Tag: MasterChef

MasterChef – Mon, May 16 – The return of Reynold

As we know, Reynold is back in the MasterChef kitchen tonight, but this time he doesn’t have to worry he’ll be asked to do something savoury. He gets to set the challenge for the pressure test for the bottom three from last night’s invention test.
Here’s a link to his dessert bar, which is about to get even busier http://www.koidessertbar.com.au/

From Reynold's Facebook page.
From Reynold’s Facebook page.

The three contestants in the firing line are Chloe, Karmen and Olivia.

Apparently running on a treadmill, reading love letters and standing on your head are just what you need to prep you for a cooking comp. I’d just be reading cookbooks, but that doesn’t make for riveting TV.
They’re ready for the pressure test from Reynold – who gets a total fangirl welcome from the contestants – which is to create “Moss”. moss
It’s a dried fennel frond, apple blossom pearl, pistachio sponge, yoghurt foam, apple sorbet, and a sphere of pistachio mousse coated in matcha with a caramel gel interior.
George asks dessert enthusiast Karmen: “What’s it like standing so close to Reynold?” Reynold laughs like a nervous 15-year-old boy and tells George: “That’s not necessary.” Ah, Reynold – you’re just a dork who likes to cook – I love it. Yeah, George – just because they’re Aussies of Asian descent who like sweets doesn’t mean they’ll have the hots for each other.
Oops – forgot to do a “what’s Matt wearing?” update:

Tamer than his usual ensembles.
Tamer than his usual ensembles but we saw this cravat on May 5. C’mon, wardrobe – mix it up!

Karmen says she is familiar with most of the techniques used in the recipe and she’s off to a quick start. Olivia is also doing well and George and Reynold are impressed, just advising her to keep her bench clean. Karmen is having trouble with her pistachio mousse and Chloe manages to overtake her, so she starts again. And again it seizes up. What’s going on – is she not reading the recipe properly? She decides to keep it and just add cream and it seems to work. Hope her sphere sets Ok.
Restaurant manager Olivia seems to be whipping through each task – hope she doesn’t come a cropper. At least with her job she’d be used to multitasking.
Karmen is catching up so the producers send Reynold over to distract her with questions that will enable to mention how her parents think she should stick with surveying.
Reynold advises everyone to make spare spheres but Chloe has just made one sphere – aargh – so risky. Yes, she’s pushed for time, but without a sphere there isn’t a dish. Better to spend time doing a second sphere and leave off something like the yoghurt foam if you have to.
It’s just over a week into the competition and, finally, microwave siphon sponges make an appearance. Poor Olivia, who’s been doing so well up until now, stuffs up her sponge because she second guesses herself, and then she leaves the gelatine out of her foam. This is what happens when George comes over to tell you how far ahead of the others you are – the Calombaris jinx.
Chloe moves on to her white chocolate cremeux, which I think is the second cremeux of the comp, following Charlie’s ginger chocolate version when he was in the bottom three. At least it’s not ABPC (another bloody panna cotta).
Karmen is having cremeux trouble so she decides to leave it off the plate so she can concentrate on other elements. Olivia is in a total flap and it doesn’t look good for her.
The contestants have to make sure each element of the dish is in a specific place (fridge, freezer, bench etc) as they have 10 minutes to plate up when it’s their turn. But Olivia has forgotten her matcha sphere, and as she runs to get it she stacks it, just like Chloe the other night. What the heck are they polishing those MC floors with – olive oil? So, Olivia’s sphere is stuck in the freezer and probably won’t ooze when it’s cut.
Time to judge
Chloe lucked out in that her sole sphere looks good. She’s done a great job to get all those elements up and she seems to have a balanced outlook on life and a laidback temperament. Reynold likes the look of the sphere but the caramel inside is too pale. The sponge and mousse get the thumbs up.
Karmen is next to don the mad scientist goggles and play with liquid nitrogen to make her yoghurt snow. She’s devastated she missed the cremeux (or creme-ooh, as George calls it) but George gives her props for what she’s achieved. Her caramel centre looks better than Chloe’s but the plate is not as pretty. She gets ticks for a lot of her elements.
It’s Olivia’s turn and the siphon gun isn’t working, so she improvises. Olivia is totally going home, which is such a shame as she’s done a few delicious-looking savoury dishes, like this one:
Please come to my house and cook this, Olivia.
Please come to my house and cook this, Olivia.

As she predicted, her sphere is too frozen and her sponge is dense. Gaz does like the flavour of the mousse but Reynold says the caramel is too blond and her matcha coating is uneven.
The judges pretend she’s in with a shot but one missing element easily outweighs three poorly executed ones.
The announcement
The judges praise Chloe for her attitude and her dish. Olivia is going home but there’s no shame in bowing out on a dish that would have been a finale test in previous seasons. Can you imagine Poh or Julie having to create “Moss” back in their season? They would have failed miserably.
Where are they now?
Olivia is working full time in The Cook’s Garden (Google says it’s an English style pub in north Sydney – wonder if this is where she was working before?), heading up the pastry section. She hopes to launch a cooking program for high school and university students.
Tomorrow night
Nicolette, Con and Anastasia have to cook a dish using popcorn. Expect a tonne of popcorn parfaits.



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MasterChef – Sun, May 15


It will be nice to see Reynold again – who’s been to his Sydney dessert cafe?
Tonight’s mystery box is from ingredients chosen by viewers, so hopefully there’s some weird stuff in there. As usual, the winner gets a supposed advantage going into the next round, but judging from the below it wouldn’t make that much of a difference:


What would you pick? I’m thinking peanut butter as it gives you options for savoury satay or a choc salted caramel peanut type dessert? Or I guess marmalade could be used as a sauce with duck, as well as in a pudding.
Here’s what they had to play with in the viewer-voted Mystery Box:

RECAP
I’m still having technical problems with my recorder, so watching via TenPlay’s livestream. I tuned in just as Chloe (luckily they said her name) stacked it in the panic to get stuff out of the fridge.
Karmen’s dish looks great but they don’t say much about it, so she hasn’t won.


Con’s dish looks simple yet stylish, but they don’t like his foam.
Heather’s squid dish is finger-licking good, says George, and Gaz loves the crunch. “That’s a hard dish to beat,” says Matt.
Intense Matt is chosen yet again – he is on fire. It’s coconut salt squid but the judges are screwing up their noses because he didn’t provide them with a creamy dipping sauce. George says he’s torn between Matt’s dish and Heather’s dish.
I hope they give it to Heather, because if they give her more airtime I may be able to recognise her next time.
Anastasia is the final red shirt to get tasted. She has made poached maple syrup squid. The judges love it and think it’s elegant.
Gaz, George and Matt make a show of debating who the winner should be, but of course it’s Anastasia because George said it was restaurant quality. Will she choose peanut butter, Vegemite or marmalade?


The contestants mostly look horrified at the thought she may have picked Vegemite, but in fact she went with the one she knew: marmalade.
They have 75 minutes to cook.
Nicolette is doing an orange parfait – probably the first of many parfaits in this challenge.
Ranger Miles is doing stuffed quail in a marmalade glaze. Poor Chloe doesn’t want to be known as the girl who stacked it on MasterChef, so she’s hoping for a great dessert involving rice and a macadamia crumb.
But what is advantage winner Anastasia doing? It’s Spanish quail and she’s using the eggs, too. Sounds cool but there is the advantage winner curse to consider.
Is there anything more painful than watching someone deboning a quail? Perhaps watching Chloe puree her rice pudding in the blender. Noooo … She’s making baby food. She knows straight away she’s stuffed up.
Matt decides to try his first dessert of the comp, with an orange and ginger pudding and an earl grey ice cream. Sounds yum.
Karmen is making custard with sponge but it’s going to be a fancy modern-style dessert with lots of different elements.
Con’s doing another bloody panna cotta (hereafter referred to as ABPC) but we don’t even learn what “dessert king” Charlie is up to. No sign of the siblings, either. And what’s happened to Mimi? She started so strongly but is now back to red shirt status.
Miles is still hacking away at his quail but BDD will be happy – fennel is finally making an appearance.
Nicolette is going fancy with some spherification – remember back in the day when only the guest chefs did that kind of thing and it was so impressive?
Uh oh – poor Karmen is having drama with runny custard, as predicted by Gaz. He’ll be happy. Time for Plan B?
Baby food maker Chloe has not only stuffed up her pudding, she’s got her agar agar quantities wrong and her marmalade gel hasn’t set.
Con is talking like George when plating up his ABPC, going on about “negative space”. He’s happy – as is Anastasia – but Karmen is in pain because her custard didn’t set.
Olivia is doing a take on a jaffa cake but she’s not happy, either. So, we’ve only seen a few wonky dishes so it looks like bottom three will be Karmen, Chloe and either Olivia or maybe Miles.
The judges taste …
First up is Matt with his first dessert of the comp and it looks really cute. The judges love everything about it.
Karmen is devastated and George tactfully lets out a “Woah” at the sight of her dish. George and Gary kindly make her discuss all the mistakes she made. “Karmen it’s really just custard with crumbs,” says Matt.
Nicolette’s dessert looks good and gets a “Bang!” from George: “That dish makes me happy.” Pretty spiffy effort for a 19-year-old.
Chloe, of course, doesn’t need the judging to know she’s bottom three.
Con’s ABPC plating does look lovely and Gaz is swooning. “You’re on a run my friend,” says George.
Olivia ‘s almond sponge with blood orange jelly and choc ice cream does not look pretty and her textures are off kilter.
Ooh, here’s electrician Trent with a glazed pork, sister Theresa with a parfait and Cecilia with a parfait and sponge – obviously she was more decisive today with dessert being an obvious option – and Heather, who made yummy-looking ginger and orange glazed quail.
Miles’s quail and fennel looks dreadfully beige but at least it’s cooked properly. As Matt says, he struggles with finesse. Buy some tweezers, Miles.
It’s advantage winner Anastasia’s turn and it looks vibrant and tasty. Gary can’t wait to dig in. “It ticks all the boxes,” he says, letting out a joyous “laaaa”. “Everything about this dish is right,” says Matt. I hope she gets the win.

Top three
Anastasia
Con
Nicolette
They will compete for immunity on Tuesday.

Bottom three
Karmen
Chloe
Olivia

So, knowing it’s a Reynold test, Karmen should do well as she’s familiar with tricksy dessert-making techniques (tonight’s custard disaster to the contrary). And I like Olivia, so, sorry Chloe – it could be you.



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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 11 – Marco’s pub challenge

It’s Wed night and it’s still Marco week on MasterChef. Yippee!
TV blurb says: This challenge is all about the pub lunch. The contestants are split into two teams and must cook three courses for 70 people with Marco Pierre White running the pass.

So, expect lots of “Yes, Marco!”, undercooked fish and tears.

Here we are at the first service challenge of the season: a pub challenge. Luckily Brett’s food dream is to run a gastro pub in the country. Thank god they reminded us he’s an airline captain, otherwise I would have thought he was a member of the crew who’d accidentally wandered into camera view.


Pony tail brunette Nicolette – not to be confused with swishy pony tail brunette Zoe volunteers to captain the blue, while Brett is keen to lead red.

Nicolette finally gets camera time.
Nicolette finally gets camera time.
The captains have to lucky dip for the type of dish. For entree Nicolette gets something crumbed; Brett something skewered. Main for Nicolette is surf, so Brett gets, you guessed it, turf. And dessert is cold and hot.
They have to serve 70 people, so 210 plates, which is a lot.
They cram into the pub kitchen and Brett’s team is quick to pick dishes, guided by Captain captain, while the blues are just a mess, yelling out ideas. On red, Elise and a mystery girl have to peel 240 jumbo prawns, so they got the short straw there. Red’s main will be sirloin steak with jus, so MPW drifts by with the astonishing advice to put a wet dishcloth under a chopping board to stop it slipping. Give that man another Michelin star!
Finally blues decide to do a panko prawn – which Cecilia had suggested yonks ago but her voice was lost in the din – but blue has nabbed all the prawns. You snooze, you lose, reds. Instead they’re doing crumbed scallop with corn puree. Main will be crispy king fish with roast spuds and a beurre blanc and dessert is another bloody panna cotta.

MPW is not happy with blue Nicolette’s idea to serve only three scallops: “Generosity is the greatest garnish in the world.” Quick – print that on a T-shirt.
Brett tells red underlings Jimmy the Brother and Nidhi to remove all the fat from the sirloin – this is going to lead to trouble.
On blue, they’re prepping the kingfish and MPW is not impressed with Intense Matt’s pinboning efforts. He fishes out a bone: “That’s big enough to choke a donkey.”
Reds seem to have it together, being efficient while having fun in the kitchen. Olivia (well, I think it’s Olivia – MasterChef really needs to make them wear aprons with emboidered names), Carmen and Charlie are on dessert, making a warm brownie.
On red, Heather – nice to meet you – is in charge of the jus for the steak but MPW says, while it taste great, she needs heaps more. Heather is dying inside but trying not to show her fear in front of MPW. She has enough for one tablespoon per person. That’s not much jus for a steak.

Service starts
After a quick pep talk from Marco, the yelling begins as he mans the pass. Did anyone else here him say: “Be the wolf pack – work as a team.” What is this – a Hangover movie?
The red team’s massive prawns on skewers look amazing but poor Jimmy is freaking out at the grill as MPW barks orders at him. Blue’s scallops could do with a scatter of micro herbs.
The judges: They like the charry look of the prawns and Gaz gives the thumbs up as the happy music plays: “They’ve done a smashing job.” Matt loves the remoulade and that the dishes look consistent.
The blue team’s scallop cookers are having trouble keeping up with Dementor shrieking orders at them and Ranger Miles concedes some could be a bit under or overcooked.
The judges: George thinks four scallops is still not enough for a pub meal and they are overcooked. Matt says reds won the entree round.

Main courses
Captain my captain Brett is in charge of grilling the steaks, while on the other team Harry is doing the kingfish and he’s flustered because people seem to think it takes 10 seconds to cook crispy-skinned fish. MPW is barking away like a mad dog at the pass.
Blue Con – keen to redeem himself – has pretty much taken charge of the dessert. He thinks it’s a bit sweet so is whipping up a lime gel to add acidity.

The judges: Immediately comment on the paucity of jus with the sirloin and George is devastated they’ve removed all the fat. (Jimmy was right but he followed captain’s orders.)
Meanwhile, there’s a crisis in the blue team, with not enough fish to fulfil the orders. Surely they counted the portions earlier? What was that challenge last year where a team came up short of dishes in the dessert round because someone put a tray of something on top of a fridge, then no one realised it was there – except the chortling camera operator. Perhaps this is one of those moments where MPW plucks a number out of the air to put the wind up them for not doing extras.
He tears into the kitchen screaming poor Harry’s name, and Harry’s defence that he allowed for extra portions is brushed aside as MPW interrogates each member of the team in case they’ve stuffed a fillet down their pants as a lark.
“They just swam off, did they?” MPW asks. Luckily Ranger Miles dives into the pantry and finds a stray fish which Harry can then fillet, resisting the temptation to slap MPW in the face with it instead.
The judges: Love the fish and declare it the winner of the round.

Dessert time
The brownie leader (I think Marco called her Chloe) is confident in her baking – even as she quakes before MPW’s steely gaze – while Con is also happy with his panna cotta.

The judges: It’s a choc brownie with a walnut caramel sauce and Gaz is in heaven. It’s moist and fudgy. Gaz thinks it would be a best seller if it was a regular on the menu. Well done, Chloe.

Con’s panna cottas with pineapple, sago and ginger crumbs are nice and wobbly and it’s a more modern-looking dessert than the brownie.

George thinks it’s elegant and Matt loves the contrasting textures.
So, the judges think dessert will decide the winner, but both are good. I’m wondering if the brownie will get the edge, as it’s more pub like?

Time for feedback
MPW tells them how wonderfully they did, they performed better than some professionals, yadda yadda. As we already know, prawns get the thumbs up, scallops sucked; steak is a no, kingfish yes.
Reds get high praise for the brownie while Matt drools over the panna cotta, saying it’s his dish of the day. Just as they get their hopes up Gaz butts in to say the prawns were his and Georgie’s dish of the day, so reds win.
Perhaps next year there should be a judges’ save (like the Tim Gunn save on Project Runway), where each judge gets to save a contestant who’s on the losing team but has done really well, such as Con with his panna cotta tonight.
Apologies to those contestants whose names I mixed up – I was watching live and couldn’t pause anything to cross check. If some of you could shave your heads or wear weird earrings like the boys do, I would appreciate it.

Tomorrow night: It’s the pick a letter, name the ingredient challenge. This should be fun to play along with at home. Will Z be anything other than zucchini?



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MasterChef – May 10 – Marco week pasta challenge

TV blurb says: The top three contestants from the invention test must make a filled pasta with a matching sauce. The winner will then enter a cook off for immunity against guest chef, Jake Kellie.

Filled pasta? More bloody ravioli! I hope someone at least does tortellini. An no more slow-cooked egg yolks. I’m going for Olivia, just because she didn’t exist until Sunday night.

No internet or recording for me tonight (new floorboards for us tomorrow so all the furniture, including the mysterious bits that run the Internet, are packed away) so I’m watching live and tune in late, just as Nidhi is stuffing up pasta dough, Olivia is shocking MPW and the lovely Shannon Bennett by making soda bread and Zoe is trying to cook huge chunks of pumpkin in too little time.
The gantry gawkers are freaking out that Olivia has not even put a pot of water on to boil, and after many shouts she finally tunes in to what they’re yelling.
No one looks to be on top of things.
So of course Matt Preston wanders over to watch Olivia’s pot to ensure it doesn’t boil.
Zoe makes her pumpkin and goat’s cheese puree for her filling but it’s too cheesy, so she adds honey. Nidhi’s pasta has barely rested and her shapes look haphazard.
While she’s waiting for the water to boil Olivia blitzes up her soda bread to make crumbs for her dish. With only a few minutes to go she chucks her pasta in anyway and hopes for the best.
Nidhi knows her pasta looks a bit dodgy but she hopes her big fan Marco loves the flavour. Olivia’s pasta looks delicious but she’s made the fatal mistake of not enough brown butter soz.


Judging time
Olivia is first and the judges look sad at the bowl of crunchy goodness as there’s no little jug of soz in which to smother it.
MPW says it like looks pretty. Shannon says the ravioli is nice but there is a slight greasiness. He likes that she made soda bread. MPW is very complimentary, apart from the soz issue.
Matt says Nidhi’s pasta is too thick and MPW says it’s not her best dish.
Zoe must have this in the bag, surely. It’s a similar dish to Olivia’s, with walnuts instead of breadcrumbs. “I love it,” says Matt. She has enough butter sauce. “Delicious,” says MPW.
Zoe wins and will cook for a chance at the immunity pin.

Immunity challenge
Who is the guest chef? Jake Kellie, who’s the current Young Australian Chef of the Year. He’s only 24 but has worked for several top chefs, including Heston at The Fat Duck.

Zoe's going to need some ink if she wants to be a chef.
Zoe’s going to need some ink if she wants to be a chef.
Zoe gets 75 minutes and gets to pick the pantry while Jake gets 60 minutes. The pantries are French or Italian.


I’m thinking she’ll do the latter given it’s more similar to the Greek cuisine she’s used to. And, yes, she wants those figs so picks Italian. She is doing a creme brûlée with mascarpone ice cream and Shannon is there to whisper sweet nothings in her ear.
Jake doesn’t even get to watch her start – he’s shoved off to the side behind some fruit and veg.

Finally he gets to cook and is doing veal carpaccio with a twist – he’s hiding beans and other veg under a thin layer of veal that’s just been torched, with a burnt butter emulsion. Sounds odd but he has a very tight, controlled and organised look about him, in addition to obligatory chef skinny jeans and sleeve tatts.

Rather than baking her brulee in the oven, Zoe is setting it with gelatine and popping it in the blast chiller. Shannon is happy with her ice cream flavour, so that’s a good sign.

He microwaves olives for three minutes to dry them out and chop them into crumbs – I love it when chefs use a microwave. He’s good at explaining to the onlookers his cooking process and has time to pop over to Zoe’s bench to check on her.
Then he plates up with those long tweezers that must be made for chefs and it’s a gorgeous little pile of beans, olives and mayo. And then he drapes it all in a glossy square of raw veal brushed with tomato oil. Looks weird but oh-so-interesting.


Zoe is happy that her creme brulee is just set but then she has to torch the sugar and she’s worried the heat has melted the gelatine.

Time to judge
The veal is dished up and the judges aren’t sure what to think, but they’ve got to know straight away who made it. “It’s two surprise in one,” says MPW, but he thinks he would have shown off the beauty of the vegies. “I like the shock value of it.”
Gaz thinks it’s too mayonnaisey. George and Matt want more acidity.
As Zoe’s brulee is served with her figs and divine-looking ice cream on top, it starts to ooze. it hasn’t set. It’s not a good look. The judges decide it’s custard with figs – but still very tasty. MPW reckons it was a confusing tasting. It didn’t help Jake that the judges didn’t cut into it, as intended, to reveal a peek of the vegies underneath, but just disassembled it.

Zoe’s scores
MPW 6/10
Gaz 6
George 6
Matt 6
24/40
Generous considering the key component of her dish failed.

Jake’s scores
MPW 6
Matt 6
Gaz 6
George – this will be more up his alley – and it is. 7

Tomorrow night it’s a pub food challenge in a real restaurant and the ad shows Marco having a go at tall blond Harry over a fish problem. Hopefully it’s a beat up and Harry saves the day, as he seems to be a good cook. Plus he just tweeted this:



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MasterChef – May 9 – MPW day 2

It’s day two of MPW week and we get to see Cecilia, Nathaniel and Con watch as Marco prepares a dish and follow along.
Tonight it’s John Dory so let’s hope they’re up with their filleting skills.
Last year the contestants had to butcher a lamb to make MPW’s noisettes.

From 2015.
From 2015.

Who’s your tip to go?

No recap from me tonight – watching Louis Theroux instead.



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MasterChef – May 8 – Marco’s here

It’s the start of Marco Pierre White week, so I know some of you will be glued to the screen while others will nick off to another channel.
The TV blurb says: The contestants have 75 minutes to create a dish from Marco’s mystery box of ingredients with rewards and hazards for the top and bottom three.
I so hope that when he does his “Yes, Marco! Yes, Marco!” call someone responds with “Polo!”.

MPW enters and shakes hands with the contestants, who immediately go weak at the knees. Contestants will have 75 minutes to create something out of his mystery box of chicken, cinnamon, bacon, potatoes, lemon, parsley, olive oil and honey.


Judges are only tasting five dishes today. Winner gets an advantage in the invention test.
Intense looking dude Matt – he of the disc earrings – is doing a gnocchi and jus with crispy chicken skin. Marco tastes his jus as it’s cooking and gets the usual flick of the eyes over the bifocals.
Charlie – pro golfer with the nice hair who was in the bottom three last time but pulled through with his choc ginger whatsit – is making honey semifreddo. MPW asks if it will set, so it will either work spectacularly or be slop. Mimi, who’s been a strong contender thus far, is also making honey semifreddo. Uh oh. C’mon, surely someone is doing ravioli? No?
Cecilia – she of the brain injury – is freaking out and faffing around while everyone else is cooking frantically. She’s missing her kids and feels a bit lost. Fifteen minutes in, Gary comes over to prod her into action and he’s wearing his cranky pants. Finally she gets going to make a burnt butter ice cream because it’s something her daughter would like. She’s pushing it to get that set, even with a blast chiller.
MPW scares Con by staring at him until he redoes his ricotta.
Chatty Nidhi from SA is doing pepper lemon cream chicken with paratha and lurves MPW. She tells confessional: “He’s like a coconut – he’s hard from the outside but inside he’s really soft and a beautiful person.”
With 15 minutes to go we’ve only checked in with a few people so we knows already who’s being tasted. We haven’t even touched base with ranger Miles or the siblings.
MPW gives Intense Matt advice on turning gnocchi and uses his fingers, so Matt has to follow suit to show he’s cool, too. “Can I just say this is probably the greatest day of my life,” he fan boys to MPW as his fingertips melt off.
Cecilia is getting her act together, whipping up meringue and spun sugar to add flair to her dish but, sadly, the delay has cost her and her ice cream hasn’t set.
Time to judge
First up is Nidhi, who is delighted. Her dish looks rather beige so she is not a fancy pants plater like some, but it’s the dish she makes when she needs cheering up – given how happy she seems she can’t make it often. “And it’s full of fat – so I like it.” The producers must be so happy they cast her. “I 35 years I’ve been in this industry I’ve never sen a dish look like that taste so good – it’s delicious.”
Next up is Intense Matt with his pan-fried gnocchi with lots of crunchy elements. Gaz is in heaven: “Savoury, chickeny, bacony cereal.”
MPW loves the soz: “I don’t think that you realise how clever you are … genius in your hands.” Matt says it’s better than even his recent wedding day. Oh no he didn’t!
Mimi is praised for her cake and ice cream’s flavours but not her fussy plating. Cecilia is picked – well they have to, because they need someone to cry because her ice cream melted. Her plate looks full of complicated dessert techniques. “It’s like the lightest lemon meringue pie in the world,” MPW says. The melted ice cream still tastes good.
The last dish tasted is Charlie because there was no one else cooking, apparently. charliedesert
It looks so cute and simple, but inviting. Cue the dramatic music. Charlie is quietly cacking his dacks.
“This without question is the greatest dessert I’ve ever eaten in the MasterChef kitchen,” MPW intones, saying it’s Michelin starworthy. The violins are soaring; Charlie, consider yourself redeemed!
He’s the winner so gets to pick the advantage for the comp’s first invention test, so off they trot to the pantry and …

Invention test
… it’s meat galore and the dessert enthusiast comes plummeting back to earth. Oh, Charlie. Don’t you know ..
Cause you’re hot then you’re cold
You’re yes then you’re no
You’re in then you’re out
You’re up then you’re down
It’s a meat and three veg challenge. I like it. Charlie gets to choose beef, pork or lamb and three of about 10 veg.
MPW advises him to pick bones – that’s the beef, I guess – because they will scare most people and give you great flavour. Charlie looks freaked out, but having “bones, bones, bones” intoned at you by MPW in a voice from beyond the grave will do that to anyone.
Charlie ends up picking lamb, carrot, onion (spring onions, brown, white or red) and parsnip – bloody hell – everyone’s going to do the ever-present parsnip mash.
Intense Matt wants to do koftas but can’t find lamb mince. Dude, you’re in MasterChef – make your own! A fellow competitor kindly sets him straight.
Con is doing lamb two ways ( which just means double the chance to stuff things up) with parsnip chips and an onion custard – yes really.
Cecilia is making a parsnip surprise, which will be parsnip stuffed with the other elements because she thinks it’s something her son would like. The judges try to steer her elsewhere but she’s set on it.
Zoe – who had the multiple Greek grannies in her audition is doing a Middle Eastern lamb and smoked parsnip puree.
Nidhi is excited to but an Indian spin on classic Aussie ingredients with a lamb shank curry, but her idea to do a carrot dessert on the same plate is a worry.
Poor Intense Matt is having trouble with the fancy mincer. Maybe like me he just has one of the old school crank handle types. Can’t Gaz come and snarl at him how to use it properly?
Instead he uses some of the minced fat and some hand-diced lamb – good on you, Matt.
Charlie is in fact using bones to make a jus, as per MPW’s advice, to go with parsnip puree lamb backstrap. Boring but he just needs to not be the bottom.
Ooh, who’s this blonde girl making quinoa flatbread? Olivia the restaurant manager – how nice to finally meet you.

This is Olivia. She's been in the comp all along. Yes, really.
This is Olivia. She’s been in the comp all along. Yes, really.
And here’s another red shirt getting camera time – it’s Nathaniel with a twist on shepherd’s pie.
Nidhi’s curry is looking good but she’s not watching her carrot and milk in the saucepan. Who’d have thought a camera shot lingering on boiling milk creeping up to the top of a pot could have us on tenterhooks?
Damn it – it’s burnt but she hopes just putting everything in a clean pan will do the trick.
MPW has a little bonding with Nidhi as he tastes her onion mixture: “Your use of spice is genius.”
Cecilia is happy with her mega stuffed parsnip but it’s screaming bottom three. And then she pipes “for Nathan” in tomato sauce on the plate.
Plating up time and there are a few cases of undercooked lamb.

Time to judge
Just spotted a brunette pony tail girl up the back (not Greek Zoe) who I’ve never seen before. The red shirts just keep coming.
Nidhi is first. You know MPW is serious because he takes his glasses off to speak to her: “I wish you had a restaurant where I live. I’d be there every week.” Matt loves the carrot pud: “It’s better than anything I’ve ever had in India.” Nidhi, I really hope you have a market stall/food truck/takeaway shop lined up here in Adelaide so I can judge for myself.
Con tries to keep a stiff upper lip as he serves up his raw lamb rack. Apart from that, it’s all too sweet. Poor Con.
Newly discovered Olivia serves up a “forest floor”. Everyone loves the quinoa crackers and the dish in general. “Never change your style,” says MPW.
Mimi’s dish looks fine but nothing spesh; Harry (tall blond who “harvests his own seafood”) dishes up a take on pot au feu (French beef stew) but George says the flavours aren’t right; Anasatasia – who? – has undercooked her lamb; Brett (who?) gets in trouble for serving carrot granita with roast meat.


Nathaniel knows his shepherds pie sucks as it’s not finished and the judges agree.
Intense Matt serves up a platter full of koftas, flatbread and various side dishes. He’s done a lot of work. Gaz says he’s nailed it.That’s two hits in a row – go Matt!
Charlie’s plating looks gorgeous but will his soz get the nod? “It doesn’t do it for me,” says MPW, saying his sauce is too robust. Charlie is crushed.
Here comes Cecilia’s weirdo parsnip but no doubt her son is stoked to have his name on TV again. “It certainly doesn’t look very appetising,” says Gaz. The judges speak very kindly to her about missing her kids and George tells her to put her “head down and bum up”.
Greek Zoe serves up her Middle Eastern spiced dish and George goes for seconds on the lamb – her dish is his pick of the day. She’s nailed the smokey flavour. Marco agrees.

So, who’s sitting pretty for the immunity challenge and who’s in trouble?
Top: Nidhi, Zoe, Olivia. Bit sad Matt isn’t up there as they seemed to adore his dish.
Bottom: Con, Cecilia, Nathaniel. No surprises.
MPW gives them a pep talk about pushing on.

Tomorrow night: It’s the keeping up with Marco challenge. Hopefully this will suit Cecilia better than following a written recipe as she’s mentioned that is more challenging for her, and I’d like to see what she can do dessert wise when she’s given time.



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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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MasterChef – Mystery Box – May 4


Here’s one for you Shannon fans – note the tweet is from South Australian Jessie Spiby from last year’s MasterChef.

Tonight’s Mystery Box was chosen by last year’s winner, Billie McKay. An interview with her here Billie Tenplay
I won’t be recapping tonight – contributions welcome. Chat away.



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