source: twitter
Tonight on Masterchef it’s the quarter finals. As the contestants walk into Masterchef headquarters they are greeted by the judges and all of the previous contestants up on the balcony. Gary says that in three days the 2016 Masterchef will be crowned. There’s two rounds today. The winner of round one gets straight through to the semi finals. Then in round two one person will be eliminated.
The first round is a mystery box challenge. Each of the boxes have different ingredients. There are envelopes on top from their friends and families. The contestants get their boxes and get all emotional reading their letters. The ingredients in the boxes have been chosen by their families.
The lift the lids on their mystery boxes. Matt got snapper, daikon, peanuts, pawpaw and chilli. Elena has mud crab, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, bacon and lemon. Harry has asparagus, avocado, salmon, peas, lemons and chardonnay. Elise got leeks, quail, strawberries, vanilla beans, gelatine and freekah. They need to use at least one of the ingredients in their mystery boxes and have their usual pantry staples. They have 60 minutes on the clock.
source: twitter
Time has begun. Elena is cooking a crab with brussel sprouts and a sauce. Matt is making a crispy skin snapper and snapper dumplings. Elise is making a vanilla and thyme panna cotta. Harry has not started cooking yet and 10 minutes on the clock has passed already. Harry is making a granita with the chardonnay and is going to make something with the salmon but he’s not sure yet. He decides to make salmon a few different ways.
Elise is a little worried about the strength of her gelatine leaves, she normally uses titanium strength gelatine but today she has gold strength. Elise decides that she will will try using the freekah, she’s cooking it and is then going to try and puff it up. Elena is cooking the crab legs with some bacon and then puts the crab into a pot of water to cook. Harry is soaking some of his salmon in some chardonnay and is making a salmon tartare. He is also making some dumplings with a sweet pea filling. There’s 10 minutes remaining. Elise is not really happy with how her freekah is cooking, it’s still quite hard. She decides that she is not going to use it. She decides she needs something else to put a crunch on her plate so she makes a thyme biscuit. She is going to make a black pepper tuille and a black pepper praline. Matt has cut his daikon up into thin shreds. Harry fills his dumplings with the peas and pops them into a pot of boiling water. He also makes an avocado puree. It’s plating up time. They all get their dishes on to their plates in time. Time is up.
The first dish they taste belongs to Elise. She has made a thyme and vanilla panna cotta with a black pepper tuille and a praline. The judges taste the dish. The judges love it as they demolish the dish. Matt says the interesting thing about the dish is that the hero of the dish is not the fruit but it’s the pepper and the thyme flavours. They did comment that the panna cotta had a little too much gelatine in it. Harry is up next. He has made pea dumplings with a salmon tartare. Gary says the pasta is lovely and thin and the flavours are good but he doesn’t like the raw flavours of the chardonnay granita as it has a raw flavour. The next dish is Matt’s. He has made crispy skin snapper, dumplings, noodles and broth. The judges taste the dish. George says they can see lots of technique in the dish. Matt loves the daikon noodles. They did question the sharpness of the chilli and Vietnamese mint. Elena is up next. She has cooked crab, cauliflower, brussel sprouts and apple. The judges like the way the dish is presented. The judges taste the dish. Gary loves it and scrapes up as much sauce as possible. The judges demolish the rest of her dish and almost lick the plate clean, Gary is disappointed as the other two have eaten it all. He says it is an amazing dish. Matt says it is genius.
source: twitter
It’s time to find out who has won the mystery box challenge. The winner of the mystery box challenge is Elena. She is straight through to the semi-finals! Now it’s time for Harry, Matt and Elise to cook off in round two. Who is going to be eliminated from Masterchef tonight?
Gary introduces round two to Harry, Matt and Elise. He reveals a wall of items that display cooking techniques, food and techniques. Each of the contestants have to choose one of these items but they have to use all three of the items. Matt gets to choose first. Matt chooses the juicer and the blender. Harry chooses the whisks and aeration. Elise chooses the gelatine. They have 60 minutes and an open pantry and garden. The best two dishes will join Elena in the semi final and the worst dish will see it’s maker eliminated from Masterchef tonight.
Matt is making a dessert. He is making a blackberry sorbet, tempered chocolate and a jelly. Elise is making an aerated chocolate parfait with an orange sorbet and jelly. Harry is making a passionfruit sorbet and an apple and grapefruit jelly. Gary questions Elise, he asks why she is doing another parfait again. Elise gets quite emotional and starts to doubt herself. She wonders why she is making such an easy dish for the quarter finals. She decides to smoke the parfait to add extra flavour. Matt gets his sorbet into the churner and has made some port jellies. He begins to temper his dark chocolate. Harry is making a marshmallow and a jelly. Matt Preston questions whether he has made too many elements and if he will get them done on time. He is also making a coconut foam. Elise has gotten her jelly into the freezer and is making a crumb. Elise is still feeling upset as she is making similar elements to what she always makes. There’s 15 minutes to go. Harry is worried as he has focused on flavour and not on different textures. Harry decides to make a crunchy element for his dish so he gets some white chocolate from the pantry. Elise has also made a chocolate glaze. Matt gets his port jellies out of the freezer. He runs out to the garden to get some flowers. Elise is worried as her sorbet is a little icy. Harry’s white chocolate is still soft so he decides to leave it off the plate. They all rush to plate up their dishes. Time is up. Harry is worried about his dish. Elise is still in tears about her dish.
Who will be eliminated from Masterchef tonight? It’s time for the judges to taste the dishes. Harry is up first up, he has made a passionfruit sorbet with marshmallow, jelly and coconut foam. He goes to serve the coconut foam to the judges the foam has not set and it dissolves and melts all over the sorbet. The judges are not overly impressed. They taste the dish. Gary says that it’s not really like a dessert it’s more like a cleanser. He likes the passionfruit sorbet. George says the dish has so much potential. Matt says this is not a dessert they are looking for at this stage in the competition. Matt is up next. He has made a blackberry sorbet with dark chocolate and port jelly. The judges love the presentation of the dish. They taste the dish. George loves the dish, he says it is yum. Gary says it is delicious. Matt says he loves it! Finally it’s Elise’s turn. She has made a smoked chocolate parfait and orange sorbet. Her dish does not look great. Gary and George comment that the presentation is quite clumsy. They taste the dish. Gary says the sorbet is icy and flat tasting, the chocolate is too hard and it doesn’t leave him wanting more. George says he gets a sugar hit before the orange hit in the sorbet which is disappointing. It looks like it’s going to be a close one.
Who will be eliminated from Masterchef tonight? It’s time to find out who will be going home.
Elise has been eliminated from Masterchef tonight.
Good onya Elena. Best chef in the comp left.!!