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It is MasterChef Australia Nigella Lawson week. Nigella Lawson will be appearing in each MasterChef episode this week. It is a Mystery Box challenge and Nigella Lawson has personally chosen each ingredient.
Here are the MasterChef Mystery Box Ingredients:
- Butternut Pumpkin
- Chestnut
- Chicken thighs
- Pippies
- Fresh ginger
- Pancetta
- Feta
- Cumin
The judges are only tasting the five best dishes today and the winner gets an advantage in the invention test.
Mimi is cooking a pumpkin sponge layer cake with an ice-cream layer in the centre.
Zoe is cooking a pumpkin and cumin mille fueille. Heather is making a pumpkin filo stack. Jimmy is making a cumin and ginger chicken and a pumpkin and chestnut puree. He is hoping to make some crispy skin. Elena is making a pumpkin parfait with a cumin tuille. Zoe is a little worried that her puff pastry is not going to be ready in time, it should have been in the fridge by now.
Charlie is cooking a crispy chicken with a pumpkin and cumin puree, he’s also making chestnut and pancetta crumb. Mimi is worried that her pumpkin cake is not going to cook in time. There’s only 30 minutes remaining. The contestants are working frantically in the kitchen today.
Jimmy’s chicken skin is not super crispy but he hopes it will do, instead he crisps up some slithers of ginger. Heather assembles her filo stack and she is really pleased with it. Zoe checks her puff pastry and it has not worked at all. She persists and decides to plate her dish up anyways.
Time is up and Nigella needs to choose the 5 dishes she would like to taste today. Heather has been chosen first. She has made an open filo pumpkin pie. The judges taste the dish. Nigella likes the flavours and the textures. Matt says it is a delicious dish. Gary agrees. Jimmy’s dish is going to be tasted first. He has made a chicken thigh with ginger and cumin. Matt says he would have liked to see the chicken skin more crispy. Nigella says the chicken skin could have been crispier. Gary says it is a delicious dish. The next dish to be tasted belongs to Elena. She has made a pumpkin ice-cream stack with a cumin tuille and pancetta. Matt loves the cumin tuille but he says the dish was a little difficult to eat. Nigella liked the flavours though. Next up is Zoe. She has made a pumpkin mille fueille. Nigella says its not a mille fueille but more like a yummy biscuit. And next is Charlie. He has made a crispy skin chicken with a feta and pumpkin puree. Gary says it is absolutely delicious. Nigella says the flavour he has gotten in the puree is fabulous.
Now it’s time to find out which dish earns it’s maker an advantage in the invention test. Nigella picks her favourite dish and it is between Heather’s and Charlie’s dish. The winner of the Nigella Lawson mystery box challenge is Heather. She has now won the advantage. The three ingredients are revealed as chocolate, lemons and pistachios. Heather needs to choose one of the three ingredients to produce and indulgent dish. Heather reveals she has chosen chocolate. The judges will taste all the of the dishes. The top three dishes will compete in a pressure test for the immunity pin and the bottom three will be in an elimination.
Karmen is making chocolate decadence with miso. Chloe is making a white chocolate mousse with a fruit and nut granola. Mimi is making a beetroot sorbet with a chocolate caramel tart. Heather is making as snap crackle and pop. Anastasia is the only person who has chosen to do a savoury dish. Miles explains his dish to Matt and Nigella and Matt questions if he is doing too much. Chloe’s white chocolate mousse is a disaster. Chloe decides to make a semifreddo instead. Harry is making a chocolate royale with a fizzy sherbet. There’s 15 minutes remaining. Miles is struggling, his bench is a mess and he cannot sort through his ideas properly. Karmen takes her spheres out of the moulds and they have worked really well. Jimmy also attempts to take his spheres out of the moulds but they have not worked. Anastasia checks on her chocolate and beef dish and is happy with it.
Time is up and the judges are ready to taste the dishes. First up is Mimi. She has made a salted chocolate tart with a beetroot sorbet. The judges love it. Nigella loves the flavours. Gary loves it too and Nigella and Gary fight over the dish. Nigella rushes over and gave Mimi a big kiss on the cheek. Chloe is up next. Her dish has not worked out. George says it looks pretty bad. It is supposed to be a white chocolate semi-freddo. George tells her to stick to what she knows. Nigella says that people who don’t make mistakes don’t learn. Anastasia is up next. She has made a chocolate mexican bowl. They judges all enjoy her dish. The next few contestants have their dishes tasted and have all done a great job. Next up is Heather. The judges are not impressed with her dish. Zoe brings her dish up and Nigella enjoys it. Jimmy is up next. Nigella is not able to break through his chocolate dome. The judges say it’s a shame and that if you can’t temper chocolate properly then don’t try it. Next up is Harry. He has made white chocolate and rose royales. George cuts one open and the judges taste it. Nigella says she is enchanted. The judges love it. Miles is up next. He is not happy with what he has produced. His cheesecake has not set and his gelato has melted everywhere. Gary says it is not very good at all. Nigella did say that the tea cream was nice. Karmen is up next. Nigella says it is the prettiest dish they have seen today. It’s called a chocolate decadence. The judges taste the dish. Gary says yum. Nigella says the chocolate ice-cream is just fabulous. Matt says this is a fantastic dish that belongs in heaven. He loves it. George says it is so yum. Gary says she has done a brilliant job.
It’s time to find out who made the best dishes and who made the worst dishes. The three best dishes belong to Mimi, Karmen and Harry. Now the three worst dishes are revealed. They belonged to Miles, Chloe and Jimmy. They will compete in the pressure test.