In the race to the final ten, Samira, Rishi and Jules are close to losing their chance at the MasterChef crown. Which fast food staples will prove to be the final hurdle?
They all get to the MasterChef kitchen to find out they will be taking part in an ingredient auction. The contestants will get to bid on ingredients in 5 minute increments- so, for every ingredient they choose, they will lose at least five minutes off of their 90 minute cook time. Fast food indeed!
The judges show them that there are three ingredients from three groups- protein, dairy and vegetables- and they can only choose one ingredient from each group.
They begin the auction on the lamb and Samira grabs it, but she loses 35 minutes of cook time for it! That’s a third of her time!! She now has 55 minutes to cook.
The lobster is next and while Rishi tries to bump up the price for Jules, Jules ultimately buys it for 50 minutes- leaving her with only 40 minutes cook time.
As the only dish left in the protein section- Rabbit- Rishi gets it for FREE! Tactical!
Now to the dairy. Jules seemingly tries to drive the price of the yoghurt up but fails to do so, and she’s now stuck with the unusual pairing and only 30 minutes left to cook.
The goat’s cheese is next and Rishi gets it easily after only spending ten minutes on it. He now has a whopping 80 minutes. Samira is given the cream.
The vegetables are last and the root veggies are first. Rishi gets it with 20 minutes- taking him down to an hour. With Jules out of time, Samira gets the tomatoes, chillies and capsicums for 5 minutes! She drops to 50 minutes. Jules is stuck with Asian vegetables.
With that, their cooking time begins and it looks to be a very hectic challenge! Rishi begins first with 60 minutes. He decides to cook seared rabbit with pickled vegetables. He has a bit of a hard time breaking down the rabbit. Samira begins ten minutes later and she already has a dish in her head and it’s NOT Middle Eastern- though Noelene thinks she should stick to what she knows best.
She has no idea what she is going to do with her cream. She decides to construct a tart using herbs from the garden. After Samira starts, Jules’ start time isn’t far away…and she has no idea what to cook! She breaks down. Is this a first for contestants breaking down BEFORE a challenge?
She hopes inspiration will come to her when she begins. She starts by boiling the lobster…but should she do it whole? She finds some inspiration from the vegetables by cutting up some roots and frying them as chips. She also figures out how to turn the yoghurt into sauce.
Now, Samira begins to panic, and Gary’s closeness is really freaking her out. She begins whisking the cream and it goes everywhere. She is in a mad panic! She seems so confused!
Back to Jules and she’s taken her lobster out of the oven two minutes too early and she risks overcooking it by frying sections of it. Five minutes to go. Rishi also risks overcooking his rabbit when he begins to put it on the pan. The contestants on the mezzanine already see signs of him overcooking it.
Plating time begins and Samira is in a bit of a mess. Luckily, EVERYONE manages to plate up everything on time. Unfortunately, Samira feels she broke down in the challenge…and goes to break down!
Time for tasting. Rishi is first with his seared rabbit. The judges think it looks really good. Matt calls it a great dish and praises the stickiness of the puree’s reduction. Gary calls it very delicious and Matt says it’s like nothing he’s ever put up before.
Samira is second to the table. She is very emotional. Her dish is a rack of lamb with a herb tart. Gary likes the pastry on the tart and the mint cream in it. He sees a bit of cooking inconsistency in the lamb. Matt says the cream worked beautifully.
Jules is last. Her dish will determine whether she will go home or Samira. Rishi’s pretty much safe here. She has butter crayfish for her dish and again, she is also very emotional. Gary said she could have just smeared the yoghurt on the plate and it would have been a better dish. George says he couldn’t go back for a second bite. Matt says the only positive is that she managed to create a dish!
After the challenge, the contestant going home is… Jules! Very disappointing and a huge shock for me! So sad to see Jules go! Who will go next? It could be anyone, as tonight has shown.
