- Gordon: Previously... - Welcome to the tenth anniversary season
- of "MasterChef!" - Today I get the opportunity
- to make my dream come true. - Let's go, baby!
...America's most talented home cooks put their best dish forward.
I can't stop eating this, personally.
Holy .
Mum, do you think he's done enough to deserve an apron?
You're going to give him.
And a few battle it out for a spot in the competition.
The person earning that final apron...
...Micah.
This is the best auditionsin over a decadeof this competition.
Tonight on "MasterChef"...
You are the top 20.
the competition kicks off...
Welcome to culinary boot camp.
- I'm gonna be your drill sergeant. - Oh.
...as the top 20 face their first big challenge.
First chance to prove myself andI do not wanna go home today.
Their skills are put to the test for a chance at immunity.
Gordon: What a way to separate the cooks from the chefs.
You're making stupid mistakes and I'm losing my patience.
You shouldn't even be hereif you don't have these skills.
And it's the first mystery box elimination challenge.
- Oh! What? - Aarón: Make us a dish
that screams Chef Gordon.
Just put something on the plate!
There's one more thing that we do need to tell you.
What the hell is happening here?
Gordon: Welcome, guys.
Please make your way down to the front.
- Whoo! - Let's get it! Let's get it!
- Let's get it! - Gordon: Let's go, guys.
This is it.
- Wow. - Awesome.
I'm top 20 in "MasterChef" season ten.
This is insane.
Coming from Texas and travelingaround with the military,
never did I thinkI was gonna be in this position,
and it's incredible.
Gordon: This is it,
the top most talented 20 home cooks
from all across America.
The kitchen is the heartbeat of an Italian family.
So to be here in this incredible kitchen,
I'm living my dream.
Here's the deal.
One of you will be America's next MasterChef!
What's up with that?
Yes.
A lot of cooks have walked through those very doors
over the last ten seasons.
For you 20,
your story in this kitchen starts right now.
How about this incredible MasterChef kitchen?
Just by being in this competition alone
you get to cook with the world's best ingredients
alongside the world's best kitchen,
including a chef's dream,the most amazing Viking ranges.
We've set you all up
with the perfect toolsthat you need to succeed
across this competition.
But know that just one of you
is gonna win some life-changing prizes.
For the first time ever
in the history of this competition,
training in Joe, Aarón, and my restaurant.
Thank you, Chef.
And you will get a quarter of a million dollars.
- Wow! - Yeah!
Now, are you guys ready to get started?
- All: Yes, Chef! - Yes!
Do you know the secret to any great dish?
Preparation.
It's 90% of the battle.
So, we need to make sure
that you guys are truly prepared.
You have to show us
that you can work under extreme pressure.
In front of you,you've got six essential skills
that any talented chef must master.
All of you, welcome to your culinary boot camp.
Tonight, I'm gonna be your drill sergeant.
Oh, great.
- Yes. - Oh, my gosh.
All of you, watch very carefully.
Does it get better than Gordon Ramsay
four feet in front of you
showing you how to break something down?
I mean people pay thousands of dollars for a lesson like that.
A beautiful fine dice of onion.
One finger in front, two fingers behind.
Let the knife do the work.
Don't worry about the speed. Focus first on the technique.
Slice through, then from there,
chop down right down to the very edge.
In. Now, peppers.
Slice it nice and thinly.
Once you're confident with a knife,
maybe two slices at at time under.
Gordon Ramsay is like a ninja in that kitchen.
Supreming grapefruit.
Into the segments we come down,
and we-- we squeeze out.
Now I can go in with not one ounce of pith on there.
He is making all of that prep work look so easy,
and I already know that a good amount of us are gonna struggle with this.
So you take a nice plush of basil.
Once we've got the little leaves,
we sort of form a little stack.
And then from there, roll them nice and tightly
without bruising them, almost like a cigar.
And thinly slice.
The secret of chiffonading any herb
is making sure the goodness stays in the herb
and not on the board.
There's a bunch of ingredients that I like,
but staring me right in the eyes
is the stupid fish.
Filleting a fish.
The secret here is the flexibility of the knife.
Pull up a fish. Semi round, come in around the head.
Over, in, nice broad strokes.
Let the knife do the work.
Over the bone into that ribcage.
Come down, 'cause it's flexible in those bones.
Lay that back down and off.
Okay, back around.
Back through the gill, tilt the tail,
over the ribcage.
Make sure you go all the way to the head.
Come up, and again, down, off.
Okay, I wanna see the transparent bone on there.
- Okay? No waste. - Wow.
And then finally, eggs.
Hand nice and clean, egg cracked.
And you're sort of nipping with your fingers
without breaking the yolk, very carefully.
Keep an eye on making sure there is no shell.
And more important, there's no yolk in my white
that could destroy the texture of a soufflé
or completely screw a sauce.
And that is how you separate an egg.
Now, this challenge is about skill.
And if you can't master the basics,
you cannot call yourselves a MasterChef.
This here is your first
immunity challenge.
That was four minutes and 55 seconds
to do all six skills.
Tonight, you've all got ten minutes.
Oh, .
Tonight, you're lucky 'cause I'm feeling nice.
You'll dice three onions, fillet a fish,
- and separate two dozen eggs. - Okay.
- Thank you, Jesus. - Wow.
- Gordon: Understood? - All: Yes, Chef!
I flip houses, so I know pressure.
I know what it means to be under time.
Ten minutes to do three ingredients,
this is definitely something I can handle.
Your preparation has to look professional.
If it's not good enough to use in one of my restaurants,
then I have no use for you in this competition.
- Is that clear? - All: Yes, Chef.
- You guys ready? - All: Yes, Chef!
Now, listen carefully.
Your first chance for immunity is on the line right now.
And if you do well here, and you excel,
you will be safe from elimination.
Please, all of you, head to your stations.
- Yes, Chef. - Yes, Chef.
- Let's go. - Liz: Immunity is here,
and it's serious, and I do not wanna go home today.
First chance to prove myself, and I'm going on that balcony.
Your ten minutes start...
...now! Let's go.
- Come on. - Come on, guys.
- That's the noise I want to hear. - Exactly.
Chop, chop, chop, chop, chop.
Joe: You know, guys, this is a tall order.
You're gonna be judged on the quality of the cut...
- Damn it. - ...the speed,
and you have that time clock that's ticking.
Kimberly: I'm not doing it fast enough.
I'm already behind.
I'm just praying at this point
that there's somebody doing worse than me.
Guys, I have to say, I'm very impressed
- with the level of dexterity out there. - Gordon: Yeah.
Gordon: Absolutely. Jamie, great job.
Renee, well done.
What a way to separate the cooks from the chefs.
And it's a first chance for all of us
to absolutely understand what we've got to work with
on a skill level.
Noah, is already on to his fish, onions done.
First three minutes. Brilliant.
Michael's also doing a really good job.
He's got great technique.
You can see all of these home cooks
ready to tackle the next task.
My family has a beach home on the gulf.
I catch flounder. I like to fillet it.
And it might not be 100% technical,
but I know how to get a good piece of meat.
- Gordon: Halfway, guys! Let's go. - Halfway.
Gordon: Speed, come on. Speed, speed, speed.
Come on, Sarah. Onions should be done.
Let's go, come on!
Kimberly, let the knife do the work.
Don't cut too close to the head
'cause you won't get past that first big bone.
- Okay. - Aarón: Come on, Nick.
My dad taught us to fillet fishwhen I was really young,
so I filleted a ton of fish in my time.
3:20 remaining.
Uh, Evan is still on onions. What is going on?
- Fred, come on, let's go. - I'm going way too slow.
Start thinking about eggs, everyone, please.
Damn it.
- Aarón: We're coming down to crunch time right here. - Look at that.
- Renee on her second carton of eggs already. - Aarón: Yeah. Outstanding.
Gordon: Noah, incredible. Jamie, incredible.
One tiny piece of shell, one tiny piece of yolk
- will keep you down here.
90 seconds remaining.
Son of a .
My knife skills and my fish filleting skills
and even my egg separating skills are good.
But at home you don't have Gordon yelling at you
that there's 90 seconds left.
Gordon: It's immunity!
You want that safety net.
30 seconds remaining, come on!
Renee has finished, clearing down as well.
Aarón: Let's go, Subha.
Chefs: Ten, nine, eight, seven,
six, five, four,
- three, two, one. - Stop, stop.
- Aarón: That's it. - Hands in the air. Well done.
- Gordon: Amazing.
As a reminder,
if you did a good job, you are heading up
onto the most exclusive balconyin this kitchen.
But if we don't send you up,
tonight you will face elimination.
Okay, let's go.
Onions all over the place there.
A bit messy.This is a problem.
Oof.
- Yeah. - Okay, um, young lady, what happened?
My nerves got the best of me.
Egg whites, you've only got literally ten in there.
Unfortunately, you know your fate. You're staying where you are.
Thank you.
Kenny, okay.
Onions.
You see these big clumps in there,
- you take them out. - Joe: You can't use them.
Now, I'm concerned
because you've missed half the fish off there
- on the inside. - Yeah.
Not good.
- A bit messy. - Kenny: Yeah, time got to me.
- Kenny, you're staying put. - Yep.
Yep. Thank you, Chef.
Clearly, these are staple skillsthat people should have.
You can talk a great game,
but, really, when it comes down to it,
you need to throw down in the kitchen.
Noah, your onions, they look great.
- They're uniform. - Yes, sir.
- The fish is spot-on. I think it's indisputable. - Well, thank you, Chef.
As far as the eggs, don't see any yolk in there.
Don't see any whites in there. You know what?
Noah, your proficiency and your speed
work to your benefit.
Please, get upstairs to that balcony, okay?
- Thank you, my friend. Thank you, Chef. - Gordon: Great job.
For them to see what I did
and send me up on that balcony...
- That is impeccable. - Yeah.
...I'm feeling like
this is the greatest blessing
that I've ever had.
- Hey, Jamie. Let's see this. - How you doing, guys?
Jamie: I'm a professional fisherman.
I'm a ninja with a knife.
I can dismember any kind of fishyou put in front of me.
The hard part is we got two dozen eggs to separate.
All I want to hear is, "You're going to the balcony."
Pretty good, consistent. Very nice.
Thank you.
This is textbook.
- I hope so.
Yeah. All right, you did really good.
I think this is overall...
...a really nice job. Go on upstairs, Jamie.
Thank you.Appreciate it, guys.
- Thank you, Chefs. - Well done, Jamie, well done!
If I'm gonna be in a situation where somebody can share some knowledge,
I'm gonna take it all in and I'm gonna try to replicate it.
So, Wuta, the fish looks super hacked up.
I think the pressure got to you,
and it's evident in your performance.
- You're staying right here. - Yes, Chef.
You shouldn't even be hereif you don't have these skills.
Deanna, why the face?
I'm not proud of myself.
- There's no separation. - Can't bake with that.
- Aarón: So, you're staying down here. - Okay.
Bri, half the fish left on thereand half the fish on there.
It's like it's come from a different body.
You're staying where you are.
- Fillets are very well done. - Thank you very much.
- Did you do all the eggs? - Yes, sir.
Wow. Head on up to the balcony.
- Good job. - Thank you, guys.
Now, your fish, how do you feel you did here?
I've never done this before.
It shows 100%.
You're staying right here.
This is, uh, not very good.
- Right. - Looks like the cat's mauled your fish.
Stay where you are, please. Thank you.
Subha, I love this beautiful fillet.
Go upstairs to that balcony.
- Thank you, Chef. - Thank you.
- Fillets. - Hmm.
Nicely done. Nick, head upstairs.
- Good job. - Thank you, Chef.
- You ever filleted a fish before? - Never.
- Perfection. - That's good as Jamie's,
and he's a professional fisherman.
- Joe: Head on upstairs. - Aarón: Those are beautiful. Textbook.
- Gordon: The best. - Please get upstairs to that balcony.
- Thank you, guys. Thank you. - What happened here?
What am I supposed to do with this?
- You're staying here. - Okay, Chef.
The yolks, nicely done. A lot of them whole.
Um, I'm impressed.
- Head upstairs. Congrats. - Thank you, Chef.
You can actually see through there, Sam.
Fish filleted beautifully.
- Head upstairs. - Thank you. Thank you.
All right, Evan.
- Smaller on the bottom, they get bigger on top. - Aarón: Yeah.
Are you sure?
Ooh, yeah. A bit mangled.
You didn't get to many of these, huh?
- Wasn't my best effort. - Joe: No.
A little bit deficiency in the onions.
Deficient on the fish and the yolks.
Sorry, Evan, you're staying down here.
The pressure of being in this, like, kitchen
definitely wears on your nerves.
You can knock this out all day at home,
but when you're in this kitchen,
it's a completely different game.
Fred, you seem very frazzled down here.
Have you filleted fish before?
- Yes. - Okay.
Your fillets, um, I think...
...are great, actually, to be honest, okay?
Both your fillets are uniform. They're beautiful.
You have the belly flap on this one.
So, I mean, that's textbook there, okay?
- Thank you. - Hopefully, you can take a breath now, right?
Okay, cool. Your onions look beautiful and your eggs are good.
Fred, please, untighten your apron a little bit. You know why?
'Cause you're gonna have to walk upstairs to that balcony.
- Thank you. Thank you all. - Yeah, Fred!
Come on, Fred! Get up here, Fred!
I'm relieved, but I just felt like I was panicked,
I was disorganized.
I will just take this opportunity to calm down
and not feel so insecure about my cooking.
I'm gonna have to teach you to get out of your head.
- Thank you, Renee. - Come on.
What an amazing skills test.
For the ten remaining,
I hope that you can all thrive under pressure.
- Lift. Let's go! - Gordon: Coming up,
the cooks face their first
mystery box challenge of the season...
I don't know which one to pick.
...and fight to keep their aprons.
Just put something on the plate!
For the ten remaining,
I hope that you can all thrive under pressure.
Please, make your way down to the front.
Wuta: I'm nervous, but I'm not tripping.
You mess up, you shake it off,
and I teach my students that all the time.
Now, all of you are about to face your first elimination challenge.
And that means tonight
at least one of you will beleaving the MasterChef kitchen.
Please, all of you, put on your black aprons.
Putting on the black apron is really horrible,
but I have to push through andcook the best dish I can today.
Tonight, it's everybody's favorite MasterChef challenge.
That's right, your very first mystery box.
But, unfortunately, for at least one of you,
it could be your last.
All of you, head to your stations.
- Let's go. - Bri: The mystery box.
I'm excited because that meansthat I have room for creativity,
which is definitely one of my strengths.
On the count of three, lift your boxes.
One, two, three.
Lift.
- Oh, what? - Heck, yeah.
We are celebrating ten seasons of "MasterChef,"
and ten seasons of Gordon.
Tonight, we want one of my three favorite proteins
to be the real star of your dish.
Most importantly,
tonight's dish should be inspired by me
and my personality.
So, your dish can be tough.
Or it could be sour.
Or soft on the inside and rich.
Rich?
You'll have full access
to the beautiful MasterChef pantry.
Plus, we decided to Brit-tify the ingredients.
You'll have just one hour to make us a dish
that just screams Chef Gordon.
And, remember, while you guys cook,
we see and judge every detail of what you do.
Right. Your one hour starts...
...now. Let's go.
Let's go, guys! Come on, you got this.
Okay.
Where are the thingies?
- Okay, gonna take two. - Mint.
I'm making a herb and Dijon crusted pork chop
with braised cabbage and apples
and a bright English pea puree.
Where's the British peas?
I know I'm gonna be able to nail it
and create something that embodies Gordon.
Worcestershire sauce.
Heading out.
- Whoo! - Let's go, guys!
- Careful, careful. - Let's go. Let's go.
Let's go. Ingredients out.
I am making a harissarubbed pork chop
on top smashedfingerling potatoes witha little English cheddar,
which is one ofmy favorite ingredients.
I know what I'm doing,so now it just comesdown to executing.
Joe: All right, guys, first mystery box,
and for at least one of these ten home cooks,
- Gordon: Yes. - it will be there last time.
I'd rather be down here cookingthan standing up there staring.
The more opportunities you get to cook in the MasterChef kitchen,
- the stronger of a cook you are. - Gordon: Absolutely.
Three incredible proteins. If they were smart tonight they'd cook two proteins,
and then drop one with minutes to go.
Aarón: I think the scallops and the pork are relatively similar
in what you would pair them with.
So we're talking corn, we're talking peas,
we're talking chilies.
- Look good, Kenny. - Glad you're here to help me.
Back in Boston, we can go to any restaurant,
my kids say to me, "Dad, why isn't it like yours?"
They don't make it with love. Love is the secret ingredient.
And if I get a chance to have my restaurant,
you're gonna be able to get thathome cooking experience there,
'cause I'm gonna cook it like I would for my family.
There you go. Salt it, Kenny.
- There you go. - Come on, Kim.
I am makingan herb crusted lamb
with a roastedspiced red potato.
- Love those bold flavors, Kim.- I do feel pressure,
but I have deadlines allthe time at work as a designer.
Panicking is not gonna make it go any better,
so I try to stay pretty levelheaded.
Just over 30 minutes to go, guys.
- Nearly halfway. - Damn, I'm getting hungry.
- Me, too. - Joe: All right, Shari.
Looks like you're making a curry.
- I am. - Talk to us.
So I'm making a curry
because it is Britain'snational dish.
- That's true.- And I know that Gordon Ramsay loves a good curry.
Have you always had a strong affinity to Indian flavors?
My husband is Indian,and this is the very first dish
- that I learned. - Oh, okay.
- So if I screw this up. - Aarón: Yeah.
Both your husband and Gordon will have your head.
- Mostly my mother-in-law. - And your mother-in-law.
- So what are you gonna pair this with? - I'm gonna do scallops.
- Gauge the sweetness level of the scallop. - Right.
Then that will inform how much spice,
- how much seasoning you put in your curry. - Okay.
- Joe: Good luck. - Thank you.
You're doing good, Shari. Keep it up.
Focus, Miss Deanna. Good girl.
Deanna: I am on this Earth to become a chef.
My husband and my daughter, they know my heart,
they know my passion, they know my determination.
I wanna make them proud,
- so I do not wanna go home today. - Right, Deanna.
- Yes, Chef. - What's going through your mind?
I am making a lovelypan-seared scallop
with a blood orange jus on it,a frisée fennel salad,
and also I am makinga rosemary potato puree.
- It sounds British. - Yes.
- It sounds intriguing. - Yes.
- Have you cooked many scallops before? - Oh, yeah.
Cooked quite a few in my life.
- Don't overcook them. - Yes.
I would be so upset if you left tonight.
Chef, I'm gonnatell you something.
I didn't come allthis way to leave.
- I'm not leaving. - Good.
- I love that determination. - Thank you, Chef.
- That rosemary smells amazing, Wuta. - Mm-hmm.
So, Wuta, talk to usa little bitabout your dish.
I think about Gordonas being tough but gentle,
so I'm playingwith textures.
I have some fondant potatoesin the oven right now.
- Okay. - And for the pork chop,
I'm playing withthe Worcestershire sauce
and the ketchupto make a marinade.
- Ketchup? - Ketchup, okay.
- Wuta: Yeah. - And that's actually very English.
So you're gonna use pork
to be the main feature of your dish, right?
Possibly. I'm also gonnaplay with the scallops.
- So you have two options. That's good. - Yeah.
Are you gonna taste your product before you go
- to serve the final dish? - Always.
I'm gonna put it in mouthand spit it out,
but I want the flavor profileto be right.
So you don't like pork.
I'm a vegetarian.I don't eat any meat.
Oh, you don't eat any meat. Okay.
All right. Good luck, Wuta.
Liz, tell me about the dish. What are you doing?
I'm doing crusted herblamb chop today.
A caramel potatowith a mint pea pesto.
My grandfather used tocook lamb on a spit.
- Wow, yeah? - He was Croatian.
- Make sure that lamb is rested. - Absolutely.
- Good luck. Amazing. - Awesome. Thank you, Chef.
My divorce, it was heartbreaking.
But it also is a godsend
because it's driving me to follow my dream
of becoming a chef.
15 minutes remaining.
Let's go, guys. Come on. Taste everything.
Whoa.
- Dorian, how are you feeling? - I'm good.
What's the dish? Tell me what you're doing.
I am making a potato crispand herb crusted pork chop.
- Where's me on the plate? - So this is gonna have layers
and beautiful colors to it.
- Like yourself. - Yeah, exactly.
And then I'm usingsome of the ingredientsfrom Great Britain.
- Love that. - Mm-hmm.
- Have you ever been to Great Britain? - No. Never.
I'll cook for you if you ever get yourself to England.
Oh, okay.Well, then next ticketis on you then.
- Good luck. - Thank you.
- What? - Oh, there you go.
- Kenny, those look awesome dude. - Kenny, beautiful color.
- Kenny. - They got tons of scallops in the northeast.
- How are you feeling about this? - I'm feeling pretty good.
My scallops will beon a bed mushy peas
with a side of roastedfingerling potatoes.
- Kenny, I'm gonna ask you one thing. - Yes.
You had all the time in the world to take one scallop,
sear it, try it, and then adjust the final dish.
Now you have all your eggs in that basket.
- What is the matter with you? - Um...
It's either gonna come out good or bad,
and you're making stupid mistakes
and I'm losing my patience.
- Try it, taste it out, okay? - That's right.
Don't stress out, Kenny.
Kenny, just stay calm.
Just over five minutes remaining.
Last five minutes.
- Look at Shari. Just put the scallops in. - Gordon: Yeah.
- Five minutes to go. That's cooking like a chef. - Yes.
And she's already tasted one as well,
so she knows how long it's gonna take,
what the seasoning is. I love that.
Gordon: Deanna, so she's doing scallops
with a Yukon gold potato puree.
And then she's doing, like, a vinaigrette, but she's using the base of the sour cream.
I'm just hoping she tastes that to understand
- what she's working with. - Yeah.
It tastes really good.
Taste, taste, taste,taste, taste.
Two minutes, guys. Come on, this is it.
Let's go. Taste everything,
and be absolutely decisive with your plating.
The pork, the scallops--I don't know which one to pick.
She's got scallops and the pork chop.
Oh, I don't knowwhich one to pick!
Dorian, one plate, please.
Hurry up, Evan. Micah, speed up. Let's go.
Wuta, you've got 60 seconds.
- Aarón: Here we go. - Uh, what do I want?
Just put something on the plate!
Gordon: One stunning plate.
Aarón: Beautiful presentations are to be expected.
- This looks like crap. - Let's go, guys.
Aarón: Coming down to it.
Oh, .
Ten, nine, eight, seven, six,
five, four, three, two, one.
- Aarón: That's it. - Gordon: Hands in the air.
- Whoo! - Whoo!
- Let's have a much closer look, shall we? - Mm-hmm.
Let's go.
Wow.
Joe: Is this dish, for you, in balance?
I feel that it is,but I would loveyour guidance.
Liz, what was the deciding factor to go with lamb?
It brings back somefamily memories,
and I just feltthat the lamb went wellwith the caramel potato.
Where have you seen caramelized potatoes before?
- Luxembourg. - Mm-hmm.
- Hello, Kimberly. - Hello, Chefs.
Joe: So, the crust on the rack is what?
Rosemary, garlic, salt,pepper, and olive oil.
The potatoes area spicy roasted red potato.
Yeah.
- Micah, you happy with the dish? Mm-hmm. - Yes, Chef.
- Have you cooked much pork before? - Yes.
I'm very comfortablewith pork.
- Kenny. - Chefs.
Is this plating representative
of what you're looking to achieve in this kitchen?
It's representative of me.
- We eat big. - Okay.
Thank you.
- Dorian, you were a busy bee. - Yes.
I feel in love with both plates.
But I felt like the porkwas a little overdone,
so I picked the scallops.
Thank you.
Bri, so you cooked three scallops.
You leave two off. Why?
One was a testerthat I made earlier on.
The fourth I madejust as a backup.
Evan, so you seemed to be juicing a lot of that sauce.
That was somethingI was playing with.
Did you taste that?
Mm-hmm.
Shari, are you making your mother-in-law proud with this dish?
I'm happy with the scallops.
The sauce, my mother-in-lawwould not be happy with.
Fortunately for you, she's not judging tonight.
All right, Wuta, so you went with two proteins?
You have this pork chop here
that you didn't put on the plate,
and you have these scallops.
What was the decision based on?
I really wishI plated the pork
because that marinadeI think was amazing.
I put the scallopsbecause I didn't wannagive you guys pork
that may havebeen undercooked.
- And I regret that. - I know you're a vegetarian.
- Did you taste this pork? - Yes, I did.
- And how did it taste? - It was amazing. It was amazing.
- Did you spit it out? - Yes.
Even as amazing as it was?
Yes, I spit it out.
Aarón: We need a moment to discuss. Excuse us.
- So, um... - Yeah.
Kenny: Yeah, I'm a little nervous.
I think that Joe getting angry with me
might've been the kiss of death.
Maybe he holds me to a higher standard
because I'm an Italian like him
and we love food the way we do.
But I think I put everything I had on this plate.
- Shall we? - Yeah.
Gordon: Okay, listen, when I call your name,
I'd like youto make your way down
to the front here, please.
First up, Micah.
Kimberly.
Bri.
Shari.
And... Dorian.
Dorian: I'm not sure what's happening right now,
but I can't go home
because I have a little girl who's watching me.
My end is going to be winning "MasterChef"
and letting people know that I'm more than
just what they see and what I've been through.
I'm going to get straight to the point.
The five of you cooked...
the best dishes across tonight's challenge.
- Well done. Great job.
- Head upstairs. - Great job, guys.
Great job, well done.
Well done. Proud of y'all.
I'm happy, so happy, I got my apron back.
Thank you.
I wanna get as much knowledge from the judges
as I possibly can.
Hopefully, it'll take me all the way to the end.
You rocked out.
So, you five, unfortunately,
your dishes felt a little lackluster.
So, we need to taste your dishes one more time.
And it's not just one person we're sending home tonight.
- I told you. - It's two.
Welcome to season ten, my friends.
I hope you make it.
It's not just one person we're sending home tonight.
- I told you. - It's two.
First up, Deanna,
please bring your dish down. Thank you.
I am honestly feeling like I'm going to the guillotine.
It is the worst feeling in the whole world.
I think my dish is good,
but I'm seeing the mistakes that I made.
Describe the dish, please.
Chefs, tonightI have made for you
a pan-seared scallopwith a blood orange frisée
and fennel salad, and thena potato mashed with rosemary.
Where's me on that plate?
I wanted to make somethinglean and sexy and refined.
- Lean, sexy, and refined. - Yes.
I'm old enough to be your granddad.
Have you ever seen salad
and mashed potatoes in the same dish?
If I'm thinking back, no.
The sear on the scallops looks good. Let's get that right.
It's all about what it's like inside.
You actually cooked the scallops beautifully.
It's the composition of the dish
that just does not work.
Now I'm gonna put salad, cucumber, scallops,
with the blood orange on one fork.
It's a bizarre flavor.
I begged you all to taste your food.
The mashed potatoes with the scallops does not work.
I think that you were in a really good path
when it comes to blood orange and scallop.
- I love that all day. - I didn't wanna do lemon
'cause I felt likethat was the go-to.
So I was likehow can I get sexy with it?
And I love the fennel as well. It just--
it's not the right vehicle with that salad.
Fennel puree. Do I wanna see it in a salad tonight?
Not really. Would I puree it? Absolutely.
I think your quest for sexy has resulted in senseless.
I'm sorry.
- Thank you, Deanna. - Thank you.
Next up, Liz, please. Make your way down, thank you.
Noah: Let's go, Liz!
My plate might not be perfect, but I think it looks great.
I'm excited to hear what the judges have to say.
I wanna learn and grow here,
and that's what I think "MasterChef" is all about.
- Liz, describe the dish please.- Today I'm sharing with you
an herb crusted lambwith a caramel potato,
spinach, and a peaand mint pesto.
And where's me on that plate?
I tried the English mustard,which was exciting.
And I made the peasand the mint pesto
to try to pull out those flavorsin the crust from the lamb.
I love the fact that you are very proud of the cook on the lamb
and you put that front and center.
I think that says a lot about your confidence when it comes to plating.
I just love the fact that you're not playing safe.
- The crust is what? - I did a panko bread crust
with English mustardand a little bit of honey,
and then I tossed in the warmherb mixture into the crust.
Here's the good news, you've really nailed it with the cook on the lamb.
That for me right there shows so much promise.
The one bizarre thing about this dish is the caramelized potatoes.
Okay, Chef.
Even though the peas are perfectly garlicky and seasoned well,
and the spinach as well, and the lamb is cooked right,
the potatoes just take the whole dish and... boom.
- Thank you, Liz. - Thank you.
Next, Evan. Let's go, please.
- Come on, Evan. - The skills test was a complete fluke.
That's not who I am as a chef.
I have a very diverse breadth of knowledge
that I have accumulated from my travels
and going out to all these restaurants
and hanging out with chefs.
So, I'm gonna get my apron back
and I'm gonna be back up in the balcony.
Describe the dish, please.
I have a searedharissa rubbed pork chop
on top of smashedfingerling potatoes
with roastedCipollini onions.
And where am I on your plate?
There's some of your fiery heatfrom the harissa on the rub.
That's a big, thick pork chop
to get the temperature right like that.
- It's not bad. - It is cooked beautifully.
- Joe: Yeah. - Gordon: Pork is delicious.
Potatoes actually taste better than they look.
I don't think that you overcooked the rub,
which is what a lot of amateur cooks do.
I just think aesthetically, it's off-putting
and it's missing a fresh element.
- It just needs more. - It's a season five dish.
- Gordon: Mm-hmm. - Now we want the aesthetic, we want dishes that pop.
Season ten, the level's here. We want it all.
- Thank you, Evan. - Great job.
- Good job. - Good job.
Next up, Kenny, please. Let's go.
- Come on, Kenny. - Let's go, Kenny.
I'm feeling pretty nervous right now.
After all the hard work and sacrifice to get my apron,
the last thing I wanna do is go home.
Describe the dish, please, Kenny.
I made youa pan-seared scallop
on a bed of spinach,mushrooms, and shallots,
surrounded byroasted fingerling potatoesand mushy peas.
It's one of the ugliest dishes I've ever seen.
It reminds me of a fungal infection.
It's one of the ugliest dishes I've ever seen.
It reminds me of a fungal infection.
It's really off-putting. Kenny, I'm sorry.
Scallops got great color. How long were you cooking for?
Uh, 90 seconds a side.
What did you do with the lemon butter sauce?
The spinach, mushroom, shallotshad white wine and butter.
- So scallops are cooked nice. - Aarón: The sauce, I wish you would've omitted the wine.
It's not cooked out. It's very abrasive and very strong.
But I think you were on to something with the spinach,
and the peas are good.
All I would say is that had you done this...
...you might be upstairs.
- Thank you, Kenny. - Thank you.
Woman: Way to go, Kenny.
Next up, Wuta, please. Let's go.
Noah: Let's go, Wuta.
Since I was a kid,I've always dealt with anxiety.
My anxiety made me second-guess how I should plate things,
and I'm worried that the judges are gonna see that
- and see an amateur. - Describe the dish, please.
We have pan-seared scallopwith fondant potatoes,
pea puree, and mushrooms.
And where am I on that plate?
The hard exteriorof the scallopsand the fondants.
We also have the pea puree
that is indicativeof English cuisine.
The plating really exemplifies
your lack of experience, to be very honest.
- Yes, Chef. - What'd you cook the fondants in?
I cooked themwith thyme, garlic,
rosemary,and some veggie stock.
The scallops are beautifully colored,
the fondants cooked, but it's a dish that doesn't sort of gel.
Wuta, I think you know how to cook.
You know how to treat ingredients with love.
Your biggest riddle is how to put them all together.
The most important thing about this plate...
is on the frickin' board.
You didn't put the best protein on the plate.
The pork was good.I should've just put it there.
- Thank you, Wuta. - With this competition,
I have to get out of my comfort zone.
If I don't get my anxiety in check fast,
I'm gonna be going home sooner than later.
Whilst we discuss all five of you,
make your waydown here, please.
Kenny: I'm feeling nauseous right now.
I didn't come all this wayto leave in the first challenge,
but you take a big breath and you hope for the best.
I mean, for me, it is all over the place.
There's no finesse there, is there?
- Just the proportions were off.- Joe: Yeah.
Aarón: Is that teachable?
It tasted way better than it looked, yeah.
- Ready? - Happy? Yeah.
- Gentlemen. - Get going.
Five of you stand in front of us,
and tonight, two of you will be going home.
When I call your name, please step forward.
Liz.
Wuta.
Wuta, it wasn't a plating.
It was a bunch of ingredients placed on a plate.
Liz, your caramelized potatoes were nonsensical,
and you can do a lot of things right,
and you do something so wrong
that it throws the whole dish off balance.
But...
...there were worse dishes tonight.
- You're not going home. - Thank you, Chef.
- Please, head to the balcony. - Thank you.
Liz: Hearing the judges say,
"Make your way up to the balcony,"
is incredible.
It's given me the opportunity
to show I'm here to learn and I'm here to grow.
Now the fact of the matter is that
two of you three are gonna be going home.
Evan, we all know that you've got bags of experience.
Unfortunately, tonight,
you didn't leave that experience on the plate.
Your time in the MasterChef kitchen...
...has not come to an end.
Head upstairs.
Evan: That was definitely humbling. Without question,
I've underestimated the MasterChef kitchen.
The bar's been raised for season ten,
so you really need to come with your A-game
or you're going home.
Deanna, Kenny, unfortunately, you've both cooked your last meal
inside this incredible kitchen.
Deanna, tonight you made an iconic mistake--
mashed potatoes served with salad.
Kenny, boy, you can cook.
It was the presentationthat we felt was unteachable.
I'm really sorry to see you both go,
and please place your aprons on your stove.
- Good night. - We love you guys!
- Love you. - We love you.
Deanna: I'm totally disappointed.
I really wanted the chance to learn here,
but I'm proud I made it this far.
Kenny: I knew from the beginning coming in
that it takes a lot of finesse
to really impress those judges.
That finesse-- I just don't have.
But nothing is gonna stop my passion for cooking.