Here we go!
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
Let's go, guys! Ah!
Ooh, what's in the fridge?
VINNIE: Walking into the MasterChef kitchen,
there is four massive fridges behind each judge
at the front of the room today.
What's in it?
I have a feeling we're probably gonna have to pick
one of these fridges and make a dish.
Hi, everyone.
CONTESTANTS: Hello.
This is Knockout Week.
If you find yourself with a bottom dish,
you'll be knocked out of contention for immunity
and join Casper and Emily in the elimination challenge.
So you need to cook at your best
every time you're in this kitchen.
So many of the best dishes start with staring into the fridge,
waiting for a bolt of inspiration to strike.
Oh, this is going to be good.
The four of us have done all the hard work for you,
and we've filled each fridge with our favourite ingredients.
But before we show you...
..you'll need to decide which fridge full of ingredients
you want to cook with.
Oh, stop it!
The only information you have to go off
is how well you know us.
Oh! Ha-ha! Oh, boy.
Ooh, we have to just go in blind and choose them.
That's kind of scary.
We will take this very personally as well.
[LAUGHTER]
There's a bit of strategy here today.
I think, like, you could kind of work out
what each of the judges might have in their fridge,
but I'm more certain about Andy than anyone else.
So, please stand opposite the fridge you want to be with.
Oh!
[LAUGHTER]
Oh, nobody wants Sofia. Aww!
What about you?
People think I'm too exotic.
LUKE: Hate to see someone left out, and I know Sofia -
she loves ingredients, she loves around the world.
I'm trusting my gut on this one.
Luke's changed.
Yeah.
Do I go Poh's, or...?
ANNABEL: Oh, have you not chosen yet?
No. I'm thinking between Poh and Andy's.
I've automatically gone to Andy's fridge
because I feel like my strengths will
be really tailored to
his way of cooking.
But I'm looking at Poh's fridge.
Maybe there'll be something interesting in there.
Make the decision, mate.
Last chance.
I've come on to MasterChef to try new things,
and this is something new.
Let's go Poh's. He's gone Poh!
Petro!
Late move from Petro. Wow.
Pat, what do you reckon is in my fridge?
Why are you over there?
I was just vibing with Andy's fridge,
so trusted the gut - it's big enough.
[LAUGHTER]
Luke, was that a pity move into my line,
or what made you change?
I forgot that it was going to be all French.
How did you forget it's going to be all French!
What is not French about him?
I don't know what happened there.
So, what's the strategy?
What are you expecting to find in my fridge?
I'm hoping that there's just a wide range of ingredients.
Right, are you ready to see what is in our fridges?
Yes! Yes!
Starting with Andy.
Let's see what I've missed out on here.
CONTESTANTS: Ooh!
OK.
There is a lot of fresh seasonal stuff.
I've got some beautiful bay lobsters up there,
some beautiful quails, some pickles and ferments.
There is a couple of tins of Travla
at the back there too.
[LAUGHTER]
There is so much there in terms of stuff
to really drive flavour into your dish.
VINNIE: I'm so, so happy with this choice.
Literally, this fridge is chock-a-block
full of stuff that I know I'm gonna smash.
Well, guys, I feel like you've hit the jackpot.
CONTESTANTS: Ooh!
So, I've got some lovely protein and I've got some pork belly.
I've got tofu, salted soy beans,
preserved olive.
I've got some sort of, like, alternative things
like garlic scapes and Chinese celery.
Poh's listing the ingredients,
uh, and I'm realising I know none of them.
And then I've also got the strawberries,
longans, hazelnut meal.
There's lots of options
if you want to make an Asian dish or bake.
SOFIA: Petro, are you having some regrets?
I mean, it sounds exciting, but I'm just trying to think
how the hell do I use this stuff?
I think you've got a really good palate,
so I think you're going to be fine.
Well, Luke, in my fridge
we've got flavours of the world.
Oh.
Big hunk of protein here.
We've got lamb backstrap with the fat cap still on.
We've got sujuk, which is like a Turkish sausage.
Beautiful spices.
I just want to look Alyona in the eye
when I tell her I've got dill, beetroot
and schmaltz chicken fat. I knew it was gonna...
Sofia's fridge is stocked!
Beautiful fresh produce,
buffalo mozzarella, capers, kombu.
I honestly feel a little bit overwhelmed.
It is such a good fridge.
Luke, the world is your oyster,
and the oysters are also your oysters.
[LAUGHTER]
Hannah, I would like to congratulate you
for making the right decision.
A little bit of fridge envy.
However, I'm fairly sure Jean-Christophe,
being French and a pastry chef,
is going to have more desserty stuff to work with,
and maybe I'll go with a dessert today.
Et voila.
The first thing I see is pig's trotters.
We've got some flank steaks, proper creme fraiche,
proper butter.
We've got some cornichon, espelette, escargot.
There's actually not a lot
of sweet-based items in this fridge today.
I think I'm going to have to refigure
this whole thought in my head of dessert.
So, now you know what you're cooking with,
we're giving you 75 minutes to cook any dish you like,
but you only have the ingredients
from your chosen fridge, plus the under-bench pantry staples.
The bottom two dishes will join Casper and Emily
in the elimination cook at the end of the week.
And if you needed any more of an incentive
to aim for the top,
whoever cooks THE dish of THE day
will win...
..a $5,000 LG voucher
that'll help you stock your dream kitchen.
Yes! I am so excited for this.
That would be awesome to have $5,000 to spend
and maybe I'll get to get one of those fridges.
Are you ready?
CONTESTANTS: Yes. Your time starts now!
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE] Go, guys!
There's so much.
I went the wrong way!
What are these bad boys?
Come on, Aaron!
Come on, Petro!
I'm kind of laughing at myself for picking Poh's fridge.
I'm standing here still trying to figure this out,
and everyone else is already gone.
I am most confident with
Middle Eastern and Mediterranean type of food,
and I haven't used a lot of these savoury ingredients
that Poh has in her fridge.
I see the pandan and I love pandan.
It's got such a fragrant grassy taste.
I'm thinking all this could work together.
Maybe I'll go Greek technique
with Asian flavours to do a dessert.
HANNAH: Oh, that's endive.
You never know when you walk into this kitchen
what curveball they're going to throw at you.
Um, look, I'm familiar with snails and pig's trotters,
but not familiar with cooking them.
So, yeah, definitely that's a new option, isn't it?
I'm not 100% confident in French cuisine
because I haven't actually made or eaten a lot of it.
But I've been practising beurre blanc at home,
so I'm hoping I can bring that technique in today
and create a dish around champagne beurre blanc.
I've grabbed a whole heap of different flavours
that I'm tasting along the way, and it's going to be
a create-your-own-adventure type situation as I keep going.
It is Knock-Knock Week,
and today is our knock-knock fridge.
Knock out, knock out, knock out, knock out.
Are you having a stroke?
Knock-knock! Knocky-knock! [LAUGHTER]
What a challenge!
I can't wait to see what they do with the ingredients that,
like, they're all in my fridge at home.
I want to be inspired.
POH: I'm really excited because I've included
lots of interesting ingredients in my fridge
that they might have not used before,
but all they need to do is just taste.
Righto, shall we see what they're doing?
Yeah. Can't wait.
Come on, Aaron!
Good chilli choice.
AARON: I chose Poh's fridge, and basically it's because
I'm comfortable with the ingredients
she might have picked for the challenge.
And I'm pretty happy with what I got so far.
Poh's ingredients in the fridge
definitely bring back a lot of nostalgia for me.
I've got the preserved vegetable and the Chinese olive,
fresh wombok, some chilli and ginger.
I was five years old when I moved here.
Whenever we went back to Malaysia,
I used to say we were going home,
and it took a long time to actually learn that, no,
Australia is home and Malaysia is the holiday.
Three months in a year we'd go back
and have all our Malaysian food
and all the things we wanted to eat.
So I'm kind of looking back into my childhood and seeing,
"Oh, yeah, I remember that. I used that before.
"My mum used to use that."
I'm definitely going to try and draw on that
to create an amazing dish.
I decided to make
a twice-cooked pork belly.
It's best to pressure cook it
and then deep-fry it, just to get a bit of texture to it.
A slaw made with the wombok.
Maybe some chilli caramel on the pork belly as well.
I think I'm in a pretty good spot.
CASPER: Labneh. Quail.
Yeah, I don't know how to cook it, though.
The competition is definitely heating up now,
like, to the max.
Like, the finish line is right there in sight.
But also, I'm 26, you know,
and I'm looking to move out and deck out my kitchen.
Vinnie!
$5,000 voucher from LG. Are you going for it?
100%. Yeah?
100%. Those fridges are pretty sick.
I wouldn't mind one of them, to be honest.
And I'm looking to move out,
so hopefully that could accelerate it.
It's a great little moving-in gift.
Exactly right. Uh, what's the dish
that's going to get you the voucher?
I'm gonna do some barbecue spatchcock quails.
OK. Harissa glaze.
I'm gonna do some labneh
that I'm straining the yoghurt with.
Some caramelised figs and toasted macadamias.
Good luck. Thank you.
It's the battle of the fridges.
One hour to go!
Come on! EMILY: Come on, guys!
Lock in!
Come on!
Annabel! Hello, Andy.
Why did you choose my fridge?
Because I feel like your style of cooking
is, like, what I align with the most.
And I was like,
"I bet you there's gonna be bugs and anchovies in there."
Well, you nailed two out of the whole fridge.
Yeah!
What's the dish?
Pasta. Yep.
With, like, I'm gonna make a tomato water
and then reduce it down,
poach some bugs, put them on top.
Yeah.
These are the dragon eye fruit, aren't they?
I love them so much.
Hey, Pat. What were you loving in the fridge?
These bad boys. Bugs.
I'm a big seafood lover,
so I am going to be cooking those today.
Kind of like a play on fish and chips.
Just some real thin parsnip chips
in the beef tallow. Yep.
Um, and a charred padron and a mayo and then a slaw.
Oh, they're so good.
Alyona, what are you gonna do with all those ingredients?
So I'm gonna make quail.
Beautiful. Love the quail.
Parsnip puree with a bit of rhubarb jam,
and I'm thinking maybe even
black sausage crumb situation.
Have you ever had the dried ones?
Mm! In tea?
You alright there, ladies?
Uh-huh. Want one?
Just need the oysters and the champagne.
I know. Yeah.
Hey, Aaron. Yo.
How long is too long to boil pandan?
Uh, I don't think I've ever had an issue
boiling pandan before. Yeah?
You just infuse it in the syrup.
Just for as long as the syrup's done?
Yeah.
Petro. Hello, Poh.
I'm so happy you used the sweet section of the fridge.
Yes, I'm actually gonna kind of take
a bit of my culture and use the Asian flavours.
Yeah. I'm gonna make filo cigars.
So you're doing Grasian?
Yeah, Grasian! Greek-Asian, OK.
I'm doing a pandan and ginger syrup.
Beautiful.
What flavour is your creme pat? Strawberry.
Strawberry? OK, I'm worried.
Ooh, OK.
I think these two are gonna fight,
because this is a grassy flavour
and this is a fresh perfume flavour.
Also,
how many Greek-Asian desserts have you had?
Zero.
I-I...
We're looking for two bottom dishes today.
I think there might be a reason
why you haven't seen any Greek-Asian desserts.
Poh says to me that the strawberries
aren't going to work, and she knows these flavours.
She's picked these flavours as well.
I've got to think about what I can do,
otherwise I'm gonna run out of time,
and I could be in that elimination
at the end of the week.
It always surprises me when the guys pull out some desserts.
Yeah.
Particularly someone like Petro.
Especially if he's never worked with pandan before.
Poh's advice to me
is that strawberries and pandan clash against each other,
but also this is a crossover between
Greek and Asian cuisine, which usually isn't done.
There is a fine balance between taking her advice
and sticking to your guns,
so the strawberries are out.
I'm going to do a coconut creme pat.
But I've never heard of Grasian before,
but it sounds like that's what I'm doing today.
I've got a bit to do, but hopefully it works.
EMILY: Let's go. Looking gorgeous.
LUKE: Thanks, Emily.
You know I always think you're gorgeous, Luke.
As soon as I saw Sofia's fridge,
I was just drawn to the flavour bombs.
But I've been told again and again
that I'm trying to do too much.
I'm thinking just pick a few ingredients
that I like the look of, and pick a dish that'll impress
the judges of the new things I've been learning.
Luke. Hey.
What are you making? I just saw this burnt fig jam,
put it in a bit of ice-cream and, like, tasted it.
I was like, "This kind of tastes caramely."
So, like a burnt fig jam ice-cream?
Yep, and then I just remember you talking about
going around the world.
I'm gonna do Portuguese tarts. Nice! Have you been to Portugal?
I've not been to Portugal. [LAUGHS]
Um, but I have been to my local Portuguese bakery.
I actually was inspired by the air fryer challenge.
I'm gonna use an air fryer. OK.
And I assume you haven't made a Portuguese tart
in an air fryer before? No, of course not.
Sounds like a lot of firsts for you today, Luke,
but I'm rooting for you.
OK. Thanks, Sofia.
CASPER: Luke, are you doing puff in the air fryer?
He loves it in there, mate.
He scares me.
EMILY: He always scares me.
I've heard somewhere that,
when they traditionally make Portuguese tarts,
they normally use, like,
a 400-degree oven just to get that real puff of the pastry,
and you get that burntish top.
I'm hoping to use the air fryer a little bit like a combi oven.
Because the fan in it is so strong,
you can get such a high heat -
I think this could work.
Hopefully, they'll come up looking golden.
Opportunity's knocking! 45 minutes to go!
You're a fridge. It was too far away!
Is this real...? This is real champagne?
Yeah, it's proper champagne. Just remember to cook, you know.
This will help me cook. Yeah!
JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: Hannah. Hello, Chef.
So tell me, what are you doing?
So, today I'm going to do a chicken breast
and a puree of carrots,
a confit of baby leeks with a champagne beurre blanc.
Ooh. Yeah.
Your dish sounds a bit simple, technically,
so everything depends on your champagne beurre blanc.
Yeah. Good luck.
[EXHALES]
Yes, I believe everything on this plate
is tied together with this beurre blanc,
so it needs to be exceptional, and, um, yeah,
that's what I'm aiming for.
Let's get this happening, hey?
People are scared of beurre blanc sometimes
because they are notorious for splitting easily.
It's got me a little bit scared, but I'm, like, whatever.
I've got enough time to do this.
I'm using French butter,
and you just add it really slowly.
So I'm just going to stand here and whisk for a bit.
Pumped? POH: Yes!
Yes, pumped. This is good.
So, I've got Aaron and Petro.
Petro's going Grasian, so a Greek-Asian dessert.
It's going to be like a little Greek cannoli.
My only worry is how many Grasian desserts have you had?
None. None, so...
I love a first. Yeah!
You think you're worried?
Luke is making Portuguese tarts,
but he's never been to Portugal
and he's doing them in an air fryer.
Oh-la-la-la! What?!
There are bakeries that specialise
in just the Portuguese tart.
Yeah! That's right, yeah.
They take so much work to get perfect.
Show us what you can do with the ingredients we gave you!
28 minutes to go!
28 minutes!
Whoo-hoo!
CASPER: Is that the soybean, Aaron?
AARON: Yeah.
I'm going pretty well, actually, I think.
I've got my pork belly. That's in the pressure cooker.
I'm just trying to see what the flavours are like
in the slaw and what I want and don't want.
One of my favourite memories from Malaysia
was when my grandma was in the kitchen,
and she got me to taste different things,
try different things.
That's where I learned to use instinct,
balancing all these very punchy flavours.
I don't really want the Chinese olive,
basically, the tapenade that I've decided not to use.
It's got a really earthy sort of flavour
that doesn't really go well with the slaw.
I want something fresh and zingy instead.
So I'm just going to stick to the preserved vegetable,
the fresh wombok, some chilli and ginger
and just the dressing here.
VINNIE: What temp do you take quail to? Do you know?
I've never cooked quail. Sorry, brother.
Me neither!
So, so far, I've pretty much
got all my herbs cut up.
My glaze is done
and looking to start doing my quail now
I don't want to take any chances with this bird.
It needs to be charred really beautifully on the hibachi,
and it needs to have that really nice smoky flavour.
So I've got three quails just in case I stuff up.
I'm going to make sure this bird is perfect.
So this will basically be my tester.
I'll see how it cooks,
and then from that I'll finish it off
and I'll start glazing and things like that.
I want the quails to be really, really juicy
and the breast just slightly pink.
Oh-ho-ho, je suis croissant! Oh, oui!
I just said, "I am a croissant." Oh, croissant!
My tarts are in the air fryer.
My ice-cream is churning in the ice-cream machine.
The only thing I can do is just wait
and see what happens.
It's kind of like the calm before the storm right now.
Sorry, Luke. Do you mind if I use...?
Are you not using your stove?
All yours, Chef. Right.
Can I use your chopping board? Of course, Chef.
Oh! Wahey!
There it goes. Sorry, I do apologise for that.
I have no idea what is going on.
Can I use your butter?
There's only a little bit of French butter
left in the fridge.
A little bit!
Jean-Christophe is yelling in the kitchen.
Hey!
I want to win that voucher. Whoo!
I need a new fridge!
Hey!
It feels like I'm at the F1, with the amount of champagne
being sprayed in my face by Jean-Christophe.
Oh, sorry for that. Oh!
If this is what the finale is gonna be like,
I'm ready for it.
And that's it.
Thank you so much, by the way,
Andy, Poh, les escargots!
So that's it. Very simple. Meuniere. We call it meuniere.
Yum!
You want to try your own goodness?
Yeah, I will, actually. Thank you.
So they've been... Oh, yum!
..sauteed very quickly...
Yum! ..with a bit of butter.
Jean-Christophe? Yeah.
You SNAILED this. [LAUGHS]
EMILY: Come on, Luke! Reclaim your bench space.
The French circus has left town
and it's time to focus on my dish.
I open up the air fryer to check on my tarts...
..and the custard has overflowed.
And now the sides of the pastry
are just sort of getting soggy and burning.
Yeah, it's just not looking how I would have liked.
Come on, Luke!
Yeah, that guy's not right.
While it's cooked, the filling has come out the top
and then made it soggy.
Thankfully, I've put in four,
so I've got four chances to get it right.
I'll put them back in and then take them out round the buzzer.
Ten minutes left, guys! Come on!
ANDY: Come on, guys, think about plating!
Make sure you guys get it on a plate!
I'm just really worried about Petro.
I don't know what's going on, time-wise.
PETRO: Under the pump.
I've just finished my creme pat.
My syrup's about done. That has to be cooled.
I need to get on to rolling out my filo dough and frying them.
So there's a bit to do.
I am starting to feel the time pressure a bit,
and I'm not feeling too crash-hot about my dish.
I feel like it's going to be too subtle.
I feel like there's not going to be enough flavour.
How are you going, Petro?
Uh... Yeah, interesting.
I think I should have done a pandan creme pat.
What's your creme pat now?
It's a coconut and vanilla.
Well, why can't you still do it?
Anyway, that's just a thought. Thanks. Thanks, Poh.
Time is not on my side at the moment,
but I think I need to inject some pandan flavour
into that coconut creme pat,
so I'm gonna get some pandan leaves,
blitz it up in just a little bit of coconut milk,
strain it, and then that extract
will go into my creme pat.
I've just got to push and not think twice.
AARON: So the plan for the pork belly
is that the judges will get all the flavours
of chilli oil, the fermented soybean,
the oyster sauce coming through the pork,
and once it gets a bit too rich,
they can quench that richness with the slaw.
EMILY: Ooh, it looks beautiful!
Pork's out of the pressure cooker.
Chilli caramel is bubbling away.
Aaron, taste it.
But as I taste the end of the pork,
not a lot of that flavour actually penetrates the meat.
Looking at the braising liquid,
I'm thinking I should turn this into some sort of sauce.
Yeah, I'm not using the chilli caramel
because I already had such a good base for the sauce,
why waste it?
So I'm, you know, trying to reduce it down now
to make a little bit of a glazy situation.
Adding it to the dish will only
amplify the flavours that are already on the pork.
Last thing I want to do
is be knocked out in Knockout Week,
so let's try and, uh, try and do well and bring it home.
Today's the day to be dish of the day!
Five minutes to go! ANDY: Five minutes, everybody!
EMILY: Come on, Pat!
ANNABEL: We're good, we're good, we're feeling good.
Cooked my pasta.
The bug's cooked really beautifully.
Gremolata-y thingy.
My salsa-y thing for the top.
It is, like, yummy, I think.
PAT: I'm really happy with the bug.
I'm just finishing off the parsnip crisps.
Just getting my butter finished, and then I really want
to taste everything together
and see how it works, so we'll go from there.
ALYONA: All my elements are ready.
Happy with the quail fillets.
I have my crumb ready,
my rhubarb jam
and then my puree is there as well.
So I think this is all gonna come together really nicely.
CASPER: Let's go, guys. Make it perfect.
Get it on the plate, Vinnie.
So all my elements
are basically ready to assemble.
I've prepped all my herbs,
I've got my yoghurt straining in the fridge,
and my figs are nice and caramelised.
I just need to bring everything together now.
I'm just kind of focusing on my quail right now
and making sure that is absolutely perfect.
Quail is a really tricky protein to cook because it's so small.
A lot of the parts can overcook
while some parts are still really, really raw.
I'm looking at my three quails
and they're all looking as good as each other,
but I'm not gonna know if it's cooked through
to that bone until the judges cut into it.
There's a $5,000 voucher on the line!
Three minutes to go!
CASPER: Let's go, guys. Finish 'em up!
EMILY: Is your sauce in a container?
Yep, my sauce is in a container there.
Finally, I've got my sauce in the jug,
and I'm actually starting to realise
I have neglected some other elements.
I was scared to split the whole sauce,
so I was fiddling too much.
I chuck my chicken and just kind of
quickly drain my leeks and chuck them on the plate.
It's amazing what you can get done
in one minute in this kitchen.
Don't get knocked out! One minute to go!
CASPER: Come on, guys! Final push! Let's go!
Get 'em on a plate! EMILY: Come on, guys! Come on!
Come on, Petro.
PETRO: I've got a minute to go.
Now I've got pandan in my creme pat
and I've got pandan in my syrup.
It's given that flavour boost that I was after,
so I'm really happy with that.
I pull my filo cigars out and they're looking great.
All I need to do is put them in my syrup
and then fill them with the creme pat, and happy days.
Do you have a plate, Petro? Got a plate?
No, I need to get a plate. Yeah.
And these, they're very hard to get off.
I know, I can see. Yeah.
I can't believe this is happening right now.
They're not coming out.
Everything's ready to go.
I just need to get these cigars off the mould.
Come on, Petro.
Oh, yeah, he's got it.
Come on, Pet.
As soon as I get my filo cigar off the mould,
I douse it in my syrup,
fill it with my coconut and pandan creme pat,
and then I roll it in my toasted coconut.
Every second counts. 30 seconds to go!
[SHOUTING AND APPLAUSE]
Make sure you get it on the plate, guys!
Come on, Luke.
Oh, no, they're really burnt, man.
They are so burnt.
I pull my small tarts out and they are very charred.
It's such a bad feeling
plating up a plate of food that you just know isn't right,
but I can't just serve up an ice-cream.
I have to put it on the plate.
You've only got ten...
JUDGES: Nine, eight, seven,
six, five, four, three,
two, one!
That's it, everybody.
Oh, my sister! Good, good.
HANNAH: Very messy plating.
The last five minutes went insane.
I didn't really have time to taste and flavour my carrots.
I feel like because I'm the only one
that picked JC's fridge,
he's been evenly wandering around,
but you see him eyeball over here
because he wants me to do well as well.
So I really hope today he's proud of me
and happy with the food that I've put up.
It's day two of Knockout Week and a reminder
that there is a big prize
for top dish today,
but we are also looking for the two bottom dishes
to go straight into the elimination
at the end of the week.
We'd love to taste your dish...
..Aaron.
AARON: Winning immunity at the end of the week
would be huge, because it's just another step forward
in the competition.
I'm hoping the judges say that the dish is delicious
and they understand
the balancing act that went into the dish itself.
Aaron, you used my fridge. What did you end up making?
I made a twice-cooked pork belly
with an Asian glaze and some slaw as well.
Are you glad you picked my fridge,
or are you regretting it? [LAUGHS]
I'm so happy I picked your fridge...
That's good. ..because I remember,
like, little bits of nostalgia, especially with the olives.
Like you said,
having it with congee, just plain white congee,
just having it on top.
You know, I used to have that when I was a kid,
especially when we had, like, tummy aches and stuff.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's what Mum would feed us.
Yeah, it's very nostalgic. Yeah.
And then the mustard greens as well.
Again, it takes me back to my grandma's soups and,
you know, all the stuff we used to eat it with as well.
It looks very appealing.
Like, the colour and the gloss on that sauce
looks really wonderful.
Thank you. And I really want to taste it.
[LAUGHS]
Aaron, when I saw you dump a whole bunch
of those umami bombs into the stockpot,
and then you were going to pressure cook that
and then make a caramel to put over the top,
"I want to throttle him."
Because obviously all the flavour
would have fallen into your sauce,
and then you're making this thing
that is just sugar and water.
Yeah.
So I'm so glad you came to your senses,
because it is bloody delicious.
You've used all those soy beans and the oyster sauce.
I think you've used all those really effectively.
And I love the slaw.
I love how hard you've hit it with the ginger.
The ginger and pork are like best friends.
Yeah.
I really love
the preserved mustard greens as well,
to add that little sweet-sour, salty kick.
A really, really lovely dish.
Yeah.
It's very scoff-able.
And your pork is cooked really well.
It does have that very, very slight crust to it,
but the pork is tender.
It's easy to eat from the flesh all the way through to the fat,
and that's something that doesn't happen all the time.
Yeah.
The sauce, it's sweet, but it's got a lot of depth,
so all of that tasting that you did along the way,
it really paid off.
And then, because it is so sweet,
having the tang of those mustard greens,
a bit of the freshness from the ginger,
you've made a side
that goes absolutely phenomenally
with your main as well.
Thank you. Good job.
Thanks, Aaron.
Good job, Aaron.
Next up, Annabel.
ANNABEL: I made a harissa bug pasta.
Annabel, my bug was cooked unbelievably well.
Yeah. Beautiful.
Pasta, I think it's really nice work.
What I really kind of got into
was that kind of little pangrattato-y number
on top with the macadamias, the fresh herbs
and the guindilla peppers.
Thanks, guys. Good luck.
Next up, Pat.
PAT: I've done a steamed bug tail
with some crispy parsnip crisps
and a slaw.
What about if it was on the menu? How would it read?
Um... Bug and chips.
Bug and chips.
JEAN-CHRISTOPHE: Pat, your bug, it's been cooked very well.
Your slaw, nice skill.
I like the little parsnip strings.
Excellent.
Another on the Andy fridge train,
Alyona.
ALYONA: I made pan-seared quail breast
with rhubarb and figs.
Alyona, the quail is cooked beautifully.
You still get that tang from the rhubarb.
Very earthy parsnipy puree.
Incredibly smooth.
Really lovely.
Next up, please, Luke.
Serving this up to the judges -
I'm feeling pretty terrible about.
I do not want them to taste it.
I do not want my name to be attached to what I'm serving up,
but I've got nothing else.
Luke, can I ask you, what is it?
I've done a Portuguese tart with a burnt fig ice-cream.
Have you made this before?
I've not made it before. Uh...
So how did you cook them?
I cooked them in the air fryer.
Normally they're done in, like, a super hot oven.
Yeah. And in my mind,
an air fryer gets hotter than an oven, at home anyway.
So that was the reason behind it.
'Cause it's a small cavity? Yeah.
We're gonna taste your dish.
Luke, you nailed that ice-cream.
And I think using that
really molasses-y fig jam was a clever move.
The custard,
it's got a beautiful flavour to it.
It's just the right amount of egginess for me
and reminds me of Portuguese tarts,
but I've never had a Portuguese tart
served with ice-cream, because a perfect Portuguese tart,
you don't need anything else, you don't want anything else.
And it is really impossible
for me to look past the burnt, overflowing edges.
I know how hard these are to get right.
I can't believe how close you've got,
but in the same sentence, you're also so far away,
because I think that there
is pretty close to inedible.
That could land you in the bottom two.
Sorry, brother.
I tried something a bit different today
and it has completely gone up in flames.
If I'm not in the bottom two today,
I might go and buy a lottery ticket
because I might get away with murder.
[INDISTINCT SPEECH]
Next up, Vinnie.
[APPLAUSE]
There is a lot on the line today, you know,
being safe from elimination,
but trying to cook a quail on a hibachi
is really, really difficult.
If this isn't right, my dish won't be right.
Vinnie, what did you make?
I made a barbecue harissa glazed quail with a herb labneh,
some caramelised figs and macadamias.
Happy at the end of the cook?
Yeah, I think I am.
Righto.
It's gonna come down to the cook on the quail.
Let's have a look.
OK.
Vinnie, really flavourful plate of food.
And I feel like, in the sort of last few dishes
that you brought, your personality's in the dish,
and I really like that.
Really delicious flavours.
I love the way my quail was cooked. Very beautiful.
Thank you.
Vinnie, I'm gonna start with the quail.
Those grill marks, those char marks,
caramelisation, slightly burnished,
especially the wingtips.
I like it on that rare, medium rare side,
but that just got me good.
Then every other component
is, like, jammed full of flavour.
I especially love those grilled figs.
I thought that was such an odd one to put on there,
but they've really sucked up that smoke.
They went with the quail really well,
as did the herb yoghurt, as did the macadamias.
The figs, I think they were the best for me.
Really played a big part. Such a simple ingredient.
Well done, mate. Thank you.
Nice one, Vinnie. Well done.
OK. Next one, please, Hannah.
HANNAH: Looking at my dish and I'm, like,
a little bit nervous serving this up to Jean-Christophe.
I think I just spent way too much time
on this beurre blanc, and now I have
neglected other elements.
It's a bit thick now, guys.
Hannah. Hello.
Can I ask you a question? Yes.
Why did you use the most handsome judge fridge?
Can't even say that right!
Not loaded. Not a loaded question.
Yeah, I chose yours
because I knew you've done patisserie,
and I thought I might go with a dessert today,
and yours would probably be loaded up with dessert things.
So tell us, what have you made?
So, today I've made pan-fried chicken
with a confit baby leek,
carrot puree and a champagne beurre blanc.
OK.
We're gonna taste your dish.
Hannah, I think, with French fundamentals,
you really do have to know what you're doing,
like when you're building a sauce,
and as much as we know that French food
is all about injecting as much butter
into any given object until it nearly...
..but just before it splits,
you, also, there's a real skill to it,
and I think what we have here is just
a lot of butter in lots of elements,
so there's not enough flavour there
to, like, basically support the butter.
But I think I would encourage you
just to go home and learn all those basics,
make sure you really understand the reduction,
what's giving it flavour and just practise those
so you know how to riff in a situation like this.
Yeah. Yeah.
Hannah, look, I think the chicken is really moist,
but the way that you've cooked it
has left it kind of overly salty,
and with the carrot puree, when you see something
that is so vibrant and so orange,
you want the flavour to follow through.
It is underseasoned.
I can totally see where you were going with this,
but I just think there are
too many faults on the plate today.
No, that's totally fine.
I'm delighted that you've chosen my fridge,
but the details, a lot of them,
and I don't want you to,
but you look like you might end up in the bottom two.
Yeah. No, that's OK. So, good luck, Hannah.
Thank you, Hannah. Thanks, guys.
Ah, I wish I could go back in time and pick something else
to do with this French fridge.
I'm definitely wondering
if this plate of food will knock me out.
We'd love to taste your dish next, Petro.
Feeling a little nervous taking my dish up to the judges.
The vision's there.
It's a messier vision than I had in mind,
but, uh, I'm pretty happy with the flavours,
so hopefully the judges like it as well.
Petro, you used my hybrid Asian dessert fridge.
What did you end up making?
I ended up making filo cigars
with a coconut and pandan creme pat,
ginger and pandan syrup,
and some toasted coconut.
Well, I'm really excited to taste them,
because this is the first Greek-Asian dessert
that I think any of us have had.
Am I right to say that? Yeah.
Yeah, I've never dabbled in the Greek-Asian dessert.
Let's do it.
Petro...
..on a day where we're picking a bottom dish,
it's a really dangerous day to experiment.
But lucky you nailed it!
It's so delicious!
I love it.
I feel like this is the perfect mouthful.
That flavour profile is solid.
The coconut on the outside is gorgeous
and then really supports what's on the inside.
And I'm really happy
that you folded the pandan juice through it,
because it's ringing with a real flavour.
You've done a great job.
Thank you, Poh.
Petro, the way you've managed to roll up
your cylinders or cigars is perfect.
The right layers. It's very well cooked.
It's simple, it's neat, very well executed.
I think that says it all, mate. Clean plates over here.
Well, a clean plate now.
I think you got the textures right,
I think you pushed that pastry right to the edge,
which means it's really caramelised
but not too sweet.
Zero complaints from me, mate.
Thank you so much.
Petro, this dessert is taking me to multiple good places.
There's the floral grassiness of the pandan,
which is kind of like Asian patisserie,
and then I also am getting, like,
a tiny bit of baklava because of that syrup.
That's just the right amount, I think,
to add not too much sweetness, but also the flavour.
So it's a great job, Petro.
You've managed to invent a new dish
and you could also be in the running for the top dish.
Let's see how you go.
Thank you so much, guys.
Well done, mate. Thank you.
Good job, Petro. Go, Petro!
I am in shock.
This has been one of my most chaotic cooks
with ingredients I don't usually cook with,
and it looks like I've pulled it off.
Good job.
Today was the second round of Knockout Week.
You had to choose one of our fridges
and use the ingredients inside to create a dish
that would keep you out of the elimination
at the end of the week.
You guys had an extra incentive today,
with a $5,000 LG voucher on the line.
A bit to play for.
POH: We gave you some of our favourite ingredients,
and we wanted you to do something
really special with them.
One of you gave us something that we'd never seen before.
Petro!
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
Come on!
Thank you.
Your Grasian filo cigars were not only unique,
they were also delicious.
Congratulations.
You now have $5,000 to kit out your kitchen with.
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
This LG voucher is going to do so much for my kitchen.
I don't have a dishwasher, I need a new fridge,
I need a range hood.
I feel like it's a good reminder
that you don't give up until the end.
Up until the last second, things can happen.
SOFIA: Now down to the unpleasant business.
This is Knockout Week,
so we're knocking two dishes out of the running
for immunity and into this week's elimination.
The first dish we knocked out...
..was yours...
..Hannah.
There were errors in all of your elements,
which meant that the dish as a whole
didn't make for great eating.
The second dish we knocked out...
..was yours...
..Luke.
You attempted a highly technical dish,
but Portuguese tarts in 75 minutes just didn't work.
Unfortunately, Hannah and Luke...
..the two of you will be joining Emily and Casper
in the elimination at the end of the week.
To the rest of you, well done.
We'll see you tomorrow,
when the fight to stay out of the black aprons continues.
Goodnight.
Well done, guys. Thank you.
I do feel a little bit sad
that I've let Jean-Christophe down,
but I still had so much fun.
At least I had some champagne in the MasterChef kitchen.
Like, who can say that, right?
VOICEOVER: Tomorrow night...
It's a team service challenge.
[CONTESTANTS EXCLAIM]
..it's the final hurdle
to win immunity in Knockout Week...
Service challenges are so, so cool. I cannot wait.
..and these two...
Here we go!
..are leading the charge.
Now, mix and smell, mix and smell.
Temper it a little bit.
You look great. Oh, mate, you look so sexy.
I love the way you are in the kitchen!
May the best team win.
Oh!
ANNABEL: I am freaking out.
There's a 50-50 chance of
going into elimination tomorrow.
Come on, guys. We have this!
You can do it! Please!
I don't want Andy to win!
Captions by Red Bee Media