Tonight on MKR, Claudean and Anthony presented an old-school Italian menu to pay homage to Claudean’s childhood and give them hope for redemption, but the pressure of the second round caused Claudean to crumble.
Claudean started the cook by placing photos of her ancestors in the kitchen to watch over and help them through the night: “I think this cook is different so far because we’ve gone into it with a better attitude.”
As the guests settled in, gatecrashers Chris and Aaron questioned whether redemption was on the menu, given history had shown the OGs couldn’t handle the pressure in the kitchen: “I’m expecting one or two disasters tonight,” Chris said.
Proving his theory, Claudean and Anthony hit some trouble with their entrée of Stuffed Zucchini Flowers on Basil Pesto, as the overfilled zucchini flowers started to burst while deep frying. After some quick amendment to the batter, the team were back on track and saved the dish.
Their entrée received glowing critiques as Manu wiped his plate clean, while Colin said: “This is what I want to eat when I come to your house.”
Aaron thought the team came out strong with this dish. When Manu asked if this entrée was better than theirs, he replied: “That’s a tough question.”
Overwhelmed by the success of their entrée, the team tried to remain focussed on their star dish: Rabbit Stew with Thyme, Black Olives and Citrus. Claudean thanked her ancestors when the stew came out of the oven cooked to perfection.
“The rabbit means a lot to me, it’s my family recipe. If I don’t get a good critique, I’m gonna be running up the main street screaming my head off, ” Claudean said before the guests dug into the main.
Everyone at the table enjoyed the dish, except Aaron and Chris, whose hyper criticism was suspicious to the other guests: “I think Aaron and Chris are very, very critical of what was a very, very good dish. Is this a tactic?” Christian asked.
“That rabbit was amazing. I haven’t had it cooked that well, even out at restaurants, in a very long time,” Sonia said.
Both Manu and Colin thought the rabbit couldn’t have been cooked better. “You just pulled a rabbit out of the hat,” Manu added.
The team’s joy after serving two successful dishes was short-lived as their dessert, Tiramisu, became an issue once again: the homemade savoiardi biscuits didn’t come out fluffy and a strong soak of coffee couldn’t fix the problem.
Claudean and Anthony raced around the kitchen finding a way to MacGyver some moisture into the tiramisu with a reusable straw. Unfortunately, it didn’t work, making their second dessert a failure as well.
Even though the night ended on a low, Claudean and Anthony improved on their last score with a total of 68 out of 110, placing them second on the leaderboard after Aaron and Chris.
