It’s the Newcastle Dads’ turn to cook, and we find out one is a physio and the other a dietitian. Nice to see two blokes who have maintained such a strong friendship since they were sprogs.
This is the first time I’ve seen contestants stroll to the shops on MKR – should have got one of those handy granny trolleys so they don’t have to lug it all home. Then the physio picks up a carton of eggs and shakes it.
Who the heck does that? I want to shake him at this point. They are advertising Coles Free Range Eggs (well, alleged free range – according to Choice “For eggs to be labelled free range, the Model Code of Practice says there should be a maximum of 1500 hens per hectare. But many commonly available “free range” brands do not adhere to this, with some brands keeping as many as 10,000 chooks per hectare.” And guess how many Coles has?)
The menu
Entree: “Double the fun”: Twice-baked cheese souffle
Main: “Sweet Swine” Prosciutto-wrapped pork fillet with potato puree and honey sage jus.
Dessert: “Crunch Time” Chocolate mousse with hazelnut praline and raspberry coulis
Discussing the menu, the judges are looking fab – as always- and The Fass is thrilled by the main: “You had me at pork.”
The guys are cruising through the shopping, stopping to taste test prosciutto, and buy decent dark chocolate for their dessert (Zana, I still haven’t forgotten your shameful use of Cadbury Dairy Milk). Last stop is for booze at Liquorland and this episode is much more blatant in its advertising than some of the previous ones.
At home (looks like a rental for the show) they quickly set up “Sand and Steel” and the guests get some kinetic sand to play with. It’s fun stuff so I’m hoping The Fass will give it a go.
They are in the kitchen as the clock starts at 3:00 and are straight on to the dessert elements that need time to set. But Cookie (the dietitian) scrambles his first anglaise for the ice cream but gets it right second time round (no four goes to make mayo-type disaster here).
Then they get on to both the entree and mains prep – Hazel and Lisa could learn some time management skills off these guys. Both seem to be capable cooks, whereas the other teams have had an obvious chef and sous chef vibe (except the Italians).
Here come the guests and what the hell is Mr Chops wearing?
Inside, Lauren is the most chipper we’ve seen her since she bombed, and actually compliments the decor and plays with the sand.
But Hazel and Lisa don’t have much time for new Lauren, based on their view she is scoring strategically. “I don’t have much time for cheaters,” Lisa says. Hmm, has she learned yet there was a whopping big hair in Lauren’s meal?
In the kitchen the Mates are happy with how the souffles are looking – what a shame they only brought 12 ramekins with them and can’t test one. And since it looks like a rental, they can’t just grab any old dish to do a tester in.
Here come The Fass and The Khoo, the latter looking like he’s off to a picnic in the Italian countryside.
The lads start plating up the entree and it looks delish. There’s a minor hiccup of getting a plate stuck in the saucepan – yep, that’s as close as these fellas come to a tense moment in the kitchen.
Double the fun! #MKR pic.twitter.com/BIQZsiVRq7
— #MKR (@mykitchenrules) 29 February 2016
It’s chew o’clock … And The Khoo establishes her claim to be a cheese expert by saying she lived in Paris for eight years. She is happy with their use of parmesan and cheddar, but wanted more flavour from their side veg – and she tells them to roast the tomatoes next time. Colin says they should have sprinkled cheese on top for cheesey crunch, but he still praises their effort.
The guests are enjoying their souffles, except Dee reckons hers is overcooked. Lauren has been bodysnatched by aliens and replaced with a nice Lauren who hails the souffle as “the dish of the competition so far”.
The Stepsies are baffled by the MKR equivalent of doing this:
But they console themselves in their confessional to camera by cackling that Lauren should go eat her spaghetti in a bag: “No-one else did.”
Back in the kitchen they get on to mains and things are going well until the power goes out, but it’s only for a minute. Talk about an anti-climax.
Cookie is feeling the pressure a bit and dithering over how well he should cook the pork.
Cook to please Pork Ambassador Colin, I say. At least they have enough to do a tester. They struggle a bit with the timing – this is where a meat thermometer would be handy.
Cookie moves on to the potato and you can tell he’s a serious cook because he’s using a drum sieve, which is painstaking work but gives super smooth mash.
They’ve obviously put a lot of thought into the plating up – it looks great.
Does it taste as good as it looks? #MKR pic.twitter.com/5rUg0Fq2PW
— #MKR (@mykitchenrules) 29 February 2016
It’s chew time … and The Fass is impressed by their gutsy effort in cooking 36 medallions or pork, and doing it well. “The dish is actually like something I’ve had on the menu before.” The only fault he finds is that the sauce soaked into the mash. The Khoo is happy, too: “You couldn’t have done a better job.” She wanted a bit more butter in the puree (perhaps dietitian Cookie let his professional knowledge stay his hand).
Dee and Lauren both say their meat was overcooked – looks like the aliens brought original Lauren back.
Back in the kitchen the lads are making praline, while at the table Dee explains she doesn’t like choccy mousse, which is a shame for Husband of Dee, as he loves it. However, every night Dee confines him to a cupboard under the stairs, Harry Potter style, so no mousse for him.
They Mates are plating up and Cookie is a bit heavy handed with the dusting cocoa. The plating looks great and this is a much more complicated dessert than the last few we’ve seen.
Dessert is served! #MKR pic.twitter.com/qSFeuNMsVl
— #MKR (@mykitchenrules) 29 February 2016
Time to chew … The Khoo is happy (apart from the heavy layer of cocoa powder) but The Fass wanted more of his promised crunch. It was good, but not as delish as the main.
They’ve done well and deserve high scores. Apparently the dessert was confusing to Dee but it made her backflip on her claim she doesn’t like chocolate mousse.
Team scores: Dee and That Guy 8; Lauren and That Guy 8; Zesty Stepsies 8; Tarq and Joke Dad 7 (not wanting to relinquish top spot); Mr and Mrs Chops 9.
Judges: Entree Khoo 8, Fass 7; Main Khoo 9 (note how she pronounced the dish “fillay”), Fass 9; Dessert Khoo 7, Fass 7 (with the comment: “A lot of cocoa powder- must have got it on special”)
Total 87, which puts them at the top of the leaderboard, seven points above Tarq and Dad. Hooray – at least two pairs this round can cook!
Tomorrow night: It’s Dee Day! And we get to see poor Harry Potter fail spectacularly at pouring wine into a container with a very large neck.