The contestants could choose the risky box (mystery box) or the safe board (lamb, brussel sprouts, pumpkin and potato. The safe board contestants had 30 minutes and the mystery box contestants had 60 minutes. The winner would have the advantage for the invention test.
Mystery Box Challenge
Emelia, Byron, Ben and Rachael chose the safe board, the rest of the contestants chose the risky box. The mystery box contained tofu, paw paw, zuchinni flowers, vegimite, choko, cardimine and pheasant.
There were several good dishes, Tash and Sarah both made mousse, Georgia made a vegemite mayonnaise and stuffed zucchini flowers and a lot of contestants made pheasant dishes.
Only 5 dishes were tasted by the judges.
The first dish to be tasted was Georgia’s pan-friend pheasant breast with zucchini flower and vegemite mayonnaise. Her pheasant was a bit under done but her vegemite mayonnaise with paw paw worked really well.
The next dish to be tasted was Amy’s paw paw sorbet with paw paw and caramel custard. Matt Preston thought it was delicious and by using a sweetness to improve the paw paw flavour was a great idea. Gary also said it was delicious.
Jamie’s dish was picked next. It was a roasted pheasant with salsify and zucchini flower. His pheasant was very undercooked. The salsify was very clean and tasty.
Emelia’s brussel sprouts, pumpkin and potato done 9 ways was next. George said it was “Clever Cooking” and “Sophisticated”. The judges finished the plate.
The judges picked Sarah’s pheasant mousse tortellini with vegemite. Matt Preston loved the combination of butter, vegemite and pheasant worked well and George loved the flavour.
The winner of the mystery box challenge was Emelia.
Invention Test
Emelia was not only given the choice of the core ingredient but also the time and type of cuisine that will be cooked. She was first able to choose between pork, lamb and prawns and she chose prawns. She then had the choice between 30 minutes, 45 minutes or 1 hour and chose 45 minutes and from Greek, Mexican or Thai cuisines she chose Thai.
Stephen wasn’t feeling well so he had to sit out and was instantly put into the pressure test round.
Emelia chose to cook red prawn curry with rice noodles and a praline twill. Brent decided to cook a coconut and lemon grass panna cota. Renae cooked a green curry paste in rice paper rolls, broth and prawns.
The top 3 dishes would go into the immunity challenge and the bottom 3 would go into the elimintion challlenge.
Brent was first to be judged. He cooked coconut and lemongrass panna cotta with charred mango and spiced prawns. George loved it, it was clever and creative and Matt though it was the best dish he’s put up so far. Gary thought it nailed the brief.
Renae’s green curry broth and prawn rice paper rolls were next. George said it was brilliant, it was like the best thai restaurant. Matt Preston said she has blossomed.
Ben’s prawn and rice noodle salad was next to be judged. It was “unlike you”. George said it looked dry, all three judges said “nope”. It didn’t have any of the right flavours, it was a bit of a disaster.
Byron was judged next. He cooked pan dan smoked prawns with aromatic coconut broth. His prawns were raw, hardly cooked at all. The judges were disappointed.
Rachael cooked thai prawn broth with prawn balls and prawn crisps. Matt Preston thought it was “wow”. George said he now wants to come to Rachael’s house and eat. It “beats any michelin star restaurant”.
Several other dishes were judges, they were good but not 10/10.
Sarah’s prawn curry with crispy sesame seed stick was judged. It was “funky”. She used too much prawn paste, it was too acidic.
Emelia’s prawn red curry with homemade rice noodles and praline. The dish was good apart from the bamboo shoots, it lacked a bit of flavour but was very inventive.
The top three contestants tonight were: Brent, Renae and Rachael
The three contestants heading to elimination were: Byron, Ben, Sarah and Stephen