The Mystery Box Mastery And The Judges Favorites Selection
Previously on MasterChef. Be the best or go home. From the thousands of home cooks that applied I NEED THIS SO BAD. ONLY 18 made it into the MasterChef kitchen. This place will make or break you. As the competition heated up pissed off. tempers flared. This is just unacceptable. send you home now. That is disgusting.
And the eliminations began. Max Jenny, Esther, take your apron off. Your time is done in MasterChef. Tonight Brace yourselves. the biggest mystery box ever unleashes one cook’s aggression. I’m not here to make friends. And one judge explodes. Show these people the same respect they show you.
If not, I’m going to personally come over there and throw you out of here. Tonight, 11 cooks remain to battle it out in front of three culinary heavyweights. At stake for the winner, $250,000. I am speechless. And the title of MasterChef. Come over, guys. Today’s another mystery box and I know I’m the best one here.
I’m not here to make friends, so I’m going to win. To your stations. Christian thinks that he’s the best thing since sliced bread and Christian can run his mouth all he wants, but I’m going to prove that I’m a better cook than Christian. What the hell is that? We’re looking up at the judges standing in front of a huge mystery box.
It could be anything. Today is unique because there are two mystery boxes. One in front of you and one huge box in front of us. As with every mystery box challenge, the contestants have to prepare, cook, and present one incredible dish using all or some of the ingred1ents inside the box. First let’s start with the box in front of you.
One two three Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I look at my box, I see a bunch of vegetables, I see some puff pastry, some butter, but they’ve got a giant mystery box, too. I mean, this thing is casket-sized. Right, you’re still missing an ingred1ent. That item is in the biggest mystery box we’ve ever ever had. Come on down. Let’s open it. Let’s go.
Oh my god. It’s really nerve-racking to see a box that large. I’m actually thinking there’s probably a person inside there and then they’re going to come out and cook and we have to replicate that or something like that. Brace yourselves. I’m pumped. We got lobster, which is obviously something that I get to work with at home a lot.
I’m going to bring it. Lobster There’s so many things you can do with these, but wh@tever you do please treat it with respect. Now, we’re not just going to hand it to you. You want a lobster, come up and get one. I want you, YOU LITTLE OKAY, BYE-BYE. I’VE NEVER SEEN lobsters this big before. Where did they get these things from? A freaking time machine from the crustacean era? How am I going to cook this? I’ve cooked live lobsters before.
The feistier they are, the better they taste. Okay, listen carefully, please. At the end of this challenge, we’ll only taste three of your lobster dishes and the winner from those three will have a huge advantage in the next stage of MasterChef. You’ve all got 1 hour and 15 minutes to make a beautiful, sumptuous lobster dish. Okay, are you ready? Yes, Chef.
And your time starts now. I grew up on a farm. I’ve k1lled my pets to eat them. I’ve k1lled one of my dearest pet chickens in my backyard and eaten it. And so, I do the best thing for the lobster that’s possible, which is to put him in the freezer. That sends him into a dormant state. He doesn’t even feel it when he goes into the pot.
This is a massive challenge in the sense that so many lobsters so big the smartest cooks in this competition are going to consider that a 4-lb lobster is inherently tough Mhm. and they’re going to butcher it or serve it in a way to mitigate the toughness of the meat itself. Yeah. Yeah. We’ve really given them two different directions.
You’ve got old world with capers and the fennel and then on the other side you’ve got mangoes and coconut milk and red curry. So, you know, they’re going to go east or west. I would do a fragrant lobster curry. I’d cook my angel pasta and slice it up almost like little bits of macaroni running through the curry. 15 MINUTES GONE. 1 HOUR LEFT. Let’s go.
Right, Jennifer. Tell me what you’re doing. I’m going to quick boil it for 4 minutes, break it down, I’m going to put the rest of it into the oven. Baking a lobster is dangerous. Absolutely. So, just be very careful you don’t turn it into baked rubber lobster. Absolutely. Good luck. Thank you, Chef. Cook any lobster yet? Not yet.
I just started poaching them a little bit so I can get them out of the shell. I’m going to do a little pommes maximum for the top. Wow. And a little fennel puree. You think you’re clearly the frontrunner because of where you come from and you have the experience I think I got a pretty damn good chance. Out of everybody here, Christian knows lobster, but his arrogance and not having any respect for the people around him have I think gotten to everybody in this competition.
40 minutes remaining, everybody. 40 minutes. What are you doing? I’m going to do a potato gnocchi and I’m going to use the tail of the lobster. How are you going to cook that lobster? I’m going to poach it just till it gets firmed up and it stay and I’m going to sh0ck it real quick in ice so it doesn’t overcook.
Shocking lobsters in ice water for too long takes away the flavor. Good luck, Becky. Alejandra, you seem very comfortable with not just the lobster, but with the ingred1ents. I love Asian food, Chef, and when I saw the coconut milk, the lemongrass, and the ginger, I knew exactly where I was going. Just over 30 minutes. All right, Derek.
What do you got for us? I’m going to try butter poaching it. First time? First time. You think that’s a risk worth taking? Uh I do, Chef, because I really need to sort of step up my game, okay? Aaron is out of his comfort zone. I saw him smearing almost like this sort of garlic butter over this curled lobster tail that was uh sh0cked.
Christian’s making a butter poached lobster with pommes maximum. Very restaurant-style dish, but he’s butter poaching the lobster, which can work for a pound, pound and a half lobster, but a 4-lb is a different story. Where’s that from? You’re kidding me. Piece of plastic in my mixer thing. Everything’s going fine as far as my lobster goes, but I pushed down a little too hard, I guess, and it broke a piece of plastic off in my food processor.
There’s water coming out from down under. I feel a little frustrated with this water and this chaos that is coming to my station. It It’s just nuts. Christian’s hot temper is starting to catch up with him. And honestly, I think he’s being a My dish is going down the toilet. I’m going to have to come up with something.
Can I get some new pasta? I I mean That’s Can I get some new pasta, please? I have a shellfish stock leaking all over the place and I had to get new pasta. I have some pasta. Christian Thank you. I got it. I’m really just pissed off that things weren’t going my way, but I’m still going to make the best dish I can. But I know my sauce tastes good.
My gnocchi has good texture. Presentation, I know is one of my weaker points. So, I just got to push myself and make stuff look a lot prettier. 60 seconds to go. Start putting those finishing touches. In the mystery box challenge, the judges select just three dishes to taste. The winner will receive a huge advantage going into the next round.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 and stop. Oh my god. Well done. At this point, despite the the chaos, I know I’m in the top three. My lobster was cooked really well, as well as you could cook a 4-lb lobster. From here, the winner of today’s mystery box challenge will have a enormous advantage in the next stage of MasterChef.
The first dish we’d like to see up here was singled out as a all-round restaurant dish that each and every one of us would see on our menus. That dish belongs to Derek. Congratulations. Slow down. Don’t drop it. Don’t drop it. not I just feel great. That risk I taken for this it’s paid off. Tell me about the lobster here.
You’ve got a puff pastry base with a roasted garlic potato puree, a salad with yellow tomato, red tomato, some mango, and then it’s a butter poached lobster tail on top. What I’m hopefully going to get here is contrasts. Base, acid. I think that it’s delicious, moist, sweet, and I really enjoyed the hell out of it. Congratulations.
If you’re going to keep cooking like this, you’re going to be here a long time, my friend. Congratulations. See how the lobster gives a little, that’s that’s just cooked beautifully. You created a really delicious dish. Thank you, chef. Lobster’s delicious. You’ve lifted the elegance to a completely different level. Congratulations. Delicious.
Well done. Hearing such successful people tell you great things about your food, that’s something that’s never going to get old. That just feels good. The next dish had a great use of curry, mango tropical flavors, really, really pop. Alejandra, can you please bring it out? I saw you put these in the pan.
The sizzle was hot. And leaving it in the shell, brilliant. This is a Thai style red curry lobster. So, tell me about the sauce itself. I reduced some of the shellfish stock that was provided with some celery, ginger, lemongrass, and the Thai basil, which fresh. Amazing. It’s a grilled lobster, and for it to taste that sensuous, and soft, buttery.
That for me has been your best dish so far in this competition. All right, before I call up this three of three, is there anybody out there who thinks their dish should be that third? Christian, why don’t you tell me why you think you should be up here? I think the sauce is delicious and my lobster is cooked perfectly.
Christian, you are not in the top three. You know, you went in thinking that you were going to be number one, but then things started to go awry and it looked like there was just such an anger with your cooking. When you cook angry, I think it comes out in the food. All right, the third and final dish that we will be tasting here.
And that belongs to Jennifer. All right. I think Jennifer sucks and it makes me feel like because I don’t think she has as much food knowledge as I do. So, how does it feel to be up here again? Feels awesome. Feels really great. Walk us through the dish real quick. I took the whole lobster and just slow basted it and I braised off some fennel, did puff pastry, did lobster whipped mashed potatoes with roasted garlic.
And on the salty end, I think it’s just over concentrated. I just think together it just has a really nice with roasted potatoes. The fennel is just looks wonderful. I love that you roasted it. The puff pastry adding the textural contrast against the creaminess of the lobster mashed potatoes, all of it works beautifully.
Thank you, chef. Well done. Thank you so much. Hey Christian, why don’t you have the same respect for these people that they do for you? Put the silverware down and behave like you belong in this kitchen and show these people the same respect they show you. Because if not, I’m going to personally come over there and throw you out of here.
You show no respect and I’m not going to deal with it. Christian is very confident in his cooking, but he needs to stop being an I don’t know if that’s going to happen. Sorry. Watching you across a 75-minute challenge with a 4-lb lobster, I felt at times that you were giving birth to the lobster. Every 2 minutes you were basting, you wouldn’t put it down.
It’s delicious. Thank you, chef. It’s got that rustic charm. And smart cooking with the oven door open, closed, and adjusting to the sort of speed of the butter basting the lobster. Congratulations. Thank you, chef. Another big hit. Well done. Thank you. Tough. Both with mashed potatoes. One with a mango salad, but the texture is quite extraordinary.
You feel like you’re going to be happy in top three, you’re just not. You’re just like, come on, come on, come on. I choose me for one, choose me for one. Okay, the winner of today’s mystery box challenge, that dish belongs to Jennifer. I got a quick glance at Jennifer’s dish. Was it the best out of the best? No. I think my dish is a lot better.
Thank you. The second mystery box in a row, you are now becoming a serious front runner. Wow. Come this way. Let’s go. As the winner of the mystery box, Jennifer enters the MasterChef pantry. In this challenge, somebody will be going home and Jennifer is now in control with a huge advantage. We’re about to show you three amazing ingred1ents and you’ll get to pick which one everyone will cook with today.
Today’s theme ingred1ents are aphrodisiacs. Throughout time, there’s been a belief that certain foods enhance sexual desire. It’s getting a little hot. I think I’m turning every shade of red under the sun. The first aphrodisiac ingred1ent oysters. The pearls of the ocean, the most rarefied, delicious things and a lot of scientists say that the amino acids contained in them increase our libido.
All right, the second aphrodisiac for you to choose from artichokes. Wow. According to Greek mythology, Zeus fell in love with a woman of rare beauty. He first promoted her to a goddess and then later turned her into an artichoke. So, that just goes to show you that love is sometimes complicated. That it is. And the final aphrodisiac ingred1ents is beautiful truffle.
Absolutely stunning. Everyone from ancient Romans to Napoleon really believed that truffles were an aphrodisiac. So, Jennifer, you’ve got a very, very important decision to make. Which erotic ingred1ent will you choose? Is it Joe’s oysters, Graham’s artichoke, or my amazing, delicious truffles? Think carefully.
Uh-oh. Okay, time for another elimination test. The theme of tonight’s challenge is aphrodisiacs. OKAY. THE CHOICES WERE THE MOST AMAZING OYSTERS, the most phenomenal artichoke, or truffles. Oysters, no, but I love the flavor of truffles. I really want truffles. I’m more in love with truffles than I think I have been with like people that I’ve dated in the past.
Jennifer picked for each of you to have the most amazing $500 black perigord truffle each Settle down, Ben. Little aroused, sorry. For winning the previous challenge, Jennifer, you get another advantage. You don’t have to cook today. BUT HERE’S THE DIFFERENCE. YOU CAN STAY AND participate in this elimination challenge or you take this glass of bubbles and you disappear up to the gallery.
If you lose, you could be eliminated. Think carefully. Take the champagne. I came here to cook. That’s what I came here to do. But going upstairs, you know, guarantees me top 10. So, um you know, I’m torn. We just want to give you the option of being able to cook with this product. Now. That’s the point of winning the challenge. Like, take the advantage.
This is huge. Don’t be an idiot. Are you watching or are you cooking? I’m going to stay and cook. Wow. I’m not that type of person to put my tail between my legs and walk up the stairs. Ballsy. IT’S AUTOMATIC TOP 10. I want to cook my way into the top 10 and I’m hoping that I don’t go. Incredible. If you over the next 60 minutes produce the worst tasting dish, you’ll be leaving MasterChef.
Understood. Wow. 60 minutes to create something unique and romantic. Are you ready? Yes, chef. Your time starts now. The contestants have just 60 minutes to transform this expensive aphrodisiac into a dish worthy of the judges’ affection. Aphrodisiac, really? It is so hard to even try to come up with some kind of sexy dish when the ingred1ent that you’re cooking with looks like dog Careful, Giuseppe.
How lucky are they? When you go from reading about them and hearing about them and then holding a real truffle, it’s just a great moment. I’m amazed the little ingred1ents in Jennifer’s basket. Six items in there. Right now, she could be standing up there watching them. Is she mentally psyching out her competition? That takes a big pair of balls.
She is definitely focused and confident and I think that that was an incredible move to do that. What would you do, Joe? I would do a whole egg yolk inside a ravioli, truffles on the inside, fused butter, truffles on the outside. Simple, simple. Truffles turn on, big turn on. My husband would find it sexy, but whether or not the judges find it sexy, total different story.
I don’t get sexy in the kitchen, I get sexy in the bedroom, you know? Just over 40 minutes to go. Right, Jennifer. Hi, chef. What is it? I’m making a coddled egg with truffles. Coddled egg? Yeah, there’s nothing sexier than breakfast served in bed. When was the last time you had breakfast in bed with someone special? It’s been a long time.
Giuseppe, what are you making? I’m going to make a sex on the plate. I’m making tagliolini with a mushroom, spinach, pancetta, and truffle. See, we’re using the new MasterChef Global 3-Piece Knife Set. See, now this paring knife is an absolute essential piece to have in your arsenal of weapons for the intricate knife work that you’re doing here.
It’s perfect because you can handle pretty good. You can almost shave your side if you want with this. Absolutely. Right, Aaron, what are you doing today? Potato gratin I have alongside a fillet that I’m going to cook and baste with the truffle butter. I have it actually marinating right now. You marinate with wine? Yes.
And that’s a fillet. So, if you marinate it, make sure that you sear it, don’t boil it. Yeah? Yeah. So, I think you have two camps of people out there. I think you have the inexperienced people who think that truffles have to be put on the steak, mashed potatoes, and a vegetable and those people who are creative, like intuitive truffle dishes that support the flavor.
I got really nervous when I saw what Aaron was doing. He’s doing a marinated fillet steak in red wine. Yeah. Cooked in truffle butter. Has inexperience written all over it. And Alejandra? She’s doing a lot of very irony leafy green vegetables that certainly don’t think about black truffles.
So, I think she’s kind of in a bad spot with her dish. 20 minutes left, everybody. Less than 20 minutes. Adrian, how are we doing, buddy? See how you season something, how you touch it, how you’re rubbing it like that? Yes. Every single thing that you do should be done with that same approach that you would have with a woman. I do not agree with Graham.
I don’t think you should touch your meat like you should touch A WOMAN. LOOKING AT MY STEAK AND I KNOW IT’S BURNT. Less than 10 minutes to go. I’m just looking at the clock thinking what to do, what to do. Pull out my potatoes and they’re just a mushy mess. I let it overcook and I’m screwed. Make it count.
In this elimination challenge, the home cooks race to complete an aphrodisiac dish featuring a $500 truffle. Shave that truffle thinly. If their entree fails to stimulate the judges, Come on. at least one of our cooks will be going home. 90 seconds to go. I’ve got a good dish today. As long as I get everything on the plate, I’m going to be all right.
Everything’s tasting really good to me. If my egg is running, I know I’m a goner. Here we go. We’re coming up to the last 10 seconds. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 and stop. Well done. Okay, let’s start off with Tracy, let’s go. What do you got? Truffle and sweet corn soup. I sauteed some shallots and thyme in a little bit of the truffle butter.
I love the the the tones of of cream and white and off-white. The way food looks on a plate is sometimes as important as what it tastes like. I think I think that this dish is light. It’s ethereal. The sweetness of corn, the sweetness of cream create a a platform on which the truffles can stand and play. It’s sensuous and it is super sexy.
Good job, Tracy. Thank you, Joe. The secret is the delivery of the balance cuz it’s rich, creamy, and you’ve just taken it to a completely different level with the truffle. Thank you very much, chef. Thank you so much. It’s silky, it’s velvety, and I want to go to third base with it. So, good job. Christian, let’s go, please.
I’m feeling pretty good about my dish. It’s all very cohesive and delicious. Wow. What is it? This is a truffle-infused custard with a little truffle ragout on top. This is a truffle-creamed mushroom sauce over a fillet. Great idea. It’s smart. Yeah, it’s it’s technical. You’ve got to hit. Delicious.
I’m very happy and, you know, to be able to come in and make something that I’ve never made before and nail it the first time, I think it speaks a lot for who I am and why I’m here. Giuseppe, please come forward. This is tagliolini with a mushroom, spinach, and pancetta. And of course, truffle.
Tell me the story behind this dish. Yeah, I’m going to dedicate this dish because it remind my first date with my wife. Okay. I’m I love my wife. So. Yeah, well, from the heart kind of cooking, right? Yes. Here’s the issue. You’ve not ever been bad, but you’ve never ever been good. You’ve always sat on that sort of steady Edd1e middle and you’ve never really popped.
You’re now a force to be reckoned with cuz that is delicious. Pretty good. Finally, but redemption for the pasta. All right, Adrian. So far, the home cooks are impressing with their dishes. Can 28-year-old Adrian keep things on track? Come on, man. What kind of sex are you into? What is this thing? My dish is a nice filet mignon with a dried chili and fig mushroom sauce and a truffled pureed potatoes.
Should be served in a bowl. Right now, all I taste is chili. Visually, it’s appalling and flavor-wise, it doesn’t work. It’s disappointing. That’s all I can say. What a shame. I look at that. It’s like you’ve got hold of my granddad and turned his colostomy bag on your plate. I mean, it’s just it’s putrid. Surely you can put food on a plate better than that.
It does look like It’s inconceivable. You shouldn’t be splodging food on a plate now at your level. I don’t even know if you were listening to the what we asked for. This is a competition about aphrodisiac foods, foods that are beautiful to look at, that make you feel beautiful. I I this is a categorical abomination.
You want to check out for one of the competitions in elimination round? Well, you checked out. I hope this doesn’t check you out permanently, though. You can do better, Adrian. You can do better than that. Okay, Aaron, let’s go. Holy. My gratin didn’t work. My steak burned. I had to make the vegetables in the last 5 minutes.
What have you done? I had a bad day. So, where’s a part of the $500 truffle? Um I made a truffle butter that I basted the vegetables in. I had to put some on the plate. Come on. My gratin didn’t work. You had an hour. I am speechless. So, is there anything you’re happy with in this dish? Nope. Nothing? Nothing. You’re in the PR biz.
How would you sell this? How would you put a spin on it? I wouldn’t. All right. Not selling it. I’ve been saved before on bad dishes, but it would have to take a really, really, really bad dish for them to top my bad dish. Alejandra, please come up. What do you have? I have veal cutlets with a truffle, leek, and Marsala sauce.
Ooh. Slimy, sludgy texture around the veal itself. Not very good. I’ve seen you put food on a plate with a a real wow. That does not scream wow. Okay, the lady that we hope hasn’t got egg on her face, Jennifer, let’s go. I hope they cut through that and it’s like a hard-boiled egg in there. I want to see Jennifer go.
You could have been watching 10 of your fellow contestants Yes. battling out, but you chose to cook what? Uh coddled egg with truffles. We have pancetta in there, three mixed cheeses in the bottom, Thai pepper to for a little heat. It looks wobbly. The whole coddled action is is just under. We both know it.
Instead of uh coddled egg, it’s like a wobbled egg. You took a big risk. Believe you on this memory would be sad. You were in control. And you didn’t have to participate. Thank you. With all the dishes tasted, the judges must decide the bottom three. From those, at least one home cook will be eliminated.
But first, they will reveal the top two dishes of the day. Two dishes stood out. The first dish delivered that wow factor. That dish belongs to Tracy, GREAT JOB. THE SECOND dish just really kind of hit it on all levels. Giuseppe. Today is a elimination challenge, and at least one of you will be leaving MasterChef. First dish in the bottom three belongs to Aaron, please step forward.
I’m really disappointed. I’m embarrassed, and I know that I’m just got to take it like a man, so it is what it is. Are you surprised to be here? Not at all. Okay. The next person Adrian, come up and uh join us. I don’t want to go home, but I just know that it looks like that’s warrant enough for me to go home. That dish was as bad as bad gets, and I know you’re a good cook.
I don’t know if this means the end of the line. Okay, the third dish in the bottom three, that dish belongs to That dish belongs to Alejandra, it’s not you. Jennifer, get up here. I feel like I should have probably taken the champagne right now. Um little concerned. Um just hoping that I h@te to say that somebody else has a worse off dish than I do.
Jennifer, you had a real opportunity to exit this elimination challenge, yet you chose to produce a baked egg. At least one of you will be leaving MasterChef tonight. Jennifer, step forward. Being bold is one thing. There’s no time to be stupid. Take your apron. Back to your bench because there’s a worse dish behind yours.
Adrian, big sh0ck. That was a surprise for three of us. You’re really pushing it too far. And tonight was one of those occasions. Aaron, you sounded comfortable to begin with, but across those 60 minutes, you lost your way. Here’s where we are. There is one dish worse than we’ve ever seen. And I am giving that individual an opportunity to step forward gracefully and to take their apron off and acknowledge that their time inside MasterChef is done.
Thank you for the opportunity. I appreciate it. It was great. Noble. It was great. Anytime you want to come spend some time in the kitchen, let me know. All right? Listen, keep your head up. Yeah. I love the honesty. Okay, there’s a big heart in there. Don’t ever stop cooking, okay? Thank you. Well done. Thanks. Thanks, Aaron.
Thank you. It was a no-brainer. I knew that my dish was bad, and he had the steak perfectly cooked. There was no redeeming qualities to my dish. It was the right thing to do. I had the worst dish, so I wasn’t going to let somebody else take a fall for my bad production. I’m glad that the judges gave me an opportunity to leave with some sort of dignity.
I feel like I still have a lot to learn, but I’m really, really confident in my ability. I made it to the top 11 out of thousands, and I’m not going away anytime soon, so I’m uh I’m going to be doing some big things. Adrian, get your head out of the sand and bounce back. Get back on your station. I need to get my head in the game and pick myself up and say, “You want this.
” I really have to give it all I got. You are now the top 10 in this country from thousands of entrants. You’ve now got a one in 10 chance of becoming America’s next MasterChef. Good luck. Good night. Next time on MasterChef, the home cooks face their most intimidating critics yet. Also known as our mothers. Smile, Mom.
You’re scaring all the contestants. But the desire to impress My mom has flown halfway around the world to come here and eat that. pushes the cooks to their limits. We don’t have time. It looks ridiculous. Oh. I’m not a fish lover. And in the pressure test, a simple dish Eggs Benedict becomes a disaster that will send at least one home cook packing.
The person leaving MasterChef is
