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It is the first Mystery Box challenge on MasterChef Australia 2016. Billie McKay, former MasterChef winner is the special guest tonight and she has chosen the mystery box ingredients. They are Duck, corn flakes, mushrooms, fennel, black tea leaves, sago, ginger wine, beetroot.
The contestants have 75 minutes to cook something with the ingredients, the bottom three contestants will be in tomorrow’s elimination.
The contestants frantically begin to cook. All are eager to impress as the bottom three will be going into an elimination.
Theresa is a little lost and unsure what to cook. She decides to make some Asian noodles as they are her son’s favourite. Charlie is making some pickled beetroot to go with his duck. Miles is making baked duck in ginger wine. Ashley is making pasta, a ravioli dish. He says seventy five minutes is plenty for what he wants to do. Nidhi is making a parfait with a crumble. Mimi is tea smoking her duck with a cornflake crumb. There’s twenty minutes to go. Jimmy has roasted his duck breast, he takes it out of the oven and the judges look at it and say he is in big trouble. It’s overcooked so he decides to cook another duck breast. Theresa decides last minute to cook a stock to add with her noodles. Trent is making a panfried duck and has made his own ricotta. Carmen has made a creme brulee. Ashley has realised that time is running out faster than he had hoped. He goes to roll out his dough but it’s not working. He doesn’t know what to do. There’s only five minutes remaining. He changes pasta machines and hopes for the best. Charlie is not happy with his pickled beetroot. There’s two minutes remaining and everyone frantically plates up their dish. Theresa has run out of time and is panicking with a minute remaining. Time is up the contestants are relieved to have completed their first dish. Ashley is really upset that his dish is not worthy of presenting to the judges.
First up for tasting is Nidhi. It’s a tea infused parfait with a crumble. Matt and Billy love the dish. George and Gary come and try it too, they love it also. Jimmy is next. He has made pan seared duck with a stuffed mushroom. The judges comment that the dish is plated up beautifully. George and Billy taste the dish. George says it’s inspiring, Billy says he’s done really well. Matt and Gary come and taste the dish, they love it also. A few contestants are shown quickly, they have all cooked great dishes. Ashley is up next. He has made a ravioli with a fennel and mushroom mousse. George asks if he is happy with the dish, he says it doesn’t look appetising. George almost shudders tasting it. Ashley is embarrassed and disappointed. Next up is Trent. Gary and Billy are impressed with the presentation of the dish, they are also impressed that he has made his own ricotta. Gary says it’s lovely, he is so impressed with the soft texture and taste of the ricotta. Charlie is up next. He has made crispy duck with fennel mash and pickled beetroot. Matt says the fennel mash is lovely but the rawness of the beetroot is a problem when you compare it with the fennel mash. The duck is a little overcooked. Matt says you haven’t done much and it has flaws so he might be going into the eliminations. A few more contestants are shown and their dishes are average. Theresa is up next. She has cooked seared duck breast with noodles. She pours her broth over the noodles and realises her mistake. The broth is unfortunately a blood like colour and does not look appetising at all. George says the noodles are beautiful, but there is nothing else he likes about the dish. Theresa is really disappointed in herself. Mimi is up next. She has cooked a tea smoked duck. Matt really loves it, he says it’s really special. Billy says it’s perfect. George and Gary try it and love it too. George says its dish of the day. And thats all the dishes today.
The three most outstanding dishes belong to Jimmy, Mimi and Nidhi. Special mention also goes to Trent.
The bottom three dishes belong to Ashley, Charlie and Theresa. They will all be in tomorrow’s elimination. One of these three will be going home tomorrow.