It was farewell to another My Kitchen Rules team last night after a very surprising result. when Australia’s favourite Texans have bowed out of the competition.
It seemed Lynzey predicted the end result at the beginning of the Sudden Death cook off when she worried: “My biggest fear is this dessert isn’t going to set in time.”
But first up, dad Robert was frying some cheese Texan-style for their entrée of fried goats cheese with strawberries and balsamic.
“Everything is fried in Texas,” Robert said before sharing, “I’ve been around goats my whole life. I lost my two front baby teeth when a big old Spanish goat stepped in my mouth after he bucked me off.”
But their entrée was overshadowed by the big, bold flavours of Rob and Dave’s chargrilled seafood in tomato and basil consommé.
Guy Grossi said: “On first appearance you could say there’s not much to his dish, but once you taste that beautiful consommé, there’s real depth of flavour in there.”
Pete Evans and Colin Fassnidge were begging for more. Colin said: “I think this is a really good dish and I’d eat this all day.” Pete added: “It makes me want more of it and I think that’s the sign of a great entree.”
In comparison, Guy found “the cheese ball a little bit dry” while Karen Martini confirmed the balsamic reduction that Lynzey thought she’d burnt was in fact scorched.
The battle of the mains levelled the playing field with Robert and Lynzey’s wagyu eye fillet with caramelised onions and potato puree receiving high praise from the judge’s table.
The steak was the hero of the dish much to the amazement of fellow teams who thought cooking the steak with 30 minutes still left on the clock was sure to result in inedible beef.
Confident Robert told them: “Kind of a Texan’s heritage is cooking steak and anything to do with cattle. If I were to stuff up this steak it would be my worst nightmare.”
The only thing that let the dish down was th e lumpy puree, but Pete didn’t seem to mind. “I enjoyed every single mouthful. It’s a yummy dish.”
Meanwhile, the stuffed chicken breast with brussels sprouts and parsnip puree served by the boys had a “silky and smooth and well-seasoned” puree according to Karen. But “it’s a shame those brussels haven’t been roasted a little bit more,” said Guy.
Lynzey’s exotic dessert of beetroot and blood orange parfait with raspberry sorbet had the potential to knock their rival dessert amateurs out of the game. But sadly, a teary Lynzey realised her prediction had come true and the parfait had not set properly.
With her dad supportive and proud “no matter what”, she dried her tears in time to formulate a rescue mission for the parfait.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the kitchen, Dave overcooked many of his figs for the honey and ginger fig with shortbread and pistachio syrup dessert. With just five minutes left on the clock he was forced to cook some more.
Karen said Robert and Lynzey’s dessert had “some really sophisticated ideas”, while Colin said despite the technical difficulty it had the making of a great dish. “It’s very unfortunate [it didn’t set]. I can get the earthiness of the beetroot in the parfait. And the raspberry sorbet just cuts through that. And the chocolate bitterness; it’s got everything you want in a dessert.” Manu didn’t think the fig dessert made sense together and Pete called it his least favourite dish from the Queensland team. Liz, however, enjoyed her second dessert. “I like that they haven’t added too much sugar to the fig and that slight hint of salt in the shortbread is a nice foil to the syrup. “
In bidding Robert and Lynzey farewell with a score of 41/60, Pete told them: “If you had nailed that parfait it would’ve been the best dish in the completion so far.”
Shedding a few tears at their departure, daughter Lynzey was overwhelmed by the experience and the newfound memories she has forged in recent months with her recently retired father.
“It was so much fun, it’s the most time I’ve ever spent with my dad. It was really good. I wouldn’t have done it with anyone else,” she said.
It was a close call for Queensland dads Rob and Dave, who scored 46/60 to remain safe in the competition. Tonight they are back in the field catering a wedding.
My Kitchen Rules airs Monday to Wednesday at 7.30pm on Channel Seven.
