Tag: Mystery Box

MasterChef Sun – mystery box

Hooray for the mystery box! I love these challenges, as I pause the recording on the ingredients and ponder what I would make in this situation. Fennel frond panna cotta, anyone?
The blurb says: It’s mystery box time and our cooks must create a delicious dish using at least one of the elected ingredients. Next up is the black mystery box, but this time, whoever cooks the worst dish is going home.



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MasterChef – Thai mystery box – Sun, May 28

It’s mystery box night and the ingredients are ones used in Thai cuisine.
Who will win the advantage and be subsequently cursed to fail in the invention test? Don’t they know by now to keep a low profile in the mystery box or they risk having their faces melted off by looking at the Ark of the Covenant aka the advantage.



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MasterChef – Sun, May 21 – Sweet Week starts

It’s Sweet Week so Michelle had better get out her red dome moulds and lustre dust. Bryan is going to go nuts.
How many episodes until we get the liquid nitrogen for ice cream making?
It does look like they do some pretty cool stuff.


Tonight’s mystery box challenge is set by chocolatier and pastrychef from the Savour School, so expect loads of chocolate. Kirsten Tibballs has been on MasterChef three times before.
She was responsible for this pressure test cake in 2013 (yes, the infamous Emma Dean season):

Looks tame compared to some of the more recent challenges.

This is the cake that sent spice queen Neha home but it’s ok; she now has her own ice cream company. I am going to have to check out the orange chilli choc one.
And so it begins …
Well, that’s a good way to keep energy levels up during a challenge. While Georgie chugs Swisse vitamins the contestants can nibble on the mystery boxes – they’d just better keep them away from Presto and Gary. They get to smash them with a mallet – the boxes, that is, not the judges.

They get mint, instant coffee, coffee beans, green tea, nectarines, coconut – desiccated and whole, raspberries, rum. Oh, and the chocolate box. They get the staples and a few baking-type ingredients are added, like gelatine and icing sugar.

Whiskey Eloise is making a trifle with marshmallow in it instead of cream.
Arum wants to use the matcha tea – shades of MKR here.
One blonde pony tail is doing a take on an Iced Vovo. Thank god they have names on their aprons – it’s Eliza. The judges will like the concept.
Ooh, Invisible Trent made the edit for a sec. Hi, Trent!
Pete the crane driver gets a lot of air time. So he’s either going to bomb again or do spectacularly. He’s making a toasted coconut ice cream and – yes – he’s got the red silicone mould out! Bingo!
Bryan is in his happy place. He’s doing a “fallen” ice cream in a rum and coffee. Sounds similar to something Theresa (one of the siblings) made last year, but I imagine Bryan’s will have more elements.

It’s back to Arum – guess we don’t need to know what all the other people are cooking – and he’s doing a matcha cremeaux that looks like the contents of a baby’s nappy. Instead he will make a raspberry sorbet.
There’s a lot of footage of people trying to open coconuts, Bushranger Ben seems to be making a jelly (don’t mention the jelly to Ray) and the smoking guns are out in force.
No idea yet what dessert girl Michelle is making, so it must be average.
Uh oh – Aaron is still using his green poo slick on the plate. It had better taste good.
Pete is getting his domes out but he hasn’t made any spares – aargh!!!! How many times do we hear this!? He’s obviously watched past seasons, though, because he knows to melt the edge of his half sphere on his hot baking tray so the two halves will stick.

The judges taste
Bryan’s fallen ice cream: It’s pretty and they love it.


Eloise’s trifle with coffee jelly: She gets a Gary eye roll of delight.


Arum’s raspberry sorbet with matcha and choc: The matcha cremeaux he was so worried about is praised by Kirsten. It’s a thoughtful dessert, says Presto.


Eliza’s Iced Vovo: Sophisticated and delicious, says Gaz.


Pete’s coconut: It looks pretty spiffy. I’d say Pete’s got this but they also want him to have an underdog win. Presto calls the ice cream “heavenly” and it’s a playful dish. (And, surely bonus points for using the red silicone moulds?)

And the advantage (aka kiss of death) winner is: Pete for his coconut.

INVENTION TEST
There’s a new chef to set the Invention Test and it’s Janice Wong, who’s also been on the show before.
In 2015 she set the Cassis Plum dessert challenge for an elimination test:

Rose went home off the back of this; she was up against dentist Matt and Reynold.

All the contestants are led into the pantry to view Janice’s glow-in-the-dark edible art installation, made of 7000 flowers. But they don’t let the contestants eat them.


They have 90 minutes to make a dessert using flowers as inspiration. Pete gets another 30 minutes – that’s huge! He also gets Janice as a mentor for the 30 minutes.

I thought the 30 minutes would be at the end because, in effect, the other contestants get 30 minutes to stand there and think about what they’ll do. Pete’s struggling a bit but, thanks to Janice, comes up with a garbled story about bees and honey for his inspiration.

Composed Diana is inspired by roses, using strawberries and cream with a rosewater ice cream and a pine sable (aka bickie).
Whiz kid Callan is is using a childhood memory of grandma’s house, involving apple pie and roses.
Ooh – Headband Samuel is making the edit! But it’s because he’s spent 20 minutes wondering what to do. Come on, South Straya! Luckily he spots a borage flower in the garden and I learn something here: Samuel says it taste likes cucumber. Thanks, HS!
Young Sam is making beetroot choc with a basil granita. He seems to have a lot of flavours going on.
Bryan is cooking a ginger and yuza pannacotta with elderflower.
Still not airtime for Little Mich.
Callan is creating a “baking scent” to evoke grandma’s house. I don’t think we’ve seen anyone do this before, although Heston has used it in at least one dish he’s set as a challenge.


Invisible Trent is getting a talking head, but it’s because his sorbet isn’t setting. He’d planned to plate it with an edible wreath around it. So, that’s at least one for the bottom three and I’m worried Bryan could be, too, because in his excitement to meet Janice he’s making 1000 elements.
They’re implying Headband Samuel is in trouble but I think he’ll pull through, but Young Sam is having beetroot woes.
Uh oh – HS’s jelly is not set. Is jelly the “it” element this season? Parfaits are so 2015 and last year was the year of the chocolate dome. And Invisible Trent’s sorbet is stuffed.
Callan’s “apple pie” is one of those modern “forest floor strewn with debris” type desserts. He should go well.

The judges taste
Callan’s apple pie with rosewater granita: The judges love the idea of his baking scent. He gets the spoon drum on the table. Janice says it’s “naturally beautiful” and “the essence of cooking”.


Pete’s Beehive in the Garden: They like the honey ice cream but are not overwhelming in their praise. But he has escaped the advantage winner curse and won’t be bottom three.


Poor Trent’s unfinished dessert wreath: He’s understandably gutted.
Diana’s strawberries and cream: It’s vibrant. George says it’s the best ice cream today. Janice says it’s a symphony on the palate. Good job, Diana!


Eloise’s watermelon rose: For once Eloise doesn’t get gushed over. It’s good but needed a crumble.


Michelle’s “fallen flower” with brownie cubes: She has made a half chocolate dome (hmm, kinda similar to her audition dish. We know she’s not great with savoury – maybe her dessert repertoire is not great?). They like it.


Sarah’s By the Bay: It’s tahini ice cream, hazelnut mousse and orange blossom jelly: It looks fancy and cheffy. George says he is salivating for more.
Headband Samuel’s Strawberry Sorbet with cucumber: “I don’t get it,” says George. Gaz likes the individual elements but they aren’t flamboyant enough. So one of my predicted final three will be in the bottom three.
Young Sam’s ganache with basil granita: Janice says it looks beautiful. They draw it out with an ad break, which means they will love it. “For a minute the world just sort of stopped and I was in the bowl,” George says. Janice says its beautiful and original. Well done, Young Sam.


Bryan’s Flower Garden: There is a lot of very bright bitsy stuff on the plate. “Just do three things, mate; not 700,” cautions Presto. Janice liked his panna cotta but the flavours don’t balance. He’s devo.
That’s it – we don’t get to see what the others made.
So I guess bottom three will be Invisible Trent, Bryan and Headband Samuel.
Top three: Callan, Young Sam and Diana.
And, yes, bottom three is as expected. Do they get the floating ice cream pressure test? Please let HS be safe!

Tomorrow night
Yes, it’s Christy Tania’s floating ice cream. I think Bryan may crack under the pressure because he knows desserts are considered “his thing”.



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MasterChef – Mystery Box – Sun, May 13

Sunday night is always Mystery Box night, with the winner gaining an advantage for the Invention Test.
It usually doesn’t help people much – it’s not often the advantage winner then also goes on to make top three in the Invention Test.
What do you think of the season thus far? It’s not compulsory viewing for me, as it used to be. I still enjoy it, but it’s too much of a commitment to watch every night, and the episodes go for sooo long (tonight being a case in point). Plus I have MKR-related fatigue and MasterChef began straight afterwards.

MasterChef is on Ten from 7-8.40pm

Lemon aspen juice- what the? Sea lettuce – what the? Waxed flowers – isn’t it wax flower? Home cooking week is well and truly over.

No recap from me tonight – I’m doing the airport pickup thing. Will pick up some lemon aspen juice on the way home. I look forward to reading your comments.

Eloise’s whiskey ice cream sambo:

From mystery man Trent:


Nicole’s roo:

Doctor Ray’s mystery box winning sambo:

Jess’s raw roo:



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MasterChef – Sun, July 17 – mystery box

The top six contestants now face a mystery box challenge containing some of the hottest ingredients being used in the world right now. The winner will gain the advantage going into the invention test.

What do we think the hottest ingredients in the world are? Surely beetroot has to be there.


The mystery box contained camel’s milk, matcha, pisco (brandy), cobia (also known as black kingfish), kohlrabi, mushroom leaves, kaiserfleisch, gochujang (Korean fermented chilli and soybeans).
Surprise, surprise – none of them has cooked with camel’s milk before.
“I didn’t even know camel’s milk was fit for human consumption,” says Intense Matt. At least most of them would have tried kohlrabi and kaiserfleisch is a type of bacon. They have an hour to cook a dish, with the usual pantry staples, minus cow’s milk.
IM is heroing the cobia fish by dry curing it in salt, sugar and matcha powder.
Seafood lover Harry also goes the fish, with the gochujang for a spicy sauce and kohlrabi, smoking the cobia bones to add flavour. The judges seem impressed with his ideas.
Mimi is also using cobia with a kaiserfleisch oil. I hope not everyone is using the fish. Can’t someone do a matcha and camel’s milk dessert?
Trent is wet curing the fish in the brandy and chilli paste and says he wants to use the camel’s milk in a soz. Glowing Elena is curing hers in the brandy and is doing crispy fish skin and she is pickling the mushroom leaves and doing a chilli caramel.
Elise is doing a dessert – yay! Oh, no, it’s a matcha parfait – Another Bloody Parfait. And she has the red moulds of death out. I’m glad she’s at least doing something different.
IM is worried his massive chunk of fish won’t cure in time – can’t he just cut it up smaller so the dry cure penetrates the flesh more? Instead he vac seals it so the cure is forced into the flesh. He’s made a kohlrabi leaf fritter for texture.
Trent says the camel’s milk reminds him of fresh cow’s milk, as it’s “a bit funky”. Matt Preston warns him to taste his camel’s milk soz with the fish.
Elise is soaking thin kohlrabi slices in the pisco brandy and and is candying others. IM is making a savoury custard with the camel’s milk and chilli paste. Matt P tastes it and says it’s sweet, so IM adds vinegar from the pantry staples.
Does this mean Trent’s camel milk soz will also be too sweet?
GE is making a million veg elements to go with her fish … In MasterChef – we have kings of savoury and dessert queens – is she the vegie queen?
Harry is finishing his fish over the gas flame to give it char. IM is happy with his fish and his blobs of custard look like cool egg yolks on the plate, but GE has overdone her chilli caramel and it’s too globby. She plates it anyway. The challenge is almost over and Harry’s fish is not cooked enough – no wonder, it’s a chunky fish.
Mimi had hardly any air time – yet again. So she hasn’t won.
The judges taste


IM’s fish with savoury custard: The judges love the look of it. “There’s more than a few things I love about,” says Gaz. The kohlrabi leaf is crunchy, the custard and the cured fish delicious. Matt says IM is a “true original”.


GE’s fish and kohlrabi: Gaz loves all the textures but the caramel is too hard. “It’s a really good dish,” says Matt, apart from the caramel.


Trent’s fish with camel’s milk soz: Yum, says Gaz. He likes the crispy textures. They like it but aren’t raving about it.
Mimi’s fish with kaiserfleisch mayo: George likes the flavours but her ratios are off. It doesn’t warrant a photo on the MasterChef twitter feed.


Elise’s matcha parfait with kohlrabi: “You’re a master of the parfait, so why not exploit the fact in finals week,” says Gaz. Matt says she’s on trend using savoury items in a dessert: “Hot ingredients, hot dish.”


Harry’s fish: George tries to amp up the drama by questioning whether the fish will be cooked. Cue extremely loud dramatic music. But it’s cooked perfectly. Matt says his use of smoke was inspired and loves the “jellified fat”. Don’t we all love a bit of jellified fat? “This is a dirty streetfighter of a dish and I like it,” he says. George just has a “wow”.

And the winner is
Everyone did a great job, yadda yadda, but Harry won. He gets the choose the advantage aka kiss of death for the invention test.
He gets to choose from a using a smoking gun, sous vide machine and liquid nitrogen.

He picks liquid nitrogen (which he used to great effect to make frozen fruit burst in one of Heston challenges) and Elise looks stoked but IM freaks out. They have 60 minutes and an open pantry.

Invention test
A worried IM reckons everyone will do ice cream so instead he’s doing a coconut mousse with raspberries. Harry is making fennel sorbet, a strawberry granita, a black sesame dacquoise (aka cake).
GE wants to stand out by cooking a savoury dish called “Cool as a Cucumber”. Vegie Queen! She’ll use the nitro for a yoghurt snow over cucumber done several ways, with pops of mint, dill and apple. Uh oh – Talking TV regulars Julie and Carole will be gagging at the thought of eating cucumber.
Mimi is making a foraged mint slice. Does MasterChef have a forest nearby? No, she’s going to chuck a desserty soil on top of some mint ice cream and the diner has to dig for their dinner.
Uh oh – more voiceover of IM saying how nervous he is. And he’s split his cake mixture, according to the judges. But he keeps on going.
Trent is making coconut cake with Chinese five-spice ice cream and a “con-fit” pineapple.
Elise is, of course, doing a dessert: saffron mousse domes with a crumb and orange blossom ice cream. The judges are worried she’s been heavy handed with the saffron, but she forges ahead.
Meanwhile, GE hopes to win over the judges by soaking cucumbers in gin. Mimi is adding loads of mint to her ice cream but it’s not strong enough in flavour. Is there no peppermint oil in the pantry she could sneak past the judges?
Elise’s ice cream freezes well with the nitro. IM drops spoonfuls of his coconut mousse into the nitro but he’s not happy with the result. Quick – do an ice cream, IM!
Trent seems under control but I’m worried his dessert will be too sweet.
IM is plating up but he’s not happy, so cuts his cake in half. Then regrets it. He’s not been in the right headspace this whole challenge. Bottom three for sure.
GE’s dish looks so pretty and Harry is thrilled with his fennel sorbet. Again, no beetroot this episode!

The judges taste


Elena’s cucumber dish: George loves it – it’s refreshing and interesting. Matt says using one ingredient many ways is very modern.


Mimi’s mint dish: Will it be minty enough? (Do we really care at this stage? These Sunday night episodes do drag on. I’d rather they broke up the mystery box and invention test over two nights.) It needed more mint – it was a mistake to puree it as it changed the flavour. They love the idea; not the execution. There’s another one for bottom three.


Trent’s coconut cake with “con-fit” pineapple: The judges say it’s not quite right. The textures of sponge and ice creamar good but the five-spice flavour does not go with the coconut and pineapple [Should have done cardamom, Trent.]. “When it comes down to pressure into the bottom three, I’m not buying it,” says Gaz tersely.


Elises’s saffron mousse: It looks a bit bare on the plate. Gaz says it tastes like Christmas flavours and they like the ice cream. Matt says it needs some fresh orange to offset the other elements.
IM’s cake and coconut mousse: “I think you’re in a bit of trouble,” says Gaz. “It’s a cake you might buy in a shop and take home for tea. “It’s you on an off day,” says Other Matt. IM know it’s rubbish and there’s no pic of it on the MC twitter feed.


Harry’s black sesame cake with fennel sorbet: Harry certainly has a flair for the dramatic with his plating, using the charcoal plate to make the colours of his strawberry granita and fennel sorbet pop. Gaz says he’s taken the plating up a notch. You can tell they’re going to love it. “Beyond delicious … it’s sophisticated and well thought out, says Gaz, adding the techniques are very cheffy. This will be their fave dish of the challenge. So, having the advantage was not the kiss of death for once.

The judges decide
They loved Harry and Elena’s dishes and I’m guessing Elise will be third because they need to fill the spot.
That means bottom three for tomorrow’s pressure test are IM, Trent and Mimi. Let’s hope for the boys’ sake it’s not a dessert.

Tomorrow night
Oh no – it IS a dessert – and it looks super intricate. Mimi has to be the fave for this one.


Hopefully the footage of IM talking about how rubbish he will be is just a red herring.



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MasterChef – Sun, Jul 10 – San Fran trip

The MasterChef Australia competition travels to California for the week. With just a map in hand the contestants must track down the mystery box ingredients from local San Francisco produce shops.

Don’t forget to vote in the new poll for MasterChef final three.
According to Wikipedia (so it must be true), this is the rundown for the last few weeks of the show:
wikirundownjul10

We start with the Qantas plug with Elise and Trent living it up in business class – the reward for having won the last challenge. No footage of the others crammed into cattle class.
All of a sudden they are strolling on a clifftop past Alcatraz. “It’s an absolutely mint day,” says Intense Matt.
George is looking extra stubbly today but Matt Preston is wearing a new cream blazer and waistcoat combo.
They learn today is a mystery box challenge, with each person contributing one item of local produce they buy somewhere in San Francisco. Harry and Brett end up at a fishmonger scoffing down calamari, oysters and crab. Trent and Elise stumble upon a farmers market – no way did a producer tell them to head there. Trent goes for citrus while Elise finds a dreadlocked farmer to sell her vegies. She wants to choose a veg that has multiple uses. No doubt it will be beetroot.
IM ends up in a fancy chocolate shop where they wrap they blocks of chocolate for you and he’s right – no-one would have picked him to choose bacon. Glowing Elena is sent more to a deli type place and is sniffing around the fennel pollen – will she pick it? No Mimi airtime.
They head back to the outdoor MasterChef kitchen, with views of the Golden gate bridge.
The mystery box contains: Mimi – beef shortribs, GE – fennel pollen, Brett – fennel goat’s cheese, Harry – crab, IM – 100 per cent Ecuadorean choc, Trent – tangelos and Elise – golden beetroot. They have 60 minutes and the usual staples of butter, flour etc.
IM is planning to do Korean short ribs with roasted beets, tangelo and beet relish with grated choc, served on flatbread.
Trent is doing a dessert of smoked choc mousse with tangelo granita. Ooh, fancy. Trent is really getting into smoking stuff. But he’s having drama melting the choc as it’s 100 per cent cacao. Luckily he fixes it by folding some smoked cream through it.
Elise is, of course, doing dessert: a choc brownie with a golden beet and tangelo sorbet.
Mimi is grilling her shortribs and serving them with beetroot and a fennel cracker.
Harry is making what he calls crab benedict while GE is making a crab and beetroot salad with the veg done several ways, including a beetroot puree with fennel pollen.
Brett is doing fennel pollen ravioli (it’s a while since we’ve had ravioli on the show, after the initial glut of them) stuffed with goat’s cheese.
IM is in his element cooking street food and we get talking head reiterating his food truck dream. He’s getting heaps of airtime so could well be winning this challenge.
Now Elise is having the same choc dramas as Trent and she’s using silicon moulds, but the red moulds of death obviously weren’t tucked into the Qantas jet cargo hold. Elise’s brownies are a bust and she’s trying to hold back the tears in front of a crowd of tourists. “It looks like absolutely crap,” she says in her usual blunt manner. At least George comes over to put an arm around her and give her a pep talk. She gets back on track and plans a few last-minute elements to bulk out her dish.
Trent adds a microwave sponge to his dish as an afterthought, even though he thinks it’s too dense.
Again, Mimi has disappeared from the edit. And Harry didn’t get much time.

The judges taste


GE’s crab and beet salad: George says there is a definite “look” to her food. Gaz says it’s clean and fresh. “I love it,” says George.


Elise’s beet and tangelo sorbet with fennel and citrus crumb: Gaz tells her it looks fine but she’s teary anyway. He likes the sorbet. “Show everyone here in America how good you are,” George tells her.


Trent’s smoky choc mousse with tangelo granita: You can tell from the edit they are going to hate the sponge. George loves the smoked mousse. But Matt says the sponge is “bleagh”. Gaz says he’s worried for him: “You haven’t found your identity yet in the competition.”
Mimi’s beef with crackers and beetroot: She gets a few words about it being tasty.
Brett’s ravioli: The cheese dominates the crab. It is, however, delish.


Harry’s crab benedict: It looks great and it’s fun, they say.


IM’s beef ribs in flatbread: He’s worried it’s street food and not fancy enough. They are so going to love it. And, yes, they love the colours and he gets the tinkly piano. Thumbs up from Gaz: “The hairs on the back of my head just went ‘ping’.” George takes the leftovers out to the crowd to try.

The winner is …
Yep, it’s IM, which was bleedingly obvious from about eight minutes in. Next up is a parade of farmers walking in carrying giant baskets of local produce. IM’s advantage is to pick one ingredient to be the challenge “hero” and he goes the beef. Brett will be happy. They can use any of the local produce, plus staples, and have 60 minutes.
If they win this one they get fast-tracked to the final challenge of San Fran week.

Elena is making a borscht-inspired sauce, using red cabbage and betroot, calling on her Ukrainian heritage. Matt is respecting the produce by not cooking it, for a carpaccio. Trent is going back to the hearty rustic cooking that is more his style, doing steak, mushies and creamy kale.
Elise wishes she was doing dessert but sucks it up to cook steak with smoked leek, pickled onions and jus.
For once, the judges aren’t thrilled with GE’s dish and look disdainfully at her soz of beetroot and beef bones. “I think you’re just making it mucky and dirty,” says Gaz. “It looks like a witches’ brew.” Ouch.
Harry is the first one to pull out the sous vide machine, so his steak will be perfectly cooked. Brett is doing the caveman rib eye on the bone with a smoked parsnip puree, which we’ve seen a few times.
Mimi is going with a walnut theme, crusting her rib eye with it and serving it with a walnut pesto and walnut butter.
IM makes parsnip chips to go with his raw beef but needs to trick it up some more.
Mimi pulls her T-rex haunch from the oven and reckons she’s overcooked it. And, yes, it’s no longer mooing.
IM is adding some sauteed mushies and a smoked, confit egg yolk to his dish. Trent is happy with his self-described “caveman food”.
Elise is doing her dessert-style plating for her dish and you know the judges will adore it. She’s getting the underdog comeback edit.
Mimi and Brett aren’t in with a chance – they haven’t had enough airtime, and Harry isn’t far behind.

The judges taste …


Elise’s steak with smoked leeks: The pretty plating gets a “woah”. Gaz says she has a great chance of getting into finals week. Matt loved the soz and the balance of the elements. George tells her she needs to embrace her savoury side.


Trent’s caveman food: “Everything taste as it should do,” says Matt. The judges are happy he’s “cooking from the heart”. Meanwhile, on the sidelines the tourists are shivering in their hoodies while our contestants are stuck in their T-shirts for continuity.
GE’s teak and veg with borscht-inspired soz: Gaz actually loves the soz but thinks it doesn’t go with beef. Matt thinks it would suit duck or pork more.
Harry’s sous vide steak with mushies and onion soz: They like it.
Brett’s rib eye with pickled beetroot and smoked parsnip puree: Gaz loves the puree.
Mimi’s walnut beef: Night has fallen by the time Mimi’s dish is tasted. Poor thing looks nervous and cold. Gaz thinks it’s not as overcooked as she feared. It’s delish. Matt likes the walnut theme.


IM’s carpaccio with smoked egg yolk: Again, the edit is doing the “it’s a risk thing” to make you think it will be a disaster. Gaz says the dish shows confidence and maturity in looks alone. George says he respected the produce. Matt says the yolk “derailed” the dish slightly.

The winner …
..and the person who will be fast-tracked to the end-of-the-week challenge is out of Elise (and George gives her a loud “yes” – and not a “yes, George” yes) and Trent. And Trent gets it! Good one, Trent. “You could seriously win this competition,” George tells him. Much as I love Trent, at this stage, that would be a bit of a surprise, as the edit has painted him as more of a steady cook than a risk taker.


Now, please let them put some jackets on and go back to the hotel for hot showers.

Tomorrow night
They have to replicate the dishes of a Domenique Crenn, who’s won “best female chef in the world” awards. Yay – a female chef who’s not Kylie Kwong on the show. She’s so fancy that when you go to the website for one of her restaurants and click on “menu” you just get a poem. George would love it. But maybe not so much vegetarians wondering if there are any meat-free dishes.



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MasterChef – Sun, May 29 – Mystery Box


To quote Brad Pitt: What’s in the box?

Matt Preston is back in purple but it’s more of a strong lavender shade tonight, with an Impressionist-style white, purple and green cravat. The contestants have 60 minutes to produce a dish and – here’s a twist – the winner gets a shortcut straight to the immunity pin challenge. And they are told not to waste too many mystery box ingredients. Anyone who’s watched the show before knows they’ve previously cooked with kitchen scraps, so the savvy ones should stockpile some ingredients for the next round. Here’s what’s in the box:

Mmm, pork belly.
Mmm, pork belly.

I expect we’ll see a lot of fish or pork dishes with Asian flavours, as everyone always goes straight for the protein. I hope someone does a lime dessert – Charlie? Karmen?
Will Anastasia get airtime tonight? We haven’t seen her for a while. Who else? Elena? Cecilia? Electrician Trent?
We get a talking head from Brett about his barra bromance, so it will be great or dreadful. Intense Matt is getting airtime about hispork belly so perhaps there’s yet another victory in store for him – go Intense Matt!
Nose Ring Chloe is getting the ditherer edit usually reserved for Theresa but decides to go with a smoked nougat.
Oh, here’s SWishy Pony Tail Zoe – we haven’t seen her for a while. She’s doing sponge with smoked vanilla ice cream. Smoking is hot, hot, hot this season. Anastasia gets to speak – the editors are giving some of the usual suspects a rest. She’s doing pork belly.
Wow – and Trent can talk! He’s never been tasted – but he’s never had any shockers. He’s making miso pork and corn dumplings with miso caramel sauce. Matt Preston is pushing him to make a broth so there’s no repeat of the dry ravioli-style dishes they’ve been seeing.
Brett is getting the flashback about his pilot background and his food dream of running a gastro pub in Victoria with his daughters. So he’ll get tasted.
The edit is focusing a lot on Intense Matt’s pork belly and whether it will be tender or not. I predict a triumph. Anastasia is getting the same edit (again pronouncing it missoo) but I reckon her pork won’t cook.
Trent is having dumpling dramas – they don’t look right so he rolls more dough. Zoe is staring at her cake as it’s not cooked in the centre. It’s a small cake but why didn’t she do a second one that was just muffin sized? They always need a back-up plan. George tastes her smoked ice cream and loves it, so even if her cake flops she’ll get tasted – as has happened before.

Time to taste five dishes
Pilot Brett is up first with his crispy barra with corn two ways and pickled beetroot: Matt says it’s classic, delicious and well rounded.
Anastasia’s vanilla sticky pork with beetroot: “This is a cracking dish,” says George, but it needs salt. Matt says it needed more time in the pressure cooker to be perfect. Gaz likes her.
Trent gets his first tasting for his pork and corn dumplings with a miso and caramel broth: Gaz loves the presentation. Matt says the balance of flavours is great. They all love it.
Zoe’s sponge with miso glaze and smoked vanilla ice cream: “That is one of the best ice creams I’ve tasted in this competition,” says George. But her cake sucks. Matt says she should have just served the ice cream with the miso caramel sauce.
chloemay29
Chloe’s smoked lime and vanilla nougat with lime crumb and beetroot caramel: Ooh – she gets the Matt tap of the spoon. And then from George. And then even Gaz comes to the party. They think all the elements are in balance. “I do want to lick the bowl,” says Gaz. And, yes, Chloe has won. She’s been a bit up and down this season but has done quite well when put in a pressure situation.

Invention test
There’s no pantry and no herb garden but they do get the usual staples. They’re cooking with whatever’s left in that mystery box, including their scraps – and they get extra credit for using scraps creatively.
Elena gets a talking head – she and Harry both have some barra left. Given most people would have cooked with either pork or barra in the first round, they still have opctions.
Heather is doing barra mornay with coriander root and corn cob-infused bechamel.
Mimi us making coriander ice cream with lime syrup cake – quick, get some smoke in there, Mimi, or you won’t have a chance.
Pilot Brett is doing a pork sanger with flatbread and miso mayo.
Intense Matt is making san choy bau with barra wrapped in beetroot leaves.
Karmen is doing a savoury dish for once and it sounds interesting: barra with pickled beetroot “scales” and a burnt miso sauce. If only we knew what she’d cooked in the first round – presumably a lime dessert.
Charlie is making miso ice cream but it may not set.
Brett is making a miso mayo to go with his sanger but he is running out of ingredients (presumably egg) and stuffs it up. It’s because you didn’t drizzle in your oil, Brett!
Oh – here’s Theresa. She’s doing vanilla miso ice cream with a corn custard. The judges are a little worried she’s doing two soft-textured. Gaz as much as tells her to make pastry.
Charlie’s miso ice cream is too runny so out come the trusty red silicon moulds.
Matt is making floss and crispy skin with his barra for crunchy textures. No sign of many of the contestants featured in the first round, so they’re out of the running.
Elise is making a parfait and a soil – haven’t had one of those for a while. What’s the difference between a soil and a crumb?
Heather is trying to make a rough puff to go with her mornay and Matt pops over to give her instructions on using the smoking gun. Smoking guns are the new sous vide – expect to see a lot of them on MKR next year.
Mimi’s dome-shaped lime syrup cakes look delish, but Elise is having cake trouble – she’s doing one of those siphon microwave cakes in a paper coffee cup but her siphon isn’t charging. George and Gaz tell her it’s because her cake mixture is way too thick. Uh oh.
Intense Matt says his dish is “a texture bomb” and it does look inviting. Karmen’s fish with beetroot scales also looks fabulous.

Uh oh - nose wipe alert - hope that was sweat, Theresa!
Uh oh – nose wipe alert – hope that was sweat, Theresa!

Time to taste
Will we see what people like Miles and Elena have made?

Intense Matt’s barra san choy bau:

Good one, Matt.
Good one, Matt.
The judges love the look of it. “You have no idea of the pleasure of this dish … I’m just thrilled that you’re putting up beautiful food,” says Gaz. “That is making the hair on the back of my head stand up.” So Gaz is Team Intense Matt, too. They even liked that he did two sauces.
Happy intense Matt and a rare Cecilia sighting.
Happy intense Matt and a rare Cecilia sighting.

Charlie’s miso ice cream with corn crumb (but his caramel has seized): George tries to smash the caramel with his spoon just to rub in to poor Charlie how much he’s ballsed it up. The ice cream is a bit funky – and not in a good way. He’s usually perfect hair is all floppy. So he’s bottom three.
Heather’s barra mornay: Matt likes the idea of the dish. And he loves the flavour and textures.
Brett’s roasted pork in coriander flatbread: Matt loves the pork. “Is it a disaster dish? No.” George says the bread is undercooked and “blanket-like”. Ouch. As Brett already knew, it needed soz.
Elise’s vanilla parfait with lime curd and coriander sponge: Ok, but it could be better.
trentmay29
Trent’s lime and vanilla tart with semifreddo: (This plating with mini meringues torched with a creme brulee torch must be hot right now) Gaz loves the tart.
Elena’s corn fritters with miso pork fish floss: “Very impressed,” says Gaz. Just to remind you, here’s what Elena looks like.


Zoe’s pork belly with miso butterscotch: “Another great dish,” says Gaz.

You can see her dessert plating come into play here.
You can see her dessert plating come into play here.
Karmen’s barra: “It just utterly makes sense,” says Gaz – his cranky pants must be in the wash. George says it’s incredible and she can win the comp.
Theresa’s sweet corn milk tart and miso ice cream (she whispers “sorry” as the judges taste): Matt says it tastes like tuna mornay: “I really don’t like it.” She’s bottom three.
Mimi’s coriander ice cream with lime syrup cake: Gaz thinks it’s clever and moreish. “It’s as if the coriander says ‘I need to be in ice cream always’,” says Matt.
That’s it – no Anastasia, no Nicolette, no Miles and no Harry all episode.

Top three
Going through to the invention test and a chance to fight for immunity with Chloe are easy picks: Intense Matt, Karmen and Mimi.
Bottom three are also obvious: Charlie, Theresa and Brett

Tomorrow: Chef Jason Atherton sets the pressure test and it’s a quail afternoon tea. What? Google says he received a Michelin star and previously worked for Gordon Ramsey. And he hosted the UK’s version of MKR, but doubt that will get a mention. I don’t know how Brett will go in this as it looks quite fiddly and he’s more about bold flavours, not flashy techniques.



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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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