It's the professional MasterChef quarterfinal.
These five skilful chefs triumphed in their heats.
Tonight, they'll be judged on two tough challenges designed to push
them even further.
The judges said I've set the bar
high for myself, so I need to now,
like, take it to the next step.
It's not just food you're cooking,
it's your love, it's your hate, it's your anger,
it's your emotion.
You're here, you're in it.
Do not, do not, do not let
your head get the better of you.
First, they must devise and cook a delicious dish starring some
of Britain's most-wasted ingredients.
It's a clever move. That's not half bad.
Those who succeed will go on to cook for three of the country's
most-discerning food critics.
Inspiring, thrilling, it makes life worth living.
Only the very best will earn a place in knockout week.
Five fantastic chefs.
They're good enough to get here, are they good enough to stay here?
I want them to push.
A good cook excels when they're under the pressure
of the MasterChef kitchen.
Welcome back. We have got a great challenge for you now.
We don't want you to waste this opportunity.
You each have a box on your bench, and underneath those boxes is a clue
to this challenge.
Please, take away the box.
We have four ingredients that are wasted more than any other.
Bread, milk, potatoes and banana.
Your challenge is to create a dish,
but one or more of those four wasted
ingredients needs to be at the forefront of your dish.
Behind us, there is an array of other ingredients
for you to choose from.
You've got ten minutes to come and choose your ingredients,
70 minutes to cook and serve. Come up and choose.
The chefs can choose additional ingredients from a larder
which includes smoked haddock, sea bass and chicken, as well
as a selection of fruit, vegetables and herbs.
They can use whatever they want, but they must include either milk,
bread, potatoes or bananas.
Show us what you can do with that that makes it stunning.
A little bit nervous.
Definitely a tough challenge.
I'm just trying to get my creative juices flowing.
Something down a pastry route.
I'm very confident in using things that I know.
I'm very confident using, well, bananas.
I think all chefs are aware of food waste.
It's what you do with that food waste is what counts.
But they have to raise the bar and they've got to show us
that they deserve that next step in the MasterChef kitchen.
Hopefully, I'm doing something which will let
the produce shine through no matter how slightly off it might be.
HE LAUGHS
OK, chefs, 70 minutes.
At the end of this,
one of you, unfortunately, will be leaving the competition.
Off you go.
26-year-old Molly from Leeds left school at 16 to pursue her dream
of being a chef.
She now runs a catering business with her partner, Charlotte.
She impressed the judges with her modern take
on some classic dishes.
I believe a good chef can think on their feet. You have to.
My main thing today is just don't panic.
I'm smiling, but it's, like, a nervous smile,
and, you know, my stomach's like a washing machine.
What items have you chosen?
I've chosen milk, bread and potato.
What's your dish, please?
My dish is a take on champ mash,
but I'm going to make it into a potato cake
with spring onion, chives,
and I'm going to do poached haddock.
What does waste mean to you?
It means a lot cos I've got my own business. We're only small,
it's just me and Charlotte. So we can't chuck stuff away because
we're essentially chucking our own money away and our profits,
and it's just not an option.
We know that you work with your girlfriend. Yeah.
How did she react when you told her you got through?
She were right happy. We got engaged at the weekend.
Say that again. We got engaged.
We went to Dublin for the week and she got me a Celtic ring.
And I've now got a fiancee.
SHE LAUGHS
Be a cracking week if you go through as well as getting
engaged, wouldn't it?
Oh, I know. If I can keep going, I'd be buzzing.
Thank you.
SHE LAUGHS
Molly's taken the milk and the potatoes as the key ingredient.
She's going to poach some smoked fish in the milk.
Can't stop shaking!
She's also got the potato, which she's making into a cake.
She's going to put some of the milk from the cooking of the smoked
haddock into the potato.
Woo!
To me, as a working-class Londoner, it sounds like a bubble
and squeak cake.
Woo! In Ireland, champ.
Come on, Molly.
It absolutely sounds delicious,
and I think Molly's been really clever with her use of ingredients.
29-year-old chef James manages a hash brown street food business.
After an impressive Skills Test...
This tasted really good.
...he further stood out with a combination of French classics
and Asian flavours.
I love taking what people might say is a bland ingredient
and funking it up.
I find the idea of the Invention Test exciting.
It's something I feel like I can show a bit of flair on.
James, you had a good couple of opening rounds.
How are you feeling about it now? These things are always kind of
tougher than you initially imagine but, yeah,
I'm settling into it now, I think,
so I'd love to cook more dishes for you guys.
What waste ingredient have you chosen, and what is your dish?
I've gone for potato, predominantly,
with some bread going through it as well.
So I'm doing a hash brown,
croutons, soy-cured egg yolk in the middle.
Hash brown, you're playing to your strengths here.
It's what you do every day. You've got a hash brown wagon?
We have, we do have a hash brown wagon.
And on a good day, how many hash browns might you make?
Oh, sometimes we do 1,000 covers.
Well, in some sense, there should be no problem making just two.
You say that now.
well...
James is using potato,
he's using milk and he's using bread.
Fantastic. Really, really impressive.
The main element of his dish is a hash brown.
The potato is at the centre point of this dish.
His hash browns should be perfect.
Not a drop of grease, cooked all the way through, nicely browned.
I've just thrown some red peppercorn through the butter, and then that is
going to be poured into the hash browns throughout
the cooking process to make it delicious.
I like the idea of the croutons as well with some of the stale bread.
He's putting the egg yolk into soy sauce.
The soy's rich in salt and seasoning, and that will
just gently cure that egg yolk.
He's got to get the timing just right.
Simples.
Sous-chef Lauren works for a private catering company in London.
She secured her place
in the quarterfinal by impressing the judges
with her passion and Caribbean touches.
If I go into my fridge, and there's something that is on its last legs,
I'm like, this is going to work and this is going in my dish tonight.
So I try to do that, especially with the current climate.
SHE LAUGHS
Lauren, what are the key ingredients you've chosen?
Somehow I've used all of them.
Have you? Yeah, a risky, risky business, but I think there's
a plan behind it. All right, tell me
what the plan is and tell me what your dish is.
So, essentially, you've got a refined fried chicken and chips.
We use the milk to marinate my chicken.
The whole potatoes are kind of julienne to make potato chips.
I've used the banana to make a banana ketchup,
so rather than using sugar,
I've used a banana to sweeten the ketchup.
Wow! Get you, Lauren! Yeah.
Lauren, she's featuring four of the ingredients, and she's even
using the banana in a banana ketchup.
I've not made one before, but today will be the day.
SHE LAUGHS
To use a banana as the sweetener for a ketchup
is very clever.
I've still got the tomato in there, but the banana's the main flavour.
Chefs, you have 20 minutes left.
20 should be plenty.
Welsh sous-chef leuan got off to a strong start in the Skills
Test but received mixed feedback for his elevated pub favourites,
doing just enough to make it to the quarterfinal.
I can certainly feel a little bit more pressure.
Obviously, the challenges get a little bit harder.
Even if it comes crumbling down,
enjoy the tumble, I guess, and move forward from it.
Ieuan, you've a smile on your face? Trying, yeah, it's good.
And what waste products have you chosen?
As soon as I saw bananas, I was, like, straight for the bananas.
Obviously use milk, cos you can make custards, ice creams,
the sky's the limit. What are you making?
A sticky toffee banana sponge
with a white chocolate whipped ganache.
Banana ice cream, candied peanuts.
Did I see you put skins as well in the blitzer? Yeah.
The banana skin went in the cake so it doesn't go dry in the oven.
Wow!
I don't think I've ever, ever had a banana skin in a cake
in my life.
He wants to feature the banana and, wow, is he featuring it.
God, it's hot in here.
He's even using the banana skin.
Ieuan has blitzed
up all the banana,
and he's put that into his cake mix.
I've never eaten a banana skin.
Well, I have, but it was an accident, and it was hideous.
Now, if that works, I think that's brilliant.
It does sound good, though.
Banana, toffee, banana ice cream, whipped ganache with white chocolate
running through. These ingredients that are all created
to work together.
Ice cream on, cakes are done.
If they all come together,
we're in for a treat.
A little longer.
You have got ten minutes!
28-year-old Lithuanian-born chef de partie
Evelina got off to a shaky start in the Skills Test...
You're kind of over time now.
I'm sorry. ..but she won the judges over with punchy flavours
in both her signature dishes.
The Invention Test, when you don't know what you're going to get,
it's exciting, but also it's a bit scary.
I've got my running shoes on today. SHE CHUCKLES
What are you making, please, Chef?
So I'm making a sea bass and potato mash
inside the little potatoes.
I'm making a red wine sauce and then green parsley
crumb as well.
Well, you're using our key ingredients, but you're not making
them the main part of it,
they're used quite sparingly throughout your dish.
At the end of the day, I do have to make a tasty plate
of food, so hopefully...
And what's your thoughts on waste in life, in kitchens?
It plays a big part, I think, in my life, and it should play a big
part in every chef's life.
Through the years I've worked in kitchens, I've seen quite
a lot of waste. I personally like to use everything.
How do you say goodbye in Lithuania?
Viso gero. Viso gero?
Viso gero. Viso gero.
SHE LAUGHS Thank you.
Evelina, she's got the potato, which she's cut into halves.
She's scooped the potato out.
She's mixed that with a little bit of leek,
and then she's putting that back
into the potato skin, which I think is really clever.
But sea bass is the main element.
She's going to flavour breadcrumbs with herbs.
Parsley through my crumb. I just want it to be as vibrant a green
colour as possible.
Right.
We've got a red wine sauce.
So far, so good.
LAUGHS: We'll see.
Little bit of breadcrumb, little bit of potato,
that is a contentious point right now.
Right, chefs, you've got two minutes to finish your dish.
I reckon I'll be ready...just.
Let's go, come on.
OK. Happy?
Only after you've tried it.
SHE LAUGHS
Chefs, you have 60 seconds.
Time's up!
Brilliant.
SHE GROANS
Private chef Molly has used milk to poach her haddock and topped
it with crispy leeks.
She used the potato to make a champ potato cake with spring onions
and Savoy cabbage.
It's served with braised leeks
topped with a parsley and lemon breadcrumb
crust and a white wine, cream and mustard sauce.
Your haddock, beautifully cooked.
Your sauce is delicious, full of chives, full of flavour.
And of course, you've got the little julienne sitting
on top there, too, so that's great.
You've really got to hone in on the execution
because this is rustic, but it's tasty.
I love your champ cake because it's much lighter than it looks.
It's perfectly smooth.
Really nice bite of spring onion through it as well.
And I like the fact that you have thought about where
you were going to use the potato and the bread and the milk.
Well done, Molly.
Nice one, thank you.
I think it went really good, yeah.
I'm really proud of myself and I know that everyone back home
in Leeds and Ireland will be proud of me, too,
for that champ mash. SHE LAUGHS
Freelance chef James has used potato to make a hash brown.
It's topped with soy maitake mushrooms,
hung buttermilk,
chimichurri emulsion, thyme, roasted croutons
from leftover bread
and a soy-cured egg yolk.
You've used three of the key things, and they're pushing right
there at the front. The potato's big and bold and full of flavour,
the croutons are crunchy, they bring texture
and, of course, the buttermilk is sitting there, too.
But there's so many flavours clashing with the soy, the egg
yolk, the potato.
I just feel very confused in what I'm eating.
It's a really lovely hash brown.
It has got crispy bits to it,
it's not greasy, the eqgg is great.
All the textures are fantastic, but it's very salty.
I don't think I covered myself in glory, but we got something
up and it wasn't a disgrace. They didn't hate it,
so let's really just pray that that's enough.
Sous-chef Lauren has used all the main waste ingredients
for her chicken and chips. Milk-marinated chicken thigh coated
with chilli and ginger breadcrumb,
crispy chicken skin, chips, miso mayo and banana ketchup.
Nice chips, crispy chips, really lovely chicken thigh
with the coating of bread around it as well.
And there's a serious flavour of ginger, a little hint of chilli.
Absolutely love that.
Crispy chicken skin, salt across that, really, really good.
Nice miso mayo, it's a good idea,
gives it a bit of saltiness, almost a little bit of meatiness.
I think you are what we used to call in the old days "clever".
Thank you, Chef.
I've been dipping my chips into your mayonnaise,
and I've been putting the chicken into the banana ketchup.
It's a clever move using the banana as the sweetener to the ketchup.
That's not half bad.
Well done, you.
Those comments have shocked me so much because I was scared,
I was very, very scared,
because I took a risk, completely out
there with the banana, especially.
I was very scared. SHE LAUGHS
Just some risks are, I guess, worth taking.
Sous-chef leuan has used the whole banana, including the skin, to make
a banana sponge with vanilla white chocolate Chantilly, candied
peanuts, banana ice cream and a sticky peanut butter toffee sauce.
The sponge is quite dense, but then if it's got the banana
plus the skin as well, I should imagine it would be.
I was worried that this would be too sweet,
it isn't. You've also got these really crunchy
breadcrumbs underneath your ice cream as well, which is delicious.
I like how clever you've got with a banana.
Thank you very much.
You've got a beautiful banana cake with a lovely caramel sauce
with peanut butter running through it. Delicious.
Your ice cream does taste of banana.
You have used the banana and its skin as well,
which is brilliant and brave at the same time.
Well done, it's a very good dish.
Thank you very much.
Well done, you! You were brilliant.
Amazing! That was, like, literally, a sigh of relief.
LAUGHS: I'm so happy right now!
When Marcus called it brilliant and brave,
my whole body sort of, like, shook, cos it was
a really great feeling.
Finally, it's chef de partie Evelina.
She's serving pan-fried sea bass with potato skins filled with leek
and parsley puree, courgettes and a red wine sauce.
You've got a piece of fish that's standing very proud in the centre,
beautifully cooked, but a sauce could have been maybe a little bit
smoother, more intensity in the red wine.
You've used a couple of the ingredients that we wanted
you to but in such a very small way.
With that potato puree, I mean,
you must have just literally put a spoonful of milk in there,
literally, there's hardly anything in it.
Key things sit so far in the back, you hardly notice them.
It is a really lovely-looking dish, a well-cooked dish,
but I wonder if with a bit more imagination we could
have featured those ingredients more.
I think I played a bit safe.
I could have maybe pushed a little bit more.
But I hope I've done enough.
I've got a lot more to show for the next rounds.
That's a tough challenge.
It's a great challenge,
it really made them think.
Usually, it takes quite a while to create something amazing.
We had very little time for it.
It could have definitely gone better, I think,
but what shall be shall be.
It tested our chefs and they showcased their skill.
It was brilliant. Great, great cook-off today.
If I was going to pick a chef of the day, I think
it would have to be Lauren.
It was never about who could use all four ingredients.
The key was whatever you chose, make sure it's standing out.
Lauren did that in abundance.
Loved the chicken, loved the chips.
And the banana in it as well
with the ketchup, that's clever cookery.
Lauren should definitely cook for our critics.
Somebody else, I think, cooked really intelligently with an element
of fun and actually completely
nailed the brief, and that was leuan.
He pushed the ingredients to the forefront and we got banana
in more ways than one.
And he also used the skins, which I think
was absolutely fantastic.
I really enjoyed Molly's dish.
She hit really good notes with all of the key ingredients
that she'd chosen. Rustic, but beautiful in flavour.
So Molly is in there with Lauren and leuan.
That means we now have to discuss Evelina or James, and one
of those is going home.
James absolutely nailed the brief. He made really good use of
the potato, of course, in the hash brown.
He made use of the bread with the flat crouton.
But I've got to be honest, Marcus, I didn't love it,
I thought it was a little too salty.
He used three of the ingredients, and he used them well.
The flavours were all working, but they weren't working together.
Evelina gave me a beautifully cooked piece of sea bass.
Looked smart, but the key ingredients just kind of found
themselves on the dish -
not a big part of the dish - which was disappointing.
The question is, did she do enough?
In the next stages,
I just need to show that I can push myself a little bit more, play a bit
riskier, too. I think I can do it, hopefully.
Fingers crossed.
I'm on the edge of it now.
I'm going to be standing there with a little bit of apprehension.
It would be sod's law going home on a hash brown as well.
That would be really stupid.
HE LAUGHS
We can only take four chefs through to cook for our critics.
The chef leaving the competition is...
...Evelina.
Thank you so much. Thank you.
Thank you, guys. Thanks.
Yeah, feeling gutted.
Playing safe, erm, let me down today.
I'm going to take all the good stuff out,
and I'll maybe take a little bit
more risks next time.
Congratulations.
Oh, man!
I'm well buzzing, me.
Critics are coming next.
That's when the competition really does begin to hot up.
This is scary. SHE CHUCKLES
We have three of the leading food critics in the country coming
here to try your food,
Jimi Famurewa, Jay Rayner and Tom Parker-Bowles.
Make sure you've got your A-game on today.
One of you will be leaving the competition.
Put a smile on their face,
secure yourself a place in the final 12.
1 hour and 15 minutes,
two of the best courses you've ever delivered, chefs. Off you go.
I feel like I've got a few things to prove.
The last round didn't quite go
as I wanted it to in my head.
I think the critics should just be another customer.
Yeah, I think you've just got to go and do what you know
you're capable of.
James, how excited are you cooking for our critics?
Scary if you think about it, but I like to think
my food will be the same whoever I'm cooking for.
What are you going to be feeding them? Cured mackerel.
You've got a salsa of preserved lemon, apples, cucumber, jalapenos.
And main course?
A sirloin of beef with a crispy cavolo nero,
seasoned with nori powder, and then miso and celeriac puree
with a sweet soy shimeji mushroom.
Tell me about this combination of Asian and European style.
It's food I like to cook with flavours I like to eat.
I think you are heading in a very interesting direction,
and I like the combinations of your ingredients.
We're looking forward to this. Thank you, Chef.
James's first course is going to be a mackerel
which has been cured. 50% salt, 50% brown sugar,
a little bit of dill in there.
Rinse it off and torch it.
Curing has to be timed to perfection.
It's got to be just right between the saltiness
and the sweetness.
I want to be able to taste the key ingredients on the plate.
There is a salsa, jalapeño peppers and preserved lemons.
Sounds absolutely delicious.
We've got our buttermilk and dill oil sauce just to finish the plate.
There is a lot to do for a starter.
Getting it all done is a push, but we like a push.
Main course, James has got European cookery technique with lots of Asian
flavours. Beautiful-looking sirloin of beef.
We want it pink inside,
that doesn't mean raw.
We've got some shimeji mushrooms, and then he's dropped them
into the sweet soy glaze to enhance that flavour.
The one I'm looking forward to the most is celeriac with miso.
Whee! I think that could be absolutely lovely.
On top of that, sake - Japanese whiskey - in the sauce.
Got to be careful with the sake, it's a very strong drink.
He needs to make sure that it complements the beef sauce.
Aw!
He is playing around here.
In the right pair of hands, it can be magical.
Hopefully, if it all comes together,
it'll be a winner.
IEUAN: Today, I am worried about the time,
I'm not going to lie.
I have to push and have to bring every single element of energy
that I have and go in there with foot on the gas straight away
and just pump as hard as I can.
Ieuan, you have got your head down and you are motoring!
LAUGHS: Yep. Have you given yourself a tonne to do?
I've given myself potentially a little bit too much to do.
What are you cooking for our critics?
I'm doing a main and a dessert.
Ooh! I'm doing a roasted breast of pigeon, which I'm going to glaze
in a teriyaki sauce.
It's a recipe that I learned working with this Japanese chef,
and I love it, I really do love this sauce.
I'm doing con fit pigeon leg, so I'm making a rhubarb
and beetroot ketchup. What's dessert, please, leuan?
I'm just doing a classic, like,
sort of lemon tart, doing it with hazelnut,
Italian meringue.
Pastry is my strong point,
I like to try and prove pastry
as best as I can, play to my strength.
Two very different dishes you've got going on here.
Yes, Chef. Looking forward to this,
and I think you're the only dessert being cooked today,
so he likes a pud. So you've won!
THEY LAUGH
I love a pigeon breast.
It's always something I order if I see it on the menu.
You've got to make sure that it's pink
and moist inside,
that it doesn't dry out at all.
Teriyaki glaze, we've got soy, we've got mirin, we've got sake.
Very, very strong flavour with the delicate pigeon breast.
I'm going to con fit the leg.
It's like a little pigeon lollypop. I want to make sure
the pigeon leg is actually con fit-ed,
but these things always throw up
something you haven't seen before, or the one thing
you don't want to go wrong will go wrong.
Little turnip fondants. If you're going to have the word "fondant"
on a menu, it's got to be cooked all of the way through.
Come on! We've got rhubarb and beetroot ketchup.
There's a lot of different flavours all working against each other,
possibly, if this dish isn't balanced.
I love a lemon pie, but he's not doing your usual standard lemon pie.
He's got a little twist. Right.
He's doing a sable biscuit base.
It's nearly all butter.
I mean, it's about as rich as you can get.
That's got to be bang-on.
If that even slightly crumbles, he's got nowhere to go.
The lemon curd has to be absolutely spot-on.
Nice and sweet, nice and sharp,
and set beautifully well.
Italian meringue is about cooking the sugar to perfection, pouring
it onto the egg whites as it starts to whip up.
It's got to be nice and firm, and hopefully, he's going to finish
it with a little glaze with the blowtorch.
The thought of hearing positive things from the critics,
it'd just be amazing.
You can only imagine the places that they've gone to eat
and the food they've eaten.
It's an honour and it's a privilege,
and I really hope that I do well cos it'd mean so much to me.
Molly, how big a day is today for you? Yeah, it's massive,
I'm pushing myself.
I don't want to go home.
There's only one thing that'll allow you to stay here, and that's
just good cookery.
The starter is for Charlotte.
I'm doing pan-fried scallops with an onion bhaji, curried
cauliflower and coconut milk puree, pickled raisins, coriander oil.
I did this as a one-off one time and she absolutely loved it
and she asks me for it every week now,
so I wanted to do it for her.
The main course is a take on a
proper Northern Sunday roast.
It means a lot to me. Growing up,
it used to bring our family together.
Every dish that I've done on here
means something to me. I want to be able to tell a story about it,
I want you to remember me and hopefully my dishes as well,
most importantly.
Bit of an Indian takeaway at the start, Sunday roast to finish.
Sounds like the perfect day!
I'm happy. LAUGHS: Cook on! Cheers.
Molly's first course,
the scallop needs to be just beautifully caramelised
on the outside and has to be cooked perfectly well.
Come on, man.
The cauliflower puree nice and smooth.
If you want the curry flavour running through that,
it has to be just right.
Lovely.
One of the favourites from an Indian takeaway, an onion bhaji.
Yeah, I like them, I think they'll complement the scallop well.
Just make sure the onions are cooked and don't burn them.
More crispy.
A proper Northern Sunday roast.
Peeler.
It means so much.
I hope that I'm making everyone back home proud.
She's got all of the flavours of a roast.
You've got the beef tenderloin.
Beautiful sear on the outside,
needs to be perfectly cooked.
Roasted potatoes.
That didn't look very pretty, so... SHE LAUGHS
Please make sure they're cooked all the way through.
We've also got a red wine jus.
Remember, she's only got just over an hour.
She's got to get those bones roasted,
she's got to reduce the wine.
That will make or break this dinner.
Fingers crossed it all comes together today.
Lauren. Thank you.
LAUREN: I get a lot of inspiration from watching food videos online.
It may not necessarily be
a Michelin-star chef, but it could be someone's
grandma in the kitchen making dumplings from scratch...
...just putting their love and heart into these dishes,
and that just really inspires me a lot in the kitchen.
Ooh! Lauren... LAUGHS: Yes, Chef? ..It's food critic day.
What are you cooking for our critics?
For starters, prawn and chilli dumpling in a lemongrass, lime,
ginger broth with a lotus crisp topped with a spicy red pepper puree
and a coriander pearl.
Wow! And then main course,
I've got a five spice roasted duck with a blood orange sauce, a sesame
quail Scotch egg, asparagus and a scorched onion.
How do you feel about cooking for critics?
So funnily enough, I went to the butcher's, walked in, turned
to the right and saw Jay Rayner, and I thought, let me not risk
it and tempt fate, and I turned around,
bought my meat and ran out, so...
SHE LAUGHS
Well, if he dislikes your dish today, you know
where to track him down. Yeah.
THEY LAUGH
There is an incredible amount of work going into Lauren' starter.
Tiger prawn and chilli dumplings.
Tiger prawns blitzed
up with a little bit of chilli running through those.
She's got Scotch bonnet chillies,
one of the hottest chillies available.
We've got a broth of onion, a little bit of lime, heat of the chilli,
lemongrass coming through.
There's a Thai influence going on there.
And on top of that, we've got a puree of sorts made of red pepper,
and a coriander pearl as well.
I blend coriander with water,
bring it to a simmer with agar,
and then drop it into cold oil, which then creates
these little caviar pearls.
So these will pop in the mouth and be, like, a burst of flavour.
The main course from Lauren sounds absolutely delicious.
She's got a duck breast and a blood orange sauce.
With that duck, you've got to make sure that the flesh is cooked
all the way through and the skin crisps up.
She's also got a little bit of duck breast.
She's blitzed it up in the machine and she's going to wrap
that around the quail's egg.
As you cut through it, you want that beautiful
quail's egg to ooze out onto the plate.
That is not easy in any way at all.
She's a confident cook who doesn't shy away from taking a risk.
My biggest concern is definitely timings.
I have put quite a few complex elements into my dishes.
The nerves are there, but I just need to stay focused and stick
to my time plan.
I come every single series filled with anticipation and delight
and the hope that I might try something quite magnificent.
It's quite a daunting occasion, you know, the three of us looking
down at you dress like hit men, with our blazers on, so they've got
to be able to handle that pressure.
Minimum qualifying standard is to get the basics right.
That means you can't overcook your beef, you can't undercooked
your vegetables and your sauces can't split.
Well, that's basic stuff,
you have to get that right.
If you haven't got that right, it's goodnight, Vienna.
Ten minutes till the first courses go.
Are you going to be ready, James?
Yeah. Confident? I think so.
Dishes are nice. HE CHUCKLES
James's starter is cured mackerel with a preserved lemon, apple,
jalapeno salsa, served with a jalapeno, buttermilk
and dill oil sauce.
Sounds impressive, it sounds bright, it sounds fresh.
Blanched wild garlic over the top.
You know, if you'd have done street food today they'd have loved it.
They love street food.
It's about getting a balance right between those sharp flavours -
the apple, the lemon, the buttermilk and also the jalapeno.
Wow. Absolutely beautiful.
You ready to meet the critics?
Yeah, I think so.
JAMES: Gentlemen. Hi, James. How are we doing? We're good.
Thank you. You're very welcome.
I've cooked you a cured mackerel in a sugar, salt and a dill cure.
You've got a salsa of preserved lemon, apple, cucumber and jalapeno
with a buttermilk and jalapeno sauce split with a dill oil,
and then just a lovely piece of wild garlic.
Thank you very much, gentlemen, enjoy. Thank you.
I'm often asked by people who've watched this,
"How do you eat so many courses?"
And then this arrived, and I thought, well, that's how.
The fish does hold up,
actually. You can't really taste the cure, but it's got sharpness,
it's got acidity, it's got balance.
That jalapeno is perfectly judged.
The buttermilk is really impressive - sour, rich, buttery.
And then you get the garlicky hits from the leaf and the crunch
of the apple. I think it's really, really clever.
That sort of wisp of smokiness that came from the charring
really helped to anchor it all.
It's bold and it's kind of surprising.
LAUGHS: Like, I'm sort of really
impressed and encouraged for his next dish.
That mackerel just lightly torched, oily, strong, it's great.
That's very dainty, but it's got
a flavour punch that's well above its weight.
And of course, that little salad of apple, capers,
jalapenos, it's delicious.
That's a great start for James.
Right, your main course is up next, how is that looking?
Yes, it's looking good.
You've got four minutes to go and quite a bit of plating to do.
James's main - sirloin of beef, shimeji mushrooms in a sweet soy
glaze. Mm!
Roasted beef fat shallot topped with a panko crumb.
You happy with that, James?
Yeah, very happy.
Charred mirin baby gem heart
with crispy cavolo nero, miso and celeriac puree served
with a sake and beef sauce.
Blimey!
It's like James went to one of those Asian supermarkets
and bought everything, and now he's determined to put it on the plate.
How many of these do you serve off the back of your truck?
JAMES LAUGHS Probably not enough.
OK. Let's go, let's go.
Gentlemen.
For today, I've cooked for you a sirloin of beef,
a mirin-compressed baby gem
with a crispy cavolo nero and a nori seasoning on top, a beef fat con fit
shallot with beef fat panko, got a miso and celeriac puree, brown
shimeji mushroom and a sweet soy dressing.
And you've got aromatic beef sauce with hints of Sichuan star anise.
All the delicious things. Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you, gents, enjoy. Well done.
Ah!
Wow.
The beef's cooked gorgeously, the mushrooms are unbelievably good.
Beautifully seasoned panko breadcrumbs
on that gorgeous shallot.
Everywhere your fork goes, there's this jolting, gorgeous surprise.
It is so much fun.
The miso, that adds a smoothness.
Underneath it all is that beef fat, which is magnificent.
This is what fusion food is all about.
Inspiring, thrilling, it makes life worth living.
HE CHUCKLES
He delivered to us not just what he said he was going to,
but an awful lot more.
I have to say, the flavour is exceptional.
This is classic cookery
with a hint of modern brilliance.
I love the nutty celeriac with the miso giving it a little bit
of meatiness, I think that's divine.
I think he's delivered two dishes of real quality.
HE EXHALES
I think it's one of those moments you think, I'm going to be following
this chef wherever they go.
With the pressure and the time limit, I'm happy with the dishes.
They should like it. Mad if they don't.
HE LAUGHS
leuan, you have ten minutes left.
I think everything is where I want it to be.
Mountain of work to get through but don't forget the quality, leuan.
No, Chef. Never. Remember who you're cooking for. Yes, Chef.
Ieuan's main course - teriyaki glazed pigeon breast.
Teriyaki would work with any meat.
It's a sweet glaze and cooked, hopefully, over some form of grill.
How long have I got left? GREGG: Two minutes left.
The one that's making me twitch slightly is a rhubarb
and beetroot ketchup.
There's acidity, there's sweetness, there's earthiness there.
That's going to be quite hard to pull off,
particularly against a red wine sauce.
Jesus, you're shaking. It's the adrenaline.
Go on, leuan. Give them a smile. I will.
Thank you very much.
So, I've done for you teriyaki glazed pigeon breast.
Confit pigeon leg,
a rhubarb and beetroot ketchup,
turnip fondants, purple sprouting broccoli,
and a nice jus sauce.
Thank you.
There's a really good looking dish here,
on top of which have been placed a bunch of redundant green things
which look like they've wandered in from elsewhere.
The pigeon's cooked quite nicely.
He said that the legs had been con fit.
It feels like scant con fit. Yeah.
There isn't really much going on there.
I'd had a few bites of the pigeon,
and where's the teriyaki?
He can make a sauce. He can cook a pigeon breast.
But this doesn't quite make for a dish.
I'm poking around going,
"Well, that morel hasn't been seasoned at all.”
The turnip fondant may have read like an interesting idea at the time
but it doesn't eat like one.
It's not really suited to the fondant treatment.
I like this ketchup.
I thought it had a real sort of sharpness.
In parts, really good, and it almost comes together.
I liked it. I didn't love it.
Broccoli's cooked nicely.
The puree - can taste the beetroot, can't taste the rhubarb.
But the con fit leg's not cooked enough.
There's no colour and it's not been trimmed up well enough.
And this bit of pigeon I've got on my plate here is pretty rare.
I'm sorry. I don't want to eat that pigeon.
It's too under for me.
Heeyyy!
Yeah, I'm all good, all good.
Look at them. Look at them!
Ieuan"s dessert is lemon curd, vanilla sable.
Mate, be gentle with them, please.
Lime meringue and a raspberry sorbet.
That meringue has been turning very slowly for quite a long time.
Is it stiff enough?
I think he's going to have a bit of a problem with that.
Not actually got any aeration into it.
I don't think this is going to work.
Lime meringue, very posh.
Quite like the chewy bits in the middle. That's important.
Oh, this is not going to work.
I make Italian meringue 20 times a day.
I've ballsed it up.
You're going to have to plate this differently.
How are you going to plate this differently?
That's not your Italian meringue, is it? No, it is not.
It's a very quick French meringue.
It's not what I wanted.
Right, OK.
Ieuan, it's raw. It's raw, it's raw.
You can't eat raw meringue. Do you understand what you've done?
Yeah, I understand what I've done.
You can't serve that. No.
I haven't got a dessert to plate.
I don't know what to do.
Let me figure this out. What's the plan?
I could scrape it out.
Get as much out as you possibly can
and let's get a dessert up, OK?
This has not gone to plan at all.
Really sorry I'm late.
I was supposed to make classic lemon tart with a raspberry sorbet,
hazelnut and fresh raspberries.
I have had a few issues.
Unfortunately, my Italian meringue went flat, so I made a quick
Chantilly just so you had a little bit of something just to go with it.
Well done, leuan.
It looks OK.
Hopefully it'll taste pretty good, as well.
The pastry is really, really good.
Do not underestimate just how little time they have in that kitchen.
Pastry work really requires time.
I think he's done a bang up job.
The lemon curd has sharpness. It's not too sweet.
The sorbet works with it. By itself it's fairly underwhelming, though.
Ieuan clearly had a bit of a tough time in there, but I think there's
lovely balance about it.
Each bit speaks to the other.
I think he's done really, really well.
MARCUS: Three minutes from serving and it looked like you didn't have
a dessert to serve, but we've got a beautiful lemon curd.
We've got fantastically whipped cream.
That sable tart is delicious.
But it's not the finish that he wanted.
It isn't. It isn't. It's rushed.
HE EXHALES
I so lost control on the dessert. I don't know why.
Pastry's my confidant, and it's the one thing I messed up in.
I think you take a risk doing pastry in an hour and 15 minutes.
Molly, you've got ten minutes before your first course is served.
Molly's starter, pan-fried scallops, onion bhaji,
curried cauliflower puree, pickled raisins and a coriander oil.
That's a lot of scallops. How many are you serving?
I was going to do one, but I don't want the portions to be too small.
Do you honestly cook these every week for your love?
She'd be lucky!
I will be very impressed if that onion bhaji
is beautifully crisp and perfectly flavoured.
I like your leopard-skin plate.
I like to see onion bhajis and curry cauliflower puree.
You're shaking like a leaf. You're shaking, chef.
I like moving away from French classicism.
Oh, Molly, I like this.
That should be delicious.
As long as, statement of obvious,
she doesn't muck up the cooking of the scallops.
Happy with your scallops?
I'm happy.
All right.
Hiya. You all right?
Great stuff. Thank you. You're welcome.
Today, I've cooked for you pan-fried scallops, onion bhaji,
curried cauliflower puree,
pickled golden raisins,
micro coriander and a coriander oil.
Please enjoy. Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you. Thanks, Molly. Cheers.
Oh, wow.
Scallops, lovely, really lovely.
But that bhaji, that's a real, you know, wake up.
It's really good. There's lots of chilli in there.
It's really kind of eye-widening.
The cauliflower puree was rather restrained, rather elegant.
I like the pickled raisins.
They give a little jolt of acidity. Lovely.
My God. The flavours that Molly's been able to conjure,
it's really full throttle,
no holds barred in the most fantastic, compelling way.
Love the amount of spicing in that bhaji.
Love the amount of spicing in that really smooth cauliflower puree.
I like it. You've got sweet and sour golden raisins,
and the natural sweetness of the scallop is fantastic.
Who doesn't love an onion bhaji? Mm.
It's a bit hot, but it's delicious nonetheless.
Are you now on time for this roast dinner?
Yeah. Molly's main course is beef tenderloin,
beef dripping potato fondant,
celeriac puree, baby root vegetables.
This is Sunday lunch in France.
If the beef tenderloin is perfectly cooked,
well seasoned and rested,
fundamentally, we'll be pretty happy.
Hey, how's that, chef?
I'm really happy with it, yeah.
How long's left, please?
A couple of minutes, my friend. Thank you.
I'm looking at the beef dripping potato fondant.
Actually, that sounds really good.
Have you stuck a knife or a fork in the fondant?
Yeah, I did a tester one. Didn't doubt you for a minute.
Molly, you're dressing this plate via your picture, aren't you? Yeah.
Spent a lot of time and looked at a lot of dishes
of yours as well, Marcus.
Wow. Thanks very much.
Today, I've cooked you a take on a northern Sunday roast.
So you've got a beef tenderloin,
beef dripping potato fondant,
baby turnip, baby leek,
honey-glazed carrot,
celeriac puree,
and red wine and beef jus.
Please enjoy. Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you very much.
The beef is decently cooked,
the fondant's got a nice colour on it
and it's lovely and fluffy.
And there's that silky puree,
gravy all over the top with a proper gravy boat.
These are all good things,
but it is what it is and that isn't especially memorable.
The beef dripping potato fondant,
instead of butter going into the stock,
there's lots of beef fat.
Mmm. Delicious.
Everything's beautifully cooked.
We know Molly can cook.
To have a Sunday lunch deconstructed to this extent,
it's a bit bonkers, really, but it tastes wonderful.
Beautiful pink beef.
That puree is as smooth as churned butter.
It may look simple, but it doesn't half taste good.
I'm really happy with my cookery of everything, you know.
I do believe I've done enough, yeah.
Lauren, you've got five minutes to go. How are you doing?
I'm good. I can start plating.
It doesn't half smell good around here, though,
I've got to say. Thank you, Chef.
Lauren's starter is tiger prawn and chilli dumplings.
The wrappers, the dough has got to be bang-on.
Lemongrass, chilli and lime broth.
Beautifully clear. Well done, Lauren.
It sounds warming and fragrant.
A spicy red pepper puree, that does worry me.
I think we're moving across into perhaps Spain.
It's beautiful, but you've got a minute.
OK? Just a minute.
There needs to be a proper chilli bash from this dish.
I want to go, "Ooh! Aha!"
And make noises that are slightly peculiar.
Look at you!
Come on.
That is a very pretty dish.
Very elegant.
Thank you.
So you have a prawn and chilli dumpling
with a lemongrass, chilli and spring onion broth.
Lotus crisp with a spicy red pepper puree
with coriander pearls.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you. Well done. Enjoy.
This is pure and clean and the smells of it...
And look at the beauty of that pastry.
These are professional dumplings.
That's definitely scotch bonnet.
The heat in that pool of broth hit like a complete freight train.
The mushrooms steamed in there are quite nice
and I love the lotus crisp.
I've never seen this heat or tasted this heat on MasterChef.
A killer broth.
This is pure and clean.
And the dumplings are magnificent.
The dumplings are brilliantly made
and I wanted a whole basket of those crackers.
Oh, whoa! Whoa!
Oh! Wow!
That broth is ferocious.
It starts off citrusy, and it just finishes with fire.
The pearls of coriander just bursting into your mouth.
The dumplings are beautifully made.
I love the little prawn filling.
That'll have certainly woken the critics up.
Lauren's main course,
five-spiced roast duck breast with blood orange sauce.
It's duck a I'orange with a couple of other things,
and there's nothing wrong with that.
My duck is still pink, which is great.
I can't see why you'd have a Scotch egg with duck a I'orange.
A good Scotch egg should have runny yolk.
That's really hard to do with a quail egg.
Well done with that egg.
Thank you, Chef.
I wanted it slightly runny in the centre. I'm happy.
I've got my leeks around my asparagus.
Very nice.
Good.
Right. Ready to go.
So, you have a Chinese five-spice roast duck with a quail Scotch egg
made with duck and sausage meat,
a scorched Roscoff onion
and a bouquet of asparagus with a blood orange sauce.
Thanks, Lauren.
What matters here is the duck and the sauce.
The duck breast itself has been very well cooked.
The sauce is just a little underpowered.
Beautifully cooked duck, there's good technical skill,
but you can be a bit heavy on the five-spice.
I've got a tiny, tiny whisper and I wanted a big shout.
I loved that intense, gooey, sticky, caramelised Roscoff onion.
The Scotch egg, perfectly lovely.
I mean, she"s onto a winner.
I think she's done a really good job with the Scotch eqgg,
because the quail's egg is nice and soft in the centre.
The sauce, I love the blood orange flavour,
but it's too watery.
It was intense.
But I got my dishes out.
It's just a waiting game now. I've done what I could.
I've done what I set out to do, so I just wait.
Critics always bring some pressure into the MasterChef kitchen.
We've got a lot to discuss.
One of them leaves the competition.
No two ways about it,
James delivered two sensational plates.
Our critics loved him. We loved him.
Without a doubt, cook of the day.
Mate, he was just on fire.
James is going through to knockout week.
He most certainly is.
I'll tell you who else I thought did really well today
and that was Molly.
Scallops beautifully cooked on an onion bhaji
that the critics just loved.
Fabulous starter from Molly.
Really enjoyed eating that.
Molly, for a main course,
wanted to give us her much-loved family Sunday roast beef.
But the critics weren't as in love with it as we were in here.
There was no bells and whistles on the main course,
but it didn't half taste good.
If she wants to make her family proud,
she's just done it.
That means we have to make a decision between leuan and Lauren.
Lauren gave us wonton wrappers with prawn dumpling inside.
Enjoyable for the customer that loves hot broth.
We all enjoyed it.
Lauren's main course,
I was OK with the cookery of my duck breast.
Sauce could have had a bit more body to it.
There were some very interesting high notes there,
but she does need to work on detail.
You could say that leuan's main course was slightly confused.
I had a bit of an issue with the cookery of my pigeon breast.
It was a little too rare for me.
Now, look, you and I were fully aware of the chaos
that was going on with leuan's dessert.
It was rushed and was panicked at the end,
and it was a struggle for him.
If I was going to be completely honest,
I'd be lucky if I got through,
because it's the small mistakes that make the difference.
And I didn't make a small mistake,
I made a big mistake.
I'm hoping I've done enough.
A place in knockout week would be everything.
Even just, like, thinking of it is just making me happy.
Yeah, it would be amazing.
You all rose to the challenge.
Some great cookery and some very, very good dishes.
We can see how much it meant to you.
But one of you is, of course, leaving the competition.
The chef leaving...
...leuan.
Thank you very much.
You've had a good competition.
You've done really well to get this far.
It wasn't your day today.
I'm sorry to see you go.
Have a nice day. Good luck, guys.
I think it sucks to have to go out at this stage.
But I didn't perform under the pressure that was given to me
in the last ten, 15 minutes,
and there was three better chefs in there on the day.
Well done, all three of you.
You know what this means?
You're part of the final 12.
Wahey! Well done.
Come on.
I'm super happy.
It's an amazing feeling.
It means a lot.
Getting to this point is huge.
It's a really nice bit of confidence as well to know that people
like your food as much as you do.
This is, like, the biggest thing that's ever happened to me.
Oh, my, my. Wow.
Wow, wow.
I can't wait to tell everyone back home.
Leeds will be rocking!
Next time...
...four new hopefuls
battle it out for their place in the quarterfinal.
Just calm down!
How far off is that cooked? Not close.
Mmm!
You've got it spot-on.
I'm finding that an absolute delight.