The Ultimate Eid al-Adha Feast: A MasterChef USA Special!
Welcome to your first MasterChef challenge. This is your biggest, scariest challenge of your lives. Oh, no. Pretty cute, right? And delicious. Don’t worry. You’ll not be cooking this little guy. Take a look behind you. Look, guys. It was lambs everywhere. It was lamb
over here, lamb over there. I felt like I was skiing. They’re all over people’s shoes and peeing. I’m like, “Oh, don’t let me step in this. Please don’t let me step in this.” Woo! Lamb is one of the most popular meats in the world, and every year it is gaining popularity in America. It’s an incredibly meat, and it has such a unique flavor.
There are so many parts of the animal that you can use, and so many ways that you can use them. So, you are probably wondering which part of the lamb we’re going to give you. Well, let me tell you. All of them. There isn’t a single piece of lamb we haven’t given you. To help you come up with this magnificent dish, you have full use of the MasterChef pantry.
That pantry has every ingred1ent imaginable to make your lamb dish shine. You name it, that pantry has it. It’s all on this. Shine and you’ll move on. Make a mistake and you’ll be like a lamb to the slaughter. You have just 60 minutes to cook us the best lamb dish of your entire life. ARE YOU READY? YOUR 60 MINUTES STARTS NOW.
OH MY GOD. Don’t you touch me. I’m running to the pantry when this woman shoves me. She actually pushes me down. This competition is not for the weak hearted. An amazing list of ingred1ents in that pantry. I mean, how could you not make a dish sing? Right, it’s a veritable Garden of Eden. There’s everything in there that one could want to cook with.
So, this is where the winners discern themselves from the losers in my opinion. You got to shop smart, you got to really make some strategic decisions. 90 seconds shopping should be enough. Everything should be planned again. You should spend your time cooking. Exactly. A MasterChef has to be confident.
So, you know when you go in there exactly what you need. 60 minutes isn’t long, is it? Goes by super fast. Half of these people are going home and that’s kind of a really good motivator. And really do my best in this dish. Right, Beth. Why is it not in the oven? Because I’m going to sizzle it. So, you’re cooking it on hay? Uh-huh.
You damped the hay slightly otherwise you know what’s going to happen there. I don’t want it to catch on fire. you serving with it? I am serving a celeriac and rutabaga puree and buttermilk fried sweetbread. That’s a lot to pull off in just under 30 minutes. Yes, it is. Good luck. Let’s go. One dish to keep you in the competition.
There we go. 2 minutes to go. Too much. Too much. So, right now I’m really on a push. I want to hold on to this apron so bad right now. I’m telling you right now I’m knocking the competition right out today. The competition right here next to me right here, let me tell you what, she doesn’t have the passion and the heart like I do.
Going to make it happen today. I’m doing it, baby. 30 SECONDS TO GO. COME ON. FINISH YOUR TOUCHES. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 AND STOP. YOUR FIRST CHALLENGE IS OVER. Please step forward. Nancy and Bree. Let’s begin with Nancy. Tell me about your dish. It’s a lamb chop with roasted red pepper, the cauliflower mint puree, Mhm.
and artichokes. It’s a well-constructed dish. It’s intelligent. It has some like restaurant thought behind it. I think that this sauce is just kind of like the garlic is way too strong for me. I’m going to disagree. The sauce with the lamb is really good. I like it with the feta as well. The puree, I would have liked it smoother.
It’s kind of grainy. It almost, you know, comes across as grit. Okay, Bree, step forward, please. I call it four seasons lamb, spring, summer, fall, and winter. When’s the last time you cooked lamb? I’m a vegetarian, so never cooked lamb. I think the plate’s intelligent. I think that if you had more experience cooking and eating meat, you could have made it even better.
The purees work. The seasoning you’ve got right. But it’s, you know, less is more. Do one way, stunning, and be really happy with it done beautifully. Thank you, chef. Well, we were impressed with both dishes. But ultimately, only one of you is coming into the Mastership kitchen. Nancy. Yes, chef. It’s not you. It’s Bree.
Please take your apron off. Thank you. Thank you, Nancy. And then there were two. Let’s go. Luca, first, please. Okay, explain the dish. Is a loin that I filled with some sweetbread, endive, and goat cheese. So, where did you see sweetbreads stuffed inside lamb before? Nowhere. Nowhere.
So, the cook on the lamb, positive. But you’re playing a very dangerous game. Stuffing a loin with sweetbreads. Thank you, Luca. Thank you. Ah, Luca, why don’t you make something you you know? Because I always have the idea that I want to try to to do something that I put in my restaurant one day.
Is this the time to take that chance? You tell me, sir. We’ll tell you. The lamb is tender. Vegetables are actually cooked pretty well. We’ll see. Thank you. Beth, let’s go, please. It is lavender hay roasted loin with buttermilk fried sweetbreads, apricot chutney, mint, and a celeriac and rutabaga puree. When you cook lamb that fast and let it rest for that length of time, you got to remove all that sinew.
So, you’ve got the temperature absolutely perfect, but you’ve left part of that fat on. However, the concept was very smart, but the delivery wasn’t as good. That lamb could have been perfect. What a shame. So, the idea of cooking in hay, I love it. It’s great. It’s a beautiful technique. It imparts a lot of flavor.
The thing that I really wish that you had done was cook that lamb a little less and then seared it in the pan just at the end to give it a little bit of that caramelized exterior. Thanks. Thank you. Hi, Amanda. What’s the dish? It’s my grandmother’s lamb kofta combined with a jalapeno dusted potato and a sumac aioli.
Nice depth of flavor. Really nice decision that sumac on seasoning really brings out both the potatoes and the lamb. I could see that the potatoes, if they were crisp, would really be a great statement in texture, but they’re a little soft, so you can sort of see where you lost track of time. Definitely.
Right. Anisa. Yes. Describe the dish, please. My dish is a beef and lamb kebab with pine nuts and parsley upon a sauce with ghee. That’s where I get my Pakistani Indian flavor with. That is raw. It’s disappointing. Oh, dear. Uh let me take an end off one. Um it tastes good. That’s quite charming, but the lamb is raw.
It’s comfort food. That’s not giving me comfort. Uh, that’s giving me the heebie-jeebies. Thank you. Dad, all three of you made mistakes, but all three of you, we see something in you. So, right now, this is a very tough decision. The apron goes to Congratulations. This is to make my family proud.
This is to make all minorities in America proud. Let them know that they can do anything they put their mind to. I want an apron in the lamb battle, and I’m going to be the next MasterChef. This first challenge is a great test of your beef sk1lls. It looks simple, but believe me, it’s deceivingly difficult to get right. Beef kebabs.
The New York strip has to be cooked cleanly, cooked evenly, and seasoned to perfection. You can add your choice of vegetables and seasoning to put your own personal touch on them. If you get these right, it could land you up on that balcony. But, if you get these wrong, you’ll have an even more difficult challenge ahead of you.
Please, all of you, head to your stations. I make beef skewers in my backyard all the time, but the fact that I’m doing it in the MasterChef kitchen, they have to be elevated. So, I cannot let Joe down. And the fact that I’m the last one standing with his apron, I need to make sure I get to that balcony.
At your stations, you’ll find everything you need to make us beef kebabs. New York strip steak, peppers, button mushrooms, lemon, garlic, red wine vinegar, and limes. You’ll have just 30 minutes to make us three perfectly cooked beef kebabs. Is everybody ready? Yes, chef. Your 30 minutes starts now. Kebab is the global street food.
Because really, it’s about what else you put with it, how you cook it, and the seasoning. This is all about techniques, and guaranteed this challenge will definitely separate them. Chef Hey, chef. Visually they look beautiful. Good color. Thank you, chef. What type of marinades is in the kebab? Uh so, I tried to get close to like a jerk marinade.
Jerk, mushroom, two peppers, and the red onion. The cook on the beef pink and beautiful. And you really charred them. That’s the essence of that grill, that’s what a kebab stands for, right? But the bit that lifts me is that jerk seasoning, which traditionally you don’t really get with a kebab. Good job. Ashley First of all, you got a beautiful marinade on the outside.
I think you were very generous with the seasoning, I like that. I was going for those Latin flavors. The beef was marinated in lemon and lime juice, garlic oil, cumin, coriander, and some red chili flakes. I got a real fatty piece. I think you could have butchered them down a little bit better, but you did cook them well. I like the seasoning.
Peppers in the chimichurri have a home run, but just just kind of shifting gears on some of the elements would have made this spot on. Okay. You all are about to face what we call a sk1lls test. A true MasterChef needs to know their way around butchery. Mhm. On the menu tonight, Colorado’s finest lamb. Oh. This one is immaculate, but doesn’t start out like this.
It starts out like this. Most home cooks buy the rack of lamb from a butcher fully prepped with all that fat and membrane removed. We call that frenching. Tonight, you’ll have to french your rack of lamb like a master butcher. Now, I’m going to show you how it’s done. All of you, please watch and learn.
Now, hold your rack of lamb up and then run your thumb down the outside and gently peel back that first layer of fat. From there, place it on the board and then just very carefully lift the fat up and slice. Be careful. One slip of the knife here and you’ve lost a finger. As I pull back this fat, you can start to see the layers of bones exposed.
Now, this is where the real work starts. What you want to do is separate this sinew from the bones. So, knife goes in and down and you peel away. Turn the knife over. Again, peel. This is a labor of love. Knife goes in, twist. Get your cloth and this little bit of sinew here, you pull over and down.
See how it’s coming off? Yes, chef. And then trim at lamb usually. Now, once those bones are cleaned around for the second time, straight down both sides of the bones. And look how clean those bones are getting. It’s really important to get every little scrap, cuz if not, the bones look dirty and unpresentable. And then finally, this dense layer of fat needs to come off.
My eyes are wide as saucers. Chef Ramsay, it looks so smooth and precision-like. Everything is just moving like in well-oiled machine. Can we do this today? This is crazy. Once you get to the very end, give the bones a final polish. That is how you French trim a rack of lamb like a TRUE MASTER CHEF. GOOD LUCK. THANK YOU, CHEF.
ALL RIGHT, HOME COOKS, please go to your stations. As a rancher in Texas, I raise cattle. So, I know my way around the knife. This is going to be no big deal. This is like a cakewalk. I’m ready to take these young kids out. It’s time to send them back to their, you know, millennial life with the taverns, the beer, and hip-hop music.
In front of you, you each have a gorgeous raw rack of lamb. At the end of this challenge, you should be left with a pristine French rack of lamb, just like Gordon. The home cooks that complete this sk1lls challenge to our standards will be safe. But, those that fail to execute this technique will immediately face elimination challenge, where at least one of you will be sent home tonight.
You’ll all have 20 minutes to perfectly butcher those incredible racks of lamb. Is everyone ready? Yes, chef. Your 20 minutes starts now. Come on, GUYS. DO IT. NOW, FRENCH RACK OF lamb is the most pristine Rolls-Royce cut of lamb anywhere in the world. This is something that takes years to master in professional kitchens.
Gordon, you made it look easy, but what are the potential pitfalls? You have to be precise in every cut. Take too much fat off, and you’ve lost half the rack of lamb. There we go. Tonight’s purpose is all about trimming it properly, finish with those bones clean, and making sure that you’re left with 90% of that cannon intact.
You know, in Boston I have not butchered a rack of lamb, so it’s not something I’m familiar with, but my mother grew up on a farm. I always watched her in the kitchen growing up, and I just hope I paid enough attention back then, and paid enough attention just now when Chef was demonstrating.
I think I’m on the right path here, and I just got to keep doing what I’m doing. I have cleaned the rack of lamb before. It’s been a very long time. Rack of lamb was one of my sister-in-law’s favorite dishes, and she passed away 5 years ago, so I’m doing this for her. Guys, 5 minutes gone. 15 minutes to go. Got to be on those bones now.
Come on, you son of a Oh, man, got so much fat. Ebony Yes, Chef. Do you eat lamb often? I love lamb. I cook it almost every Sunday for my husband, but I’ve never cleaned one like this. Confident you get yourself up on the balcony? Uh hopefully. I’m hoping for that. Good luck. Thank you. All right, Jenny. Hi, Chef.
I’ve got to believe you’ve eaten some lamb in your day, no? No. Not really? Okay. You seem a little frazzled. What’s going on? Um start with a French cut is a little bit intimidating. I’m not sure what to leave and what to take off, and we’ll see how good I can make it. Jenny, I need to see that confidence out of you right now, okay? Please.
You can do it, all right? Good luck, Mama. Thank you. Stick with it. Right, Reba. You’ve done this before. No, sir. This is my first time. Really? I’ve never even ate lamb. What? No. Seriously? So, what’s the go-to meat that you hunt? Deer, squirrel, rabbit. Squirrel? You don’t eat squirrel, do you? Yeah. What part of the squirrel is the best bit for you, then? I like the squirrel legs.
Squirrel legs? My uncle likes to suck the brains. He sucks the brains? head in there and just suck the brains out of it. It’s just juicy and succulent and delicious. Are there worms? I don’t care. They’re good. Young lady, get yourself safe up on the balcony. Good luck. 10 minutes remaining. All right, Jason. Hi. How confident are you in this challenge? Uh I’m a little out of my element here.
Lamb used in Chinese cooking is always cut up into pieces, so this is just a very different presentation. I just want to do it justice. Well, you’re a teacher, right? So, you know what it takes to be a good student. So, stay focused. Good luck. Thank you, chefs. Right, Kate. Ever French trimmed one of these at home? No, but I’m very familiar with butchering deer. Right.
You know, I grew up hunting and fishing and being like a wild child. Wow. How confident are you to nail this tonight? what? I’m confident. I just need to get this Frenching technique down. Good luck, young lady. Woohoo! Five, four, three, two, one. Stop! Hands up. Wow. Well done. It’s time to find out who did enough to get themselves safe up there on the balcony.
Jason, you’re a teacher. You work with numbers and grades all the time, right? Yes. How do you think you did? I think I did probably 92%. 92%. Jason You’re selling yourself short. This is more like a 98. All right. It has the right ratio of meat to a bone. The way that you brought down all of the fat right to the perimeter of the cannon or the eye, unbelievable job.
My man, you are definitely safe. Please go upstairs. very much. Thank you. 98% from Chef Sanchez. I mean, come on, for real? Look at that. I did To know that I got a nice passing grade and I’m up to the balcony, that’s the best feeling ever. Jennifer, describe your performance cuz you look like you’re struggling. I was struggling a little bit, but I feel like that I paid a lot of attention and I tried my best.
So, let’s cut straight to the chase. Those bones look terrible. There’s still meat on the bone, they are caked in sinew, and you haven’t focused on cleaning any of those bones. Yes, sir. I did That does not look like the Rolls-Royce of lamb. That looks like a dog chew. You are definitely not heading up on the balcony. I understand. Sam, how do you think you did? I did my best.
I got all of the fat off, I believe. I would have liked to have gotten the bones cleaner. Well, it’s very uneven. It’s been completely hacked up over there. You can see the grooves from your knife as you were sawing. That’s right. This doesn’t cut the mustard. You are not safe. All right, Kate. How do you think you did? Um, I’m happy it’s presentable, but I don’t think I’m the best butcher yet.
You know, I’m like a tomboy. I’m kind of rough around the edges. Well, Kate, I got to say there’s nothing rough around the edges about your butchery. This is a gorgeous Oh, jeez. gorgeous rack of lamb. It’s incredibly impressive. Thank you so much. Look at that beautiful cannon there.
Great job with those bones. They’re polished. That is the closest rack of lamb I’ve seen to Gordon’s all night. You are safe. Thank you. Head up to the balcony. Good girl. Coming. Beautiful. I mean, literally textbook. Yay! Ebony, you said this was the highlight of any Sunday lunch for your man. It is. Honestly, you’ve just taken the most expensive cut of lamb anywhere in the world Mhm.
and made it look the cheapest. Even the bones aren’t cleaned. Well, what happened? I was trying to take my time too much. That’s not French trimmed. That’s French screwed. See we’re eyeing lady. Mhm. I cannot believe that I messed up on something that I cook almost every week.
I just want to crawl under a rock right now because now I got to face elimination and this sucks. Jeff, it’s good. You are safe. Thank you. Brian, you’re safe. Congratulations. Thank you, Chef. Please head up to the balcony. Gabriel, you should be very proud of yourself. That’s one of the best ones we’ve seen. Head on up the balcony.
Great job. Thank you, Chef. That’s a lot of fat right there. Caitlin, I’m afraid to say you’re not safe. Daniel, those bones are immaculate. You are safe. Thank you very much, Chef. It’s like you were hacking at it. What’s happened to you? I wasn’t in the game today, Chef, and obviously this proves it. Jenny, you stay here.
Jessica, you know I mean, that is textbook. Bones are clean. You’ve got the cannon beautifully round. When you see something that beautiful before it’s even cooked, can you imagine what that looks like when it comes out of the oven and hits the table? You’re beyond saved. Thank you, chef.
Thank you so much. Head on upstairs. Reba, how’d you do? I don’t think I done too bad for my first time. Got to tell you, Reba, in all the weeks I’ve seen you cook in this kitchen, I’ve never seen you so comfortable before. Thank you, ma’am. It’s definitely one of the best of the night here. You are safe. Please head up to the balcony.
Great job. Nice job. Yay, Reba! It’s amazing. Way to go, Reba. Welcome to Las Vegas, one of the greatest culinary cities anywhere in the world. You four were at the bottom of the last pressure test. One of you is leaving MasterChef tonight. Tonight, we will test you in a real restaurant.
But, this isn’t just any Vegas restaurant. It’s mine. This is burger. We average about 860 burgers a night. Usually, that’s achieved with one executive chef, three sous chefs, and nine cooks. But, they’re not working tonight. You are. There’s no team pick. We decide the teams. Beth, you’re cooking with Natasha. Luca, you’re cooking with Katie.
When it comes you know to cooking sk1lls and creativity, I think I would have liked to have somebody else in my team. Are you ready? Yes, chef. Your 60-minute prep starts now. Let’s go. Good luck. When service begins, every customer will get one burger from each team. The blue team will be serving a beef burger with crispy prosciutto, goat cheese, arugula, and an aioli sauce.
While the red team will be serving a beef burger with caramelized onions and arugula. Let’s go, guys. Let’s go. I’ve got burgers in the windows, guys. Luca, Yeah. you got 1 minute left. We are behind. We are behind. I don’t know We are behind. Chef Ramsay calls an order of two. The blue team puts up two burgers.
I look around. I don’t have burgers ready. I need this next table, chef. Coming now, Joe. Red team, you’re falling behind, guys. Come on, Luca. We need them patties. Yeah, if they’re not ready, they’re not ready. What do you want me to do? Luca, Yes, chef. YOU GOT TWO BURGERS IN THE WINDOW. ALL OF IT’S GONE.
Who do I put the onion in? Put the onion in. Five, four, three, two, one. Luca, what’s the temperatures in there? Medium, chef. Luca, Yes, CHEF. CATHY, YES, CHEF. COME HERE, BOTH OF YOU. Is it all DON’T NO, NO, NO, JUST TOUCH IT. Is it all Look at it. It’s still moving. It’s that raw. We’ve gone from the gourmet burger to steak tartare. Yes, chef. Stop.
You’ve lost it. Time up. 23, blue, go. Table 23, No red for 23. Red burger. Raw in the middle. All right, let’s go. Take that back. Then wake up. Okay, Gordon, the VIPs are in the house. How are you? Welcome. Hey, Sarah. It’s all the other contestants. Nice to see you, guys. No, it’s not really nice to see you cuz I know you’re not going to be nice with my burgers.
All four of you, let’s go. Yes, chef. Order up, chef. I get With the two teams now well into service, Ready. Order up. Luca decides to push the pace in the kitchen with the hope of gaining an advantage. This point, I start working well in the grill and I have a little bit of a strategy. I’m going to try to send the burgers out as fast as possible after Chef Ramsay calls them to try to catch Natasha and Beth behind so they can lose votes.
Next four, how long? NOW. Up now, sir, chef. 1 minute, let’s go, Natasha. Things on their side are going a lot Here you go, chef. Beth, come on. Natasha, come on. Come on. We’re just blowing through this service for these last 12 burgers. Go, guys. We’re coming. Beth and Natasha now are struggling. They are very, very, very frenetic, and that’s where they’re going to fall down.
Come on, blue team. I need these burgers. I got burgers dying in the window here. Let’s go. Blue team, 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Time’s up. Come on. Yes. I’m not going to let their burgers d1e in the window because you burnt your buns. And more importantly, you’re not even communicating as a team. If we lose, it’s because our burger was just not good enough.
But I know that out of 12, I got four already because of my strategy. VIPs, you all know why you’re here. One of these four is leaving the MasterChef competition tonight. Everybody else that has eaten in my restaurant tonight, they’ve already placed their votes. Let’s start the votes with Edd1e. Watching all the competitors vote is nerve-racking.
they would have done it before we got up here, you know? I don’t want to see them voting, especially when they’re not voting for our team. I’m not impressed with the red team. It’s a mediocre burger, but I have to vote for this burger because it’s the only one that was put in front of me.
5 4 3 2 1 Natasha, off you go. 30 minutes. Natasha has a a time limit on the $25 basket. I know that under pressure she hasn’t done so well before. You know, you only get one chance. She better hope that it’s right. I got my cauliflower going. Got my steak on. When I think about Walmart, I really don’t think about like an awesome steak, and this steak is pretty much like the bomb. It’s an amazing steak.
I’m feeling really confident. The person that Bree singled out, Natasha. She’s big competition and possibly top 10. So, I would like to see Natasha go home today. Uh visually, it looks beautiful. Um love the idea of those sweet potato fries. It’s difficult to nail that. Um three sauces. Um I mean, normally you’d serve one steak sauce.
You put three on there. Why? Um I kind of wanted to have a variety with um the sweet potato as well as the steak. Um what’s the rub on the uh steak? Um a little bit of brown sugar, some red chili flakes, salt, pepper. Nice sear. Beautifully done. You’ve nailed the temperature perfectly. Considering you had 30 minutes, uh you did a really good job. Very nice indeed.
Smart. What do you think Bree’s strategy was to get you out, somebody else out? I think she knows that I I know baking, and she thought that I’d struggle with only half an hour. Well, the actual cook on the steak is beautiful. It’s like a great mid-rare. The cauliflower, how’d you do those? Just roasted it with some olive oil, some brown sugar, some pepper and salt.
Really good. Good job, especially with the time you had. Thank you. Thanks. Message for Bree, you completely failed, 100%. Nice try. Wow.
