when you eat them together,
51:03it was like a flavour profile I'd never experienced before, and I don't think I would like to repeat it.
51:09That parsnip puree is really thick and claggy. I'm not enjoying eating it.
51:16And that doesn't blend with the salmon, which doesn't blend with the passion fruit, and unfortunately this is just lacking
51:23any kind of balance.
51:25The salmon is really nicely cooked, but the passion fruit sauce is too strong.
51:30I applaud Amy for thinking outside the box, but these things don't go together.
51:38So I'm just going to make some strawberry cream, and I'm just waiting for my fondants to cook.
51:43For a dessert, Amy is making a chocolate fondant with a peanut butter centre and strawberry cream.
51:49I think there's like a play on peanut butter and jelly going on.
51:52Hopefully this chocolate fondant's going to be oozing in the middle and delicious.
51:57We have one minute left to get these babies out of the tin.
52:00Oh, it's hard with you guys watching so closely.
52:03Oh! It's alright.
52:05Three out of four. No disasters yet. Let's go.
52:11I'll just be quiet.
52:13There we go.
52:15Sprinkle of the strawberry powder.
52:18Happy? Not unhappy.
52:20What more can we ask for?
52:23Alrighty then.
52:26For her dessert, Amy is serving a chocolate fondant with peanut butter filling, strawberry cream and fresh strawberries.
52:36She's nailed as an oozy centre there.
52:39It's peanut butter.
52:42So it's quite playful and reminiscent of sort of almost childhood like treats.
52:47But the peanut butter is very cloying and claggy.
52:52And then that's in a quite dry chocolate sponge.
52:55Technically, it's got a molten middle and it looks nice.
52:58But I think the star of the show should taste of chocolate and peanut and I don't think the flavour's
53:04there enough.
53:04For me, the fundamental problem with this is that the chocolate and the strawberry combination and peanut butter, it clashes.
53:13The lovely hot, oozy peanut butter centre is excellent.
53:18But for me, that strawberry cream doesn't go with it.
53:22They just clashed with each other.
53:25With this challenge, I took some risks.
53:28I'm satisfied with what I did.
53:30I had a goal. I achieved it.
53:32So, I'm happy.
53:38That was a very challenging ground.
53:41I did eat some good things there.
53:43There were some highs.
53:45But there were some lows.
53:46Yeah.
53:48The dining room had a cook of the day.
53:50And that was Jim.
53:52And I think we agree.
53:53I thought the mango and yogurt relish was delicious with the scallops.
53:58And Jim's monkfish curry was probably the best thing I ate today.
54:01It had lots of layers of flavour and lots of complexity.
54:05So, Jim bags himself a quarter-final place.
54:09I will never forget Michael's plating of those scallops.
54:14He served as a sea monster.
54:16For me, the cinnamon was too strong on the scallops.
54:19That black pudding foam was not nice.
54:23But you can't deny his venison was really rather good.
54:27It showed us a lot of skill.
54:30There was a lot of chaos at Maddie's bench today.
54:34She was in such a rush to get things done.
54:37She served her posset without a biscuit or really any garnish whatsoever.
54:41But I thought the duck was excellently cooked.
54:46Amy's flavour combinations can be a little bit out there.
54:50The passion fruit sauce did not match with the salmon.
54:55I liked the peanut butter and chocolate fondant.
54:58But for me, that strawberry cream was a clash of flavours.
55:05Now that I've been through all these three challenges, it gets more important.
55:12So, yeah, I'd love to keep going.
55:16Obviously, it would be fantastic if I got through to the next round.
55:19I've got a lot of stuff up here that I'd like to put on a plate.
55:23I love cooking and I love food more than anything.
55:25So, I would love a place in the quarter-final.
55:36Contestants, thank you for all of your efforts.
55:40But we always knew that there were only three quarter-final places on offer.
55:46And we have made our decision.
55:51So, the person who will be going home today is...
55:59Amy.
56:02You can be so proud of yourself that you cooked from your heart.
56:12It doesn't feel great to be going home, but I've had a great time.
56:17And I think that I will continue to push the envelope where flavours are concerned.
56:23And sometimes they won't work.
56:25And sometimes they will.
56:29Jim.
56:31Maddy.
56:32Michael.
56:33You're in the quarter-final.
56:36Congratulations.
56:38Well done, everyone.
56:41I cannot believe that I'm going to be a quarter-finalist.
56:45I'm so shocked.
56:47Now, I really want to prove that I am not completely chaotic.
56:53Lots of little things that I need to work on.
56:56And I'm glad to have an opportunity to try again.
57:00I'm loving the experience.
57:01I'm loving learning. I'm loving hearing the judges' thoughts.
57:04Come back stronger than ever, hopefully, in the quarter-final.
57:09Next time, it's the quarter-final.
57:13And Jim.
57:14Michael and Maddy.
57:16Slay me where I stand.
57:19Join Sabina.
57:20My legs are shaking.
57:22Janae and Rose Dip.
57:25You've showed tons of skill here.
57:27As they return to face two tough challenges and battle it out.
57:31For a place in Knockout Week.
57:34This is exactly what I was hoping for.
57:37We'll see itself.
57:39Thanks for having me.
57:39Plan out the school.
57:50Your heart is due.
57:52And for the journey,...
58:04We'll see you next time.
58:06Here,рахis, cumberland.
58:06And all souls.
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