MasterChef Junior (2013) s03e05 Episode Script
Family Style
- Last week - Switch! Go, go! In a high-pressure tag team challenge Create a stunning sushi platter.
America's greatest junior home cooks showed their raw talent.
- Put them on! - Keep going! And Jimmy and Ayla's sushi boat sailed them to victory.
It's the best sushi we've ever had in this kitchen, even including the adults.
But for Jack and Cory Have this be the start of a new chapter.
Their culinary dreams would continue at home.
- Tonight - Oh, my God.
- What.
Are we gonna cook, like, aliens or something? The MasterChef kitchen goes bananas Oh, gosh.
And a very special junior home cook My daughter Matilda Ramsay.
challenges the contestants with a classic dish of her dad.
- Salmon en croute.
- Oh, God.
I want the exact replica.
In their toughest elimination test yet.
What does it look like? I don't know what to do! I don't know if she can pull it back.
Welcome, guys.
Yeah, we're back.
Just getting this far is amazing.
I've been cooking as far back as I can remember, and when I'm older, I want to go to culinary school and open a restaurant, and I would love to have the title as MasterChef Junior.
Welcome back, everybody.
Look how many of you are left.
- Eight.
- Eight.
- Eight.
- Eight.
The person that wins the MasterChef Junior trophy is still, of course, a mystery to the three of us.
But we'll get one step closer to unlocking that mystery with the help of your next mystery box challenge.
- It just changed in colors.
- That's so awesome.
This mystery box challenge doesn't begin with what is under your boxes.
It starts with this.
- Oh, my God.
- What? Oh my goodness.
What the heck is going on? Are we gonna cook, like, aliens or something like that? Oh, I see Oh, I see something.
The banana.
Bananas have been on Earth longer than humans.
They play such an important part in so many food cultures around the world.
Now please, head to your stations.
Well, now I know what's under the mystery box.
There's a banana hanging from the ceiling.
So, kind of gives it away.
It's kind of obvious what it's going to be.
It's time to start your next mystery box challenge.
On the count of three, I want all of you to lift your boxes.
- Are you ready? - Yes, chef.
- Yes, Joe.
One Two Three Lift.
- Oh, geez.
- Oh, God.
Bananas.
There's no surprise there.
For this challenge, you have to cook us an amazing, restaurant-quality dish using bananas as the hero.
You also have a limited pantry of ingredients.
The winner of this challenge will get a huge advantage in the next round of this competition.
Your 60 minutes to go bananas Starts Now.
- Fridge, fridge, fridge.
- Where's the shrimp? I need coconut.
Don't drop anything.
I'm making my choco-nana meringue pie tart.
I'm really going for it on this dish.
The only thing I'm worried about is if I'm gonna be able to make it in an hour.
I'm going to make a banana chicken mole.
Sweet is the obvious thing to do with the bananas, so I wanted to stand out from everybody else.
So this is a difficult challenge.
Bananas.
All of these kids are far more used to eating bananas raw.
Cooking with them, different ball game.
So tonight is going to be a big test of their confidence, to see if they can take this thing as a sort of humble snack and elevate it into a sweet or savory dish.
What are some of the savory dishes that come to your mind immediately with bananas? I would go for a nice, fragrant shrimp and lemongrass and banana curry.
Yeah, I think it's also something that you can almost use in place of avocados, so you can do a version of guacamole or gazpacho, things like that.
- Riley.
- Yes? - What's this dish called? - Banana scallops.
- Banana scallops? - Where do you get these ideas from? - My brain.
- Your brain? - Yeah.
- That's great.
Do you want to be a chef when you grow up? Who do you want to be a chef like? Who's your favorite chef? - You.
- Really? - Yep.
- I didn't know that.
- Do you know who my favorite chef is? - No.
- You.
- Thank you.
Good luck.
Come on.
You can do this.
- Nathan, what are you making? - French macaroons - Macaroons.
Wow.
- Filled with a banana caramel.
- This is very ambitious.
- It is a very ambitious dish, but I know if I get it right that it'll really impress you guys.
Yeah, if you get a banana macaroon right, it'll knock our socks off.
- Good luck.
- Thanks so much.
Just under 20 minutes to go.
Jenna, what are you making? Coconut shrimp with a banana-coconut sauce and banana-mango salad.
You know what's funny is that when we talk about what we would make, Gordon immediately said that he would do a banana and shrimp curry, so the fact that you're putting banana shrimp together.
He's gonna have some high expectations.
You better deliver.
Good luck.
Sounds good.
- Ryan Kate, how you feeling? - Feeling good, chef.
Wow, you are busy here.
Talk about this dish.
What is it? It's a Caribbean spiced pork with sweet potato hash and a spicy banana sauce.
So when was the last time you were in the Caribbean? Me and my family vacationed there once when I was really young.
- Good luck.
- Thank you.
Wow, some fantastic dishes, and they're not all desserts, which is great news.
The majority are going savory.
- What's Riley making? - Banana scallops.
Smart.
Very cute idea.
And the caramelization on those, beautiful.
So Nathan's out there without a net.
He is doing banana macaroons.
Now, macaroons are really, really tough, and if he can pull that off, that's the winner.
- Go, guys.
- There is a big advantage for one of you at the end of this challenge.
Garnish those wonderful plates.
Come on, guys.
Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, and stop.
Come on, guys.
Five, four, three, two, one, and stop.
- Well done.
- Good job.
Great job, everybody.
Throughout the mystery box challenge, the judges taste elements of all the junior home cooks' dishes as they come together.
Nice.
They now take one last look to choose the top three standouts.
- Great.
- And the winner of this challenge will receive a major advantage in the next round.
The first dish This dish went down a semitropical direction.
This young home cook has already been in the top bracket of the mystery box challenge.
Congratulations Jenna.
Let's go.
Yay! Second time mystery box.
Get called up first.
This dish came out perfectly.
exactly the way I wanted it to.
And I'm so proud of myself.
Wow.
Visually, it looks fantastic.
What's the dish, please? It is a coconut shrimp with a banana-coconut milk puree and banana-mango-pineapple salad.
The idea of the banana and coconut, is it a sweet coconut? - Is it a savory coconut? - It's gonna be sweet, but there is some sambal in there.
- Good, so you got some heat there.
- Yeah.
The color on the shrimp is beautiful.
I love this crispiness that you've got going on there.
How are they cooked inside? They're beautiful.
A little pink in the center, which is perfect.
There's an amazing flavor there.
You've cleaned the shrimp properly.
You've breaded them nicely.
I love the heat interaction, coconut, banana, smart move so it's not too sweet.
And I like that pineapple banana salsa to cool it down.
It's a delicious dish.
It looks great.
- Good job.
Well done.
- Thank you.
The cook on the shrimp is perfect.
That's great.
Ooh, I love that heat.
Just on it's own, I could totally eat that.
Banana and shrimp, there's such a natural sweetness in both of them but the banana also has a little bit of acidity.
You kind of think of the tropics when you're tasting it.
You know, maybe just the plating itself could use a little work.
But flavor-wise, it's a delicious dish.
Something that I'd be happy to order at a restaurant.
- Great job.
- Thank you.
Coconut the first thing that popped into your head when you thought bananas? Graham told me from the first mystery box challenge, that if it grows together it goes together.
So I kind of had that in mind when I was, So it's a tropical Your shrimp are fried perfectly.
They're crackling, they're not greasy.
You're puree's very good.
Nice dish.
I'd pay 20 bucks for it.
- Good job, Jenna.
- Thank you.
Well done.
The second dish that we want to take a closer look at is a dessert.
This home cook has never been in the top three of a mystery box.
Please come up Nathan.
French macaroons are so technically difficult, and being that I worked so hard on these macaroons, I'm really happy that I got called up to the top three.
- Those things look great.
- Thank you.
Tell me, what'd you do? Where's the banana hiding? Here we have three beautiful French macaroons filled with a banana caramel.
Wow.
Let me just tell you, your technique is pretty incredible.
- Thank you.
- These things look phenomenal.
Let's just do the old sound test.
It's like a little eggshell.
Wow, that's like eating a banana-flavored cloud.
It's, like, so light and airy.
The macaroon itself is baked to perfection.
These are the pinnacle.
- I'm very proud of you.
- Thank you so much.
It looks incredible.
It's light, it's crisp.
And you got to go through, and look.
That's the magic there, that sort of dampness.
It's, like, crisp.
Chewy in the middle.
The banana, evident.
It's there.
It's caramelized.
And wow.
There are a thousand of pastry chefs out there tonight that struggle making these, and you have mastered them at the tender age of 12.
I could quite easily pick up your macaroons and put them in my three-Michelin star establishment.
They're that good.
- Brilliant.
- Thank you so much.
- Amazing.
The third dish was plated beautifully.
This home cook used the banana in two different ways.
Please step forward Ryan Kate.
Getting one of the top dishes was amazing.
I have high expectations for the food that I make, and I think my dish is delicious and beautiful.
Wow.
Tell me about this dish.
It's a Caribbean spiced pork with a sweet potato hash and a spicy banana sauce.
What's the rub on the pork? I put paprika, cayenne pepper, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, and oregano.
Super aggressive seasoning today, Ryan Kate.
It's good.
I like it.
- It's got a real Caribbean flair to it.
- Thank you.
How's it feel being in the top three in mystery box? Good? - Good.
- Think you could win? - I think I can.
- I think so too.
- Very good.
- Thank you.
Why pork with bananas? Because I thought it would go well together, and I wanted to be a little creative.
Here's the thing.
Pork cooked beautifully.
The spice and the blend with the bananas is beautiful.
So it's that sweet heat with that nice coolness with that smooth puree underneath.
Love the sweet potato.
The peppers are cooked beautifully.
- Thank you.
- I think this is one of your best dishes that you have cooked in this competition so far.
So good job.
Well done.
- You guys did great.
- Thanks.
Well done, all of you.
Jenna, Nathan, Ryan Kate.
Three stunning dishes that really elevated that humble banana to MasterChef-worthy dishes.
But there can be only one winning dish tonight.
I really want to win this, but Nathan's macaroons look so good, and Ryan Kate's dish came out beautifully too.
So I just hope that the judges recognize that my dish also took a lot of effort as well.
Congratulations goes to Well done, all of you.
Jenna, Nathan, Ryan Kate.
Three stunning dishes that really elevated that humble banana to MasterChef-worthy dishes.
But there can be only one winning dish tonight.
Congratulations Nathan.
Well done.
- Great job.
- Seriously, macaroons beyond belief.
You, young man, have turned a corner.
You have earned a huge advantage.
But we are not going into the pantry.
We're gonna head straight into the MasterChef restaurant along with everybody else, please.
All of you, let's go.
Nathan, you just won that mystery box challenge, and you have earned yourself a big advantage in the next stage of this competition.
But before we tell you what that is, we have a surprise for all of you.
You are about to be joined by another young home cook.
What? Now, she's just 12 years old, but, like you guys, very talented.
She's feisty, fearless, and epitomizes the word "foodie.
" Please give a warm welcome for the very best young home cook I have ever met My 12-year-old daughter, Matilda Ramsay.
If Gordon was my father, that would be so cool.
Being Chef Ramsay's daughter, she knows more than all of us here probably combined.
- Welcome, Matilda.
- Hello.
What's it like having Gordon Ramsay as your father? It's okay.
He's quite playful.
- He's a big softie.
- Big softie.
- Tilly, please.
- Does he ever embarrass you? Yeah, 'cause he runs around naked, and I'm just kidding.
Matilda has flown all this way to set up your next challenge.
No way.
Please don't be hard.
Please don't be hard.
Please don't be hard.
Dad says you're all the best young home cooks in America.
Thank you.
So I want to test you with something really hard.
No, oh, my gosh.
It's the dish that Dad always cooks for the whole family when we're all together.
The one dish we always ask Dad to make for us is Salmon en croute with hollandaise sauce, baby potatoes, and delicious minted peas.
Oh, God.
I'm really worried about the salmon en croute because I've never heard of it.
I've never made it.
I've never even seen it.
Your next challenge tonight is to recreate this stunning dish, right down to the last grain of salt.
We're looking for the exact replica.
Identical plating, and identical taste.
This is a whole 'nother level.
This is Gordon Ramsay salmon en croute.
Guys, I suggest you all come up here.
Take a very close look at the dish.
- Ooh, nice.
- Taste it, and commit the plating to memory.
This is just crazy.
Replicating a Gordon Ramsay dish is probably one of the hardest things that any home cook could try and do.
Now, Nathan, because you won the banana mystery box challenge, you do get an advantage.
And that is no cooking in the upcoming elimination challenge.
Yes! Please head up to the balcony, where you will find a table set with this dish cooked by Chef Ramsay himself.
Salmon en croute is something I wouldn't like to cook because there's so many things that could go wrong with it.
So I'm so glad I get to go upstairs and enjoy one of Gordon's dishes.
To make this dish, you'll need salmon, puff pastry, basil "Baz-il.
" You're not American.
Don't say "bayz-il.
" - We're in America, Dad.
- Don't let them turn you like that.
"Bayz-il" lemons, peas, whole grain mustard, fingerling potatoes, and tarragon.
And I've put all the ingredients you need at your station already.
At the end of this challenge, two of you very talented home cooks will be going home.
- Is everyone ready? - Yes, chef! Your one hour starts Now.
Go, go, go.
Oh, my gosh.
I'm really nervous about how the salmon's gonna come out because Gordon makes this for his family, and I feel like he's gonna be expecting a little more from us.
But I'm sure I can do it.
It's hard enough impressing Gordon Ramsay himself, but then he brought along his daughter, so now I have to work even harder to impress her.
Okay, guys, so, of course, today we are looking for dishes that look identical to the one that Matilda brought out.
- What can go wrong? - Salmon's all about precision.
So the seasoning has to be perfect.
That balance of herbs, the right proportion of peas, the potatoes not being greasy.
But for me, the big concern is the salmon.
That salmon has to be wrapped perfectly.
You can't afford to have the ends too thick.
Otherwise it's raw.
I think that's it.
I feel very confident about making salmon en croute because I think it's a fun dish, and it's Matilda's favorite.
So I do not want to let Tilly down.
Salmon en croute.
It's a very difficult dish.
I don't really cook with fish at home, so this is gonna be a jump out of my comfort zone.
Oh, my gosh.
- Right, Andrew, how you feeling? - I'm feeling confident, chef.
Now, this is a difficult dish to do, right? I'm not afraid of salmon en croute.
So you're confident you'll get through to the top six? Hopefully, chef.
- Tilly's here to say hello.
- Hello.
- Hi, Tilly.
- Is that it? - Oh, um - You don't fancy dinner with Tilly? - Um - Dinner tomorrow night? That would be really cool.
- When do you visit London next? - Dad, please stop.
Whenever I win this.
- Can you come soon? - Daddy, please stop.
We'll have to wait and find out.
Ignore him.
Boom.
Good luck.
Let's go.
If you think I'm going to marry a chef, you've got another thing coming.
What do you mean you're not gonna marry a chef? I'm not, 'cause you're a nutter.
Remember, I want the exact replica of my dish, please.
All right, Riley.
How are we doing, buddy? - Good.
- Have you ever done this before? Nope.
It's very difficult to make a hollandaise.
How many eight-year-olds in America you think can make hollandaise? - Just me.
- You're the only one? - Yes.
- In all of America? - Yes.
- Wow.
- Anything I can help you with? - You can cook for me.
Yeah, I can't cook for you though because that would be against the rules.
- Good luck.
- Thank you.
- Ryan Kate, how we doing? - A little nervous with my salmon en croute.
I just hope that the actual pastry here that's wrapped over that salmon, not undercooked.
- That's what I'm nervous about.
- You can see under here.
It's just kind of doughy feeling.
So when we cut into that, want to make sure it's nice and crisp and golden on the outside - Okay.
- Not any dough showing.
- Let's go.
Good luck.
- Thank you.
Couple more minutes.
Just under ten minutes to go.
So how's everyone looking? Jimmy's salmon is out, and it looks fantastic.
Now, what about Kayla? I mean, that salmon came out, but it looks really big, doesn't it? It looks like it's got more pastry than actual salmon.
It's like a salmon burrito.
Andrew cooks with confidence all the time, so he thinks this is in the bag and he's nailed it.
Okay, here we go.
Now, one thing on the dish that's probably the most complex is that hollandaise sauce.
The key thing behind the hollandaise tonight is the reduction of the white wine vinegar and add that into the egg yolks, and then start emulsifying.
If you put a little too much heat, it becomes like two different components, and that sauce is broken.
Yeah, and it looks like scrambled eggs.
It's okay.
It's okay.
It's okay.
Last three minutes, guys.
Start plating.
Why isn't it what's not thickening? Jenna, are you okay? What is happening? I don't know what to do.
- What do I do, Andrew? Please help.
- Did you break your sauce? I don't know what happened to my sauce.
I can't believe Jenna broke her hollandaise.
How does your hollandaise look? I don't know if she can pull it back.
What does it look like? I don't know what to do! - What's not thickening? - Jenna, are you okay? What is happening? I don't know what to do.
- What do I do, Andrew? Please help.
- Did you break your sauce? I don't know what happened to my sauce.
I can't believe Jenna broke her hollandaise.
How does your hollandaise look? I don't know if she can pull it back.
What does it look like? I don't know what to do! Put it over the heat.
You have to let it get thick.
I'm trying to.
I'm trying to make it happen.
Looks like Andrew is actually helping Jenna.
Add water and whisk.
Whisk, whisk, whisk.
This is good.
This is good.
This is perfect.
Wipe that plate, Kayla.
Do not forget what's at stake here.
Two of you will be going home.
Make sure it's not you.
Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.
And stop! Hands in the air.
- Well done.
- Good job Great job.
Before we taste your dishes, it is time to say goodnight to our special guest.
As always, finish your homework, make sure you brush your teeth, and before you leave, can I have a kiss, please? Everybody, say goodnight to Matilda, please.
- Bye.
- Night, Matilda.
Andrew Go on.
- Good night, Tilly.
- Good luck.
Bye.
Now it's time to see if your dishes taste as good as they look, starting with Jenna.
I'm really nervous because I plated in the last seven seconds.
And this is one of Gordon's signature dishes, so I'm just scared that he'll be way more critical than he would be if it was just, like, a dish that he's not that experienced with.
- What happened at the end? - Well, I got really nervous because my hollandaise sauce was breaking, but Andrew came over.
He was encouraging me.
And he was telling me I should add some cold water in.
Here's the thing.
The salmon's perfect, let me tell you.
Pastry's cooked beautifully.
I love the way you think about food, because you're a very thoughtful, smart young lady.
Sometimes you stress out.
Unnecessary.
But you can't underestimate how far you can go in this competition, because you think like a chef.
- Thank you.
- Seasoned beautifully, the sides.
Potatoes are stunning.
Hollandaise sauce, beautifully done.
A near-perfect salmon en croute.
- Brilliant.
- Thank you.
Let's see if it tastes as good as it looks.
Tastes really good.
Good job on that cook.
The hollandaise, which was giving you trouble That's great.
It's balanced and seasoned, but it's nice and buttery.
I would've liked half the peas and double the sauce.
It's almost like you were running out of sauce so you hid it underneath.
- I was.
- That's what it looks like.
I know all those tricks.
Come on.
But flavor-wise, you kind of knocked it out of the park.
- You should be proud.
Good job.
- Thank you.
Thank you so much.
It meant a lot that Andrew helped me.
I mean, I wouldn't have been able to have completed my dish without his help, and I think, even though this is a competition, it's nice to know that somebody's there for you and that all of your friends are gonna be able to help you.
Next up, Andrew, please.
Let's go.
You did something tonight that we never see inside the MasterChef kitchen.
This is a competition.
We're looking for the best youngster in the country to become America's next MasterChef Junior.
But what you did with three minutes to go, to go and help Jenna tonight, was extraordinary.
Let me tell you something, you have a big heart, a great attitude, and that's something that your parents should be really proud of.
Thank you, chef.
Now, visually, the dish looks fantastic.
The sauce is vibrant, the potatoes look crisp, and the pastry on that salmon en croute looks stunning.
Wow.
Absolutely beautiful.
You've nailed it.
I just can't stop eating that sauce, it's that delicious.
Seriously, salmon cooked beautifully.
Glistening.
Herbs for that nice, fragrant impact.
Mustard gives it a heat.
Sauce, -delicious.
Potatoes, delicious.
That is a dish that I can guarantee my daughter Matilda would be proud to eat tonight for dinner.
Good job.
Well done.
Excellent.
It's really good.
I don't mind the abundance of hollandaise when it's good like this.
It's nice and fluffy.
It's rich.
And your salmon is perfectly cooked.
- You nailed this, Andrew.
- Thank you.
Overall, excellent.
I think this salmon en croute is perfection.
I'm no carpenter, but I nailed that dish.
I feel really good.
You know, I feel I helped somebody, and I have a good dish.
You know, karma came back and helped me at the end.
Next up, Kayla.
I was supposed to trim off a little bit more of the puff pastry than I did, so I'm a little nervous that it's, like, really, really big.
Right.
Visually, it looks like you've got way too much pastry.
Yeah.
First thing I noticed on your board, you've got a big slice of salmon.
What's more expensive in your mind? Salmon or pastry? - Salmon.
- Salmon.
So I expect all that salmon to be in there.
Why'd you leave half of it off? When I cut it the first time, it was so uneven, and I knew that I'd get criticized a lot for that, so I tried it again, and it came out much better.
If I show you this and just open up all that there.
All that is unwanted raw pastry, and you've got this tiny little bit of salmon here.
- See? - Yeah.
- You see that pastry there? - Yeah.
- What is that? - Raw.
- It's raw.
What a shame.
Just show you that there.
- You see that pastry there? - Yeah.
- What is that? - Raw.
- It's raw.
And when salmon's that white and that bright, that means it's slightly overcooked.
Okay.
The one big advantage that you have tonight is that you've seasoned the salmon beautifully.
Unfortunately, your en croute is missing another layer.
Had it had that other layer, then there wouldn't be so much pastry.
Sauce is lovely.
Potatoes are nice.
Peas are delicious.
But way too much pastry, Kayla.
Thank you.
Thank you.
My seasoning was great, but in this stage of the competition, I think it's gonna come down to every last detail.
I came here to win, and if I don't get past this round, then that dream is crushed.
All right, next up, please.
Ayla.
- Ayla, how we doing? - Great.
Beautiful, crispy pastry all around.
Salmon looks awesome.
- It looks great.
Really.
- Thank you.
Potatoes, peas, and the actual salmon cooked great.
Unfortunately, the sauce is H-O-T.
Yeah.
You generally put, like, I don't know, four or five peppercorns.
- You do more than that? - Yeah.
Yeah, it comes out really spicy.
But you nailed the hero, the salmon, which is a really, really important thing.
- Good job.
- Thank you, so much.
Next up, Ryan Kate, please.
Thank you.
So, Ryan Kate, visually, you've got the colors right.
Potatoes look good.
Peas look good.
Sauce is good.
But there was one big technical error that you made earlier.
Before you put your salmon in the oven you had the creases on top.
Now, when you fold and wrap something en croute, the creases should be where? - On the bottom.
- On the bottom.
The biggest problem inside there is that the salmon's gonna be overcooked.
What a shame.
So when the salmon is that white, what does that mean? - It's probably overcooked.
- Yeah, it is.
Such a shame.
Hollandaise, you've got the acidity right.
It's lovely, the white wine vinegar reduction.
Potatoes are crisp and beautiful.
But the hero is the salmon, and that's the bit that hasn't been executed properly.
Thank you.
Riley.
Very nice.
Looks good.
But your hollandaise looks a little bit like it seized.
Let's see what your salmon looks like.
Very nice.
You're an instinctively good cook, but as you can see, you've got some technical issues with this dish, like the pastry's all wrong.
Your potatoes need a little bit more color, and the hollandaise is like scrambled eggs.
But that being said, the salmon looks like it's You actually constructed it pretty well, which is a difficult thing to do.
- Thank you.
- But you definitely had some problems.
It's too bad because it could've really been - Yes.
- Thanks very much.
Last up, Jimmy.
I'm feeling really good about my dish.
I think everything looks beautiful.
I think it looks the most like Gordon Ramsay's.
This is a dish that I've made before, and I think I perfected it.
Visually, a near-perfect looking dish.
What's in between the layers of the salmon? There's an herb butter and then whole grain mustard.
And what have you seasoned the salmon with? Fresh basil and dill and some lemon zest.
- The en croute is delicious.
- Thank you.
It's seasoned beautifully.
The salmon is cooked perfectly.
- The pastry is perfect.
- Thank you.
Great to see you starting to shine.
Your timing is perfect.
We're down to the top eight, and I think you've got yourself one foot into the top six of this competition.
- Great job.
Well done.
- Thank you.
Great job, everyone.
Before we go any further, Nathan, could you please come down? Return to your station.
Well done, all of you.
Sadly, we'll have to say good-bye to another two of you very talented young home cooks.
Please give us a minute.
Have a chat amongst yourselves.
Thank you.
Good job, Andrew.
Your dish looked great.
I mean, Jimmy's extraordinary.
And Andrew's incredible.
- Jimmy, I think we're the top two.
- I hope so.
Sadly, Riley, I think, was way over his head.
- Yeah.
- I do not want to lose.
- It's okay.
- Can I have a hug? - Yes.
I don't think anyone wants to lose.
Kayla, I mean, what was with that? It was a humongous portion.
- No, she used a whole sheet of pastry.
- Yeah.
It was doughy.
Like a loaf of bread with salmon baked in it.
Gordon took my puff pastry and squeezed it.
- Ryan Kate was the big shock for me.
- I know.
I mean, that was the driest salmon for me tonight.
Yeah, yeah.
And the most uncooked dough.
Yeah.
- No, you're not.
- Yeah, I am.
All right, guys.
All seven of you that cooked tonight did an amazing job.
Now, there were two dishes that really stood out for all the right reasons.
The first dish, the technical aspects of it were right there.
Hit 'em perfectly.
Congratulations Jimmy.
Good job.
There was another dish that just edged even Jimmy's out.
In a blind taste test, it would've been very close to Chef Ramsay's.
Big congratulations to Andrew.
This means everything to me.
I was born to be here.
I was born to do this.
It just goes to show that I came here to win.
I'm not messing around.
Unfortunately, we do have to say good-bye to some people tonight.
Would the following three home cooks please join us down front.
Guys, as you know, this is a competition, the hardest in the country.
And we have to make some very tough decisions.
Would the following three home cooks please join us down front.
Kayla.
Riley.
And finally, Ryan Kate.
I'm not surprised that I got called in the bottom three, 'cause my croute didn't turn out right.
But I don't want to go home.
I love it here, and I just want to keep cooking for the judges.
You three, you've been brilliant and a credit to your parents and to your families and to your schools.
Sadly, tonight, two of you will be leaving.
I feel pretty scared because my puff pastry was raw.
But I really want to stay in the competition.
I came here to win, and I'm not ready to go home.
The first person not moving forward Sadly, leaving tonight Will be Ryan Kate.
The second person leaving the MasterChef kitchen, we are so sad to say is Riley.
Kayla, please say good-bye to Riley and Ryan Kate.
Gonna miss you.
You're my best friend.
Come here.
I love you so much, okay? You two have been incredible.
Ryan Kate, you have that exuberance, that amazing attitude, which is a great sign so early on in your life.
You've done brilliantly well, my darling.
Riley, you've been the youngest ever in this competition.
And look how far you've gone, the top eight.
You have inspired so many eight-year-olds to go on and cook.
You've been brilliant, young man.
Come on up, both of you.
Come and say good-bye, please.
- Bye, sweetheart.
- Come here.
Oh, dear.
Oh, you did awesome.
Well done.
Well done.
Oh, man.
Right.
Riley, there are two, four, six talented individuals out there.
Who's gonna become America's next MasterChef Junior? I think Andrew or Jimmy.
Ryan Kate, who's gonna become America's next MasterChef Junior? - Nathan.
- Wow.
Please escort this little fellow out.
- Yeah.
Safe trip back.
- Bye, guys.
I'm sad that I have to leave the competition, but I have a lot to be proud of.
You are officially the youngest, the tiniest competitor we've ever had in this kitchen.
- Yeah.
- I'm really gonna miss cooking in the MasterChef Junior kitchen.
But I'm gonna miss all my friends from the competition the most.
Don't leave me hangin'.
Don't leave me.
Since I've been here, I've grown a lot.
This is easily your strongest dish that we've seen you do.
- Good job, buddy.
- Thank you.
I got to make a lot of nice friends, and I had so much fun.
Yeah! I've learned so much here in MasterChef Junior.
- More than I could even imagine.
- Incredibly accomplished.
She looks like a cook who's been cooking pasta for years.
- Did I do good? - You did amazing.
- Thank you.
When I get back home, I'm gonna cook and achieve all my dreams.
Please pick me.
I'm never gonna stop cooking.
I'm gonna have that restaurant one day.
This dish is amazing.
One of the best tasting dishes of the night, certainly.
Thank you.
- Do you know who my favorite chef is? - No.
- You.
- Next week - Two covers, table 12.
- One octopus, one ravioli.
- Yes, chef! - The pint-sized cooks - Let's go! tackle the season most intimidating challenge We're all gonna get yelled at, so many times.
Oh, my godness me.
It's a real restaurant.
Don't stop working.
Come on, young man.
My head's about to explode.
- With real diners.
- One octopus up! Customers are literally walking out.
And real danger.
Fire, fire, fire! We don't blow on a fire.
America's greatest junior home cooks showed their raw talent.
- Put them on! - Keep going! And Jimmy and Ayla's sushi boat sailed them to victory.
It's the best sushi we've ever had in this kitchen, even including the adults.
But for Jack and Cory Have this be the start of a new chapter.
Their culinary dreams would continue at home.
- Tonight - Oh, my God.
- What.
Are we gonna cook, like, aliens or something? The MasterChef kitchen goes bananas Oh, gosh.
And a very special junior home cook My daughter Matilda Ramsay.
challenges the contestants with a classic dish of her dad.
- Salmon en croute.
- Oh, God.
I want the exact replica.
In their toughest elimination test yet.
What does it look like? I don't know what to do! I don't know if she can pull it back.
Welcome, guys.
Yeah, we're back.
Just getting this far is amazing.
I've been cooking as far back as I can remember, and when I'm older, I want to go to culinary school and open a restaurant, and I would love to have the title as MasterChef Junior.
Welcome back, everybody.
Look how many of you are left.
- Eight.
- Eight.
- Eight.
- Eight.
The person that wins the MasterChef Junior trophy is still, of course, a mystery to the three of us.
But we'll get one step closer to unlocking that mystery with the help of your next mystery box challenge.
- It just changed in colors.
- That's so awesome.
This mystery box challenge doesn't begin with what is under your boxes.
It starts with this.
- Oh, my God.
- What? Oh my goodness.
What the heck is going on? Are we gonna cook, like, aliens or something like that? Oh, I see Oh, I see something.
The banana.
Bananas have been on Earth longer than humans.
They play such an important part in so many food cultures around the world.
Now please, head to your stations.
Well, now I know what's under the mystery box.
There's a banana hanging from the ceiling.
So, kind of gives it away.
It's kind of obvious what it's going to be.
It's time to start your next mystery box challenge.
On the count of three, I want all of you to lift your boxes.
- Are you ready? - Yes, chef.
- Yes, Joe.
One Two Three Lift.
- Oh, geez.
- Oh, God.
Bananas.
There's no surprise there.
For this challenge, you have to cook us an amazing, restaurant-quality dish using bananas as the hero.
You also have a limited pantry of ingredients.
The winner of this challenge will get a huge advantage in the next round of this competition.
Your 60 minutes to go bananas Starts Now.
- Fridge, fridge, fridge.
- Where's the shrimp? I need coconut.
Don't drop anything.
I'm making my choco-nana meringue pie tart.
I'm really going for it on this dish.
The only thing I'm worried about is if I'm gonna be able to make it in an hour.
I'm going to make a banana chicken mole.
Sweet is the obvious thing to do with the bananas, so I wanted to stand out from everybody else.
So this is a difficult challenge.
Bananas.
All of these kids are far more used to eating bananas raw.
Cooking with them, different ball game.
So tonight is going to be a big test of their confidence, to see if they can take this thing as a sort of humble snack and elevate it into a sweet or savory dish.
What are some of the savory dishes that come to your mind immediately with bananas? I would go for a nice, fragrant shrimp and lemongrass and banana curry.
Yeah, I think it's also something that you can almost use in place of avocados, so you can do a version of guacamole or gazpacho, things like that.
- Riley.
- Yes? - What's this dish called? - Banana scallops.
- Banana scallops? - Where do you get these ideas from? - My brain.
- Your brain? - Yeah.
- That's great.
Do you want to be a chef when you grow up? Who do you want to be a chef like? Who's your favorite chef? - You.
- Really? - Yep.
- I didn't know that.
- Do you know who my favorite chef is? - No.
- You.
- Thank you.
Good luck.
Come on.
You can do this.
- Nathan, what are you making? - French macaroons - Macaroons.
Wow.
- Filled with a banana caramel.
- This is very ambitious.
- It is a very ambitious dish, but I know if I get it right that it'll really impress you guys.
Yeah, if you get a banana macaroon right, it'll knock our socks off.
- Good luck.
- Thanks so much.
Just under 20 minutes to go.
Jenna, what are you making? Coconut shrimp with a banana-coconut sauce and banana-mango salad.
You know what's funny is that when we talk about what we would make, Gordon immediately said that he would do a banana and shrimp curry, so the fact that you're putting banana shrimp together.
He's gonna have some high expectations.
You better deliver.
Good luck.
Sounds good.
- Ryan Kate, how you feeling? - Feeling good, chef.
Wow, you are busy here.
Talk about this dish.
What is it? It's a Caribbean spiced pork with sweet potato hash and a spicy banana sauce.
So when was the last time you were in the Caribbean? Me and my family vacationed there once when I was really young.
- Good luck.
- Thank you.
Wow, some fantastic dishes, and they're not all desserts, which is great news.
The majority are going savory.
- What's Riley making? - Banana scallops.
Smart.
Very cute idea.
And the caramelization on those, beautiful.
So Nathan's out there without a net.
He is doing banana macaroons.
Now, macaroons are really, really tough, and if he can pull that off, that's the winner.
- Go, guys.
- There is a big advantage for one of you at the end of this challenge.
Garnish those wonderful plates.
Come on, guys.
Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, and stop.
Come on, guys.
Five, four, three, two, one, and stop.
- Well done.
- Good job.
Great job, everybody.
Throughout the mystery box challenge, the judges taste elements of all the junior home cooks' dishes as they come together.
Nice.
They now take one last look to choose the top three standouts.
- Great.
- And the winner of this challenge will receive a major advantage in the next round.
The first dish This dish went down a semitropical direction.
This young home cook has already been in the top bracket of the mystery box challenge.
Congratulations Jenna.
Let's go.
Yay! Second time mystery box.
Get called up first.
This dish came out perfectly.
exactly the way I wanted it to.
And I'm so proud of myself.
Wow.
Visually, it looks fantastic.
What's the dish, please? It is a coconut shrimp with a banana-coconut milk puree and banana-mango-pineapple salad.
The idea of the banana and coconut, is it a sweet coconut? - Is it a savory coconut? - It's gonna be sweet, but there is some sambal in there.
- Good, so you got some heat there.
- Yeah.
The color on the shrimp is beautiful.
I love this crispiness that you've got going on there.
How are they cooked inside? They're beautiful.
A little pink in the center, which is perfect.
There's an amazing flavor there.
You've cleaned the shrimp properly.
You've breaded them nicely.
I love the heat interaction, coconut, banana, smart move so it's not too sweet.
And I like that pineapple banana salsa to cool it down.
It's a delicious dish.
It looks great.
- Good job.
Well done.
- Thank you.
The cook on the shrimp is perfect.
That's great.
Ooh, I love that heat.
Just on it's own, I could totally eat that.
Banana and shrimp, there's such a natural sweetness in both of them but the banana also has a little bit of acidity.
You kind of think of the tropics when you're tasting it.
You know, maybe just the plating itself could use a little work.
But flavor-wise, it's a delicious dish.
Something that I'd be happy to order at a restaurant.
- Great job.
- Thank you.
Coconut the first thing that popped into your head when you thought bananas? Graham told me from the first mystery box challenge, that if it grows together it goes together.
So I kind of had that in mind when I was, So it's a tropical Your shrimp are fried perfectly.
They're crackling, they're not greasy.
You're puree's very good.
Nice dish.
I'd pay 20 bucks for it.
- Good job, Jenna.
- Thank you.
Well done.
The second dish that we want to take a closer look at is a dessert.
This home cook has never been in the top three of a mystery box.
Please come up Nathan.
French macaroons are so technically difficult, and being that I worked so hard on these macaroons, I'm really happy that I got called up to the top three.
- Those things look great.
- Thank you.
Tell me, what'd you do? Where's the banana hiding? Here we have three beautiful French macaroons filled with a banana caramel.
Wow.
Let me just tell you, your technique is pretty incredible.
- Thank you.
- These things look phenomenal.
Let's just do the old sound test.
It's like a little eggshell.
Wow, that's like eating a banana-flavored cloud.
It's, like, so light and airy.
The macaroon itself is baked to perfection.
These are the pinnacle.
- I'm very proud of you.
- Thank you so much.
It looks incredible.
It's light, it's crisp.
And you got to go through, and look.
That's the magic there, that sort of dampness.
It's, like, crisp.
Chewy in the middle.
The banana, evident.
It's there.
It's caramelized.
And wow.
There are a thousand of pastry chefs out there tonight that struggle making these, and you have mastered them at the tender age of 12.
I could quite easily pick up your macaroons and put them in my three-Michelin star establishment.
They're that good.
- Brilliant.
- Thank you so much.
- Amazing.
The third dish was plated beautifully.
This home cook used the banana in two different ways.
Please step forward Ryan Kate.
Getting one of the top dishes was amazing.
I have high expectations for the food that I make, and I think my dish is delicious and beautiful.
Wow.
Tell me about this dish.
It's a Caribbean spiced pork with a sweet potato hash and a spicy banana sauce.
What's the rub on the pork? I put paprika, cayenne pepper, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, and oregano.
Super aggressive seasoning today, Ryan Kate.
It's good.
I like it.
- It's got a real Caribbean flair to it.
- Thank you.
How's it feel being in the top three in mystery box? Good? - Good.
- Think you could win? - I think I can.
- I think so too.
- Very good.
- Thank you.
Why pork with bananas? Because I thought it would go well together, and I wanted to be a little creative.
Here's the thing.
Pork cooked beautifully.
The spice and the blend with the bananas is beautiful.
So it's that sweet heat with that nice coolness with that smooth puree underneath.
Love the sweet potato.
The peppers are cooked beautifully.
- Thank you.
- I think this is one of your best dishes that you have cooked in this competition so far.
So good job.
Well done.
- You guys did great.
- Thanks.
Well done, all of you.
Jenna, Nathan, Ryan Kate.
Three stunning dishes that really elevated that humble banana to MasterChef-worthy dishes.
But there can be only one winning dish tonight.
I really want to win this, but Nathan's macaroons look so good, and Ryan Kate's dish came out beautifully too.
So I just hope that the judges recognize that my dish also took a lot of effort as well.
Congratulations goes to Well done, all of you.
Jenna, Nathan, Ryan Kate.
Three stunning dishes that really elevated that humble banana to MasterChef-worthy dishes.
But there can be only one winning dish tonight.
Congratulations Nathan.
Well done.
- Great job.
- Seriously, macaroons beyond belief.
You, young man, have turned a corner.
You have earned a huge advantage.
But we are not going into the pantry.
We're gonna head straight into the MasterChef restaurant along with everybody else, please.
All of you, let's go.
Nathan, you just won that mystery box challenge, and you have earned yourself a big advantage in the next stage of this competition.
But before we tell you what that is, we have a surprise for all of you.
You are about to be joined by another young home cook.
What? Now, she's just 12 years old, but, like you guys, very talented.
She's feisty, fearless, and epitomizes the word "foodie.
" Please give a warm welcome for the very best young home cook I have ever met My 12-year-old daughter, Matilda Ramsay.
If Gordon was my father, that would be so cool.
Being Chef Ramsay's daughter, she knows more than all of us here probably combined.
- Welcome, Matilda.
- Hello.
What's it like having Gordon Ramsay as your father? It's okay.
He's quite playful.
- He's a big softie.
- Big softie.
- Tilly, please.
- Does he ever embarrass you? Yeah, 'cause he runs around naked, and I'm just kidding.
Matilda has flown all this way to set up your next challenge.
No way.
Please don't be hard.
Please don't be hard.
Please don't be hard.
Dad says you're all the best young home cooks in America.
Thank you.
So I want to test you with something really hard.
No, oh, my gosh.
It's the dish that Dad always cooks for the whole family when we're all together.
The one dish we always ask Dad to make for us is Salmon en croute with hollandaise sauce, baby potatoes, and delicious minted peas.
Oh, God.
I'm really worried about the salmon en croute because I've never heard of it.
I've never made it.
I've never even seen it.
Your next challenge tonight is to recreate this stunning dish, right down to the last grain of salt.
We're looking for the exact replica.
Identical plating, and identical taste.
This is a whole 'nother level.
This is Gordon Ramsay salmon en croute.
Guys, I suggest you all come up here.
Take a very close look at the dish.
- Ooh, nice.
- Taste it, and commit the plating to memory.
This is just crazy.
Replicating a Gordon Ramsay dish is probably one of the hardest things that any home cook could try and do.
Now, Nathan, because you won the banana mystery box challenge, you do get an advantage.
And that is no cooking in the upcoming elimination challenge.
Yes! Please head up to the balcony, where you will find a table set with this dish cooked by Chef Ramsay himself.
Salmon en croute is something I wouldn't like to cook because there's so many things that could go wrong with it.
So I'm so glad I get to go upstairs and enjoy one of Gordon's dishes.
To make this dish, you'll need salmon, puff pastry, basil "Baz-il.
" You're not American.
Don't say "bayz-il.
" - We're in America, Dad.
- Don't let them turn you like that.
"Bayz-il" lemons, peas, whole grain mustard, fingerling potatoes, and tarragon.
And I've put all the ingredients you need at your station already.
At the end of this challenge, two of you very talented home cooks will be going home.
- Is everyone ready? - Yes, chef! Your one hour starts Now.
Go, go, go.
Oh, my gosh.
I'm really nervous about how the salmon's gonna come out because Gordon makes this for his family, and I feel like he's gonna be expecting a little more from us.
But I'm sure I can do it.
It's hard enough impressing Gordon Ramsay himself, but then he brought along his daughter, so now I have to work even harder to impress her.
Okay, guys, so, of course, today we are looking for dishes that look identical to the one that Matilda brought out.
- What can go wrong? - Salmon's all about precision.
So the seasoning has to be perfect.
That balance of herbs, the right proportion of peas, the potatoes not being greasy.
But for me, the big concern is the salmon.
That salmon has to be wrapped perfectly.
You can't afford to have the ends too thick.
Otherwise it's raw.
I think that's it.
I feel very confident about making salmon en croute because I think it's a fun dish, and it's Matilda's favorite.
So I do not want to let Tilly down.
Salmon en croute.
It's a very difficult dish.
I don't really cook with fish at home, so this is gonna be a jump out of my comfort zone.
Oh, my gosh.
- Right, Andrew, how you feeling? - I'm feeling confident, chef.
Now, this is a difficult dish to do, right? I'm not afraid of salmon en croute.
So you're confident you'll get through to the top six? Hopefully, chef.
- Tilly's here to say hello.
- Hello.
- Hi, Tilly.
- Is that it? - Oh, um - You don't fancy dinner with Tilly? - Um - Dinner tomorrow night? That would be really cool.
- When do you visit London next? - Dad, please stop.
Whenever I win this.
- Can you come soon? - Daddy, please stop.
We'll have to wait and find out.
Ignore him.
Boom.
Good luck.
Let's go.
If you think I'm going to marry a chef, you've got another thing coming.
What do you mean you're not gonna marry a chef? I'm not, 'cause you're a nutter.
Remember, I want the exact replica of my dish, please.
All right, Riley.
How are we doing, buddy? - Good.
- Have you ever done this before? Nope.
It's very difficult to make a hollandaise.
How many eight-year-olds in America you think can make hollandaise? - Just me.
- You're the only one? - Yes.
- In all of America? - Yes.
- Wow.
- Anything I can help you with? - You can cook for me.
Yeah, I can't cook for you though because that would be against the rules.
- Good luck.
- Thank you.
- Ryan Kate, how we doing? - A little nervous with my salmon en croute.
I just hope that the actual pastry here that's wrapped over that salmon, not undercooked.
- That's what I'm nervous about.
- You can see under here.
It's just kind of doughy feeling.
So when we cut into that, want to make sure it's nice and crisp and golden on the outside - Okay.
- Not any dough showing.
- Let's go.
Good luck.
- Thank you.
Couple more minutes.
Just under ten minutes to go.
So how's everyone looking? Jimmy's salmon is out, and it looks fantastic.
Now, what about Kayla? I mean, that salmon came out, but it looks really big, doesn't it? It looks like it's got more pastry than actual salmon.
It's like a salmon burrito.
Andrew cooks with confidence all the time, so he thinks this is in the bag and he's nailed it.
Okay, here we go.
Now, one thing on the dish that's probably the most complex is that hollandaise sauce.
The key thing behind the hollandaise tonight is the reduction of the white wine vinegar and add that into the egg yolks, and then start emulsifying.
If you put a little too much heat, it becomes like two different components, and that sauce is broken.
Yeah, and it looks like scrambled eggs.
It's okay.
It's okay.
It's okay.
Last three minutes, guys.
Start plating.
Why isn't it what's not thickening? Jenna, are you okay? What is happening? I don't know what to do.
- What do I do, Andrew? Please help.
- Did you break your sauce? I don't know what happened to my sauce.
I can't believe Jenna broke her hollandaise.
How does your hollandaise look? I don't know if she can pull it back.
What does it look like? I don't know what to do! - What's not thickening? - Jenna, are you okay? What is happening? I don't know what to do.
- What do I do, Andrew? Please help.
- Did you break your sauce? I don't know what happened to my sauce.
I can't believe Jenna broke her hollandaise.
How does your hollandaise look? I don't know if she can pull it back.
What does it look like? I don't know what to do! Put it over the heat.
You have to let it get thick.
I'm trying to.
I'm trying to make it happen.
Looks like Andrew is actually helping Jenna.
Add water and whisk.
Whisk, whisk, whisk.
This is good.
This is good.
This is perfect.
Wipe that plate, Kayla.
Do not forget what's at stake here.
Two of you will be going home.
Make sure it's not you.
Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.
And stop! Hands in the air.
- Well done.
- Good job Great job.
Before we taste your dishes, it is time to say goodnight to our special guest.
As always, finish your homework, make sure you brush your teeth, and before you leave, can I have a kiss, please? Everybody, say goodnight to Matilda, please.
- Bye.
- Night, Matilda.
Andrew Go on.
- Good night, Tilly.
- Good luck.
Bye.
Now it's time to see if your dishes taste as good as they look, starting with Jenna.
I'm really nervous because I plated in the last seven seconds.
And this is one of Gordon's signature dishes, so I'm just scared that he'll be way more critical than he would be if it was just, like, a dish that he's not that experienced with.
- What happened at the end? - Well, I got really nervous because my hollandaise sauce was breaking, but Andrew came over.
He was encouraging me.
And he was telling me I should add some cold water in.
Here's the thing.
The salmon's perfect, let me tell you.
Pastry's cooked beautifully.
I love the way you think about food, because you're a very thoughtful, smart young lady.
Sometimes you stress out.
Unnecessary.
But you can't underestimate how far you can go in this competition, because you think like a chef.
- Thank you.
- Seasoned beautifully, the sides.
Potatoes are stunning.
Hollandaise sauce, beautifully done.
A near-perfect salmon en croute.
- Brilliant.
- Thank you.
Let's see if it tastes as good as it looks.
Tastes really good.
Good job on that cook.
The hollandaise, which was giving you trouble That's great.
It's balanced and seasoned, but it's nice and buttery.
I would've liked half the peas and double the sauce.
It's almost like you were running out of sauce so you hid it underneath.
- I was.
- That's what it looks like.
I know all those tricks.
Come on.
But flavor-wise, you kind of knocked it out of the park.
- You should be proud.
Good job.
- Thank you.
Thank you so much.
It meant a lot that Andrew helped me.
I mean, I wouldn't have been able to have completed my dish without his help, and I think, even though this is a competition, it's nice to know that somebody's there for you and that all of your friends are gonna be able to help you.
Next up, Andrew, please.
Let's go.
You did something tonight that we never see inside the MasterChef kitchen.
This is a competition.
We're looking for the best youngster in the country to become America's next MasterChef Junior.
But what you did with three minutes to go, to go and help Jenna tonight, was extraordinary.
Let me tell you something, you have a big heart, a great attitude, and that's something that your parents should be really proud of.
Thank you, chef.
Now, visually, the dish looks fantastic.
The sauce is vibrant, the potatoes look crisp, and the pastry on that salmon en croute looks stunning.
Wow.
Absolutely beautiful.
You've nailed it.
I just can't stop eating that sauce, it's that delicious.
Seriously, salmon cooked beautifully.
Glistening.
Herbs for that nice, fragrant impact.
Mustard gives it a heat.
Sauce, -delicious.
Potatoes, delicious.
That is a dish that I can guarantee my daughter Matilda would be proud to eat tonight for dinner.
Good job.
Well done.
Excellent.
It's really good.
I don't mind the abundance of hollandaise when it's good like this.
It's nice and fluffy.
It's rich.
And your salmon is perfectly cooked.
- You nailed this, Andrew.
- Thank you.
Overall, excellent.
I think this salmon en croute is perfection.
I'm no carpenter, but I nailed that dish.
I feel really good.
You know, I feel I helped somebody, and I have a good dish.
You know, karma came back and helped me at the end.
Next up, Kayla.
I was supposed to trim off a little bit more of the puff pastry than I did, so I'm a little nervous that it's, like, really, really big.
Right.
Visually, it looks like you've got way too much pastry.
Yeah.
First thing I noticed on your board, you've got a big slice of salmon.
What's more expensive in your mind? Salmon or pastry? - Salmon.
- Salmon.
So I expect all that salmon to be in there.
Why'd you leave half of it off? When I cut it the first time, it was so uneven, and I knew that I'd get criticized a lot for that, so I tried it again, and it came out much better.
If I show you this and just open up all that there.
All that is unwanted raw pastry, and you've got this tiny little bit of salmon here.
- See? - Yeah.
- You see that pastry there? - Yeah.
- What is that? - Raw.
- It's raw.
What a shame.
Just show you that there.
- You see that pastry there? - Yeah.
- What is that? - Raw.
- It's raw.
And when salmon's that white and that bright, that means it's slightly overcooked.
Okay.
The one big advantage that you have tonight is that you've seasoned the salmon beautifully.
Unfortunately, your en croute is missing another layer.
Had it had that other layer, then there wouldn't be so much pastry.
Sauce is lovely.
Potatoes are nice.
Peas are delicious.
But way too much pastry, Kayla.
Thank you.
Thank you.
My seasoning was great, but in this stage of the competition, I think it's gonna come down to every last detail.
I came here to win, and if I don't get past this round, then that dream is crushed.
All right, next up, please.
Ayla.
- Ayla, how we doing? - Great.
Beautiful, crispy pastry all around.
Salmon looks awesome.
- It looks great.
Really.
- Thank you.
Potatoes, peas, and the actual salmon cooked great.
Unfortunately, the sauce is H-O-T.
Yeah.
You generally put, like, I don't know, four or five peppercorns.
- You do more than that? - Yeah.
Yeah, it comes out really spicy.
But you nailed the hero, the salmon, which is a really, really important thing.
- Good job.
- Thank you, so much.
Next up, Ryan Kate, please.
Thank you.
So, Ryan Kate, visually, you've got the colors right.
Potatoes look good.
Peas look good.
Sauce is good.
But there was one big technical error that you made earlier.
Before you put your salmon in the oven you had the creases on top.
Now, when you fold and wrap something en croute, the creases should be where? - On the bottom.
- On the bottom.
The biggest problem inside there is that the salmon's gonna be overcooked.
What a shame.
So when the salmon is that white, what does that mean? - It's probably overcooked.
- Yeah, it is.
Such a shame.
Hollandaise, you've got the acidity right.
It's lovely, the white wine vinegar reduction.
Potatoes are crisp and beautiful.
But the hero is the salmon, and that's the bit that hasn't been executed properly.
Thank you.
Riley.
Very nice.
Looks good.
But your hollandaise looks a little bit like it seized.
Let's see what your salmon looks like.
Very nice.
You're an instinctively good cook, but as you can see, you've got some technical issues with this dish, like the pastry's all wrong.
Your potatoes need a little bit more color, and the hollandaise is like scrambled eggs.
But that being said, the salmon looks like it's You actually constructed it pretty well, which is a difficult thing to do.
- Thank you.
- But you definitely had some problems.
It's too bad because it could've really been - Yes.
- Thanks very much.
Last up, Jimmy.
I'm feeling really good about my dish.
I think everything looks beautiful.
I think it looks the most like Gordon Ramsay's.
This is a dish that I've made before, and I think I perfected it.
Visually, a near-perfect looking dish.
What's in between the layers of the salmon? There's an herb butter and then whole grain mustard.
And what have you seasoned the salmon with? Fresh basil and dill and some lemon zest.
- The en croute is delicious.
- Thank you.
It's seasoned beautifully.
The salmon is cooked perfectly.
- The pastry is perfect.
- Thank you.
Great to see you starting to shine.
Your timing is perfect.
We're down to the top eight, and I think you've got yourself one foot into the top six of this competition.
- Great job.
Well done.
- Thank you.
Great job, everyone.
Before we go any further, Nathan, could you please come down? Return to your station.
Well done, all of you.
Sadly, we'll have to say good-bye to another two of you very talented young home cooks.
Please give us a minute.
Have a chat amongst yourselves.
Thank you.
Good job, Andrew.
Your dish looked great.
I mean, Jimmy's extraordinary.
And Andrew's incredible.
- Jimmy, I think we're the top two.
- I hope so.
Sadly, Riley, I think, was way over his head.
- Yeah.
- I do not want to lose.
- It's okay.
- Can I have a hug? - Yes.
I don't think anyone wants to lose.
Kayla, I mean, what was with that? It was a humongous portion.
- No, she used a whole sheet of pastry.
- Yeah.
It was doughy.
Like a loaf of bread with salmon baked in it.
Gordon took my puff pastry and squeezed it.
- Ryan Kate was the big shock for me.
- I know.
I mean, that was the driest salmon for me tonight.
Yeah, yeah.
And the most uncooked dough.
Yeah.
- No, you're not.
- Yeah, I am.
All right, guys.
All seven of you that cooked tonight did an amazing job.
Now, there were two dishes that really stood out for all the right reasons.
The first dish, the technical aspects of it were right there.
Hit 'em perfectly.
Congratulations Jimmy.
Good job.
There was another dish that just edged even Jimmy's out.
In a blind taste test, it would've been very close to Chef Ramsay's.
Big congratulations to Andrew.
This means everything to me.
I was born to be here.
I was born to do this.
It just goes to show that I came here to win.
I'm not messing around.
Unfortunately, we do have to say good-bye to some people tonight.
Would the following three home cooks please join us down front.
Guys, as you know, this is a competition, the hardest in the country.
And we have to make some very tough decisions.
Would the following three home cooks please join us down front.
Kayla.
Riley.
And finally, Ryan Kate.
I'm not surprised that I got called in the bottom three, 'cause my croute didn't turn out right.
But I don't want to go home.
I love it here, and I just want to keep cooking for the judges.
You three, you've been brilliant and a credit to your parents and to your families and to your schools.
Sadly, tonight, two of you will be leaving.
I feel pretty scared because my puff pastry was raw.
But I really want to stay in the competition.
I came here to win, and I'm not ready to go home.
The first person not moving forward Sadly, leaving tonight Will be Ryan Kate.
The second person leaving the MasterChef kitchen, we are so sad to say is Riley.
Kayla, please say good-bye to Riley and Ryan Kate.
Gonna miss you.
You're my best friend.
Come here.
I love you so much, okay? You two have been incredible.
Ryan Kate, you have that exuberance, that amazing attitude, which is a great sign so early on in your life.
You've done brilliantly well, my darling.
Riley, you've been the youngest ever in this competition.
And look how far you've gone, the top eight.
You have inspired so many eight-year-olds to go on and cook.
You've been brilliant, young man.
Come on up, both of you.
Come and say good-bye, please.
- Bye, sweetheart.
- Come here.
Oh, dear.
Oh, you did awesome.
Well done.
Well done.
Oh, man.
Right.
Riley, there are two, four, six talented individuals out there.
Who's gonna become America's next MasterChef Junior? I think Andrew or Jimmy.
Ryan Kate, who's gonna become America's next MasterChef Junior? - Nathan.
- Wow.
Please escort this little fellow out.
- Yeah.
Safe trip back.
- Bye, guys.
I'm sad that I have to leave the competition, but I have a lot to be proud of.
You are officially the youngest, the tiniest competitor we've ever had in this kitchen.
- Yeah.
- I'm really gonna miss cooking in the MasterChef Junior kitchen.
But I'm gonna miss all my friends from the competition the most.
Don't leave me hangin'.
Don't leave me.
Since I've been here, I've grown a lot.
This is easily your strongest dish that we've seen you do.
- Good job, buddy.
- Thank you.
I got to make a lot of nice friends, and I had so much fun.
Yeah! I've learned so much here in MasterChef Junior.
- More than I could even imagine.
- Incredibly accomplished.
She looks like a cook who's been cooking pasta for years.
- Did I do good? - You did amazing.
- Thank you.
When I get back home, I'm gonna cook and achieve all my dreams.
Please pick me.
I'm never gonna stop cooking.
I'm gonna have that restaurant one day.
This dish is amazing.
One of the best tasting dishes of the night, certainly.
Thank you.
- Do you know who my favorite chef is? - No.
- You.
- Next week - Two covers, table 12.
- One octopus, one ravioli.
- Yes, chef! - The pint-sized cooks - Let's go! tackle the season most intimidating challenge We're all gonna get yelled at, so many times.
Oh, my godness me.
It's a real restaurant.
Don't stop working.
Come on, young man.
My head's about to explode.
- With real diners.
- One octopus up! Customers are literally walking out.
And real danger.
Fire, fire, fire! We don't blow on a fire.