Previous Episode: MasterChef Australia Season Four – The Leftover Challenge
The red team lost last night, and tonight they’re dropping to a whole new level as they prepare to drop one competitor.
Up For Elimination: Amina, Andrew, TK, Julia, Alice, Jules, Tregan, Debra, Mario & Dalvinder.
Tonight’s elimination is split into two rounds. In the first round, contestants will be saved. The five contestants who do not get saved will enter the second and final sudden death elimination round. Onto elimination. Dalvinder walks in and she’s crying. She doesn’t feel she is able to perform at her best. It’s affecting her a lot. She says her biggest highlight so far is cooking with scallops. Julia bigs herself up, saying she’s not used to being not good at things. The contestants find out the theme for their elimination challenge today is poultry.
Round 1: Name That Bird: In front of the contestants are ten different, raw, birds. The contestants have to write down what they think the bird in front of them is. Gary goes to the first bird on the line and asks them to write down what they think it is. The first five to give incorrect answers will go into the second round.
Progress: All contestants answer chicken for the first bird. They are all right. Everybody answers duck for the next bird, except TK who answers Pheasant. She is wrong and is sent into the next round. Debra has written goose, and is also wrong. The next bird has everyone correctly guessing quail. The next bird is simple- a turkey. No one gets it wrong. The next bird is harder- a squab. Tregan gets poussin and is put into elimination. For the next bird, people begin guessing pigeon. Julia answers partridge and is taken into elimination. Alice writes Spatchcock and is the final person through to elimination.
Result: Amina, Andrew, Jules, Mario & Dalvinder and safe. TK, Julia, Alice, Tregan and Debra are through to elimination.
Round 2: Cook That Bird: Using one of the birds, they must cook a dish.
Conditions: They must pick a bird in reverse order of round 1 failure. 60 minute time limit. Open pantry.
Alice chooses the chicken, Julia takes the duck, Tregan takes the quail, Debra takes the spatchcock and TK takes the turkey.
The other contestants, meanwhile, head to the Bridge Room for their MasterClass and lunch.
Back in the kitchen, and it’s all hands on deck. TK decides to make Japanese noodles with salmon…substituting the salmon for turkey. She’s never cooked with it before. Amina is giving her tips. Julia is going for a safe warm duck salad. For her, it’s not too safe, as she’s more of a dessert person. Alice is going for a cranberry-stuffed chicken breast. It’s a classic French salad but Matt is unsure of if she’s left enough time to let it rest. Alice calls her dish a ‘massive risk’. Debra is going for some sort of Mediterranean dish. Matt calls Julia’s duck ‘the most dangerous’ out of all the chosen poultries. It needs to be perfect.
15 minutes before the challenge ends, TK’s steaming of the turkey is thwarted by concerned judges. It overcooks and she has to think of something quick. She decides to make a stir fry. With 10 minutes left, people begin to stress BIG time.
Time is up and contestants take a sigh. Julia thinks her duck is not cooked enough.
Tasting & Results
Tregan
Cooking: Chargrilled quail.
Comments: Gary says it is cooked perfectly. It’s a hit dish!
Alice
Cooking: Stuffed Chicken Breast with Potato Mash.
Comments: Gary loves the chicken, the stuffing and the mash but calls it mucky and awkward. He also says the chicken is overcooked slightly.
Debra
Cooking: Stuffed Spatchcock with Tomato Salsa
Comments: Matt calls the inside perfect. He does find an olive pip in it. Other than that, he loves it.
Julia
Cooking: Warm Duck Salad
Comments: Matt confirms the duck is undercooked however he loves the rest of the dish. Gary agrees. He doesn’t quite agree with the plating.
TK
Cooking: Japanese Udon
Comments: Gary loves the look of it. Gary says there are lots of flavours but feels it is a too simple dish. He calls it ‘food court’.
Result: With Debra, Tregan and Alice saved, it comes down to TK and Julia. The person eliminated from MasterChef Australia 2012 in twentieth place is…TK Nguyen.
So did the right person go tonight? Who would you have picked? Personally, it was a bit too early for TK I think. Julia can cook, but she has personality, a rough personality, and I think that’s ultimately why she is still there. Hopefully she can redeem herself.
MasterChef Australia next airs Jun 1 at 7PM on TEN.
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