Masterchef (2010) s07e08 Episode Script
The Good, The Bad, And The Offal.
1 Previously, on MasterChef.
When the top 15 cooked for American heroes These guys put their lives on the line.
- The red team - Look at that.
You served that.
crashed into the dreaded pressure test Hot chicken! where Manny's MasterChef dreams Wow.
I burnt the fried chicken.
- came to an end.
- Love you, Manny.
Tonight, the home cooks are on a budget.
- Go, go, go, go.
- As they attempt to turn $20.
.
These are not Kentucky prices.
into culinary gold.
This is good.
Really good.
- And then - I can't look.
a gruesome challenge Oh, my gosh.
leads to shocking results.
What is that? Balls, Chef.
It's pretty self-explanatory.
- Welcome, guys.
- Good morning.
Can you believe it? Captain Dan has sailed his way into the top 14.
I'm no longer just a frat guy that loves to party.
I'm the home cook people are starting to notice.
I'm going to ride this wave all the way to the number one spot.
Welcome.
The final 14.
By the end of this competition, there will just be one of you left standing.
Tonight, the stakes are even higher, guys, because we are announcing that this season, our MasterChef winner is guaranteed a spot on the MasterChef cruise that sets sail in the Caribbean this November.
Oh, my God.
Now, before we get started tonight, we have someone extremely exciting to introduce.
This Korean chef has a southern heart, and is currently ruling the Kentucky food scene.
He is Chef Edward Lee.
- Oh, my God.
- Thank you.
Welcome, good to see you.
It is so exciting to have Edward Lee here right now.
He's a fellow Kentuckian.
But I'm definitely feeling a little bit of pressure.
I feel like I have to show Edward Lee that people from Kentucky can cook.
Thank you so much for having me.
It's incredible to be standing here with you, Gordon, Christina.
And I can't wait to get to know all of you home cooks.
Now, it's time for another mystery box challenge.
On the count of three, you'll lift your boxes.
One, two, three.
Lift.
Okay! All right.
Hey, now.
Twenty dollars? Wait a minute.
I thought I was winning a quarter of a million dollars.
What's going on? Underneath all of your mystery boxes, you each have a $20 bill.
And that is something that home cooks all across America use every single night to cook a healthy dinner for themselves and their families.
It's not easy to find a way to feed a family of four or more a healthy, nutritious dinner without breaking the bank.
Tonight, the MasterChef pantry looks a little bit more like the average American grocery store.
You'll find that everything in there has been labeled with a price.
You cannot select ingredients that exceed a total of that $20.
And you have a chance to share your recipe that you cook tonight with America, because tonight's winning dish will be featured in "Family Circle" Magazine.
This is a truly incredible prize, guys.
"Family Circle" is the best-selling food and family magazine in all of America.
They have 16 million readers each and every month.
Having millions and millions of people reading my recipe, I would be getting to do what I love to do in my heart, which is share food with other people.
So I really have to win this mystery box.
You have just 45 minutes to transform your $20 bill and turn it into a budget-friendly yet MasterChef-worthy dish fit for a family of four.
- Oh.
- Four identical plates.
There's last thing.
To prove it's possible to make a $20 dinner for four without sacrificing finesse and flair - renowned chef Edward Lee - Thank you.
will be shopping and cooking alongside you guys.
Yeah! Whoo! - Everybody ready? - Yes, Chef.
Right.
Make sure you grab your money.
Your 45 minutes starts now.
Go, go, go, go.
Oh, my gosh.
Back in Mississippi, I'm used to cooking on budget with a family.
But I'm not cooking for my kids and my husband.
I'm cooking for the judges.
It's going to be tough to present a MasterChef-worthy dish on $20.
You're going to run over Chef Lee.
Here we go.
Cooking on a budget is something we can all relate to.
But let's be honest.
The stretch for them is going to be to elevate it.
They're not cooking for their family right now.
They're cooking for you, me and Edward Lee.
At the frat house, everything was on a budget.
All my money usually went to booze, so when I cook, trying to save money.
So I'm making dandan noodles.
It's got pork, it's got protein.
It's got everything you need to really make the most of this budget.
That smells delicious.
Thinking about cooking on a budget, I automatically think about being in college, and I became a vegetarian.
So I'm making a beet and mushroom bourguignon.
Instead of beef, I'm using beet.
And then I'm also making garlic and Parmesan polenta.
I'm loving being able to see Chef Edward Lee cook right in front of me.
He has his multiple pots going, working on aromatic flavors.
So I hope to do the same.
Just under 30 minutes remaining.
Need more time.
More time, more time, more time.
- How are you doing, Chef? - Good.
I got peanuts, I got a curry sauce going.
That smells amazing.
And what are you making tonight? A green curry shrimp with green bamboo rice and a little bit of herb salad.
I used every penny I could.
I'm not used to working on small budgets.
- You know that.
- Well, I know that.
- But you know how to do this.
- I have a young family myself.
My young daughter, I'm trying to train her to be a foodie.
So she sits right there with me in the sink, and we cook together.
She's my little sous chef at home.
- It's the best.
- I love it.
I love it.
Right, Brandi, what are you doing? I am making a seared chicken thigh over a roasted red pepper polenta, and an arugula citrus salad on top.
I'm used to cooking on a budget for a family of four, and chicken's usually the cheapest option.
What's your shopping budget per week? About $100 a week, that's to get through seven days.
So you're comfortable cooking like this, because you have less than $20 a day.
- Yes, Chef.
- Are you gonna make it MasterChef-worthy? I'm going to make it MasterChef-worthy.
- Brandi, good luck.
- Thank you, Chef.
I'm behind.
All right, Eric, so what do you got working? I'm going to make my stuffed chicken pesto.
This is a firehouse favorite.
It's cheap.
The city doesn't pay for our meals.
It comes out of our own pockets.
So four chicken breasts for 20 bucks, that's nothing.
- I can do 13 for 100.
- No problem.
Make this dish worth it.
I want to see it.
I'll make it happen, Chef.
Fifteen minutes remaining, guys.
- Right, D'Andre.
- Yes, Chef.
Tell me about the dish.
What are you doing? We are doing a pork meatball pho with a deep-fried noodle nest, Chef.
I'm pretty used to cooking on a budget.
When I came out as gay, my parents weren't as receptive as I hoped they would have been.
- Right.
- So I ran away, and I was homeless for a little while.
So I didn't have a lot of money to buy the best ingredients.
But it turned me into a great shopper.
- Who got you out of that? - My current partner, Daniel.
He encouraged me to get back in the kitchen.
- You know, I'm here now.
- You taste it.
You tell me.
- More salt.
- Good.
Let's go.
Taste everything.
- Hello, Chef.
- Shaun, our Vegas DJ.
What are you making tonight? I'm doing my spin on a trout amandine, and a light fish broth with toasted almonds.
Pretty high end for a $20 shop.
Yeah.
I want to let the ingredients shine.
I do fancy stuff, but I like to let the ingredients - speak or themselves.
- All right, good luck.
Last five minutes remaining.
Hot, hot, hot! I mean, first of all, the smells are incredible, yes? Incredibly fragrant in the kitchen tonight.
And I'm expecting fireworks from Brandi.
Brandi, you got to represent for Kentucky.
- Absolutely.
- I'm pulling for you.
D'Andre's doing a pho.
Beautiful.
Very exotic.
Especially on that $20 budget.
Ninety seconds to go.
Oh, no.
Four stunning dishes.
And for one of you, a huge advantage.
Let's go, guys.
You got this.
- Fifteen seconds to go.
- Oh, God.
Gordon and Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.
And stop.
Hands in the air.
Hands in the air! Make it count.
Your spin on a $20 budget dinner of four identical plates.
GORDON & Five, four, three, two, one.
And stop.
Hands in the air.
- Well done.
- Whoo! Well done.
It smells amazing.
Now tonight, Chef Edward Lee also cooked live in front of you.
Edward, please bring your dishes up.
Thank you.
Wow.
All right, Chef Edward.
What did you make for your first ever MasterChef mystery box? I was inspired by the wonderful green things in the kitchen.
So we did a green curry shrimp, and we made some green bamboo rice.
I found some green serrano peppers.
And then we have our herb salad.
Mint, dill, cilantro.
and a little bit of a green apple and ginger at the end.
- Beautiful.
- Amazing.
Amazing.
Oh, my gosh.
Chef Edward Lee's dish looks amazing.
It's just so vibrant and green, and you can tell that there's a play on texture.
He has something crunchy and something smooth with the curry.
Tender with the shrimp.
He's just very mindful of all of that, how everything goes together.
- So, it's really inspiring.
- Here's the thing.
It doesn't taste like you cooked on a budget.
- Thank you.
So can I stay? - Really good.
You can definitely stay.
Okay, thank you.
But now, we need to select the three home cooks that we think delivered the best plates tonight.
So let's have a more intense look.
Throughout the mystery box challenge, the judges taste elements of all the home cooks' dishes.
As they come together - Wow.
- they now take one final look to choose the top three standouts.
- It's good.
- Thank you, Chef.
And the winner of this challenge will receive a major advantage in the next round.
The first home cook took this idea of a budget-friendly dish and took it to a whole 'nother level.
Congratulations Shaun.
Thank you, Chef.
I'm super stoked.
This is such an honor to be bringing this beautiful dish up to these judges.
- Good job.
- Thank you, Chef.
I've been waiting to catch fire in this thing.
So this is my moment tonight.
Chefs.
Ahem.
You've never been in the top three of a mystery box before.
Feels great.
I want to be up here all the time.
Great.
And what's the dish? Today, we have a trout amandine with white wax beans, sugar snap peas and a light, fresh fish broth for you.
And how much did you end up spending of that $20? - Twenty dollars on the dot.
- On the dot.
I don't cook all the time for a family of four, but my best friend and his wife, they have a 1 1/2-year-old.
And I cook for them as much as I can.
They're basically the closest thing I have to family in Vegas.
- It's a nice dish.
- Thank you very much, Chef.
It's light, it's refreshing, it's crisp.
There's an elegance to it.
I think the snap peas bring a nice earthiness to it.
My one comment would be that I wish the trout skin - was a little crispier.
- A little crispier, yeah.
But you would never know that all four of these dishes came out of that single $20 bill.
And it's clear that you really knocked this one out of the park.
Thank you very much, Chef.
- Chef.
- How you doing? - I'm doing great now.
- It's beautiful.
This is MasterChef.
I wanted to elevate it as much as I could, Chef.
That is perfectly cooked trout.
- Thank you very much, Chef.
- Your broth is seasoned nicely.
And it's just kind of complementing the fish.
- Thank you very much, Chef.
- I'd eat that every night.
- Thank you.
- Thank you very much, Chef.
It's an honor.
Thank you.
Good job, Shaun.
Good job, Shaun! The second dish that we'd like to examine even further tonight.
This individual really showed how to stretch $20 beyond belief.
I felt that it was more than family style.
It looked elevated.
Please step up Brandi.
Yay! Twenty-dollar budget, $19, dollar to spare.
And these are L.
A.
prices.
- Let's go.
- This is my first mystery box challenge where I've been in the top three, and I am so excited right now, because all these judges are getting ready to taste my food.
Brandi, describe your dish, please.
I've made a cast-iron, skillet-seared chicken thigh over a roasted red pepper polenta with a roasted red pepper gastrique and a fried green tomato.
After I seared the chicken, I actually sautéed the roasted red peppers in the chicken fat, and then mixed them into the polenta.
- Where'd you learn that from? - I love putting meat fat in everything that I eat.
Growing up in the south, anything that you cooked, there's some kind of fat in it.
It's delicious.
It looks beautiful.
Tomato's delicious.
Just need a bit more vinegar in there, because it needs that acidity to wake up that polenta.
But you did a really good job.
I mean, I can see you're used to cooking on a budget, - and it shows.
- Thank you.
Well done.
Really good.
Give me a fist bump.
Kentucky! All right, ahem, let's get back to being professional.
Listen, this is a great dish.
I think going the simple route, going with simple flavors, honest flavors - is wonderful.
- Thank you, Chef.
Tomatoes I would have cooked a little bit less, but other than that, this will feed a family of four.
And they're full, which is important.
- Fabulous job.
- Thank you.
Good job, Brandi! Good job, Brandi! Good job, Mama.
Thank you.
The third and final dish we want to take a closer look at.
This home cook did so much in such little time, we can tell this home cook has got a lot of experience cooking for a big family.
The firehouse family.
Eric, where are you? Right here, Chef.
This is definitely a first for me in the MasterChef kitchen.
I haven't been on top of the mystery box challenges before.
It's an amazing, amazing feeling, especially because just a couple of weeks ago I was making this dish for a bunch of guys at the firehouse.
And now I have some of the greatest culinary names in the world about to taste it.
All right.
Tell me, Eric, what'd you make? Born and raised in Queens, New York, to an Italian family, so I have a little of the Italian essence in this.
So tonight I have here a butterfly chicken breast stuffed with Parmesan cheese, shallots, garlic, some sautéed spinach.
And on top, I have a basil spinach pesto.
and some roasted asparagus.
I actually still have one dollar left, so I think I killed it.
Great portion.
The flavors are perfect.
The pesto's really nice.
It just wakes everything up.
Why didn't you remove the bone after it was cooked? I think the bones gives a lot of flavor and keeps it juicy.
I agree.
You can cook it with the bone, but you can remove the bone after it's done cooking.
But otherwise, man, that's a killer dish.
Thank you, Chef.
It's delicious.
It's got a great richness, some boldness, some depth of flavor.
That pesto is a recipe in and of itself that I feel like all of America will want.
For the base of the dish, I would have loved to see spaghetti squash instead.
Something that helps feel like it's greater than the sum of the parts that you put into it.
But that pesto gets a salute from me.
- Nice job.
- Thank you, Chef.
Good job, Eric! I got to say, guys, what you each managed to do to stretch that $20 is pretty incredible, because those dishes were not only beautiful, they were delicious.
Shaun's dish looks absolutely amazing.
It looks like it came straight out of a magazine.
The person who will get a huge advantage Eric has made a huge chicken breast, which is hearty and filling.
The person whose dish will be featured in "Family Circle" magazine.
But my dish best utilized the $20, because I have a fully completed meal that will fill your family up.
Congratulations goes to The person who will get a huge advantage.
The person whose dish will be featured in "Family Circle" magazine.
Congratulations Shaun.
Yeah, Shaun! - Well done.
- Please, come join us.
- Way to go, Eric.
- Good job, Eric.
All right, Shaun, because you just won the last mystery box challenge, you're about to get a huge advantage.
Nice.
Look, our faces on a plate.
Oh, my gosh.
Ooh.
Oh, my gosh.
What the heck is going on around here? Is this MasterChef, or is this some weird, sick horror cooking competition? Diamond, you good? Perfect.
Right.
These are some of the cheapest, the most underused cuts of meat, the bits that most people ignore or throw away.
I can't look.
But they can all be delicious if you cook them right.
Your job tonight is to give one cut to each of your fellow competitors.
- Oh, my God.
- I look out on the crowd, and my competitors' heads are spinning just like my turntables do in Vegas.
- Oh, God.
- I'm the master of this challenge.
And these guys better be scared.
The cuts are lamb kidneys, pig tripe, cow cheek, chicken liver, cow sweetbreads, lamb tongue, chicken oysters, lamb heart, pig tails, pig ears, chicken feet and bull testicles.
I don't like that grin on Shaun's face at all.
Shaun has got some serious power right now, Growing up in Plainfield, Illinois, my mom and dad weren't serving me cow testicles and tripe.
So it's not something that's in my comfort zone and not something I know how to cook with.
Nathan, which one would you love to have tonight? Honestly, I'd love to have any of them.
- I've cooked them all before.
- Seriously? Even the testicles? Testicles are the best part.
All right, Shaun, you may have noticed that there are 13 plates with 13 gorgeous faces on there.
But there are just 12 cuts of meat.
That's because you have one more advantage, Shaun.
You also get to save one home cook from facing elimination tonight.
Okay, Shaun, it's time to put one cut of meat on each face.
Okay.
Beef cheeks.
I know beef cheeks are very, very temperamental to cook.
I want to see how good this guy is.
So for that reason, I'm going to give these to Terry.
Terry, wow.
Tripe, tripe, tripe.
I think this person's probably never seen tripe before.
So I'm pretty confident they're going to be way outside of their box.
And for that reason, I'm going with Diana.
Kidneys.
My strategy is to give the harder cuts to the weak links.
Katie.
I came here to compete against the best of the best in America.
Chicken livers.
I'm going to give these to Diamond.
It's going to make me bring my A game.
Pig ears, that's Tanorria.
I want to be the top dog in the MasterChef kitchen.
Giving sweetbreads to David.
Who wants the tongue? I'm going to have to give the tongue - to Mr.
D'Andre.
- Such a gentleman.
The heart, I'm going to give this to Andrea.
Whoo! I'm going to give the pig's tail to Nathan.
Wow! Chicken feet, I'm going to give these to Eric.
Chicken oysters, Mr.
Alejandro.
Oh.
So we got two faces left.
We got Dan, Brandi.
Bull testicles.
Where are they going? It's just the balls and the save.
I feel like I'm at the Pearly Gates right now, and I'm either going to Heaven or Hell.
And I am freaking out.
I have to give these to Dan.
No! - Dan, how do you feel? - I just got balls, Chef.
It's pretty self-explanatory.
Brandi, you and Shaun can head up to the safety of the balcony.
I have never been so excited in this competition than I am right now.
I don't have to cook bull testicles.
I'm up safe on the balcony.
And I am just fearful for the competitors down on the floor.
You'll now have 45 minutes to cook us a dish with the cut that Shaun chose for you.
- Is everyone ready? - Yes, Chef! All right.
Your 45 minutes starts now.
Let's go, guys.
You all got this.
Stock, stock, stock, stock.
- Ugh.
- Excuse me.
So I cooked chicken for the guys at the firehouse all the time.
Big chicken breast, nice chicken thigh.
You know, something with a lot of meat on it.
All right, all right.
Not a claw with nails.
So this is going to be interesting.
I am making a kale and black-eyed pea salad with crispy pig ear and an apricot vinaigrette.
I've never cooked with pig ear before.
But when I make pork, my friends and family, they tell me it's so good they want to rub it on their face.
So I'm going to knock this out.
I have lamb tongue, so I'm going to be pressure-cooking my tongue in pastrami spices and vegetables, and I'm going to serve it with a smooth and creamy parsnip puree, with an herb salad.
I don't think Shaun sees me as a threat, and I definitely hope that at this challenge, I show him that I really, really am.
Whew, it's a good day to be up here.
Oh, my gosh, I know.
I'm making a pork tail barbecue sandwich.
I have an advantage over the other contestants, because I've cooked pork tail before.
When I lived in Africa, my mom did a lot of pork sandwiches.
So I'm 100% confident in my dish.
Probably in the top two.
So, guys, big elimination challenge tonight.
- This is a tough one.
- Forty-five minutes you have to do these things: the pig ears, the beef cheeks.
- Tripe.
- You guys do not make it easy on this.
But that's how they get better every week.
The harder we make it for them, the quicker they grow, the stronger they grow.
- Yeah.
- Come on.
Right behind you, David.
Twenty-five minutes to go, guys.
Katie, what kind of protein did you get tonight? Oh, I got the kidney.
And I've decided to cube it, because I'm going to do it, actually, - in an Indian curried stew.
- So you're going to braise it.
With lots of vegetables.
Yeah.
I'm a personal trainer.
I know the kidney works pretty hard, so I know it's probably tough.
I need to get it in that brine quick and get it in there as long as I can.
I want to show Shaun that I'm in this game to fight.
- I think he should watch out for me.
- I'll leave you to it.
Good luck.
Thank you.
- Eric from Queens.
- Chef.
What's the dish that you're doing? A chicken foot Madeira, reversal garlic, mashed potatoes.
Where had we seen that one before? In my head, Chef.
Trying to bring my Italian to see what I can do.
Do you have any sugges for getting this membrane off without getting the meat off? There's no membrane on it.
It's called skin.
He was trying to take the membrane off the chicken feet.
There's no membrane.
- The flavor's in there.
- Yes, Chef.
Don't funny around peeling them.
- There's nothing to peel.
- Just get them in there.
Might as well give the ( bleep ) a manicure with the fingers like that, yes? Yes, Chef.
Come on, black-eyed peas.
Twenty minutes remaining.
Oh, crap.
Damn it.
D'Andre looks like he's just slowly unraveling.
What the hell? Oh, my God.
I burnt the parsnip puree.
Once you've scalded cream and milk, there's no turning back.
- Oh, he's falling apart.
- He is falling apart.
Oh, damn, I didn't want to do that.
Oh, my God.
Tonight, the plan is I'm trimming the fat off this MasterChef competition.
I'm pretty sure I scored a direct hit on D'Andre.
Damn it.
Not feeling good right now.
Here we go, 20 minutes remaining.
They may be cheap cuts, but they can taste incredible.
Oh, crap.
Damn it.
D'Andre looks like he's just slowly unraveling.
What the hell? Oh, my God.
Everything's going wrong.
I burnt the parsnip puree.
Oh, he's falling apart.
Damn it.
I'm very worried about D'Andre at this point.
Oh, man.
I'm not feeling good right now.
Think I might have been successful in my approach to get him gone.
All right, D'Andre.
- Yes, Chef.
- What's going on with the parsnip puree? We're just gonna 86 that.
That's worrisome.
You're gonna be really down to the minute.
I'm braising my tongue now.
It's got 7 minutes left to go.
So get everything on your dish ready to go, so those last few minutes you can focus on the dip.
- Understood, Chef.
- Good luck, D'Andre.
Yes, Chef.
Diana, how you feeling? I'm feeling okay.
Ever cooked with tripe before? - I've never cooked tripe before.
- Tasted it before? - No.
- It's the line of the stomach.
Very hard to get right.
Tell me about this.
What are you doing? I love spicy Mexican flair, - so I'm doing menudo.
- A Mexican tripe soup.
- What's the base in here? - Tomatoes, beef stock, lime, corn, poblano peppers and jalapeños.
Wow.
- Too hot? - That fryer needs to be hotter so it gets crispier.
Otherwise it's going to be soggy.
Fifteen minutes to go.
Good luck.
Yes, Chef.
Thank you.
I'm making deep-fried Rocky Mountain oysters on a bed of peppers.
Even though I've never cooked testicles, they're a big dish in North Carolina.
So this is really in my blood.
Eight minutes left, guys.
- Alejandro.
- Hello.
So, what cut did Shaun give you tonight? I am making chicken oysters over a fried plantain with a side of mango guacamole.
- Now you can't screw these up.
- I know that.
I mean, there's a great protein to work with.
But the simplest protein of the 12 proteins.
- I'm not going home tonight.
- All right.
- Good luck, Alejandro.
- Thank you very much.
Is somebody worried about Diana? Diana doesn't seem to know what she's doing.
She's not got a grasp on that.
We tasted the base of the soup, but I don't think she understands how bland that tripe is.
I'm very worried about Eric.
He was trying to peel the skin off the chicken.
- Raw? - He thought the skin - was a membrane.
- He was throwing it away.
These are fricking beautiful.
Here we go, 60 seconds to go.
- This is where it counts.
- Oh, yeah.
Let's go, guys.
Finish strong.
You have got to start plating.
Let's go, guys.
Push.
- Focus, D'Andre! - Yes, Chef.
Gordon and Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.
- And stop.
- Gordon and Hands in the air.
Right, let's see how you did.
Right.
First up, Eric.
Let's go, please.
I'm a little concerned, because this looks like a T.
rex attacking a plate of mashed potatoes.
But I know the flavors are there, so I just hope that the judges like dinosaurs as much as I do.
Eric, describe the dish, please.
So I made a chicken foot Madeira over roasted garlic mashed potatoes, some snap peas, some fresh parsley on top.
And a combination of cremini and baby bella mushrooms.
So for distance.
Wow, it looks good.
Then you home in on it, it scares the ( bleep ) out of you because you start seeing these claws underneath that mash.
I mean, this dish shouldn't work.
- It's not conventional.
- No, Chef.
Where did you come up with this idea? Growing up, one of my favorite dishes at home was a chicken Madeira.
And I love the flavor when you really cook something down with Madeira wine.
And I think it came out pretty good.
Here's the thing.
I actually quite like it.
The flavors in there is incredible.
potatoes, mushrooms all good.
But next time you serve feet like that on a plate, - at least trim the toenails.
- Sorry, Chef.
- Great job.
Well done.
- Thanks, Chef.
Thank you.
- That's good.
- Thank you, Chef.
- It's really good.
- Thank you.
That sauce is delicious.
I think that harmonizes the entire thing.
You are really starting to rise to the top of this competition.
- Nice job.
- Thank you, Chef.
Good job.
Great job, Eric! Next up, D'Andre, please.
Thank you.
Let's go, D'Andre.
I really had some problems with this cook.
I had to nix my parsnip puree.
But I know that the tongue is cooked well.
It's tender, it's nicely flavored.
So I think it's going to be okay.
D'Andre, describe the dish, please.
So I have an everything braised tongue with an herb salad, with a garlic- and thyme-infused vinaigrette.
And a mustard seed caviar.
I originally wanted to plate it with a parsnip puree, but I scalded my milk, so I had to omit them from the plate.
So let's get one thing right.
That is tough to look at.
Looks like something out of "The Silence of the Lambs.
" It's just like you got live sheep and ranked their tongues out and seasoned them, and dumped them on your plate.
Let's do this together.
You take that one.
Oh, that looks bad.
Yeah.
( bleep ).
Would you like a napkin? It's like a mouth full of bullets.
Let's do this together.
You take that one.
Oh, that looks bad.
Yeah.
( bleep ) It's like a mouth full of bullets.
( bleep ).
I mean, everything's awful.
Lamb's tongue is sliced unevenly.
And you can't even get a parsnip puree on the plate? And come on, that's not caviar.
Because the mustard seeds are the same shape of caviar, - it's nowhere near caviar.
- Yes, Chef.
We're at a very serious stage of the competition now.
And the stronger are starting to emerge, and the weaker are getting exposed.
And, unfortunately, tonight the lamb's tongues exposed you.
Yes, Chef.
I'm feeling dumbfounded.
I thought that I did well enough in this challenge to stick around for another week.
And right now I'm not quite sure that I did even that.
The next dish we want to try is Dan.
Come on up.
I'm really proud of myself, because it takes balls to cook balls.
I made some great-tasting bull testicles, and I can't wait for the judges to try them.
Dan, Dan, the testicle man.
What's the dish? We have deep-fried Rocky Mountain oysters on a bed of peppers and onions.
The sauce is a vinaigrette I made from grapeseed oil, two types of mustard and a little bit of lemon zest.
First of all, tell me your thought process.
You got a pair of testicles in your hand.
What's the first thing going through your head? Man, these things are heavy.
And not pretty.
They kind of felt like oysters.
Where I'm from, North Carolina, when in doubt, we just fry.
And so I figured, let's throw them in the deep fryer.
And it ended up tasting pretty good.
Damn, these are good.
Crispy, tender, really great texture.
The meat in the middle is soft, chewy.
It's the way it's supposed to be.
- You cooked them perfectly.
- Yeah.
However, having said that, I would have loved if you'd had taken this patty right here and turned it into a mini slider.
- Ah.
- But you know what? Nice job.
- Thank you, sir.
Thank you, Chef.
- Great job, Dan.
Next up, Alejandro.
Let's go, Alejandro.
Alejandro, what's the dish? Those are chicken oysters over a fried plantain with a side of mango guacamole.
I had never cooked them before, and I just went with my instinct.
The chicken itself doesn't have a ton of flavor.
And you had the easiest protein.
You got guacamole and you got plantains, and neither one of them are really anything to write home about either.
I'm sorry.
- I didn't see that coming.
- Next up, Nathan, please.
What is that? It is a barbecue pork tail sandwich, with a Cajun bacon potato salad and fried green tomatoes on the side.
The flavor's good.
Love that, definitely.
But you've got a tail in there that needs shredding.
- Yes, Chef.
- Damn.
Next up, Tanorria.
I made for you a kale and black-eyed pea salad with crispy pig ears and an apricot vinaigrette.
I love apricots, and I thought it pairs really well with a white balsamic.
I think this is the most beautiful dish out there tonight.
- Thank you.
- These pig ears, you got a nice color to them, great flavor.
But the thinner you can get these suckers, the better off you're going to be.
- Okay.
- But nice job.
- Thank you, Chef.
- All right, Tanorria.
Good job, Tanorria.
Next home cook we want to taste is Katie.
Come on, Katie.
I am looking at my finished dish, and this kidney curry is awesome.
It's going to knock the socks off these judges.
I mean, they are not going to believe this Mississippi girl has stepped out of her comfort zone and is bringing a curry dish with kidney.
- What you got for me? - It's a vadouvan.
Spiced Indian stew with kidneys.
What's a good Mississippi girl know about curry? I travel a lot.
So as I travel, I'm not afraid to ask chefs how they make things.
What was it about the kidneys that you thought would go well with the curry? That's not a traditional dish.
I knew I wanted a punch with my flavors to go with it.
And I think that's exactly what I did.
All right.
I'm very, very critical of my curries.
Okay.
I'm going to tell you one thing.
Your curry's fabulous.
Everything in the curry is so nicely diced.
The kidneys were very tender and beautiful.
You cooked them perfectly.
I'm so proud of it.
A lot of people see me as like a dumb blond.
I'm a really smart, educated, hardworking individual.
And, Shaun, you sparked me tonight.
- Good, I'm glad.
- Thank you.
- You're welcome.
- It's a fabulous curry.
Maybe one of the best curries I've ever had.
- Wow.
- There you go.
- There you go.
- Good job, Katie.
- Good job, Katie! - Good job, Katie! Nice job, Katie! Next up, Diana, please.
Let's go.
Go get them, Diana! My menudo looks like it's going to be flavorful.
It smells super spicy, so I'm hoping that I can just lean on my flavors at this point.
Describe the dish, please.
I did a play on menudo.
I used corn instead of hominy, and I used jalapeños.
And I used the tripe.
So how did you cook the tripe? I put the tripe in a pressure cooker.
I spiced it with cumin and cayenne and salt and pepper, and then added the tripe after I sliced it very thin.
- But where's the tripe? - I minced it.
But where is it? Like I said, Chef, I minced it in there.
So there's very small pieces.
I see little speckles of white bits.
- Is that it? - Yes, Chef.
- Like, here? - Yes, Chef.
So I have got some raw tripe here.
That's what it is.
This is a really horrible, spongy-- I can't even pull it.
Damn.
a, I have got some raw tripe here.
This is a really horrible, spongy-- I can't even pull it.
Yeah, that's not good.
- Damn.
- I took the pieces and cut them, because they were very chewy and I didn't want you to get a mouthful of just chew.
That was the wrong thing to do.
I was just trying to hide the fact that it was raw.
You've done the cardinal sin.
You've done the worst thing.
You tried to hide the fact that it was undercooked, and you diced it all up and put it back and smothered it.
Damn.
I am feeling absolutely deflated.
I feel like my own stomach lining is about to come out.
- It's okay.
- At this point, I'm just hoping and praying that someone else's food was worse than mine.
First of all, I'd like to invite back to their stations Brandi and Shaun.
Let's go.
Okay, two of you are about to get even closer to the biggest prize in the culinary world because there were two outstanding dishes tonight.
Katie and Eric.
Thank you.
Unfortunately, the three following dishes were literally awful.
First up, one of the worst dishes tonight.
Make your way down here Alejandro.
The next home cook that disappointed us tonight Diana.
The third and final cook tonight let us down, let themselves down.
And they know who they are.
Come on down.
Our job at this point becomes really asking ourselves who didn't deliver tonight, but also who's not going anywhere in this competition.
Step forward Alejandro.
We're going to give you one last chance.
- Go back to your station, please.
- Thank you.
Thank you, chefs.
In life, you don't get a lot of second chances.
But I got one.
So I need to step up and show the judges that I can do a lot more than just Latin food.
And this was definitely a wake-up call for me.
This is a competition.
And unless you give us your best, then expect to go.
Diana, you made a catastrophic mistake this evening.
You took something that was undercooked and you put it into a sauce thinking that you could hide the fact that it was undercooked.
D'Andre, tonight you hit a huge stumbling block.
Lamb's tongue braised with a caviar of mustard.
- That's like a dog chew.
- Yes, Chef.
We're looking for the best, and tonight you proved you were one of the worst.
Diana we cannot go any further with you.
Please say goodbye to D'Andre, take off your apron, and place it on your bench.
Thank you.
My luck definitely ran out in this competition.
I never got to show the judges really what I have.
- Bye-bye.
- Bye, baby.
Win it for me, okay? Okay.
But I can honestly say that I'm one of the top 14 home cooks in America today, and there's 20,000 other people that can't say that.
I don't know what it is, D'Andre, but it seems like you keep dodging the bullet.
But tonight, there's two in the barrel.
Take your apron off.
- What? - You're leaving the MasterChef kitchen.
I'm without words.
I thought I was one step closer to being the next MasterChef.
But my food dream is to teach cooking classes to LGBT homeless youth.
So just because I'm leaving the MasterChef kitchen today, doesn't mean my dream is over.
Next week the MasterChef restaurant opens its doors for a super-sweet celebration.
Your fate is in the hands of teenagers.
- Party! - God help you.
- Watch it, watch it.
- Move, I got two! - But when tempers flare - Hey! - What's going on back there? - You just hit me.
Un-( bleep )-believable.
- whose party - That's not even a minute away.
- will come to an end? - It's raw.
You're going to kill someone.
Get a ( bleep ) grip!
When the top 15 cooked for American heroes These guys put their lives on the line.
- The red team - Look at that.
You served that.
crashed into the dreaded pressure test Hot chicken! where Manny's MasterChef dreams Wow.
I burnt the fried chicken.
- came to an end.
- Love you, Manny.
Tonight, the home cooks are on a budget.
- Go, go, go, go.
- As they attempt to turn $20.
.
These are not Kentucky prices.
into culinary gold.
This is good.
Really good.
- And then - I can't look.
a gruesome challenge Oh, my gosh.
leads to shocking results.
What is that? Balls, Chef.
It's pretty self-explanatory.
- Welcome, guys.
- Good morning.
Can you believe it? Captain Dan has sailed his way into the top 14.
I'm no longer just a frat guy that loves to party.
I'm the home cook people are starting to notice.
I'm going to ride this wave all the way to the number one spot.
Welcome.
The final 14.
By the end of this competition, there will just be one of you left standing.
Tonight, the stakes are even higher, guys, because we are announcing that this season, our MasterChef winner is guaranteed a spot on the MasterChef cruise that sets sail in the Caribbean this November.
Oh, my God.
Now, before we get started tonight, we have someone extremely exciting to introduce.
This Korean chef has a southern heart, and is currently ruling the Kentucky food scene.
He is Chef Edward Lee.
- Oh, my God.
- Thank you.
Welcome, good to see you.
It is so exciting to have Edward Lee here right now.
He's a fellow Kentuckian.
But I'm definitely feeling a little bit of pressure.
I feel like I have to show Edward Lee that people from Kentucky can cook.
Thank you so much for having me.
It's incredible to be standing here with you, Gordon, Christina.
And I can't wait to get to know all of you home cooks.
Now, it's time for another mystery box challenge.
On the count of three, you'll lift your boxes.
One, two, three.
Lift.
Okay! All right.
Hey, now.
Twenty dollars? Wait a minute.
I thought I was winning a quarter of a million dollars.
What's going on? Underneath all of your mystery boxes, you each have a $20 bill.
And that is something that home cooks all across America use every single night to cook a healthy dinner for themselves and their families.
It's not easy to find a way to feed a family of four or more a healthy, nutritious dinner without breaking the bank.
Tonight, the MasterChef pantry looks a little bit more like the average American grocery store.
You'll find that everything in there has been labeled with a price.
You cannot select ingredients that exceed a total of that $20.
And you have a chance to share your recipe that you cook tonight with America, because tonight's winning dish will be featured in "Family Circle" Magazine.
This is a truly incredible prize, guys.
"Family Circle" is the best-selling food and family magazine in all of America.
They have 16 million readers each and every month.
Having millions and millions of people reading my recipe, I would be getting to do what I love to do in my heart, which is share food with other people.
So I really have to win this mystery box.
You have just 45 minutes to transform your $20 bill and turn it into a budget-friendly yet MasterChef-worthy dish fit for a family of four.
- Oh.
- Four identical plates.
There's last thing.
To prove it's possible to make a $20 dinner for four without sacrificing finesse and flair - renowned chef Edward Lee - Thank you.
will be shopping and cooking alongside you guys.
Yeah! Whoo! - Everybody ready? - Yes, Chef.
Right.
Make sure you grab your money.
Your 45 minutes starts now.
Go, go, go, go.
Oh, my gosh.
Back in Mississippi, I'm used to cooking on budget with a family.
But I'm not cooking for my kids and my husband.
I'm cooking for the judges.
It's going to be tough to present a MasterChef-worthy dish on $20.
You're going to run over Chef Lee.
Here we go.
Cooking on a budget is something we can all relate to.
But let's be honest.
The stretch for them is going to be to elevate it.
They're not cooking for their family right now.
They're cooking for you, me and Edward Lee.
At the frat house, everything was on a budget.
All my money usually went to booze, so when I cook, trying to save money.
So I'm making dandan noodles.
It's got pork, it's got protein.
It's got everything you need to really make the most of this budget.
That smells delicious.
Thinking about cooking on a budget, I automatically think about being in college, and I became a vegetarian.
So I'm making a beet and mushroom bourguignon.
Instead of beef, I'm using beet.
And then I'm also making garlic and Parmesan polenta.
I'm loving being able to see Chef Edward Lee cook right in front of me.
He has his multiple pots going, working on aromatic flavors.
So I hope to do the same.
Just under 30 minutes remaining.
Need more time.
More time, more time, more time.
- How are you doing, Chef? - Good.
I got peanuts, I got a curry sauce going.
That smells amazing.
And what are you making tonight? A green curry shrimp with green bamboo rice and a little bit of herb salad.
I used every penny I could.
I'm not used to working on small budgets.
- You know that.
- Well, I know that.
- But you know how to do this.
- I have a young family myself.
My young daughter, I'm trying to train her to be a foodie.
So she sits right there with me in the sink, and we cook together.
She's my little sous chef at home.
- It's the best.
- I love it.
I love it.
Right, Brandi, what are you doing? I am making a seared chicken thigh over a roasted red pepper polenta, and an arugula citrus salad on top.
I'm used to cooking on a budget for a family of four, and chicken's usually the cheapest option.
What's your shopping budget per week? About $100 a week, that's to get through seven days.
So you're comfortable cooking like this, because you have less than $20 a day.
- Yes, Chef.
- Are you gonna make it MasterChef-worthy? I'm going to make it MasterChef-worthy.
- Brandi, good luck.
- Thank you, Chef.
I'm behind.
All right, Eric, so what do you got working? I'm going to make my stuffed chicken pesto.
This is a firehouse favorite.
It's cheap.
The city doesn't pay for our meals.
It comes out of our own pockets.
So four chicken breasts for 20 bucks, that's nothing.
- I can do 13 for 100.
- No problem.
Make this dish worth it.
I want to see it.
I'll make it happen, Chef.
Fifteen minutes remaining, guys.
- Right, D'Andre.
- Yes, Chef.
Tell me about the dish.
What are you doing? We are doing a pork meatball pho with a deep-fried noodle nest, Chef.
I'm pretty used to cooking on a budget.
When I came out as gay, my parents weren't as receptive as I hoped they would have been.
- Right.
- So I ran away, and I was homeless for a little while.
So I didn't have a lot of money to buy the best ingredients.
But it turned me into a great shopper.
- Who got you out of that? - My current partner, Daniel.
He encouraged me to get back in the kitchen.
- You know, I'm here now.
- You taste it.
You tell me.
- More salt.
- Good.
Let's go.
Taste everything.
- Hello, Chef.
- Shaun, our Vegas DJ.
What are you making tonight? I'm doing my spin on a trout amandine, and a light fish broth with toasted almonds.
Pretty high end for a $20 shop.
Yeah.
I want to let the ingredients shine.
I do fancy stuff, but I like to let the ingredients - speak or themselves.
- All right, good luck.
Last five minutes remaining.
Hot, hot, hot! I mean, first of all, the smells are incredible, yes? Incredibly fragrant in the kitchen tonight.
And I'm expecting fireworks from Brandi.
Brandi, you got to represent for Kentucky.
- Absolutely.
- I'm pulling for you.
D'Andre's doing a pho.
Beautiful.
Very exotic.
Especially on that $20 budget.
Ninety seconds to go.
Oh, no.
Four stunning dishes.
And for one of you, a huge advantage.
Let's go, guys.
You got this.
- Fifteen seconds to go.
- Oh, God.
Gordon and Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.
And stop.
Hands in the air.
Hands in the air! Make it count.
Your spin on a $20 budget dinner of four identical plates.
GORDON & Five, four, three, two, one.
And stop.
Hands in the air.
- Well done.
- Whoo! Well done.
It smells amazing.
Now tonight, Chef Edward Lee also cooked live in front of you.
Edward, please bring your dishes up.
Thank you.
Wow.
All right, Chef Edward.
What did you make for your first ever MasterChef mystery box? I was inspired by the wonderful green things in the kitchen.
So we did a green curry shrimp, and we made some green bamboo rice.
I found some green serrano peppers.
And then we have our herb salad.
Mint, dill, cilantro.
and a little bit of a green apple and ginger at the end.
- Beautiful.
- Amazing.
Amazing.
Oh, my gosh.
Chef Edward Lee's dish looks amazing.
It's just so vibrant and green, and you can tell that there's a play on texture.
He has something crunchy and something smooth with the curry.
Tender with the shrimp.
He's just very mindful of all of that, how everything goes together.
- So, it's really inspiring.
- Here's the thing.
It doesn't taste like you cooked on a budget.
- Thank you.
So can I stay? - Really good.
You can definitely stay.
Okay, thank you.
But now, we need to select the three home cooks that we think delivered the best plates tonight.
So let's have a more intense look.
Throughout the mystery box challenge, the judges taste elements of all the home cooks' dishes.
As they come together - Wow.
- they now take one final look to choose the top three standouts.
- It's good.
- Thank you, Chef.
And the winner of this challenge will receive a major advantage in the next round.
The first home cook took this idea of a budget-friendly dish and took it to a whole 'nother level.
Congratulations Shaun.
Thank you, Chef.
I'm super stoked.
This is such an honor to be bringing this beautiful dish up to these judges.
- Good job.
- Thank you, Chef.
I've been waiting to catch fire in this thing.
So this is my moment tonight.
Chefs.
Ahem.
You've never been in the top three of a mystery box before.
Feels great.
I want to be up here all the time.
Great.
And what's the dish? Today, we have a trout amandine with white wax beans, sugar snap peas and a light, fresh fish broth for you.
And how much did you end up spending of that $20? - Twenty dollars on the dot.
- On the dot.
I don't cook all the time for a family of four, but my best friend and his wife, they have a 1 1/2-year-old.
And I cook for them as much as I can.
They're basically the closest thing I have to family in Vegas.
- It's a nice dish.
- Thank you very much, Chef.
It's light, it's refreshing, it's crisp.
There's an elegance to it.
I think the snap peas bring a nice earthiness to it.
My one comment would be that I wish the trout skin - was a little crispier.
- A little crispier, yeah.
But you would never know that all four of these dishes came out of that single $20 bill.
And it's clear that you really knocked this one out of the park.
Thank you very much, Chef.
- Chef.
- How you doing? - I'm doing great now.
- It's beautiful.
This is MasterChef.
I wanted to elevate it as much as I could, Chef.
That is perfectly cooked trout.
- Thank you very much, Chef.
- Your broth is seasoned nicely.
And it's just kind of complementing the fish.
- Thank you very much, Chef.
- I'd eat that every night.
- Thank you.
- Thank you very much, Chef.
It's an honor.
Thank you.
Good job, Shaun.
Good job, Shaun! The second dish that we'd like to examine even further tonight.
This individual really showed how to stretch $20 beyond belief.
I felt that it was more than family style.
It looked elevated.
Please step up Brandi.
Yay! Twenty-dollar budget, $19, dollar to spare.
And these are L.
A.
prices.
- Let's go.
- This is my first mystery box challenge where I've been in the top three, and I am so excited right now, because all these judges are getting ready to taste my food.
Brandi, describe your dish, please.
I've made a cast-iron, skillet-seared chicken thigh over a roasted red pepper polenta with a roasted red pepper gastrique and a fried green tomato.
After I seared the chicken, I actually sautéed the roasted red peppers in the chicken fat, and then mixed them into the polenta.
- Where'd you learn that from? - I love putting meat fat in everything that I eat.
Growing up in the south, anything that you cooked, there's some kind of fat in it.
It's delicious.
It looks beautiful.
Tomato's delicious.
Just need a bit more vinegar in there, because it needs that acidity to wake up that polenta.
But you did a really good job.
I mean, I can see you're used to cooking on a budget, - and it shows.
- Thank you.
Well done.
Really good.
Give me a fist bump.
Kentucky! All right, ahem, let's get back to being professional.
Listen, this is a great dish.
I think going the simple route, going with simple flavors, honest flavors - is wonderful.
- Thank you, Chef.
Tomatoes I would have cooked a little bit less, but other than that, this will feed a family of four.
And they're full, which is important.
- Fabulous job.
- Thank you.
Good job, Brandi! Good job, Brandi! Good job, Mama.
Thank you.
The third and final dish we want to take a closer look at.
This home cook did so much in such little time, we can tell this home cook has got a lot of experience cooking for a big family.
The firehouse family.
Eric, where are you? Right here, Chef.
This is definitely a first for me in the MasterChef kitchen.
I haven't been on top of the mystery box challenges before.
It's an amazing, amazing feeling, especially because just a couple of weeks ago I was making this dish for a bunch of guys at the firehouse.
And now I have some of the greatest culinary names in the world about to taste it.
All right.
Tell me, Eric, what'd you make? Born and raised in Queens, New York, to an Italian family, so I have a little of the Italian essence in this.
So tonight I have here a butterfly chicken breast stuffed with Parmesan cheese, shallots, garlic, some sautéed spinach.
And on top, I have a basil spinach pesto.
and some roasted asparagus.
I actually still have one dollar left, so I think I killed it.
Great portion.
The flavors are perfect.
The pesto's really nice.
It just wakes everything up.
Why didn't you remove the bone after it was cooked? I think the bones gives a lot of flavor and keeps it juicy.
I agree.
You can cook it with the bone, but you can remove the bone after it's done cooking.
But otherwise, man, that's a killer dish.
Thank you, Chef.
It's delicious.
It's got a great richness, some boldness, some depth of flavor.
That pesto is a recipe in and of itself that I feel like all of America will want.
For the base of the dish, I would have loved to see spaghetti squash instead.
Something that helps feel like it's greater than the sum of the parts that you put into it.
But that pesto gets a salute from me.
- Nice job.
- Thank you, Chef.
Good job, Eric! I got to say, guys, what you each managed to do to stretch that $20 is pretty incredible, because those dishes were not only beautiful, they were delicious.
Shaun's dish looks absolutely amazing.
It looks like it came straight out of a magazine.
The person who will get a huge advantage Eric has made a huge chicken breast, which is hearty and filling.
The person whose dish will be featured in "Family Circle" magazine.
But my dish best utilized the $20, because I have a fully completed meal that will fill your family up.
Congratulations goes to The person who will get a huge advantage.
The person whose dish will be featured in "Family Circle" magazine.
Congratulations Shaun.
Yeah, Shaun! - Well done.
- Please, come join us.
- Way to go, Eric.
- Good job, Eric.
All right, Shaun, because you just won the last mystery box challenge, you're about to get a huge advantage.
Nice.
Look, our faces on a plate.
Oh, my gosh.
Ooh.
Oh, my gosh.
What the heck is going on around here? Is this MasterChef, or is this some weird, sick horror cooking competition? Diamond, you good? Perfect.
Right.
These are some of the cheapest, the most underused cuts of meat, the bits that most people ignore or throw away.
I can't look.
But they can all be delicious if you cook them right.
Your job tonight is to give one cut to each of your fellow competitors.
- Oh, my God.
- I look out on the crowd, and my competitors' heads are spinning just like my turntables do in Vegas.
- Oh, God.
- I'm the master of this challenge.
And these guys better be scared.
The cuts are lamb kidneys, pig tripe, cow cheek, chicken liver, cow sweetbreads, lamb tongue, chicken oysters, lamb heart, pig tails, pig ears, chicken feet and bull testicles.
I don't like that grin on Shaun's face at all.
Shaun has got some serious power right now, Growing up in Plainfield, Illinois, my mom and dad weren't serving me cow testicles and tripe.
So it's not something that's in my comfort zone and not something I know how to cook with.
Nathan, which one would you love to have tonight? Honestly, I'd love to have any of them.
- I've cooked them all before.
- Seriously? Even the testicles? Testicles are the best part.
All right, Shaun, you may have noticed that there are 13 plates with 13 gorgeous faces on there.
But there are just 12 cuts of meat.
That's because you have one more advantage, Shaun.
You also get to save one home cook from facing elimination tonight.
Okay, Shaun, it's time to put one cut of meat on each face.
Okay.
Beef cheeks.
I know beef cheeks are very, very temperamental to cook.
I want to see how good this guy is.
So for that reason, I'm going to give these to Terry.
Terry, wow.
Tripe, tripe, tripe.
I think this person's probably never seen tripe before.
So I'm pretty confident they're going to be way outside of their box.
And for that reason, I'm going with Diana.
Kidneys.
My strategy is to give the harder cuts to the weak links.
Katie.
I came here to compete against the best of the best in America.
Chicken livers.
I'm going to give these to Diamond.
It's going to make me bring my A game.
Pig ears, that's Tanorria.
I want to be the top dog in the MasterChef kitchen.
Giving sweetbreads to David.
Who wants the tongue? I'm going to have to give the tongue - to Mr.
D'Andre.
- Such a gentleman.
The heart, I'm going to give this to Andrea.
Whoo! I'm going to give the pig's tail to Nathan.
Wow! Chicken feet, I'm going to give these to Eric.
Chicken oysters, Mr.
Alejandro.
Oh.
So we got two faces left.
We got Dan, Brandi.
Bull testicles.
Where are they going? It's just the balls and the save.
I feel like I'm at the Pearly Gates right now, and I'm either going to Heaven or Hell.
And I am freaking out.
I have to give these to Dan.
No! - Dan, how do you feel? - I just got balls, Chef.
It's pretty self-explanatory.
Brandi, you and Shaun can head up to the safety of the balcony.
I have never been so excited in this competition than I am right now.
I don't have to cook bull testicles.
I'm up safe on the balcony.
And I am just fearful for the competitors down on the floor.
You'll now have 45 minutes to cook us a dish with the cut that Shaun chose for you.
- Is everyone ready? - Yes, Chef! All right.
Your 45 minutes starts now.
Let's go, guys.
You all got this.
Stock, stock, stock, stock.
- Ugh.
- Excuse me.
So I cooked chicken for the guys at the firehouse all the time.
Big chicken breast, nice chicken thigh.
You know, something with a lot of meat on it.
All right, all right.
Not a claw with nails.
So this is going to be interesting.
I am making a kale and black-eyed pea salad with crispy pig ear and an apricot vinaigrette.
I've never cooked with pig ear before.
But when I make pork, my friends and family, they tell me it's so good they want to rub it on their face.
So I'm going to knock this out.
I have lamb tongue, so I'm going to be pressure-cooking my tongue in pastrami spices and vegetables, and I'm going to serve it with a smooth and creamy parsnip puree, with an herb salad.
I don't think Shaun sees me as a threat, and I definitely hope that at this challenge, I show him that I really, really am.
Whew, it's a good day to be up here.
Oh, my gosh, I know.
I'm making a pork tail barbecue sandwich.
I have an advantage over the other contestants, because I've cooked pork tail before.
When I lived in Africa, my mom did a lot of pork sandwiches.
So I'm 100% confident in my dish.
Probably in the top two.
So, guys, big elimination challenge tonight.
- This is a tough one.
- Forty-five minutes you have to do these things: the pig ears, the beef cheeks.
- Tripe.
- You guys do not make it easy on this.
But that's how they get better every week.
The harder we make it for them, the quicker they grow, the stronger they grow.
- Yeah.
- Come on.
Right behind you, David.
Twenty-five minutes to go, guys.
Katie, what kind of protein did you get tonight? Oh, I got the kidney.
And I've decided to cube it, because I'm going to do it, actually, - in an Indian curried stew.
- So you're going to braise it.
With lots of vegetables.
Yeah.
I'm a personal trainer.
I know the kidney works pretty hard, so I know it's probably tough.
I need to get it in that brine quick and get it in there as long as I can.
I want to show Shaun that I'm in this game to fight.
- I think he should watch out for me.
- I'll leave you to it.
Good luck.
Thank you.
- Eric from Queens.
- Chef.
What's the dish that you're doing? A chicken foot Madeira, reversal garlic, mashed potatoes.
Where had we seen that one before? In my head, Chef.
Trying to bring my Italian to see what I can do.
Do you have any sugges for getting this membrane off without getting the meat off? There's no membrane on it.
It's called skin.
He was trying to take the membrane off the chicken feet.
There's no membrane.
- The flavor's in there.
- Yes, Chef.
Don't funny around peeling them.
- There's nothing to peel.
- Just get them in there.
Might as well give the ( bleep ) a manicure with the fingers like that, yes? Yes, Chef.
Come on, black-eyed peas.
Twenty minutes remaining.
Oh, crap.
Damn it.
D'Andre looks like he's just slowly unraveling.
What the hell? Oh, my God.
I burnt the parsnip puree.
Once you've scalded cream and milk, there's no turning back.
- Oh, he's falling apart.
- He is falling apart.
Oh, damn, I didn't want to do that.
Oh, my God.
Tonight, the plan is I'm trimming the fat off this MasterChef competition.
I'm pretty sure I scored a direct hit on D'Andre.
Damn it.
Not feeling good right now.
Here we go, 20 minutes remaining.
They may be cheap cuts, but they can taste incredible.
Oh, crap.
Damn it.
D'Andre looks like he's just slowly unraveling.
What the hell? Oh, my God.
Everything's going wrong.
I burnt the parsnip puree.
Oh, he's falling apart.
Damn it.
I'm very worried about D'Andre at this point.
Oh, man.
I'm not feeling good right now.
Think I might have been successful in my approach to get him gone.
All right, D'Andre.
- Yes, Chef.
- What's going on with the parsnip puree? We're just gonna 86 that.
That's worrisome.
You're gonna be really down to the minute.
I'm braising my tongue now.
It's got 7 minutes left to go.
So get everything on your dish ready to go, so those last few minutes you can focus on the dip.
- Understood, Chef.
- Good luck, D'Andre.
Yes, Chef.
Diana, how you feeling? I'm feeling okay.
Ever cooked with tripe before? - I've never cooked tripe before.
- Tasted it before? - No.
- It's the line of the stomach.
Very hard to get right.
Tell me about this.
What are you doing? I love spicy Mexican flair, - so I'm doing menudo.
- A Mexican tripe soup.
- What's the base in here? - Tomatoes, beef stock, lime, corn, poblano peppers and jalapeños.
Wow.
- Too hot? - That fryer needs to be hotter so it gets crispier.
Otherwise it's going to be soggy.
Fifteen minutes to go.
Good luck.
Yes, Chef.
Thank you.
I'm making deep-fried Rocky Mountain oysters on a bed of peppers.
Even though I've never cooked testicles, they're a big dish in North Carolina.
So this is really in my blood.
Eight minutes left, guys.
- Alejandro.
- Hello.
So, what cut did Shaun give you tonight? I am making chicken oysters over a fried plantain with a side of mango guacamole.
- Now you can't screw these up.
- I know that.
I mean, there's a great protein to work with.
But the simplest protein of the 12 proteins.
- I'm not going home tonight.
- All right.
- Good luck, Alejandro.
- Thank you very much.
Is somebody worried about Diana? Diana doesn't seem to know what she's doing.
She's not got a grasp on that.
We tasted the base of the soup, but I don't think she understands how bland that tripe is.
I'm very worried about Eric.
He was trying to peel the skin off the chicken.
- Raw? - He thought the skin - was a membrane.
- He was throwing it away.
These are fricking beautiful.
Here we go, 60 seconds to go.
- This is where it counts.
- Oh, yeah.
Let's go, guys.
Finish strong.
You have got to start plating.
Let's go, guys.
Push.
- Focus, D'Andre! - Yes, Chef.
Gordon and Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.
- And stop.
- Gordon and Hands in the air.
Right, let's see how you did.
Right.
First up, Eric.
Let's go, please.
I'm a little concerned, because this looks like a T.
rex attacking a plate of mashed potatoes.
But I know the flavors are there, so I just hope that the judges like dinosaurs as much as I do.
Eric, describe the dish, please.
So I made a chicken foot Madeira over roasted garlic mashed potatoes, some snap peas, some fresh parsley on top.
And a combination of cremini and baby bella mushrooms.
So for distance.
Wow, it looks good.
Then you home in on it, it scares the ( bleep ) out of you because you start seeing these claws underneath that mash.
I mean, this dish shouldn't work.
- It's not conventional.
- No, Chef.
Where did you come up with this idea? Growing up, one of my favorite dishes at home was a chicken Madeira.
And I love the flavor when you really cook something down with Madeira wine.
And I think it came out pretty good.
Here's the thing.
I actually quite like it.
The flavors in there is incredible.
potatoes, mushrooms all good.
But next time you serve feet like that on a plate, - at least trim the toenails.
- Sorry, Chef.
- Great job.
Well done.
- Thanks, Chef.
Thank you.
- That's good.
- Thank you, Chef.
- It's really good.
- Thank you.
That sauce is delicious.
I think that harmonizes the entire thing.
You are really starting to rise to the top of this competition.
- Nice job.
- Thank you, Chef.
Good job.
Great job, Eric! Next up, D'Andre, please.
Thank you.
Let's go, D'Andre.
I really had some problems with this cook.
I had to nix my parsnip puree.
But I know that the tongue is cooked well.
It's tender, it's nicely flavored.
So I think it's going to be okay.
D'Andre, describe the dish, please.
So I have an everything braised tongue with an herb salad, with a garlic- and thyme-infused vinaigrette.
And a mustard seed caviar.
I originally wanted to plate it with a parsnip puree, but I scalded my milk, so I had to omit them from the plate.
So let's get one thing right.
That is tough to look at.
Looks like something out of "The Silence of the Lambs.
" It's just like you got live sheep and ranked their tongues out and seasoned them, and dumped them on your plate.
Let's do this together.
You take that one.
Oh, that looks bad.
Yeah.
( bleep ).
Would you like a napkin? It's like a mouth full of bullets.
Let's do this together.
You take that one.
Oh, that looks bad.
Yeah.
( bleep ) It's like a mouth full of bullets.
( bleep ).
I mean, everything's awful.
Lamb's tongue is sliced unevenly.
And you can't even get a parsnip puree on the plate? And come on, that's not caviar.
Because the mustard seeds are the same shape of caviar, - it's nowhere near caviar.
- Yes, Chef.
We're at a very serious stage of the competition now.
And the stronger are starting to emerge, and the weaker are getting exposed.
And, unfortunately, tonight the lamb's tongues exposed you.
Yes, Chef.
I'm feeling dumbfounded.
I thought that I did well enough in this challenge to stick around for another week.
And right now I'm not quite sure that I did even that.
The next dish we want to try is Dan.
Come on up.
I'm really proud of myself, because it takes balls to cook balls.
I made some great-tasting bull testicles, and I can't wait for the judges to try them.
Dan, Dan, the testicle man.
What's the dish? We have deep-fried Rocky Mountain oysters on a bed of peppers and onions.
The sauce is a vinaigrette I made from grapeseed oil, two types of mustard and a little bit of lemon zest.
First of all, tell me your thought process.
You got a pair of testicles in your hand.
What's the first thing going through your head? Man, these things are heavy.
And not pretty.
They kind of felt like oysters.
Where I'm from, North Carolina, when in doubt, we just fry.
And so I figured, let's throw them in the deep fryer.
And it ended up tasting pretty good.
Damn, these are good.
Crispy, tender, really great texture.
The meat in the middle is soft, chewy.
It's the way it's supposed to be.
- You cooked them perfectly.
- Yeah.
However, having said that, I would have loved if you'd had taken this patty right here and turned it into a mini slider.
- Ah.
- But you know what? Nice job.
- Thank you, sir.
Thank you, Chef.
- Great job, Dan.
Next up, Alejandro.
Let's go, Alejandro.
Alejandro, what's the dish? Those are chicken oysters over a fried plantain with a side of mango guacamole.
I had never cooked them before, and I just went with my instinct.
The chicken itself doesn't have a ton of flavor.
And you had the easiest protein.
You got guacamole and you got plantains, and neither one of them are really anything to write home about either.
I'm sorry.
- I didn't see that coming.
- Next up, Nathan, please.
What is that? It is a barbecue pork tail sandwich, with a Cajun bacon potato salad and fried green tomatoes on the side.
The flavor's good.
Love that, definitely.
But you've got a tail in there that needs shredding.
- Yes, Chef.
- Damn.
Next up, Tanorria.
I made for you a kale and black-eyed pea salad with crispy pig ears and an apricot vinaigrette.
I love apricots, and I thought it pairs really well with a white balsamic.
I think this is the most beautiful dish out there tonight.
- Thank you.
- These pig ears, you got a nice color to them, great flavor.
But the thinner you can get these suckers, the better off you're going to be.
- Okay.
- But nice job.
- Thank you, Chef.
- All right, Tanorria.
Good job, Tanorria.
Next home cook we want to taste is Katie.
Come on, Katie.
I am looking at my finished dish, and this kidney curry is awesome.
It's going to knock the socks off these judges.
I mean, they are not going to believe this Mississippi girl has stepped out of her comfort zone and is bringing a curry dish with kidney.
- What you got for me? - It's a vadouvan.
Spiced Indian stew with kidneys.
What's a good Mississippi girl know about curry? I travel a lot.
So as I travel, I'm not afraid to ask chefs how they make things.
What was it about the kidneys that you thought would go well with the curry? That's not a traditional dish.
I knew I wanted a punch with my flavors to go with it.
And I think that's exactly what I did.
All right.
I'm very, very critical of my curries.
Okay.
I'm going to tell you one thing.
Your curry's fabulous.
Everything in the curry is so nicely diced.
The kidneys were very tender and beautiful.
You cooked them perfectly.
I'm so proud of it.
A lot of people see me as like a dumb blond.
I'm a really smart, educated, hardworking individual.
And, Shaun, you sparked me tonight.
- Good, I'm glad.
- Thank you.
- You're welcome.
- It's a fabulous curry.
Maybe one of the best curries I've ever had.
- Wow.
- There you go.
- There you go.
- Good job, Katie.
- Good job, Katie! - Good job, Katie! Nice job, Katie! Next up, Diana, please.
Let's go.
Go get them, Diana! My menudo looks like it's going to be flavorful.
It smells super spicy, so I'm hoping that I can just lean on my flavors at this point.
Describe the dish, please.
I did a play on menudo.
I used corn instead of hominy, and I used jalapeños.
And I used the tripe.
So how did you cook the tripe? I put the tripe in a pressure cooker.
I spiced it with cumin and cayenne and salt and pepper, and then added the tripe after I sliced it very thin.
- But where's the tripe? - I minced it.
But where is it? Like I said, Chef, I minced it in there.
So there's very small pieces.
I see little speckles of white bits.
- Is that it? - Yes, Chef.
- Like, here? - Yes, Chef.
So I have got some raw tripe here.
That's what it is.
This is a really horrible, spongy-- I can't even pull it.
Damn.
a, I have got some raw tripe here.
This is a really horrible, spongy-- I can't even pull it.
Yeah, that's not good.
- Damn.
- I took the pieces and cut them, because they were very chewy and I didn't want you to get a mouthful of just chew.
That was the wrong thing to do.
I was just trying to hide the fact that it was raw.
You've done the cardinal sin.
You've done the worst thing.
You tried to hide the fact that it was undercooked, and you diced it all up and put it back and smothered it.
Damn.
I am feeling absolutely deflated.
I feel like my own stomach lining is about to come out.
- It's okay.
- At this point, I'm just hoping and praying that someone else's food was worse than mine.
First of all, I'd like to invite back to their stations Brandi and Shaun.
Let's go.
Okay, two of you are about to get even closer to the biggest prize in the culinary world because there were two outstanding dishes tonight.
Katie and Eric.
Thank you.
Unfortunately, the three following dishes were literally awful.
First up, one of the worst dishes tonight.
Make your way down here Alejandro.
The next home cook that disappointed us tonight Diana.
The third and final cook tonight let us down, let themselves down.
And they know who they are.
Come on down.
Our job at this point becomes really asking ourselves who didn't deliver tonight, but also who's not going anywhere in this competition.
Step forward Alejandro.
We're going to give you one last chance.
- Go back to your station, please.
- Thank you.
Thank you, chefs.
In life, you don't get a lot of second chances.
But I got one.
So I need to step up and show the judges that I can do a lot more than just Latin food.
And this was definitely a wake-up call for me.
This is a competition.
And unless you give us your best, then expect to go.
Diana, you made a catastrophic mistake this evening.
You took something that was undercooked and you put it into a sauce thinking that you could hide the fact that it was undercooked.
D'Andre, tonight you hit a huge stumbling block.
Lamb's tongue braised with a caviar of mustard.
- That's like a dog chew.
- Yes, Chef.
We're looking for the best, and tonight you proved you were one of the worst.
Diana we cannot go any further with you.
Please say goodbye to D'Andre, take off your apron, and place it on your bench.
Thank you.
My luck definitely ran out in this competition.
I never got to show the judges really what I have.
- Bye-bye.
- Bye, baby.
Win it for me, okay? Okay.
But I can honestly say that I'm one of the top 14 home cooks in America today, and there's 20,000 other people that can't say that.
I don't know what it is, D'Andre, but it seems like you keep dodging the bullet.
But tonight, there's two in the barrel.
Take your apron off.
- What? - You're leaving the MasterChef kitchen.
I'm without words.
I thought I was one step closer to being the next MasterChef.
But my food dream is to teach cooking classes to LGBT homeless youth.
So just because I'm leaving the MasterChef kitchen today, doesn't mean my dream is over.
Next week the MasterChef restaurant opens its doors for a super-sweet celebration.
Your fate is in the hands of teenagers.
- Party! - God help you.
- Watch it, watch it.
- Move, I got two! - But when tempers flare - Hey! - What's going on back there? - You just hit me.
Un-( bleep )-believable.
- whose party - That's not even a minute away.
- will come to an end? - It's raw.
You're going to kill someone.
Get a ( bleep ) grip!