This will be a combined recap of this week's two MasterChef episodes.
If you were paying attention during the previews of this week's episode, you were probably excited to see Monday night's episode where one of the last eight eliminated home cooks get a chance to cook their way back into the competition.
When the six remaining contestants come into the kitchen, they are surprised to learn they won't be cooking today. Instead, they get to watch as some "familiar faces," cook. It's the last eight eliminated home cooks from the show - Stacey, Josh, Tali, Tanya, Mike, Anna, Scott, and Ryan. God, I do NOT want to see Ryan get back into the competition!! It's amusing that everyone is clapped for a cheered for except for Ryan; the home cooks are just about as excited to see him again as I am, LOL.
The contestants get to create their own Mystery Box. Each person goes into the pantry and selects one item for the box. Wow, did they come up with a wacky box! In the end, they chose: portebella mushrooms, pork chops, celery, condensed milk, white wine vinegar, chocolate buttons, pomegranate, and heavy cream.
The two contestants with the best dishes will go on to compete in a second challenge which will determine who will return to the MasterChef competition.
When time's up, this is what each home cook has come up with:
Josh - Chocolate mouse with pomegranate sauce and candied lemon peel.
Anna - Pan-seared pork chop with shaved pomegranate and celery salad.
Tali - Chocolate pot de créme with celery foam and pomegranate syrup.
Scott - Stuffed pork chop with pickled pomegranate and celery sauce.
Tanya - Grilled pork chop with mushroom and celery ragu.
Stacey - Mushroom ravioli with roasted pork chop and celery cream.
Mike - Chocolate flan with lemon zest and sugar glass.
Ryan - Pan-seared pork chop with pomegranate gastrique and mushroom ragu.
The two people who will face off in the second challenge are Josh and Ryan.
They must each make a fruit tart. They can be as creative as they like with this challenge. The judges will not be tasting their dishes, however, the final six contestants will be judging them. Of course no one would pick Ryan's tart if they knew which one was his, so they must leave the room while Josh and Ryan cook and conduct a blind taste test.
Ryan ends up making more of a traditional berry tart while Josh makes a tropical fruit tart. Each of the final six have good and bad things to say about both tarts.
But in the end, it was unanimously decided that they liked Josh's tart better! WOOHOO!!! So Josh is back in the competition!
Tuesday Night's Episode:
Tuesday night's episode of MasterChef starts with another Mystery Box Challenge. What's in the box? Live prawns!
The home cooks only have 45 minutes to create a great dish this time.
Monti is freaking out because she doesn't like anything staring at her in the kitchen. When Chef Ramsay comes by to talk to her, he gets a shower from Monti trying to get her prawns out of the tank, LOL.
When time is up, three people are called forward for their excellent dishes. The first person to be called forward is Becky who has made it into the top 3 a total of 5 times now. She's made grilled prawns with saffron rice and salsa verde.
The next person to be called forward is Christine. It's been a while since we've seen her in the top 3, so I'm excited. She's made spot prawns with pineapple broth.
David is the last person to be called forward. He's made spot prawn ceviche.
After they discuss the dishes, the judges decide David is the winner of tonight's Mystery Box Challenge. He goes back to the pantry with the judges to see what his advantage is for the Elimination Test.
He doesn't get immunity this week. Instead he gets to choose what ingredient he and the other home cooks will be cooking with: corn, beets, or bacon. They home cooks will have to incorporate the ingredient into a dessert.
David chooses corn. He gets to see three examples of how corn is used in desserts. He decides to incorporate corn into a rice pudding. He also gets to shop for five minutes along in the pantry. When he's done, he realizes he forgot the rice! How on earth do you forget the main component of your dish? He is so screwed unless someone else happens to get rice and lets him use some.
After the other home cooks spend time in the pantry gathering their ingredients, David goes around asking everyone if they have any rice. The only person who grabbed any rice was Becky. She says she grabbed it in case she needed a backup plan. She generously gives it to David. David should be thanking his lucky stars that she grabbed it and that she's a nice person.
When time runs out, it's time for tasting.
David brings his dish up first. He's made rice and corn pudding with some caramel sauce. Joe says it's really, really disgusting! Chef Ramsay says he can't really taste the corn in it and that there are too many spices.
Becky's up next. She's made popcorn and panna cotta. Joe likes the way she's plated the dish. Graham thinks it's delicious.
Christine is up next. She's made corn and coconut pudding. Joe remarks that it's a simple dish, but there's still a lot going on in it. All the judges agree that it's good.
Monti's made a corn souffle. The judges all agree that it's good. Chef Ramsay says it's delicious.
Felix is up next. She presents corn profiteroles. Chef Ramsay says there's no texture to the dish. He remarks that this is her worst dish in the competition. Joe says it's not sweet, it's raw. Graham Elliot says her dish is way below what he expected of her and it's dense, not airy.
Frank's made corn budino with chocolate ganache. Graham thinks it's a solid dish and Chef Ramsay thinks it's delicious.
Last up is Josh. He's made corn créme brulee with corn caramel. Graham says the dish looks unappetizing and he expects more from Josh at this point in the competition. Joe Bastianich says it looks bad and it is entirely too sweet.
The judges deliberate among themselves and return with a decision.
The two winning dishes this week are from Becky and Frank. They will be team captains in the next team challenge. The three worst dishes this week are from David, Felix, and Josh. Did Josh come back into this competition only to be sent right back home?
Nope, he is safe this week. That leaves us with Felix and David.
Felix is sent home and David remains in the competition. Was anyone as surprised as I was that Felix went home over David this week?
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