Tag: elimination

MasterChef – May 26 – Cake challenge

The blue team from last night’s fete challenge is facing the firing squad. Well, the cake squad. They have to play Name That Cake. I hope, as with all these challenges, that they don’t bomb out early so we can play along at home.
The first three contestants to fluff on their cake knowhow will be sent to elimination, where they have to bake – you guessed it – a cake. And this will be the last night we see Nigella.


The contestants enter and the cakes are already on display, so as the judges talk they are sneaking peeks. Intense Matt is very worried but you’d imagine if Charlie or Con go through to elimination they at least are used to doing sweet stuff.
Matt gets first pick and chooses what looks like a brick of a lamington – but he’s worried it may be a trick and they are messing with his mind. But, yes, it is what it seems.
Airline captain Brett picks the Swiss roll and then it’s Con’s turn. He picks a carrot cake and Elise grabs black forest (one of my faves), Charlie gets cheesecake. Mimi has orange and poppyseed cake and it’s Matt’s turn again. He grabs the ginormous Victoria sponge cake (how many eggs went into that monster?) and Brett then gets mudcake. So far no tricks. Con gets opera cake, Elise angel cake (does she mean angel food cake?). Charlie is up and he’s sweating bullets. He’s up between what looks like two fruitcakes and Gary and George do the “wow, brave man”. “If you name this, you’re a legend,” says George. Charlie knows it’s not right but he says “fruitcake”. It’s a simnel cake – a type of Easter cake. So Charlie is the first one to bomb.
Mimi grabs a Paris brest, which is like a giant profiterole. Matt selects a cake with chocolate truffles on top but he gets a surprise when he slices it. “I’m worried for you, Matt,” says Gaz. “Even my palms are sweating.” Matt says “chocolate truffle cake” but it’s a Dobos torte. Never heard of it, but thanks to the magic of Wikipedia I now know: A Hungarian sponge cake layered with chocolate buttercream and topped with caramel. The five-layer pastry is named after its inventor, Hungarian confectioner József C. Dobos, who aimed to create a cake that would last longer than other pastries in an age when cooling techniques were limited. The round sides of the cake are coated with ground hazelnuts, chestnuts, walnuts, or almonds, and the caramel topping helps to prevent drying out.
If Intense Matt goes tonight I will be cranky.
Brett reckons it’s time to pick a cake he’s had his eye on from the start and has been keeping up his sleeve – but then he cuts it and he starts second guessing himself. But he goes for moon cake, the Asian treat, and he’s right.


Con comes up for his third go and picks what looks to be some kind of layered meringue. He says continental cake but it’s some Icelandic cake called Vinarterta. So that’s our bottom three – damn – I wanted to know what the other cakes were.
Elimination challenge
Con, Charlie and Matt have 90 minutes to bake a cake. It’s not long to mix, bake and cook a cake for decorating.
Con is making a pound cake but he reckons he doesn’t have a tried and true recipe. He must only know finicky desserts and ABPC recipes. His cake will have a savoury strawberry and thyme savoury syrup and lemon creme fraiche filling.
Intense Matt is making carrot cake with lemon cream cheese icing. Yum, but he’d better tricksy it up a bit – chuck some $7 rocky road on it, Matt. He’s following his mate’s mum’s recipe but he’s spicing it up a bit.
Charlie is baking a chocolate and raspberry sponge cake with hazelnuts but he puts all his mixture into one pan, so it will take longer to cook. Nigella comes over to tell him off for not splitting the mix.
Con is worried about timing so he cranks his temp up to 200C, until Nigella comes over to tell him off as it needs a low, slow, bake. I’m sensing a theme here. Will Intense Matt get a talking to next?
After panicking, Con decide to ignore Nigella and stick with the pound cake. I’m thinking Con is going home.
Matt is doing an onion and carrot jam with star anise and cinnamon for the centre of this cake. He’s the only one doing something a bit different. Then he works on the best bit of any carrot: the lemony cream cheese icing.
Poor Charlie says “it’s do or die” as he realises his sponges aren’t cooked in the centre and he has to bung them back in the oven.
Intense Matt is getting a lot of confessionals about how much fun he’s having, whereas Charlie’s are about all the glitches.
“Now it’s time to just go to town on this bad boy… to make it overloaded with love,” Matt tells the camera.
However, Con is surely going because he got the back story about quitting his job and delaying his wedding.
Charlie has done lots of fancy pants decorating stuff with toffeed hazelnuts, while Matt has gone the rustic look and Con’s cake looks, well, simple and fine, but he’s worried it’s dense.
The judges taste


Matt’s carrot cake: “To me that is everything a home-baked cake should be … it looks generous and it looks like you want to feed someone and make them happy,” says Nigella. George dishes up and it looks terrific. Nigella likes the zing of the marmalade and Gaz is in hog heaven.
Con’s thyme pound cake: “It looks heavy,” say the judges. Nigella says it’s not evenly cooked because he bammed up the heat. Matt says the syrup has barely soaked into the cake: “It’s rubbery, it’s bouncy.” The love the flavours he’s used but not the texture. Oh dear.
Charlie’s choc raspberry hazelnut sponge: The judges say it looks dense. Matt loves the mix of flavours but Gaz says “that cake’s dry and dense” and points out he’s not going back for seconds. But Nigella defends the cake’s honour: “I don’t think it’s a failure as a cake … I don’t think it’s offensive.” Matt says Charlie overbaked it.
They do the “Matt’s safe but the other two are sooooo close”. Yeah, as if you are going to send golden boy Charlie home.

And the loser is …
Ok, first it’s time for the judges to praise Intense Matt and it’s lovely to see the look of joy creep over his face as he absorbs Nigella’s praise. I’m Team Intense Matt.


And Con’s gone. Go home and marry your fiancee – and in a surprise twist, the remaining contestants will cater your wedding! Now, that would be fun. Gaz, for once, is not wearing his cranky pants and tells Con he has talent. And where’s Con now? Moved to Hobart to open a Melbourne-style cafe.
Time for masterclass so I’m out.



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MasterChef – May 12 – name the ingredient challenge

TV blurb says: The contestants from the losing pub lunch challenge team must correctly name an ingredient to avoid the elimination cook-off challenge, as the contestant with the least impressive dish will go home.

We know from the preview it’s an alphabet challenge and there were some tricky ones shown. I wonder if they get to taste them to help? What will X be?
I like these name-the-ingredient contests, except when someone bombs out early and we don’t get to see what all the other ingredients are. Wonder if they have to cook a dish with all the correctly named ingredients?

I’m watching on TenPlay the morning after (so annoying not being able to skip the ads!), so just a few thoughts.

Matt's wearing his light blue/grey picnic tablecloth suit again, with a pink floral cravat for a pop of colour.
Matt’s wearing his light blue/grey picnic tablecloth suit again, with a pink floral cravat for a pop of colour.

Matt goes on and on about how the challenge will work, just to ensure the contestants are absolutely packing death over which letter to choose.
Ranger Miles is first and he’s lucky to get an easy one: Basil. Then it’s Anastasia’s turn – wait – who?
I have totally been here the whole time - I swear.
I have totally been here the whole time – I swear.
D is for Dijon mustard. Intense Matt gets a liquid which he confidentally announces is mirin, while Con – who produced that great panna cotta and sago dessert for the pub challenge – picks C for celeriac. Are they choosing based on their name initials?
Adam picks R and it is the red, spiky fruit rambutan, but he does not know it. “Its always a tricky one,” says Gaz, not hiding the glee in his voice.
Sadly, lychee does not start with R, Adam.
Sadly, lychee does not start with R, Adam.
Poor Adam is the first person sent to stand in the area for condemned prisoners.
Zoe of course chooses Z, playing strategically, and it pays off because it is indeed zucchini. Cecilia is L for lamb; Harry T for “toona”; and Trent the blond electrician G for green tea.
Olivia picks F and it’s a brown rice-type grain that thinks it is farro but is not sure, so George freaks her out by asking if she has heard of freekeh. But it is indeed farro. (Wikipedia says: Farro is a food composed of the grains of certain wheat species, sold dried and prepared by cooking in water until soft, but still crunchy (many recommend first soaking overnight). It may be eaten plain, though it is often used as an ingredient in dishes such as salads and soups.)
Everyone’s now had a go so it’s back to Miles again: H is for horseradish. Anastasia: Nutmeg. Matt: Sage. Con: Kecap manis. Zoe: Quail. We’re getting lots of voiceovers from Cecilia about how scary it is, so of course she’s going to bomb. She picks J and it’s some weird bulbous vegetable that she has actually cooked with but doesn’t know the name.
J is for jicama. That was tough.
J is for jicama. That was tough.
Apparently jicama is also known as Mexican turnip. So Cecilia is off to join Adam in the dock.
Harry: Artichoke. Nicolette: Emu. Trent: Yoghurt. Zoe: XO sauce. Miles: Oats.
Good on you, Anastasia, for knowing these are Inca berries.
Good on you, mysterious Anastasia, for knowing these are Inca berries.
Poor Intense Matt gets the only cloche left: U.
Matt is in Freak Out City.
Matt is in Freak Out City.

What the heck are these?
What the heck are these?
Matt goes out on umeboshi – a Japanese plum. No shame in that, Matt.
So that makes three. Matt should be safe – he has proven to be inventive and a good balancer of flavours.
Oh – but that is not the end. I missed the bit where they said four people would go through to elimination. They bring out a second batch of cloches and Harry is up first. C is for … I am thinking crocodile, which MC has used in a previous season, but Harry looks spooked. He says “cod” but it was in fact croc.

Elimination round two
They have 60 minutes to cook and they can used the 23 ingredients correctly named, plus the usual staples.
staples
Matt is doing quail with celeriac and chargilled zukes. His “food dream” – take a drink, everyone – is to start a food truck. That is definitely achievable.
Adam is doing a type of mixed grill with zukes – hmmm – and Harry a Japanese-inspired smoked tuna with celeriac -yum. He is showing technique by using the green tea in a smoking gun.
Back in black, Cecilia is again having trouble coming up with a dish but at least she is doing vegetable prep rather than freezing like last time.
Gaz and George saunter over to make Adam nervous and tell him his idea for a dish is rubbish.

George is not happy about the lamb dish - and the fact his shirt is buttoned to the top without a tie because they are trying to make him look hip.
George is not happy about the lamb dish – and the fact his shirt is buttoned to the top without a tie because they are trying to make him look hip.

At least George gives him lots of ideas as to what he could be doing with the same ingredients. Adam seems to be making the same thing but calling it a different name.
Intense Matt confides he has only ever deboned and cooked quail once – no doubt in preparation for the comp, which was smart.
Finally Cecilia kicks into gear and decides to make brined, smoked tuna with salad – sounds familiar.
There are “aarghs” from the gallery as Harry stuffs up his mayo in a food processor. Get the stick blender out, Harry. But, no, he does it old school with a whisk.
Continuing their trend of putting the wind up contestants, George and Gaz tell Matt the judges are hungry and need a second quail.
Adam is the only contestant using one of the unusual ingredients from the alphabet challenge; he is rehydrating the inca berries to use in his salad, which should impress the judges. But then he loses his mind under the pressure and tips cream into a pan full of lamb fat – nooo! Who was the guy who fried his ravioli? Adam knows he has stuffed it up.
Prompted by Con, Cecilia checks on her tuna and it is brown and icky. She has left it way too long. With just a few minutes to go, Marco comes over to chew the scenery and more of her thinking time. At least she then sears some tuna in the pan, so she will have a dish that would be made in 10 minutes instead of an hour. However, she has not tasted her mayo, so that will be an issue.

The judging
Poor Matt gets the teary quivers in front of the judges but you can tell just by looking at the plate he is safe. The judges love it.

Q is for Quail, Z is for Zucchini, B is for Basil. S is for Safe.
Q is for Quail, Z is for Zucchini, B is for Basil. S is for Safe.
Next is Adam with his grilled lamb and zucchini.
G is for Goodbye.
G is for Goodbye.
Gaz is not excited by the dish but Matt says the elements are cooked well and he likes the Inca berries and basil and globs of fat. But “not a disaster” does not keep you safe on MC.
Harry’s tuna dish looks tasty and he deftly defends his decision to serve the end piece of tuna to MPW with “that’s my favourite part”.
harrytuna
The judges like the dish and Matt backs up Harry’s decision to use the end piece. So, Harry is safe.
Which brings us to Cecilia of the lovely desserts and the stuffed turnip. MPW takes his glasses off for a serious chat about how awesome she is. Matt is puzzled by the yellow mayo but says the salad looks pretty. Gaz likes everything but the mayo, which is too eggy. We all know Cecilia isn’t going home yet – she’s had far too much airtime and is yet to have a chance to create a showstopper dessert by herself.
It’s bye-bye, Adam. Go home and enjoy cooking with Vegeta again.
Best of luck, Adam.
Best of luck, Adam.
Here’s the link to Adam’s profile on LinkedIn – he looks quite different to when he’s in his chef clobber and has done some interesting stuff in his life which he didn’t hear boo about on the show Adam LinkedIn
Harry and Matt are looking like stayers but that’s the last challenge in which we’ll see MPW. It’s time for MasterClass and then it’s back to Blighty, presumably.

Masterclass
I’ll fast forward through this later – I can’t stand watching George with his tweezers faffing about. Oh, George isn’t there. Phew. MPW is showing them how to make the perfect risotto. Didn’t George do this when they went to Italy? Gaz will do pho, Matt is making a baked cheesecake (but will it be better than Mrs Duck Nutter from MKR’s?).

So, are we glad MPW is gone?



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MasterChef – May 5 – first elimination


The TV blurb says: In the first elimination challenge, three contestants choose a cloche containing a single ingredient to be used in a dish for the judges.
So, let’s hope the bottom 3 can shake off the TV jitters and put up some great dishes. Who do you reckon is going home: Charlie, Theresa (sister of Jimmy) or Ashley (the beardie one)?

JUST A FEW THOUGHTS AS I WATCH (SA TIME) …
Ok, I’m going for Theresa just because no grown woman should have to sleep in a bunk bed. These aren’t Top Model teens, MasterChef. No doubt she hurt her hand trying to clamber down to find the loo in the night.
Love a good cloche challenge – I hope they show what was under each one. Wouldn’t it be good if one just had a cup of water in it to mess with their minds?
Charlie picks the cloche with fresh ginger. Beardie Ashley get mushrooms. Theresa – after praying it’s not shellfish – gets prawns but is worried a second pick will turn up something weird, so she sticks with them.
The other cloches had oranges, seaweed, pineapple, venison, mint, cardamom, coffee, broccoli and licorice. What, no offal? That must be later in the season.
Theresa uncertainly says she’s doing doing prawns with tarragon butter and prawn oil mayo with avocado.
Beardie Ash is making another bloody ravioli, trying to redeem himself from a similar dish in last night’s Mystery Box challenge.
Charlie is doing a ginger chocolate cremeaux. The worry is chocolate will be the hero, rather than ginger.
Theresa is still frazzled and the judges are trying to talk her out of having so many oily elements on her dish. Focus, woman – the just want you to chuck some salad or something fresh and acidic on.
Ash is doing the oh-so-trendy 63-degree slow egg with his mushroom ravioli. But he’s stuffed up his pasta dough. Again. he starts over.
Theresa is doing some weird thing freezing a layer of avocado in the blast chiller.
Luckily for them, Charlie’s cremeaux has split. Quick, Charlie – do a ginger custard or one of those soda siphon microwave sponges. But, no, he decides to make it all over again. Aargh, Charlie, it’s not going to set in time! He candies some ginger as well. However, he’s happy with his second cremeaux so the dessert gods may be smiling on him.
Ash is feeling confident, so of course he’s jinxed himself and stupidly chucks his ravioli in a frypan with hot oil. He says it’s too late to do anything, but could he not have just fished them out?
Time to judge
Cravat update: Matt is wearing a white cravat with a blue coral-type design.
The judges try Ash’s ravioli first: The flavours are classic but the egg is a bit overcooked and the ravioli skin is tough from frying. Good in concept, poor in execution.


It’s Theresa’s turn and she’s still freaking out. Her prawn oil crisp thingie looks yummy, but it’s the most complicated part of what’s basically a prawn salad. The judges think she’s “heroed” the prawns (that’s another word to add to our MC drinking game: “hero”) and they love the prawn bickie.
Pro golfer Charlie plates up delicately and tears up when describing how his passion for cooking was stronger than his passion for his golf career.

Flowers are not food.
Flowers are not food.

But the judges are obviously worried whether the ginger will be “heroed”. They taste and, yep, it’s a delish dessert but doesn’t meet the criteria. I’d feel sorry for Charlie if he got sent home on a dish that was delicious, given it’s the first elimination.
Theresa wins and brother Jimmy starts bawling – awww – I’m still Team Jimmy.


And, phew, Charlie is safe. It would have been sad to send home someone who obviously knows so many dessert-making techniques – plus he has nice hair.
Ash drops the word “journey” in his farewell comments, thus meeting his contractual obligation. Unfortunately for the producers he does not cry into his beard.

Marco week begins 7.30pm Sunday, which I know will please many of you (although not as much as a Shannon Bennett week would). So, a drink every time he yells “Yes, Marco!”?



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