Masterchef (2010) s05e07 Episode Script
Top 15 Compete
This season on MasterChef The best home cooks in America are battling it out for the ultimate culinary prize.
Wow, it is beautiful.
I just wanna eat more and more of it.
Watch out for Willie.
He's gonna bake.
What can I say? The pressure to succeed Come on! I don't know how else to put "sorry.
" You're not sorry at all! has divided the kitchen.
No more eating! I've worked my ass off.
You know what work is? You [bleep.]
live in Malibu.
But tonight You will be cooking in pairs.
Uh-uh.
No thank you.
allegiances will form Girl, we got it.
and bitter rivals will clash Hell yeah, I'll whup his ass.
I have an idiot as a partner.
resulting in a performance so shocking Do the honors.
Two could be going home.
Both of you have got one foot out the door.
It is top 15, I've got my mojo back, and I'm feeling like I'm walking a little taller, and it has nothing to do with how high my heels are.
I'm a server from Orlando, Florida, and I cook Michelin style.
My palate is ridiculous and there's no competition, man.
I got this.
There are 15 home cooks standing in front of us, but we need to take you 15 cooks and narrow you down to just one.
So far, we've thrown mystery boxes at you, elimination challenges, pressure tests, and team challenges.
And in tonight's challenge, you'll once again be cooking in teams.
But tonight, the team dynamic will be slightly different.
You will be cooking in pairs.
Leslie, the million dollar question.
Who would you not want to work with? You can't pick all 14.
I think "Iran" and I do not get along together, as far as in the kitchen.
- Ahran.
- Ahran, yes, Ahran.
Ahran, do I even need to ask you who you don't want to work with? I don't think so.
Christian, who's the last person you want to cook with? Courtney.
She had the best dish in the last challenge.
Don't care.
She's just not real.
She don't have passion.
I--just not my cup of tea to cook with.
Uh-uhh, no thank you.
Courtney, because you had the best dish in last challenge, you will be choosing everyone's teams tonight.
Yes.
And as an added bonus, you'll not have to cook in tonight's challenge.
Take those glamorous heels and please, yet again, head up to the balcony.
Thanks.
Careful you don't catch those heels on the staircase.
I won't.
Got lots of practice.
I'm no stranger to the balcony.
It's like my second home, so I feel like this is where I'm supposed to be.
So, Courtney, there are 14 cooks, and you need to separate them into 7 teams consisting of 2 cooks.
The two worst performing teams in tonight's challenge will go into a pressure test that will send at least one person home.
So, Courtney, give us the first person you'd like to pick for team one.
The first person? That'd be Christian.
Now, Courtney, who you gonna partner Christian up with? The person that I'm going to pick, I think that their personalities will be what causes struggle between the two.
- Clash? - Yeah.
So I'm going to choose Francis B Francis B.
Interesting.
What's up, my man? I think Courtney sees me as a threat, and she's probably thinking Christian and I would probably butt heads Let's do it.
But we're gonna hit it out of the park.
All right, Courtney, let's build the second team.
Okay, we'll bring down Jaimee and Elizabeth.
Okay, Courtney.
Victoria and Christine.
Cutter with Dan.
I'm gonna ask big Willie to step down, and Daniel.
I'm gonna bring down Ahran.
If I'm paired up with Leslie, honestly, I might die in a hole, because it's so unfair.
And I'm choosing Leslie.
The two remaining, please step down, Francis L and Elise.
Let's go.
Wow, fascinating picks.
Okay, it's time to find out what you'll all have to cook as a team.
Please, head back to your stations.
Why are they so big? Now, as a team, we want you to conceive, cook, plate, and serve us your dish together.
Two different home cooks, two very different personalities, two different styles.
That's why we want you to make us something that starts as two very different components, but come together in one classic pairing.
We want you to cook us a surf and turf dish.
Yes! Yes! Bam! Yeah.
Look at what you have to choose from.
I'm pretty amped up, because it's the interpretation of surf and turf, which is really exciting.
There's just so many different routes you can go with this.
Rib eye steaks with crawfish etouffe, bacon-wrapped pheasant with a crab stuffing.
I mean, I am not feeling worried whatsoever.
From the land, you have pork belly, short ribs, lamb rack, venison loin, chicken, and veal chop.
And from the water, you have ahi tuna, monk fish oysters, red snapper, octopus, and clams.
All these amazing ingredients you can find in that amazing pantry, along with everything else you need to make us one stunning surf and turf dish.
You'll have just one hour to put aside all your differences and work together to serve us the best dish of your lives.
But you'll have five minutes to go in the pantry, decide together what the direction your dish is heading, and get everything you need to make that stunning surf and turf dish.
Make sure you get everything you need and forget nothing.
You're not allowed to return to the pantry after you exit.
Your 60 minutes starts Now.
Yeah, go, Leslie.
Okay, so I think you're comfortable with the tuna.
I do like a--I'd like to do a soft boiled egg.
I definitely think we should do lamb and snapper.
Cut it super thin We slice it, and then we can, like-- wrap it? I've made, like, a burrito before using pork belly, and I've made, like, a kimchi fried rice and guac, but we can add the crab to it.
Tell me what you want me to do.
I have no problem with that.
Now, there's seven teams of two back there.
Do you think somebody's gonna break off and be the captain, like, right away? You're gonna have a dominant member of each team.
What I would like to do is east-west, and it's a venison, and it's gonna be sliced, and we're gonna do tuna sashimi.
So you have two lean proteins going together, that's the only thing.
I was thinking of doing a chess board with the tuna.
- A chess board with the tuna? - Oh, I don'tI don't know.
The dynamics are critical, who drives what.
I think basically put two variations of a similar sauce, but not the same sauce.
We're still making two separate You see what I'm saying? If you're doing vegetables and fish, I'm doing protein and meat, we're not marrying the dishes together.
He is not listening to what I'm trying to tell him.
These proteins don't go together.
You need something to balance each other out.
It's the whole idea of this.
We have to marry it together.
I think we're over-thinking that.
No, I don't.
I think that's what he said.
That's exactly what he said.
He's going into Dan shut-down mode.
He still can't figure out what all vegetables he's using and Five minutes gone.
Time's up.
That's it.
Let's go.
We're gonna have to go with this.
We have two proteins that do not pair together, and seven items out of the pantry.
I'm just praying that we can pull it off.
Just listen, okay.
You've picked everything, just let me talk.
Could you make a blackened, seared ahi tuna? Yeah.
This guy has got some brutal fins.
Yeah.
You're looking good over there.
We're gonna be doing a pork belly-wrapped monk fish over a green apple risotto.
Just trying to get as many flavors as we can in there.
Right now, we're gonna make a rib eye steak.
We're gonna keep it very american, you know, green beans, red potatoes with a king crab cream sauce going on top of the steak.
To be honest with you, Francis is awesome.
I mean, the dude is great, he can cook his ass off, so I don't have anything negative to say about Francis B.
All I can say is thank you, Courtney.
Just over 45 minutes to go.
All right, Francis, what's going on here? We have the magic ingredient, xanthan gum.
Oh, delicious.
So are you making a frothy, bubbly action, a sauce Gonna make a blood orange foam to garnish at the end.
We have a mint and lemon caviar I'm making, and then also, we're making crab risotto with rack of lamb.
So who is the leader of this team, guys, - who's leading? - This was my idea.
Is your idea to cut the onions ten times as big as they should be? All right, Cutter, Dan Wu, explain the dish please.
So what we've come up with is, like, a chilled venison slice that's been cooked, and then a warm tuna salsa like a soy sauce with tuna chunks on it to go over the top, and eat it, like, sashimi-style.
Right.
Why's it cooked, then? Are we definitely on the same page? Guys, are we okay? - Cutter? - No, I ain't okay.
I ain't gonna lie.
No, I ain't okay.
Dan goes off on a wild tangent in the [bleep.]
pantry, and by the time we got out, we're out of time.
So now, it's basically a mystery box now.
I am just so pissed off at Dan Wu right now, because I mean, he just does not listen to anything, and I even tried to tell him, "You know, we can't do this, we have to do something else.
" So I know I'm probably going to a pressure test, because I have an idiot as a partner who just wouldn't listen to me.
With just over halfway to go in the surf and turf team challenge, Dan and Cutter's partnership is already falling apart.
- Guys, are we okay? - No, I ain't okay.
I ain't gonna lie.
No, I ain't okay.
Dan goes off on a wild tangent in the [bleep.]
pantry, and by the time we got out, we're out of time.
So now, it's basically a mystery box now.
Okay, listen Look at me.
Have a meeting amongst yourselves, get it together, 'cause it sounds insane.
Yeah, we don't have any ingredients, we don't have anything to work with.
But have a think about this one, guys, yeah, because it doesn't sound right.
Okay.
Give me a sauce.
Give me a sauce for radishes.
Cutter, under pressure, when things aren't going perfectly, he flips out, and I'm like, "Let's not worry about it.
Let's just put something on a plate.
" - So, Christian - Yes, chef? You were the prime target today.
- Yes, I am.
- How does that feel? It's all right with me.
Why do you think she put Francis on your team? I can't figure out that angle.
Because she feels that we're alpha males.
I mean, we want to be in control, but Do you think that your personality's intimidating or your cooking? Cooking, and my personality, 'cause I don't take [bleep.]
from nobody.
Oh, god.
Uh, Ahran, Leslie, first of all, the energy looks great.
- Thank you.
- What's the dish? It's a spicy pork belly and sweet crab stack with pico de gallo, guacamole, and kimchi fried rice.
Right.
Who's the head chef? "Iran" "Iran" is the head chef.
"A," "ah.
" Just shout, "ah!" - "Ah!" - "Ran.
" - "Ran.
" - One more.
- Ran! I'm sorry, Ir Every time you say "I," it pisses her off.
I, I, I sorry, I One more, "Ah.
" - Ah-ran.
- Thank you.
Youngest in the competition, you're still growing with confidence every hour, 'cause right now, let's be honest - Yes.
- Leslie's your bitch.
Good luck.
Just under three minutes left, guys, just under three minutes.
Here, taste the orzotto.
Are we looking good, Daniel? Looking good, my man, looking good.
I haven't hit it with butter or cheese yet.
- Oh, that's good, though.
- Yeah? Wow, the energy is incredible.
Yeah.
Victoria and Christine are doing a play on pork belly and monk fish with a green apple risotto.
Sounds really nice and classy.
I think one of the strangest pairings is Scottish Francis and Elise.
You couldn't have two more opposite cooks with different life experiences - than those two.
- They could definitely be in danger.
I mean, that's a weird one.
Let's go, guys, last finishing touches.
Just over 30 seconds to go.
Let's go, come on.
Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.
Hands in the air! Well done.
Now, it is time to taste your dishes.
First up, Ahran and Leslie.
So, youngest competitor, oldest competitor, put together and chosen to work together by Courtney because she wants you out of here, Leslie, more than anybody.
How's it look from up there? I think that they worked together very well and put a nice dish on the plate.
All right, so tell me exactly what we have.
So it's a fried tortilla topped with kimchi fried rice, crab guacamole, spicy pork belly and pico de gallo, and a cilantro-lime crema.
Flavors are great.
It's really well thought out.
So you have a new respect for Leslie? You know, I respect him as a cook and as a person, and I think that this, like, partnership was really kind of the stepping stone into that.
That's awesome to hear.
Good job, guys.
You know, this dish has a lot of things going for it, but the main compliment I could pay this dish, - that it's harmonious.
- Yes.
This is a true marriage of two cultures, and certainly from different generations coming together to make one delicious dish.
An excellent job by both of you.
- Thank you.
- Thank you.
- It's delicious.
- Thank you.
It really is.
I mean, everything is seasoned beautifully.
Really worked well.
Hatchet buried? Finished? - Yes, we're - Give one another a hug.
There you go, excellent.
Seriously, well done.
Great job, both of you.
Thank you, chef.
Give me five.
Good job.
Thank you.
Next up, let's go, Dan Wu and Cutter please, thank you.
Dan Wu and Cutter's plate is empty, and it's not very pretty.
What in the [bleep.]
is that? I am so embarrassed.
That pantry is stocked.
There are professional restaurant and kitchens that don't match what we've set up in there for you.
And that's what I get.
Somebody give it to me, will you? - Tell me what that is.
- I'll tell you - exactly what happened.
- Please.
- Go in the pantry - Please.
He has an idea, I listen to him.
I told him I didn't like it, he just starts grabbing [bleep.]
, and this is what you get.
Ran out of time in the pantry, then I have nothing to work with.
We went in there, I gave my idea, he gave his idea, we grabbed the proteins, and we started from there.
We went back and I specifically told you that neither when they're both lean, they don't go together.
We didn't get enough ingredients to really make anything work.
But you didn't know have an idea.
You didn't have anything real at the end, what you wanted to do.
You were just grabbing stuff, and you kept telling, "We'll get it as we go, we'll get it as we go.
" So both of you pick up a basket, fill it up, and then bring it back.
At least you got something tangible to work with.
By the time we hit our station, there was nothing we could do in terms of ingredients.
We had what we had, so the way this dish tastes, I will take responsibility - for it, 'cause that's my vision.
- Well, I think it actually came out decent.
Through all the stuff, I think it actually came out tasting decent.
Describe the dish.
It's a seared venison loin on a bed of cauliflower and parsnips.
On the other side is a seared tuna marinated in some ponzu-yuzu soy on a three radish salad.
Even separate identities, it still doesn't work.
That is possibly one of the worst dishes in this competition so far.
Man.
You don't have to eat it.
Really, you don't.
I'm a judge here, so why don't you let me figure out what I have to do and what I don't have to do.
I know how to do my job.
Do the honors.
You don't have to eat it.
Really, you don't.
I'm a judge here, so why don't you let me figure out what I have to do and what I don't have to do.
I know how to do my job.
Do the honors.
Thank you very much.
There's no point in playing the blame game.
I'm not gonna do it.
If I'm gonna blame anybody, it's gonna be myself, because I am responsible for what I do, and it's a cowardly thing, what he did.
I'm just so mad, because I know that this leads to a pressure test, which leads to a greater chance of me going home.
Next up, Francis, Elise.
Francis, describe the dish please.
It is a baked-with-yogurt rack of lamb with a crab risotto and blood orange foam with lemon and mint caviar.
Uh, lamb, yeah, it's nice, but you took that lamb out, the fat was still on there, and then you smeared it with yogurt.
You can't put yogurt on top of fat.
Fat needs to be rendered, or you remove it and put a crust on there.
I did sear the lamb before there was anything put on it, and then I roasted it in the oven.
Yeah, it came out, you let it rest, and then you smeared it back over with yogurt.
And visually, it looks a mess.
I mean, the lamb looks like a dog's chew, caviar looks like frog spawn.
I love lemon caviar, because the lemon is great with crab and the mint is great with the lamb.
Yeah, I like the quirkiness, but it needs to have a right time and a right place on a right plate, Not in surf and turf.
So unimpressed with both of you.
Jaimee and Elizabeth, come on up.
Explain your dish to me.
Red snapper cooked with lemon.
Yogurt-marinated lamb and topped with a little roasted carrots and crumbled feta.
Everything is seasoned perfectly.
The lamb is a perfect medium rare with a nice char on it, the fish is delicate and light, and I think that it really captures the spirit of what we were looking for, because we weren't looking for a literal translation of surf and turf.
This is a concept on the plate.
- Thank you.
- Thank you.
Thank you so much.
Next up, big Willie, Daniel, let's go, please.
You have a seared ahi tuna on top of forbidden rice and radish, and then, we have egg and crispy skin roll, and a buttermilk miso fried chicken.
First of all, you've captured the spirit of the surf and turf, and you've got that creativity on every aspect of that dish, which looks great.
Chicken is incredible.
Tuna cooked beautifully.
Little bit too much going on.
Doesn't need the fried veg on top.
I don't want anything fried on top of fried, however, the flavors are there.
It has character.
Well done.
Thank you.
Thank you, chef.
All right, next up please.
Christine, Victoria.
Wow.
Plate looks beautiful.
Please describe your dish.
We've got a pork belly, wrapped monk fish over a green apple risotto with a apple and pork belly salad.
It's a dish that's labor intensive, creative, and show a lot of that classic technique.
You guys haven't really been in the top three individually, and now, as a team, you're shining.
This is a really good dish, so good job.
- Thank you, chef.
- Thank you.
Thank you.
Good job.
Christian, francis Biondi.
I'm confident that Christian and francis B's egos are going to get in the way of creating a good dish.
So it's a moroccan rub rib eye with a creamy herb king crab topping, roasted red potatoes, green beans with crispy bacon, tossed in arugula oil.
So here's the thing, Christian, Courtney wanted you out, big target on your back.
Then you're paired with Francis B, smart, articulate, but each one of you could have done this dish on your own in 20 minutes.
Christian, I love it when you step up to the plate with the arrogance that you're a front-runner.
Francis B, front-runner, but I'm not feeling it.
So I'm underwhelmed.
Be honest with you, you know, seeing those other dishes come up here and whatnot, I just feel we could've gave a little more creativity.
But, guys, come on.
You're in this competition, thousands didn't make it, And it looks like the wrong two standing in front of me, 'cause this looks like school dinner.
It's bland.
Steak is embarrassing.
Here's the thing, somebody's going home, And right now, both of you have got one foot out the door, 'cause if I give you another 60 minutes, individually, to do a surf and turf, It'd be ten times better than that [bleep.]
.
Courtney, well played.
Thank you, chef.
Seven pairs, seven dishes.
One team created a pretty phenomenal surf and turf dish, a dish that was somewhat head and shoulders above tonight's competition, a dish that we would've liked to have seen in one of our restaurants That's how good it was.
That dish belonged to Victoria and Christine, well done.
What? Give it up, girl! Both of you, please head up to the gallery.
You are safe from elimination, easily safe.
Three other duos did an amazing job tonight, And are also safe from elimination.
Well done Jaimee and Elizabeth, Daniel and big Willie, and finally, Leslie and Ahran.
Great job.
Brilliant.
I never thought in a million years that I'd be saying this, But Leslie and I really pulled it together, and honestly, I would love to work with him again.
Which leaves us with three pairs.
Please come down to the front.
Let's go.
There's one team that is safe from elimination tonight.
The other two will face the dreaded pressure test.
Screw it.
I'll take my chances in the pressure test, and if this is how Courtney is gonna send me out, you know, this is how I'm going out.
Right now we need a minute to decide.
Excuse us.
So Dan Wu and Cutter, right? I mean, Cutter should've stepped up, should've said something.
He is down there looking at me like I sent him to his grave.
Christian and Francis? - Dish was not what we asked for.
- Lazy.
Just looking at everything that they had, you know, we should've put more creativity in the bowl.
I know, you take two overconfident, cocky people, and they fail.
Francis L and Elise.
I think Elise is out of her element.
I'm sorry, I didn't know it was going wrong.
All right, ready? You know all three dishes were underwhelming.
We definitely deserve to be in the pressure test, and Christian and I both know it.
We look at each other, we're like, "This is not what we should have put out there", and we're gonna be tested for it.
I am shocked that we're in the bottom three.
I know we had some technical errors, but I really think that we have gone out on a limb with this dish.
The team that are safe from that dreaded pressure test is The team that are safe from that dreaded pressure test is Christian and Francis B.
It's not you.
Elise and Francis L, get yourselves up to the balcony.
Let's go.
Francis and I both deserve to be safe.
At least we were being creative.
I'm in this pressure test because of Dan Wu just being so scatterbrained.
I mean, I'm just pissed off at the whole situation.
You four home cooks standing before us cooked us the worst dishes of the evening.
And because of that, you four home cooks will now be cooking against each other in a pressure test.
Forget that you were part of a team.
Now, it's every man for themselves.
There's a part of me that actually feels good going into the pressure test 'cause I don't have to deal with the debacle that was Cutter.
It's time to find out what you'll have to cook in tonight's dreaded pressure test.
This is America, the land of meat and beautiful seafood, but this country also grows some of the best vegetables anywhere in the world.
We've had our surf and turf, so now, we're asking for one of the most technical vegetarian dishes to get right.
It's practically on every asian takeout menu.
This is a tough one.
Delicious, incredible, Spring rolls.
Served with a delicious dipping sauce.
I love spring rolls, but I've never taken the time to make spring rolls.
It's gonna be hell, but this is the game.
You know, this is what you're here for.
Light.
Crispy.
Crunch, and look at that, bursting with flavor.
Absolutely delicious.
- Dan, where were you born? - China.
This is something you're familiar with.
I have made them before.
Wow, thanks for the softball toss to Dan Wu, who screwed me right before.
Man, I am not looking forward to what's about to come.
There are so many ways that you can mess this up.
If you get the wrapper wrong, you're going home.
If your filling doesn't work, you're going home.
And if the sauce is nothing more than an afterthought, well, I think you know where I'm going here.
It's the end of your time in the MasterChef kitchen.
Okay, you four, it's time to head to your stations.
All of you, please put on your black aprons that you'll find in front of you.
You all have the exact same ingredients.
Flour, eggs, a vast array of farm fresh vegetables, hoisin sauce, plum sauce, soy sauce, togorashi, and mirin.
Don't be limited by anything except your own imagination.
That could be the difference between safety and elimination.
You have just 60 minutes to make us six stunning spring rolls and a delicious dipping sauce.
Do not forget, your entire MasterChef hopes and dreams are wrapped up in this challenge.
Your 60 minutes starts Now.
Never made a spring roll before.
We'll just see how it come out.
I'm going home today.
If I don't get this right, I'm going home.
I've made quite a few dumplings and wontons and stuff like that in my day, so this is in that same ball park.
I'm the guy to beat.
I feel pretty confident.
I do feel I'm one of the stronger cooks, for sure.
I am not going home today.
Spring rolls, a shocker, right? The pastry is basic, it's flour, egg, and water, but tonight, this is all about rolling that dough wafer thin.
We are expecting restaurant-level spring rolls.
No excuses today.
Cutter, Texas man.
Obviously, not very happy to be in this pressure test.
- Not at all.
- Ever made spring rolls? Never made 'em.
Only eaten 'em.
You feeling confident? I hope I survive.
If you're not going home, who is? I think it should be Dan.
Really, Dan Wu? I mean, he lived in China for years.
If that guy can't nail a spring roll, there's something wrong with him.
Exactly, he better nail it better than anybody here.
-Good luck.
- Thank you.
Dan Wu, Dan Wow.
- Hey, Dan.
- Yes, sir.
So you should be the hands-on favorite here, huh? I hope so.
So what's the technique? What are you doing here? I'm just trying out the pasta machine To see if I can get a smoother roll out of it.
Well, why wouldn't you just use the traditional rolling pin? It's slow and I'm not that great at it.
Dan's smart, though, with that pasta roller.
Guys, under 30 minutes left to cook.
Francis, how you doing? Doing all right, chef.
Don't forget the sauce.
That's equally important.
How is your sauce? You feel confident? I'm feeling confident in the sauce.
I like the flavor profile.
It seems like you're not the same Francis that we saw just a few weeks ago.
Maybe I got in my own head with the last failure that I had.
You gotta bounce back.
You gotta make it happen.
You really have to stand out.
I've got to.
Christian, what's your strategy in spring rolls? What's gonna give it the bang is my sauce.
Without the proper spring roll filling, the sauce is meaningless.
When I crack your spring roll open, if it don't look right, I ain't putting it in the sauce, I'll put it in the trash can again.
I don't think you're gonna do that, chef.
We might be sending more than one person home tonight.
What? At least one may be going home.
Only thing that was going through my mind was, "Stuff these bad boys, get 'em in the fryer, 'cause I can't be going home.
" Ten minutes, guys.
Ten minutes remaining.
These need to go into a hot fryer so they blister on the outside, so it lightens up the dough.
Totally.
So Gordon, who's going home? I'm really nervous about Francis B.
He is out of his depth.
He is the only one of these four home cooks who's competed in a pressure test before, so he has that experience under his belt, but I don't think there could have been a more severe blow given to Cutter than an Asian dish, especially as difficult and technical as spring rolls.
He's trying his hardest, but I just don't know if he can do it.
The one that looks in control more than anybody is Christian.
Oh, one of his busted open.
Oh, my god.
I look in the fryer, and one of my egg rolls is coming apart.
God! I've only got a few minutes left, I've got to roll out another one.
I'm not gonna have enough to go on the plate.
Five minutes, five minutes.
It'll be automatic failure, automatic go home.
Oh, my god.
Looking over at Cutter, and he's freaking out.
Just one more, just one more.
Cutter's going home, no question.
Oh, [bleep.]
you very much, Courtney.
I put egg wash on one of my sides and they come out apart of the fryer.
I think six perfect spring rolls on the plate, if we had a couple minutes to pull this off.
- Gotta time.
Gonna try it.
- Two minutes to go.
- Francis B, how you're doin'? - Just hoping the spring rolls come out.
Right.
And why they're so anaemic looking? Why so white? They just look like sad spring rolls I want a delicious spring rolls, right? Let's go.
I thought I had hot fryer.
But they are floating onto the top and are still really white.
So I put some oil in the pan and I'm just hoping the brown off alright and have a nice crispy crust to it.
Francis B is putting his spring rolls in the pan.
You can't fry a spring roll twice 'cause it will be greasy.
Greasy spring roll can slide you out of MasterChef kitchen.
Get them all on the plate, guys! Taste that dipping sauce.
You don't count on the fryer.
Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, stop.
Hands in the air.
Okay, well done, all of you.
Please, very carefully bring your six spring rolls down to the front, thank you.
Let's go, guys.
Thank you.
When I look at everybody else's spring rolls, I can immediately see that all of them lack any real finesse.
So, Christian, tell me exactly what we have in here.
Chef, this is a vegetable medley spring roll with red cabbage, green onion, carrots, and the dipping sauce is a spicy glaze sweet sauce.
The flavor's great.
The vegetables are nice.
I would've loved to have seen a little more of that herb flavor ming through, maybe some garlic cooked down with the veg, and the main thing, I think, is just even rolling, so that it protects it and gives it nice and crispy all the way around.
Like, this one looks a lot better.
Yes, chef.
Thank you.
Thanks.
If you had ordered from your local takeout That was delivered to your house, what would you think? I think that they're probably better than average, just 'cause they don't have that funky cabbage smell.
Okay, Francis.
I have glass noodles in there, purple cabbage, carrots, some fresh sprouts, and a mushroom.
The ratio of filling is obviously way out of proportion, wouldn't you say? Okay.
These are really greasy.
You fried them in cold oil? I thought it was hot.
Generally, cold oil penetrate, and then they get greasy.
Have you eaten spring rolls like this in Orlando a lot? No, not like that.
Well, if you go home tonight, you could order in some spring rolls.
It's not complete.
Too much wrapper, greasy.
It's totally out of balance.
Dan, describe your spring rolls please.
I've got the vermicelli noodles, water chestnuts, snap peas, scallions, red pepper, and oyster mushrooms.
Dipping sauce? Soy, sriracha, a little ponzu, some mirin, and plum sauce to give it a little bit of sweetness and kind of thicken it a little bit.
- Sauce is delicious.
- Thank you.
Spring rolls taste nice inside.
A little bit too much of the casing, so it's, like, crunch after crunch.
I'd expect you to come up with something better, to be honest.
I wanted you to give everybody else in this room a master class, 'cause this is in your backyard.
That was not your best.
Yeah, dipping sauce, really tasty.
But the size of the spring roll was insufficient for the so there's more dough than Yeah, that's not good.
Okay, Cutter.
It's a bell pepper, carrot, mushroom, and bok choy filling.
What's this? It is a lemongrass and mint-infused plum sauce.
There's, like, a teaspoon of it.
What's inside? What vegetables? Oh, these are kind of not crispy.
Look how thick that is.
There's hardly any filling here.
It's all dough.
Damn it.
Very sweet.
No heat, no acid at all? I put a little bit of vinegar in there, kind of cut it a little bit.
You think if you had another teammate, you wouldn't be here right now? Yes.
If you go home tonight, would you send Dan Wu a postcard from Texas? No.
Some people just don't work well together.
Sometimes, you don't work that well on your own.
Very sweet.
No heat, no acid at all? I put a little bit of vinegar in there, kind of cut it a little bit.
You think if you had another teammate, you wouldn't be here right now? Yes.
If you go home tonight, would you send Dan Wu a postcard from Texas? No.
Some people just don't work well together.
Sometimes, you don't work that well on your own.
I'm surprised Cutter's still here.
He's hanging on by the skin of his teeth.
Guy's got nine lives, but I think he's used up most of them at this point.
That was a hard-fought, difficult pressure test, one of the hardest that we have ever asked any of our home cooks to do in this kitchen.
Unfortunately, at least one of you will be going home.
We need a moment to chat.
I think that Cutter's dough was, like, thick, but not greasy, though.
Francis's were definitely more in the grease department.
Francis taking 'em out of the fryer and putting 'em in a pan? And then you bit into it, it was greasy.
Dan Wu's sauce was awesome.
It looked like sauce from a restaurant.
But let's be honest, I mean, his, in general, doesn't work.
Christian, step forward, please.
By far The best spring roll tonight.
Congratulations.
Head up to the balcony.
Well done.
You are safe from elimination.
The only person that can send me home is me and the judges, not Courtney, and in due time, she's gonna fall on her face.
Dan Wu, step forward, please.
We had high expectations for you.
We really expected more.
The saving grace was that sauce, and your sauce is the only thing that is saving you tonight.
We said at least one of you will be leaving this kitchen tonight.
Francis and Cutter, I'm afraid you are both, both in big trouble.
Holy snickies.
Cutter.
You're leaving The floor, and joining the rest of them upstairs in the balcony.
Say good-bye to Francis B.
Cutter, that wasn't a victory.
That was a lucky escape.
Francis B, the spring rolls were cooked twice.
I bit into a mouthful of grease.
The sauce didn't make sense, it was too gloopy, and the whole magic of the spring roll, that was miles away.
You were definitely a front-runner, and then we saw the fall of Francis B, and it was a free fall.
It's kind of ironic that Courtney was really targeting Christian and put you as the anchor to his leg, but you wound up being the one to sink.
Damn.
Come say good-bye.
Good luck.
Good job.
Head up.
Please put your apron on your bench and leave the MasterChef kitchen.
Good night.
There are a lot of great cooks around the country that wanted to be a part of this, and the experience of cooking in front of the judges and having them say that your dish is a standout dish, that was a great feeling.
Now, that is a MasterChef idea.
Keep an eye on this one, guys.
I don't wanna be a server for the rest of my life.
I expect more from myself now.
I feel like I take a lot of experience with me.
After being in the MasterChef kitchen you definitely leave inspired as a cook and the hope for something more.
Something better.
Next week on Masterchef the home cooks get down and dirty at a diner Club in the window! But will this all-American challenge Toast is burning! leave one team scrambled? Two pancakes! Right now! I can't make them cook faster! Table two is leaving in one minute.
Do not let it make it out here without it being perfect! - followed by - Red velvet cake.
An all-American pressure test.
Wow, it is beautiful.
I just wanna eat more and more of it.
Watch out for Willie.
He's gonna bake.
What can I say? The pressure to succeed Come on! I don't know how else to put "sorry.
" You're not sorry at all! has divided the kitchen.
No more eating! I've worked my ass off.
You know what work is? You [bleep.]
live in Malibu.
But tonight You will be cooking in pairs.
Uh-uh.
No thank you.
allegiances will form Girl, we got it.
and bitter rivals will clash Hell yeah, I'll whup his ass.
I have an idiot as a partner.
resulting in a performance so shocking Do the honors.
Two could be going home.
Both of you have got one foot out the door.
It is top 15, I've got my mojo back, and I'm feeling like I'm walking a little taller, and it has nothing to do with how high my heels are.
I'm a server from Orlando, Florida, and I cook Michelin style.
My palate is ridiculous and there's no competition, man.
I got this.
There are 15 home cooks standing in front of us, but we need to take you 15 cooks and narrow you down to just one.
So far, we've thrown mystery boxes at you, elimination challenges, pressure tests, and team challenges.
And in tonight's challenge, you'll once again be cooking in teams.
But tonight, the team dynamic will be slightly different.
You will be cooking in pairs.
Leslie, the million dollar question.
Who would you not want to work with? You can't pick all 14.
I think "Iran" and I do not get along together, as far as in the kitchen.
- Ahran.
- Ahran, yes, Ahran.
Ahran, do I even need to ask you who you don't want to work with? I don't think so.
Christian, who's the last person you want to cook with? Courtney.
She had the best dish in the last challenge.
Don't care.
She's just not real.
She don't have passion.
I--just not my cup of tea to cook with.
Uh-uhh, no thank you.
Courtney, because you had the best dish in last challenge, you will be choosing everyone's teams tonight.
Yes.
And as an added bonus, you'll not have to cook in tonight's challenge.
Take those glamorous heels and please, yet again, head up to the balcony.
Thanks.
Careful you don't catch those heels on the staircase.
I won't.
Got lots of practice.
I'm no stranger to the balcony.
It's like my second home, so I feel like this is where I'm supposed to be.
So, Courtney, there are 14 cooks, and you need to separate them into 7 teams consisting of 2 cooks.
The two worst performing teams in tonight's challenge will go into a pressure test that will send at least one person home.
So, Courtney, give us the first person you'd like to pick for team one.
The first person? That'd be Christian.
Now, Courtney, who you gonna partner Christian up with? The person that I'm going to pick, I think that their personalities will be what causes struggle between the two.
- Clash? - Yeah.
So I'm going to choose Francis B Francis B.
Interesting.
What's up, my man? I think Courtney sees me as a threat, and she's probably thinking Christian and I would probably butt heads Let's do it.
But we're gonna hit it out of the park.
All right, Courtney, let's build the second team.
Okay, we'll bring down Jaimee and Elizabeth.
Okay, Courtney.
Victoria and Christine.
Cutter with Dan.
I'm gonna ask big Willie to step down, and Daniel.
I'm gonna bring down Ahran.
If I'm paired up with Leslie, honestly, I might die in a hole, because it's so unfair.
And I'm choosing Leslie.
The two remaining, please step down, Francis L and Elise.
Let's go.
Wow, fascinating picks.
Okay, it's time to find out what you'll all have to cook as a team.
Please, head back to your stations.
Why are they so big? Now, as a team, we want you to conceive, cook, plate, and serve us your dish together.
Two different home cooks, two very different personalities, two different styles.
That's why we want you to make us something that starts as two very different components, but come together in one classic pairing.
We want you to cook us a surf and turf dish.
Yes! Yes! Bam! Yeah.
Look at what you have to choose from.
I'm pretty amped up, because it's the interpretation of surf and turf, which is really exciting.
There's just so many different routes you can go with this.
Rib eye steaks with crawfish etouffe, bacon-wrapped pheasant with a crab stuffing.
I mean, I am not feeling worried whatsoever.
From the land, you have pork belly, short ribs, lamb rack, venison loin, chicken, and veal chop.
And from the water, you have ahi tuna, monk fish oysters, red snapper, octopus, and clams.
All these amazing ingredients you can find in that amazing pantry, along with everything else you need to make us one stunning surf and turf dish.
You'll have just one hour to put aside all your differences and work together to serve us the best dish of your lives.
But you'll have five minutes to go in the pantry, decide together what the direction your dish is heading, and get everything you need to make that stunning surf and turf dish.
Make sure you get everything you need and forget nothing.
You're not allowed to return to the pantry after you exit.
Your 60 minutes starts Now.
Yeah, go, Leslie.
Okay, so I think you're comfortable with the tuna.
I do like a--I'd like to do a soft boiled egg.
I definitely think we should do lamb and snapper.
Cut it super thin We slice it, and then we can, like-- wrap it? I've made, like, a burrito before using pork belly, and I've made, like, a kimchi fried rice and guac, but we can add the crab to it.
Tell me what you want me to do.
I have no problem with that.
Now, there's seven teams of two back there.
Do you think somebody's gonna break off and be the captain, like, right away? You're gonna have a dominant member of each team.
What I would like to do is east-west, and it's a venison, and it's gonna be sliced, and we're gonna do tuna sashimi.
So you have two lean proteins going together, that's the only thing.
I was thinking of doing a chess board with the tuna.
- A chess board with the tuna? - Oh, I don'tI don't know.
The dynamics are critical, who drives what.
I think basically put two variations of a similar sauce, but not the same sauce.
We're still making two separate You see what I'm saying? If you're doing vegetables and fish, I'm doing protein and meat, we're not marrying the dishes together.
He is not listening to what I'm trying to tell him.
These proteins don't go together.
You need something to balance each other out.
It's the whole idea of this.
We have to marry it together.
I think we're over-thinking that.
No, I don't.
I think that's what he said.
That's exactly what he said.
He's going into Dan shut-down mode.
He still can't figure out what all vegetables he's using and Five minutes gone.
Time's up.
That's it.
Let's go.
We're gonna have to go with this.
We have two proteins that do not pair together, and seven items out of the pantry.
I'm just praying that we can pull it off.
Just listen, okay.
You've picked everything, just let me talk.
Could you make a blackened, seared ahi tuna? Yeah.
This guy has got some brutal fins.
Yeah.
You're looking good over there.
We're gonna be doing a pork belly-wrapped monk fish over a green apple risotto.
Just trying to get as many flavors as we can in there.
Right now, we're gonna make a rib eye steak.
We're gonna keep it very american, you know, green beans, red potatoes with a king crab cream sauce going on top of the steak.
To be honest with you, Francis is awesome.
I mean, the dude is great, he can cook his ass off, so I don't have anything negative to say about Francis B.
All I can say is thank you, Courtney.
Just over 45 minutes to go.
All right, Francis, what's going on here? We have the magic ingredient, xanthan gum.
Oh, delicious.
So are you making a frothy, bubbly action, a sauce Gonna make a blood orange foam to garnish at the end.
We have a mint and lemon caviar I'm making, and then also, we're making crab risotto with rack of lamb.
So who is the leader of this team, guys, - who's leading? - This was my idea.
Is your idea to cut the onions ten times as big as they should be? All right, Cutter, Dan Wu, explain the dish please.
So what we've come up with is, like, a chilled venison slice that's been cooked, and then a warm tuna salsa like a soy sauce with tuna chunks on it to go over the top, and eat it, like, sashimi-style.
Right.
Why's it cooked, then? Are we definitely on the same page? Guys, are we okay? - Cutter? - No, I ain't okay.
I ain't gonna lie.
No, I ain't okay.
Dan goes off on a wild tangent in the [bleep.]
pantry, and by the time we got out, we're out of time.
So now, it's basically a mystery box now.
I am just so pissed off at Dan Wu right now, because I mean, he just does not listen to anything, and I even tried to tell him, "You know, we can't do this, we have to do something else.
" So I know I'm probably going to a pressure test, because I have an idiot as a partner who just wouldn't listen to me.
With just over halfway to go in the surf and turf team challenge, Dan and Cutter's partnership is already falling apart.
- Guys, are we okay? - No, I ain't okay.
I ain't gonna lie.
No, I ain't okay.
Dan goes off on a wild tangent in the [bleep.]
pantry, and by the time we got out, we're out of time.
So now, it's basically a mystery box now.
Okay, listen Look at me.
Have a meeting amongst yourselves, get it together, 'cause it sounds insane.
Yeah, we don't have any ingredients, we don't have anything to work with.
But have a think about this one, guys, yeah, because it doesn't sound right.
Okay.
Give me a sauce.
Give me a sauce for radishes.
Cutter, under pressure, when things aren't going perfectly, he flips out, and I'm like, "Let's not worry about it.
Let's just put something on a plate.
" - So, Christian - Yes, chef? You were the prime target today.
- Yes, I am.
- How does that feel? It's all right with me.
Why do you think she put Francis on your team? I can't figure out that angle.
Because she feels that we're alpha males.
I mean, we want to be in control, but Do you think that your personality's intimidating or your cooking? Cooking, and my personality, 'cause I don't take [bleep.]
from nobody.
Oh, god.
Uh, Ahran, Leslie, first of all, the energy looks great.
- Thank you.
- What's the dish? It's a spicy pork belly and sweet crab stack with pico de gallo, guacamole, and kimchi fried rice.
Right.
Who's the head chef? "Iran" "Iran" is the head chef.
"A," "ah.
" Just shout, "ah!" - "Ah!" - "Ran.
" - "Ran.
" - One more.
- Ran! I'm sorry, Ir Every time you say "I," it pisses her off.
I, I, I sorry, I One more, "Ah.
" - Ah-ran.
- Thank you.
Youngest in the competition, you're still growing with confidence every hour, 'cause right now, let's be honest - Yes.
- Leslie's your bitch.
Good luck.
Just under three minutes left, guys, just under three minutes.
Here, taste the orzotto.
Are we looking good, Daniel? Looking good, my man, looking good.
I haven't hit it with butter or cheese yet.
- Oh, that's good, though.
- Yeah? Wow, the energy is incredible.
Yeah.
Victoria and Christine are doing a play on pork belly and monk fish with a green apple risotto.
Sounds really nice and classy.
I think one of the strangest pairings is Scottish Francis and Elise.
You couldn't have two more opposite cooks with different life experiences - than those two.
- They could definitely be in danger.
I mean, that's a weird one.
Let's go, guys, last finishing touches.
Just over 30 seconds to go.
Let's go, come on.
Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.
Hands in the air! Well done.
Now, it is time to taste your dishes.
First up, Ahran and Leslie.
So, youngest competitor, oldest competitor, put together and chosen to work together by Courtney because she wants you out of here, Leslie, more than anybody.
How's it look from up there? I think that they worked together very well and put a nice dish on the plate.
All right, so tell me exactly what we have.
So it's a fried tortilla topped with kimchi fried rice, crab guacamole, spicy pork belly and pico de gallo, and a cilantro-lime crema.
Flavors are great.
It's really well thought out.
So you have a new respect for Leslie? You know, I respect him as a cook and as a person, and I think that this, like, partnership was really kind of the stepping stone into that.
That's awesome to hear.
Good job, guys.
You know, this dish has a lot of things going for it, but the main compliment I could pay this dish, - that it's harmonious.
- Yes.
This is a true marriage of two cultures, and certainly from different generations coming together to make one delicious dish.
An excellent job by both of you.
- Thank you.
- Thank you.
- It's delicious.
- Thank you.
It really is.
I mean, everything is seasoned beautifully.
Really worked well.
Hatchet buried? Finished? - Yes, we're - Give one another a hug.
There you go, excellent.
Seriously, well done.
Great job, both of you.
Thank you, chef.
Give me five.
Good job.
Thank you.
Next up, let's go, Dan Wu and Cutter please, thank you.
Dan Wu and Cutter's plate is empty, and it's not very pretty.
What in the [bleep.]
is that? I am so embarrassed.
That pantry is stocked.
There are professional restaurant and kitchens that don't match what we've set up in there for you.
And that's what I get.
Somebody give it to me, will you? - Tell me what that is.
- I'll tell you - exactly what happened.
- Please.
- Go in the pantry - Please.
He has an idea, I listen to him.
I told him I didn't like it, he just starts grabbing [bleep.]
, and this is what you get.
Ran out of time in the pantry, then I have nothing to work with.
We went in there, I gave my idea, he gave his idea, we grabbed the proteins, and we started from there.
We went back and I specifically told you that neither when they're both lean, they don't go together.
We didn't get enough ingredients to really make anything work.
But you didn't know have an idea.
You didn't have anything real at the end, what you wanted to do.
You were just grabbing stuff, and you kept telling, "We'll get it as we go, we'll get it as we go.
" So both of you pick up a basket, fill it up, and then bring it back.
At least you got something tangible to work with.
By the time we hit our station, there was nothing we could do in terms of ingredients.
We had what we had, so the way this dish tastes, I will take responsibility - for it, 'cause that's my vision.
- Well, I think it actually came out decent.
Through all the stuff, I think it actually came out tasting decent.
Describe the dish.
It's a seared venison loin on a bed of cauliflower and parsnips.
On the other side is a seared tuna marinated in some ponzu-yuzu soy on a three radish salad.
Even separate identities, it still doesn't work.
That is possibly one of the worst dishes in this competition so far.
Man.
You don't have to eat it.
Really, you don't.
I'm a judge here, so why don't you let me figure out what I have to do and what I don't have to do.
I know how to do my job.
Do the honors.
You don't have to eat it.
Really, you don't.
I'm a judge here, so why don't you let me figure out what I have to do and what I don't have to do.
I know how to do my job.
Do the honors.
Thank you very much.
There's no point in playing the blame game.
I'm not gonna do it.
If I'm gonna blame anybody, it's gonna be myself, because I am responsible for what I do, and it's a cowardly thing, what he did.
I'm just so mad, because I know that this leads to a pressure test, which leads to a greater chance of me going home.
Next up, Francis, Elise.
Francis, describe the dish please.
It is a baked-with-yogurt rack of lamb with a crab risotto and blood orange foam with lemon and mint caviar.
Uh, lamb, yeah, it's nice, but you took that lamb out, the fat was still on there, and then you smeared it with yogurt.
You can't put yogurt on top of fat.
Fat needs to be rendered, or you remove it and put a crust on there.
I did sear the lamb before there was anything put on it, and then I roasted it in the oven.
Yeah, it came out, you let it rest, and then you smeared it back over with yogurt.
And visually, it looks a mess.
I mean, the lamb looks like a dog's chew, caviar looks like frog spawn.
I love lemon caviar, because the lemon is great with crab and the mint is great with the lamb.
Yeah, I like the quirkiness, but it needs to have a right time and a right place on a right plate, Not in surf and turf.
So unimpressed with both of you.
Jaimee and Elizabeth, come on up.
Explain your dish to me.
Red snapper cooked with lemon.
Yogurt-marinated lamb and topped with a little roasted carrots and crumbled feta.
Everything is seasoned perfectly.
The lamb is a perfect medium rare with a nice char on it, the fish is delicate and light, and I think that it really captures the spirit of what we were looking for, because we weren't looking for a literal translation of surf and turf.
This is a concept on the plate.
- Thank you.
- Thank you.
Thank you so much.
Next up, big Willie, Daniel, let's go, please.
You have a seared ahi tuna on top of forbidden rice and radish, and then, we have egg and crispy skin roll, and a buttermilk miso fried chicken.
First of all, you've captured the spirit of the surf and turf, and you've got that creativity on every aspect of that dish, which looks great.
Chicken is incredible.
Tuna cooked beautifully.
Little bit too much going on.
Doesn't need the fried veg on top.
I don't want anything fried on top of fried, however, the flavors are there.
It has character.
Well done.
Thank you.
Thank you, chef.
All right, next up please.
Christine, Victoria.
Wow.
Plate looks beautiful.
Please describe your dish.
We've got a pork belly, wrapped monk fish over a green apple risotto with a apple and pork belly salad.
It's a dish that's labor intensive, creative, and show a lot of that classic technique.
You guys haven't really been in the top three individually, and now, as a team, you're shining.
This is a really good dish, so good job.
- Thank you, chef.
- Thank you.
Thank you.
Good job.
Christian, francis Biondi.
I'm confident that Christian and francis B's egos are going to get in the way of creating a good dish.
So it's a moroccan rub rib eye with a creamy herb king crab topping, roasted red potatoes, green beans with crispy bacon, tossed in arugula oil.
So here's the thing, Christian, Courtney wanted you out, big target on your back.
Then you're paired with Francis B, smart, articulate, but each one of you could have done this dish on your own in 20 minutes.
Christian, I love it when you step up to the plate with the arrogance that you're a front-runner.
Francis B, front-runner, but I'm not feeling it.
So I'm underwhelmed.
Be honest with you, you know, seeing those other dishes come up here and whatnot, I just feel we could've gave a little more creativity.
But, guys, come on.
You're in this competition, thousands didn't make it, And it looks like the wrong two standing in front of me, 'cause this looks like school dinner.
It's bland.
Steak is embarrassing.
Here's the thing, somebody's going home, And right now, both of you have got one foot out the door, 'cause if I give you another 60 minutes, individually, to do a surf and turf, It'd be ten times better than that [bleep.]
.
Courtney, well played.
Thank you, chef.
Seven pairs, seven dishes.
One team created a pretty phenomenal surf and turf dish, a dish that was somewhat head and shoulders above tonight's competition, a dish that we would've liked to have seen in one of our restaurants That's how good it was.
That dish belonged to Victoria and Christine, well done.
What? Give it up, girl! Both of you, please head up to the gallery.
You are safe from elimination, easily safe.
Three other duos did an amazing job tonight, And are also safe from elimination.
Well done Jaimee and Elizabeth, Daniel and big Willie, and finally, Leslie and Ahran.
Great job.
Brilliant.
I never thought in a million years that I'd be saying this, But Leslie and I really pulled it together, and honestly, I would love to work with him again.
Which leaves us with three pairs.
Please come down to the front.
Let's go.
There's one team that is safe from elimination tonight.
The other two will face the dreaded pressure test.
Screw it.
I'll take my chances in the pressure test, and if this is how Courtney is gonna send me out, you know, this is how I'm going out.
Right now we need a minute to decide.
Excuse us.
So Dan Wu and Cutter, right? I mean, Cutter should've stepped up, should've said something.
He is down there looking at me like I sent him to his grave.
Christian and Francis? - Dish was not what we asked for.
- Lazy.
Just looking at everything that they had, you know, we should've put more creativity in the bowl.
I know, you take two overconfident, cocky people, and they fail.
Francis L and Elise.
I think Elise is out of her element.
I'm sorry, I didn't know it was going wrong.
All right, ready? You know all three dishes were underwhelming.
We definitely deserve to be in the pressure test, and Christian and I both know it.
We look at each other, we're like, "This is not what we should have put out there", and we're gonna be tested for it.
I am shocked that we're in the bottom three.
I know we had some technical errors, but I really think that we have gone out on a limb with this dish.
The team that are safe from that dreaded pressure test is The team that are safe from that dreaded pressure test is Christian and Francis B.
It's not you.
Elise and Francis L, get yourselves up to the balcony.
Let's go.
Francis and I both deserve to be safe.
At least we were being creative.
I'm in this pressure test because of Dan Wu just being so scatterbrained.
I mean, I'm just pissed off at the whole situation.
You four home cooks standing before us cooked us the worst dishes of the evening.
And because of that, you four home cooks will now be cooking against each other in a pressure test.
Forget that you were part of a team.
Now, it's every man for themselves.
There's a part of me that actually feels good going into the pressure test 'cause I don't have to deal with the debacle that was Cutter.
It's time to find out what you'll have to cook in tonight's dreaded pressure test.
This is America, the land of meat and beautiful seafood, but this country also grows some of the best vegetables anywhere in the world.
We've had our surf and turf, so now, we're asking for one of the most technical vegetarian dishes to get right.
It's practically on every asian takeout menu.
This is a tough one.
Delicious, incredible, Spring rolls.
Served with a delicious dipping sauce.
I love spring rolls, but I've never taken the time to make spring rolls.
It's gonna be hell, but this is the game.
You know, this is what you're here for.
Light.
Crispy.
Crunch, and look at that, bursting with flavor.
Absolutely delicious.
- Dan, where were you born? - China.
This is something you're familiar with.
I have made them before.
Wow, thanks for the softball toss to Dan Wu, who screwed me right before.
Man, I am not looking forward to what's about to come.
There are so many ways that you can mess this up.
If you get the wrapper wrong, you're going home.
If your filling doesn't work, you're going home.
And if the sauce is nothing more than an afterthought, well, I think you know where I'm going here.
It's the end of your time in the MasterChef kitchen.
Okay, you four, it's time to head to your stations.
All of you, please put on your black aprons that you'll find in front of you.
You all have the exact same ingredients.
Flour, eggs, a vast array of farm fresh vegetables, hoisin sauce, plum sauce, soy sauce, togorashi, and mirin.
Don't be limited by anything except your own imagination.
That could be the difference between safety and elimination.
You have just 60 minutes to make us six stunning spring rolls and a delicious dipping sauce.
Do not forget, your entire MasterChef hopes and dreams are wrapped up in this challenge.
Your 60 minutes starts Now.
Never made a spring roll before.
We'll just see how it come out.
I'm going home today.
If I don't get this right, I'm going home.
I've made quite a few dumplings and wontons and stuff like that in my day, so this is in that same ball park.
I'm the guy to beat.
I feel pretty confident.
I do feel I'm one of the stronger cooks, for sure.
I am not going home today.
Spring rolls, a shocker, right? The pastry is basic, it's flour, egg, and water, but tonight, this is all about rolling that dough wafer thin.
We are expecting restaurant-level spring rolls.
No excuses today.
Cutter, Texas man.
Obviously, not very happy to be in this pressure test.
- Not at all.
- Ever made spring rolls? Never made 'em.
Only eaten 'em.
You feeling confident? I hope I survive.
If you're not going home, who is? I think it should be Dan.
Really, Dan Wu? I mean, he lived in China for years.
If that guy can't nail a spring roll, there's something wrong with him.
Exactly, he better nail it better than anybody here.
-Good luck.
- Thank you.
Dan Wu, Dan Wow.
- Hey, Dan.
- Yes, sir.
So you should be the hands-on favorite here, huh? I hope so.
So what's the technique? What are you doing here? I'm just trying out the pasta machine To see if I can get a smoother roll out of it.
Well, why wouldn't you just use the traditional rolling pin? It's slow and I'm not that great at it.
Dan's smart, though, with that pasta roller.
Guys, under 30 minutes left to cook.
Francis, how you doing? Doing all right, chef.
Don't forget the sauce.
That's equally important.
How is your sauce? You feel confident? I'm feeling confident in the sauce.
I like the flavor profile.
It seems like you're not the same Francis that we saw just a few weeks ago.
Maybe I got in my own head with the last failure that I had.
You gotta bounce back.
You gotta make it happen.
You really have to stand out.
I've got to.
Christian, what's your strategy in spring rolls? What's gonna give it the bang is my sauce.
Without the proper spring roll filling, the sauce is meaningless.
When I crack your spring roll open, if it don't look right, I ain't putting it in the sauce, I'll put it in the trash can again.
I don't think you're gonna do that, chef.
We might be sending more than one person home tonight.
What? At least one may be going home.
Only thing that was going through my mind was, "Stuff these bad boys, get 'em in the fryer, 'cause I can't be going home.
" Ten minutes, guys.
Ten minutes remaining.
These need to go into a hot fryer so they blister on the outside, so it lightens up the dough.
Totally.
So Gordon, who's going home? I'm really nervous about Francis B.
He is out of his depth.
He is the only one of these four home cooks who's competed in a pressure test before, so he has that experience under his belt, but I don't think there could have been a more severe blow given to Cutter than an Asian dish, especially as difficult and technical as spring rolls.
He's trying his hardest, but I just don't know if he can do it.
The one that looks in control more than anybody is Christian.
Oh, one of his busted open.
Oh, my god.
I look in the fryer, and one of my egg rolls is coming apart.
God! I've only got a few minutes left, I've got to roll out another one.
I'm not gonna have enough to go on the plate.
Five minutes, five minutes.
It'll be automatic failure, automatic go home.
Oh, my god.
Looking over at Cutter, and he's freaking out.
Just one more, just one more.
Cutter's going home, no question.
Oh, [bleep.]
you very much, Courtney.
I put egg wash on one of my sides and they come out apart of the fryer.
I think six perfect spring rolls on the plate, if we had a couple minutes to pull this off.
- Gotta time.
Gonna try it.
- Two minutes to go.
- Francis B, how you're doin'? - Just hoping the spring rolls come out.
Right.
And why they're so anaemic looking? Why so white? They just look like sad spring rolls I want a delicious spring rolls, right? Let's go.
I thought I had hot fryer.
But they are floating onto the top and are still really white.
So I put some oil in the pan and I'm just hoping the brown off alright and have a nice crispy crust to it.
Francis B is putting his spring rolls in the pan.
You can't fry a spring roll twice 'cause it will be greasy.
Greasy spring roll can slide you out of MasterChef kitchen.
Get them all on the plate, guys! Taste that dipping sauce.
You don't count on the fryer.
Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, stop.
Hands in the air.
Okay, well done, all of you.
Please, very carefully bring your six spring rolls down to the front, thank you.
Let's go, guys.
Thank you.
When I look at everybody else's spring rolls, I can immediately see that all of them lack any real finesse.
So, Christian, tell me exactly what we have in here.
Chef, this is a vegetable medley spring roll with red cabbage, green onion, carrots, and the dipping sauce is a spicy glaze sweet sauce.
The flavor's great.
The vegetables are nice.
I would've loved to have seen a little more of that herb flavor ming through, maybe some garlic cooked down with the veg, and the main thing, I think, is just even rolling, so that it protects it and gives it nice and crispy all the way around.
Like, this one looks a lot better.
Yes, chef.
Thank you.
Thanks.
If you had ordered from your local takeout That was delivered to your house, what would you think? I think that they're probably better than average, just 'cause they don't have that funky cabbage smell.
Okay, Francis.
I have glass noodles in there, purple cabbage, carrots, some fresh sprouts, and a mushroom.
The ratio of filling is obviously way out of proportion, wouldn't you say? Okay.
These are really greasy.
You fried them in cold oil? I thought it was hot.
Generally, cold oil penetrate, and then they get greasy.
Have you eaten spring rolls like this in Orlando a lot? No, not like that.
Well, if you go home tonight, you could order in some spring rolls.
It's not complete.
Too much wrapper, greasy.
It's totally out of balance.
Dan, describe your spring rolls please.
I've got the vermicelli noodles, water chestnuts, snap peas, scallions, red pepper, and oyster mushrooms.
Dipping sauce? Soy, sriracha, a little ponzu, some mirin, and plum sauce to give it a little bit of sweetness and kind of thicken it a little bit.
- Sauce is delicious.
- Thank you.
Spring rolls taste nice inside.
A little bit too much of the casing, so it's, like, crunch after crunch.
I'd expect you to come up with something better, to be honest.
I wanted you to give everybody else in this room a master class, 'cause this is in your backyard.
That was not your best.
Yeah, dipping sauce, really tasty.
But the size of the spring roll was insufficient for the so there's more dough than Yeah, that's not good.
Okay, Cutter.
It's a bell pepper, carrot, mushroom, and bok choy filling.
What's this? It is a lemongrass and mint-infused plum sauce.
There's, like, a teaspoon of it.
What's inside? What vegetables? Oh, these are kind of not crispy.
Look how thick that is.
There's hardly any filling here.
It's all dough.
Damn it.
Very sweet.
No heat, no acid at all? I put a little bit of vinegar in there, kind of cut it a little bit.
You think if you had another teammate, you wouldn't be here right now? Yes.
If you go home tonight, would you send Dan Wu a postcard from Texas? No.
Some people just don't work well together.
Sometimes, you don't work that well on your own.
Very sweet.
No heat, no acid at all? I put a little bit of vinegar in there, kind of cut it a little bit.
You think if you had another teammate, you wouldn't be here right now? Yes.
If you go home tonight, would you send Dan Wu a postcard from Texas? No.
Some people just don't work well together.
Sometimes, you don't work that well on your own.
I'm surprised Cutter's still here.
He's hanging on by the skin of his teeth.
Guy's got nine lives, but I think he's used up most of them at this point.
That was a hard-fought, difficult pressure test, one of the hardest that we have ever asked any of our home cooks to do in this kitchen.
Unfortunately, at least one of you will be going home.
We need a moment to chat.
I think that Cutter's dough was, like, thick, but not greasy, though.
Francis's were definitely more in the grease department.
Francis taking 'em out of the fryer and putting 'em in a pan? And then you bit into it, it was greasy.
Dan Wu's sauce was awesome.
It looked like sauce from a restaurant.
But let's be honest, I mean, his, in general, doesn't work.
Christian, step forward, please.
By far The best spring roll tonight.
Congratulations.
Head up to the balcony.
Well done.
You are safe from elimination.
The only person that can send me home is me and the judges, not Courtney, and in due time, she's gonna fall on her face.
Dan Wu, step forward, please.
We had high expectations for you.
We really expected more.
The saving grace was that sauce, and your sauce is the only thing that is saving you tonight.
We said at least one of you will be leaving this kitchen tonight.
Francis and Cutter, I'm afraid you are both, both in big trouble.
Holy snickies.
Cutter.
You're leaving The floor, and joining the rest of them upstairs in the balcony.
Say good-bye to Francis B.
Cutter, that wasn't a victory.
That was a lucky escape.
Francis B, the spring rolls were cooked twice.
I bit into a mouthful of grease.
The sauce didn't make sense, it was too gloopy, and the whole magic of the spring roll, that was miles away.
You were definitely a front-runner, and then we saw the fall of Francis B, and it was a free fall.
It's kind of ironic that Courtney was really targeting Christian and put you as the anchor to his leg, but you wound up being the one to sink.
Damn.
Come say good-bye.
Good luck.
Good job.
Head up.
Please put your apron on your bench and leave the MasterChef kitchen.
Good night.
There are a lot of great cooks around the country that wanted to be a part of this, and the experience of cooking in front of the judges and having them say that your dish is a standout dish, that was a great feeling.
Now, that is a MasterChef idea.
Keep an eye on this one, guys.
I don't wanna be a server for the rest of my life.
I expect more from myself now.
I feel like I take a lot of experience with me.
After being in the MasterChef kitchen you definitely leave inspired as a cook and the hope for something more.
Something better.
Next week on Masterchef the home cooks get down and dirty at a diner Club in the window! But will this all-American challenge Toast is burning! leave one team scrambled? Two pancakes! Right now! I can't make them cook faster! Table two is leaving in one minute.
Do not let it make it out here without it being perfect! - followed by - Red velvet cake.
An all-American pressure test.