It’s already been a hectic week with Greta into the final and Chandler, Lily, Alysha and Indigo already getting the boot. Tonight, two more leave as either Jack, Zac or Harry will be thrown into the final two. Who will it be?
After some fleeting views of Sydney Harbour, the three boys to compete tonight head up towards the Sydney Opera House as we are reminded of how they all got to where they are today.
The four judges welcome them to Sydney Harbour and those shots are amazing. George runs through all the famous restaurants around the area as Matt spruiks his very own.
Gary tells them they are all world class and they have to cook the best food possible to get into the final.
We are reminded of Greta’s win yesterday. Gary tells them that two will be eliminated today.
Anna tells them that today, they will be cooking from the heart with no restrictions and can be their signature dishes.
They will have a whopping two hours to create a main course and a dessert. Anna tells them that the catch is, they can only spend one hour on each dish. They tell the contestants what they expect before their time begins. They rush to their benches which are fashionably placed near the harbour. Can you go to any famous location in Australia without seeing a set of MasterChef benches?
They are all grabbing stuff from their open pantry behind them and Gary jokes for them to just wheel the whole thing over to their plates.
Harry is doing a Rabbit Rack by the sound of things and Zac is doing a beach inspired dish. Gary goes over to him and he says he loves cooking despite only knowing how to do it for the last couple of years.
Gary then goes to Harry and realises he has a lot of mustard marinade but Harry says it is needed. Of course, it is for the main course but Harry confirms he has never made the dish before. He just wanted to go out on a limb.
To Jack and he is making a smoked rack of lamb, something that impresses Gary. He warns him not to overcook the lamb. To Jack, it will be a different experience smoking the lamb.
After the break, we are back in Sydney where they have 45 minutes remaining on their first dish. They are all working furiously with Zac working on his dip. Gary tastes his dip and thinks it is too eggy and asks him to put in more oil.
Harry has a lot of rabbit for a backup dish but finds he is cutting too much rabbit off the bones. Gary gives him a hand and he is soon onto cooking it. It looks beautiful!
They have 30 minutes left on the first portion and Jack is about to smoke his lamb in a test of skills. Hopefully it will work.
Zac is adding food colouring into salt as we see a back story of him. Jack is having a few problems with getting his smoker hot enough. He has fifteen minutes to go.
Harry is making his jus and he says it isn’t too hard. He runs through the whole process.
Jack’s smoke box is still not working and there’s only 10 minutes to go. He makes the decision to finish the dish in a pan.
Five minutes remain and his lamb racks aren’t cooking on the pan so Gary gives him ideas on what to do to make them cook faster. He just tries to maximise his time with the fry. Harry has confidently and calmly finished his dish (one that no one has ever done apparently).
Soon enough; time is up and they all seem somewhat happy.
After the break, it is time for dessert and their one hour begins. Jack will be doing a Black Forest cake and again, wee see a back story for Jack. Zac is making a rosewater meringue. Last time he tried to make a meringue, it didn’t work well. Hopefully he will have more luck today.
Harry is making White Chocolate friands and he begins to do the first few steps. George goes over to the winning streak contestant and walks through his successes. Harry thinks this dessert will knock their socks off. George says he no longer has to prove his worth to anyone but himself as he is a million miles ahead of everyone. Aww, how sweet! We see a back story of Harry again.
45 minutes remain in this challenge and George heads to Zac and walks through his successes. I’m guessing he will do the same with Jack.
Jack is rushing with so much to do, as is Harry by the look of it. Harry wants the friands to be perfect. Zac pipes out his meringues and apparently it isn’t going to work! The mixture is too runny. He begins to stress but tries to keep himself focussed. He has to start over yet again! Oh dear!
After the break, Zac begins on his second egg white batch having wasted 20 minutes on the first. 30 minutes remain and Zac has his new mixture done, but will it be good? He thinks he may be known as the demon of meringues.
It looks much better and he is happy with it, putting them in the oven.
He now goes for all the other aspects of the dish.
Jack is starting to plate up his intricate dish and he is working towards amazing presentation. Zac gets his meringues out and they are perfectly cooked. 2 minutes remain and it is all about the plating up.
Harry thinks the other two dishes look amazing and he runs us through it. Come on, Harry. Leave it to the judges.
Ten seconds remain and it was a race to the finish as the challenge comes to an end.
Jack thinks his two dishes look amazing and they all high five each other with the end of the final challenge before the finale.
Now to the challenge and Gary compliments the setting and debriefs the challenge.
Zac will be first for tasting. To summarise and he has done a Seafood Platter for a main and a Rosewater Meringue dessert.
Time to taste and Zac leaves for the process. It seems it was too salty. Matt compliments the whole dish except having the prawns on the salt which is blue, turning the prawns blue. Anna loves the story.
To the dessert and they do like it with Anna loving the meringue and George loving the combination of flavours. Still, I don’t think that’ll save him.
Harry is next and he has Pan-Fried Rabbit Racks for mains and Raspberry and White Chocolate Friand for dessert. They seem to love the main, especially the mustard marinade. Anna thinks he has cooked the rabbit to perfection. The uplifting music pretty much sums up the verdict for this show.
There is mixed reactions for his dessert but overall, they seem to like it.
Jack is last with his very big dessert which is bigger than the main. He has lamb cutlets for mains and ‘Jack’s Black Forest Garden’.
They try the lamb and George loves the presentation and calls the taste ‘glorious’. Actually, we could have 2 out of 2 finales with a ‘Jack’ in it. They do condemn the small portion.
To the dessert and they love all the individual elements. Except for the cherry with the pip. They love the rest of the meal.
Now for the results and Greta is standing there waiting for the verdict Which boy will join her. Harry wants it so bad and his constant hogging of the cutaway pretty much confirms his place in the top two.
So, who will actually join Greta.
The winner of today’s challenge and therefore the second finalist for 2011 is… Jack! Well, I’ll eat my hat! Another bloody Jack! Let’s see if he gets further than Jack Lark!
That does mean the end of the line for Zac and Harry who will leave the top four with a big cash prize. They get their prizes and we see a final recap of their time on the show. They say goodbye and hear some final comments from the finalists and the episode ends.
A very well done episode if I say so myself. Nothing much to add to the criticism but to say it was fun, exciting and a little sad; but possibly a few too many minutes of camera time for Harry and Zac and not so much for Jack. We hardly bloody saw him!
Well, that’s the final episode before the finale and a small note…
Remember parents, LET YOUR KIDS STAY UP FOR THE ENTIRE FINALE TOMORROW! I’m sure TEN don’t want no angry letters!
Courtney’s Verdict: 9.3 (just to be a bit different)/10
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