Episode 11 MasterChef

MasterChef is back!

Hundreds auditioned and now the best 60 amateur cooks are through.

I'm not that mad. Wait till you hear what's in me dish.

It's burnt!

No, we call that enthusiastically crisp.

Each week, 12 new contestants battle for just four places

in Friday's quarterfinal.

So raw!

Only the strongest will make it to the final challenges.

I wish they liven this up. 20 minutes I've been waiting.

I love it! Ha-ha!

They want to survive this competition,

they're going to have to be good.

Cooking doesn't get tougher than this.

These six amateurs all think they've got what it takes

to become MasterChef.

But at the end of today's heat,

only two will become quarterfinalists.

Welcome to the MasterChef kitchen!

This, your first round, is your calling card.

Your food, your dish.

Something that gives us a bit of insight into you

and what you're able to do.

Ladies and gentlemen, let's cook!

Me and my wife compete in the kitchen quite a bit

cos she likes cooking as well.

She's pregnant at the moment and I think if she wasn't,

she would've liked to...to have been here herself instead of me.

-Dave, you got a hat on.

-Yeah, I always cook with a hat.

The other thing I wanted to ask you is

you had loads of different bits of pig.

Well, yeah, I'm making pork tenderloin,

black-and-white pudding cube, salt crust baked beetroot,

then a cider and mustard reduction.

-Quite a bit to do in an hour.

-It's MasterChef, you know.

If you don't push yourself, then what's the point?

-I'm looking forward to your food.

-Good stuff, Gregg.

Dave obviously wants to stand out as a cook.

Cooking things in sous vide. Doing things and pressure cookers.

He's got all the bells and whistles. He's got everything.

But can he cook me food that I want to eat?

I've just got such a huge passion for cooking.

I'm never, like, too tired to cook.

Or it's just something that I always want to do on my days off

and cook for friends.

-All the spices, Julie.

-Yes!

-What are you making?

I'm making a Malaysian chicken rendang.

Rendang is sort of like a drier curry.

Got lots of Malaysian flavours in it. It's quite, like, strong.

Where did a girl from the wild Highlands

learn about the food of Asia?

My mom actually comes from Malaysia.

She came over here when she was 18

and she has sort of taught me to cook.

Is this one of Mum's recipes?

This is one of Mum's recipes. So, the pressure is on.

I bet it is!

I've never had a chicken rendang before

because rendang traditionally is made with beef.

It could be quite brilliant.

But there's one thing we need and that is a lovely,

moist chicken inside a rich sauce.

20 minutes gone.

I've opted for a Greek meze.

The same as the Spanish have tapas, you know, Greeks got meze.

As long as I get it done in the time and it looks good,

I know it tastes great, then I'll be a happy man.

Why are you here on MasterChef, Theo?

I want to do something I love.

I love food it's in my DNA.

My mum's technically brilliant at cooking. Blows me out of the water.

She should be here instead of me.

My dad's adventurous with it as well.

So, it's just always been there.

I wish you the best of luck.

Thank you.

Theo's calling card is all about his roots. It's about Cyprus.

But rabbit and squid? And two types of mint and vine leaves? Hmm...

Big ask in one hour.

I've never done anything like this.

I feel like the day when I got married, that nervous!

-Hello, Ed.

-Hello.

-You're a bit nervous, mate, aren't you?

-All right. I'll be all right.

Tell me what it is you're cooking.

Pork fillet on spring greens, caramelized carrots,

a cider cream mustard sauce.

I know it's a bit simple but hopefully done well.

Just give us something nice to eat. That's all we care about.

-Cheers, buddy.

-Just try to keep hold of the nerves.

-All right, yeah.

It shows a brave cook that you can walk into the MasterChef kitchen

with a few ingredients and say I'm going to impress.

You've got just 20 minutes.

This is something so different from what I do day-to-day.

This is quite amazing to be here.

What are you making for us?

I'm making a Thai green curry with tiger prawns, jasmine rice

and a tomato and carrot Thai salad garnish.

Why Thai? Why...why...

I've travelled to Thailand, like the food out there.

This was one of my staple... food, diet whilst I was out there.

-And I want to try to recreate it back at home.

-Best of luck.

Deirdre's cooking us food she loves to eat.

That's a brilliant calling card.

Well, you're telling us is a lot about you are as a cook

and how good your palate really is.

Compared to daily life, this is probably a bit of a day off

cos no-one's driving me into trees or anything like that.

So, I'm quite happy about that.

What are you cooking?

A lovely pan-roasted fillet of cod

and a nice cider cream sauce with some really nice mussels.

Why are you putting yourself through this drama?

I want this. This is what I'm here for.

I'm here to win it. I'm not here to have fun.

-I'm here to win.

-Good boy!

What...what do you do right now?

I'm a manager of a couple of driving test centres.

-My daughter's test is coming up, Joe.

-OK.

I think I can guarantee you a quarterfinal,

you know what I'm saying.

I don't think we're allowed to do that, unfortunately,

however much I'd like to win.

-Thank you, Joe. Nice talking to you.

-Thanks a lot.

You've got five minutes left.

You've got to start thinking about plating up now.

Right! Time's up.

Father of two Theo's calling card is a Greek Cypriot meze

with Cypriot pork and lamb sausages,

spiced rabbit saddle and kidneys,

braised octopus,

stuffed vine leaves,

calamari

and Greek salad tubes.

I like so many things on here.

There is a sweetness in these vine leaves that is just delicious.

There's a spiciness in there as well.

There's the freshness of lemon.

Some of these nibbles are downright delightful.

Brilliant. Thank you.

Theo, you demonstrated lots of skill and you've got some really distinct,

bold and big flavours. And I like those flavours.

What I'd probably like is to eat each one in plentiful amounts.

Fair enough.

To me, this was sort of a make or break type dish.

I thought it might put me on the map.

I think it's more edged to the make then the break,

but I don't know yet. So, we'll see how we get on.

Primary school teacher Dave is serving pork tenderloin,

a crispy black and white pudding cube,

salt crusted baby beetroot,

crackling pigs' tails

and cider braised cabbage.

Good-looking plate.

Thanks.

You are full of surprises. And your food makes me smile.

There's so many little tricks and bits and pieces going on here.

I'm really pleased.

I mean, you are just bursting with ideas, aren't you?

Really lovely!

I feel like I've gone to a pork funfair.

The pork loin is cooked beautifully.

But on the outside of that pork you got honey and then we've got

a really sweet sauce and I find those two things very, very sweet together.

And the beetroot is getting lost.

It's not quite prominent enough.

-Yeah, noted.

-I marvel at your technique,

but you've got to want to eat it too, Dave.

-Not just give it to me and Gregg and go, "Look how clever I am!"

-Yeah.

Thanks for that.

I was blown away with the comments. I was really pleased.

John picked up a few things that I can improve on

and I'll really try to do that next time for him.

Driving centre manager Joe is serving a pan-roasted cod fillet

with pancetta, braised leeks and mussels

in a cream cider and thyme sauce.

What did you do to the skin because it was lovely and crispy

and now it looks like it's all gone all soggy?

I put a little squeeze of lemon over the top just to sharpen it up

cos we've got lots of butter and cream.

I just wanted just to sharpen it up a little bit.

I'm going to take this off now

-cos I don't even want to eat that skin.

-OK.

You've cooked your cod very nicely.

However, you need to get more depth into your sauce.

It's very wet in there. And of course, you've also got wetness

-coming out because of the cabbage.

-OK.

I love the concept, but just be careful with your cooking

a little bit because some of these mussels are just slightly under

-and they become chewy.

-Yeah.

-For me, it's a bit salty.

-Sure.

-A bit over seasoned.

Didn't quite come off as I wanted it to.

But I'm really want to get back in the kitchen and show a more,

sort of, balanced, more perfect dish.

Vet Deirdre's calling card is a Thai green curry with tiger prawns,

jasmine rice

and a carrot and tomato salad.

I love your flavours!

-I think you've got a bowl of prawns in a soupy sauce.

-OK.

It's not classic Thai in anyway.

It's anglicised Thai, which I'm fine about.

But what I do like is your definition of flavour.

You got a really good palate, Deirdre,

with fragrant, wonderful food.

Thank you.

I really like it. I really like it.

And what I didn't expect from your curry was the sourness

which then builds to heat.

And I think that's very clever. And very nice.

Thank you.

22-year-old Julie's dish is Malaysian chicken rendang,

with cardamom and green tea rice

and pickled carrots, cucumber and pineapple.

I love your attempt at presentation,

but that's very impractical

because that rice would just go cold so quickly.

On that salad, you've got crunch in the vegetables

and you've got sweetness. You've got sharpness. You've also got sesame.

In that little pot of curry,

there is spice, warmth that builds into fierce heat. Good effort!

Julie, great flavours.

Your rendang has got that lovely bit of fire and sourness

and sharpness that Malaysian curries are famous for.

-Good effort.

-Thank you.

-Good start.

-Thank you very much.

-Thanks, Julie.

-Thank you.

Butcher Ed has cooked up pork fillet with spring greens,

glazed carrots

and a cider and mustard cream sauce.

I think it's an absolutely beautiful looking plate.

I just hope now that it tastes as good as it looks.

Ed, in there is some real glory,

but in there also is just a tiny bit of disappointment.

Your greens are a little bit watery still

and that water washes away all the other glorious flavours.

With an extra grind of black pepper and a little more butter,

that dish could be majestic.

I have no idea why you look so nervous

because the pork is just beautiful. It's just falling apart.

And those carrots are beautiful. They've been scrubbed not peeled.

Someone's loved them. And there's a nice thin coating of honey.

Beautiful!

-All right. Good.

-Go on, smile, Ed. Brilliant!

Now I know that I haven't made a complete idiot out of myself.

It does give me some confidence,

and hopefully, now I can relax a bit

and show what I can do.

Brilliant first round.

Your calling card

gives Gregg and I a really good insight into you as cooks.

You go and take a break

because next time you come back,

the competition truly begins.

Thank you very much. Off you go.

This is the sweet or savoury invention test

that we are giving to our contestants.

OK.

Which one do you want to do?

I'm going to do sweet.

John will now have an hour to create a dish from marzipan,

tinned apricots, dates,

raisins, Brazil nuts,

golden syrup,

amaretto and star anise.

He also has a basic larder.

All right, John.

One hour. Get cooking!

I'm going to do apricot and marzipan upside down cake

and I'm going to serve it with a caramel custard

flavoured with raisins and amaretto.

Don't let me get in your way!

-Beautiful flavours we've got here, haven't we?

-It's amazing!

-Making your egg custard?

-I am.

Look at that.

Nice, nice, nice that looks.

Thanks.

There you go!

Well, that looks beautiful, actually.

From the sweet box, John has made

an apricot and marzipan upside down cake,

caramel custard,

caramel shards

and a raisin and amaretto sauce.

There is a serious level of sophistication going on there.

And the flavours are manifold, John.

Exactly what I would want from the best of the contestants.

Let's get them in.

This is the invention test.

Blue box, sweet ingredients.

Green box, savoury ingredients.

We're going to give you ten minutes to decide

what it is you're going to cook.

All of the contestants have chosen the green savoury box,

which contains squid, chicken breast,

tomatoes,

coriander,

watercress,

baby fennel,

cannellini beans,

cashew nuts

and soba noodles.

Not a single sweet box amongst the six of you.

In my head, this works perfectly.

How it comes out... No idea.

Right. Time's up.

Ladies and gentlemen, one hour.

Let's cook.

There seems to be a little bit of panic in the air.

I'm confident that there will be something on the plate

and that the flavours will be good in the end.

What did it feel like when you opened that box?

30 seconds of panic but then after that

I started to get my head together.

I think there's issues here

because you are going to go for that protein, aren't you?

Either squid or the chicken or the squid and the chicken.

And there is very little else you can do.

So, they're going to have to really think quite hard.

This is another Asian-flavoured dish.

This is what I'm comfortable with the time frame...

I hope.

I kind of thought you would do us a Greek-style squid.

I've already done that trick. I've got to do another one.

From an amazing Malaysian curry,

Julie's making us chicken and mash.

It better be an amazing chicken and mash.

How'd you feel about invention, Joe?

Well, I don't like to go too wayward with roast chicken

and strawberry jam anything like that.

You've been watching too much MasterChef.

I'm trying my best not to go down that route.

Last five minutes.

We have six very different cooks.

Even though it's chicken and squid,

it's being done in so many different ways.

It's very interesting.

Ten seconds. Last touch.

Finished! Stop.

From the savoury box, Joe has cooked

a supreme of chicken

with roasted fennel, tomato and shallots,

braised baby fennel

and a white-bean puree.

Joe, I've rarely seen somebody cook better in invention test

than they do in their own dish.

I think it's better as well.

Well, that's good. We're unanimous on that one, Joe!

The chicken's cooked nicely and it's moist.

The bean puree is lovely.

Your sauce is really rich and wonderful and tastes of chicken.

And the tomatoes and the shallots with that together give me comfort.

At the moment, I'm feeling a lot more positive than I was.

Don't know if I've done enough to get through, though.

Ed has made chilli and garlic crispy squid

served with orange and soy-sauteed fennel

and toasted cashew nuts.

I have squid at one end of the plate and fennel and orange nuts

at the other end of the plate

and I don't really see what joins it all together as a dish.

I feel for you on this one, Ed, I really do.

As much as I want to say I like it, I can't

because I don't like it.

It's fennel which is not cooked enough,

squid which is overcooked.

I can't believe that you're the same cook who cooked that pork dish

that cooked this. The invention test is not easy, is it?

No.

How many times have you shouted at the television going,

"You're going to make that, mate?"

Yeah, yeah. It's totally different when you're doing it.

I'm gutted, to be honest.

In my head, it was OK. On the plate, less so.

Julie has pan-roasted a chicken breast

and served it with fennel crisps,

potato puree

and a creamy white-wine sauce.

The good thing is your chicken is nicely flavoured

and nicely seasoned and you have a crispy skin.

After that, we start to have problems.

You've served a ridiculously small amount of mashed potato.

That sauce...it just tastes and feels like cream.

And the idea of fennel crisp hasn't worked.

I quite like the cream sauce.

I like the depth of it and the sharpness of it,

but I don't think it's a triumph.

-Thank you.

-Thanks, Julie.

-Cheers.

You know, I'm a bit deflated. I definitely didn't do as good as

I normally, sort of, cook.

I've been practising invention tests as well.

So, I was quite disappointed with my efforts.

But I'm hoping that my first dish will get me through.

Theo has served griddled squid

stuffed with soy-marinated chicken,

chilli and coriander, ginger and breadcrumbs

on lime, chilli soba noodles

with toasted cashew nuts.

The inside of your squid is still a little bit slippery,

but it doesn't matter because your filling inside is wet.

And that filling is so highly flavoured.

I tell you, as an invention, I'm really impressed.

Thank you.

-I'm not as enamoured as Gregg is, I've got to say.

-OK.

I think the inside of that squid is not cooked

so I've got charred on the outside.

The filling inside itself is really highly flavoured

but I feel over-flavoured with orange, nuts and chicken.

I feel like I'm having a chicken satay with a glass of orange juice

at the same time. And they don't really quite work in my mind.

I'm not going to take it away from you, though. I agree with Gregg.

I think an invention test is a really brave thing.

I was quite happy to pull it out of the bag

for an invention test, to be honest.

I'm just a bit gutted that maybe some of the flavours

and the texture wasn't quite right.

I have no idea which way to call it.

I think it's a total 50-50 at the moment on this.

Deirdre's invention is a hot and sour soup

with chicken and crispy squid.

Have you had to put a load of sugar in there to try to make it sweet?

-I put a little bit of sugar in there.

-A little bit!

-It's about as sweet as my porridge in the morning.

-Oh, goodness.

The sugar has not only given it a sweet background

it makes it taste more like sweet gravy.

But it's sweetened the chicken.

When you do a hot and sour soup, it should be hot and sour.

The chicken in here has gone a little dry.

The squid, for me, is cooked fine.

You do know and understand Asian flavours.

-I was hoping for a little bit more versatility from you.

-Yeah.

I'm a bit disappointed with that.

It's one of those ones where I saw the ingredients

and I thought I know what to do with them,

which is very similar to my calling card recipe.

Two Asian dishes in one day. It may be too much.

Finally, Dave has cooked garlic chicken with tomato cassoulet,

watercress pesto,

deep-fried fennel

and chunky croutons.

I really don't like this at all, this chicken.

The skin on that isn't cooked or crisped up.

And it's just sitting on top of a bowl of mush with the crouton on it.

The beans are great concept, a really good idea.

A lovely stew of beans with tomatoes,

but those beans need to be stewed not just put in a pan

and introduced to the tomatoes.

They need to be dancing with the tomatoes. They're like...

They're not even holding hands.

And it needs to come together as a dish,

but at the moment it's a bit...

it's a bit dull.

Thanks, John. Thanks, Gregg.

I think that's the scariest, single scariest thing I've done in my life.

It really is hard. It really is difficult. So...

I just hope I've done enough.

Fingers crossed I have, you know.

The competition now is tough.

We know the quality of cooks going through in each round.

There's a couple of these people here who won't make it.

And we've just got a let them go.

I'll tell you who I like, who I really like -

Theo.

I liked his Greek meze dish.

Yeah, I agree with you.

Complex, interesting, unusual.

And what Theo did in the invention test... A great inventive mind.

I agree. OK. So, Theo stays.

Joe, I now believe is a decent cook.

I've never seen a turnaround like it.

I had virtually written him off

after his cod dish in the opening round.

His calling card was nowhere near as good as his invention.

What it does give us is reassurance that actually under pressure

Joe can cope. And I like that.

So, Joe stays.

As for the other four, Gregg, I don't know.

I think there's ups and downs with all four of them.

Deirdre comes in here with a calling card prawn green curry

and it was actually more like the hot and sour soup.

Invention test, she said she's going to make a hot and sour soup.

And it really wasn't hot, nor sour.

That concerns me.

If I was to leave at this stage, I would be horribly disappointed.

There is plenty more to come,

but it's just whether I get the chance to do so.

Ed - I don't know what happened.

Ed's calling card was beautiful

and flavours pretty much to match.

As for his invention test, wow!

He was so nervous and the result was something

that was actually hard to define.

I just be really disappointed if I was going home now.

But they've got to go on what was put in front of them

and what was put in front of them the second time was...

pretty bad, to be honest.

Dave came in here. You loved his first dish.

I thought it was fantastic.

His second round, his invention test, John, he just went to pieces.

And you just can't keep throwing things in a bowl hoping that

somehow it's going to turn out OK.

It's hard to accept that your mistakes have cost you

a future that you see for yourself.

So, I'd be absolutely devastated to go home.

Julie's calling card was great.

And then in the invention test, she left a lot to be desired.

So, I now don't know what to make of Julie.

I've not performed up to the, sort of, standards that I do cook at.

And I know I'm capable of.

I think we need to look for the people

who can actually hold their nerve and soldier on.

Whoever we put through from these four really have to pull out

all the stops in the next round because they've got a lot to prove.

I've rarely seen such a contrast between two rounds.

Made for a very difficult judging decision.

We have made a decision.

The first person leaving us is...

..is Ed.

On the day, I messed up on invention test.

It's just annoying. I just...

Annoying!

The second person leaving us...

..is Deirdre. Thanks, Deirdre.

I tried my hardest in there and, you know,

there are some very, very capable cooks in there.

So, that's just the way it goes.

Yeah, I'm very disappointed.

Congratulations. Well done.

This is a tough test.

You are cooking your own food today not just for me and John

but for three champions of MasterChef.

Dhruv Baker, James Nathan and Natalie Coleman.

Four main course orders in one hour.

15 minutes later, four dessert orders.

But at the end of this, we only have two quarterfinal places to give.

Let's cook!

I'm really excited about the opportunity to cook

for the ex-champions of MasterChef.

Hopefully, one day, I'll be sitting in their seats.

Your cooking seems to be getting stronger as the competition went on.

Is it going to get bigger and better?

Hopefully. I mean, this dish... Really one of my favourite dishes.

Simply pan-fried Dover sole with a brown shrimp and chive butter sauce

and saffron mashed potatoes.

And for dessert I'm doing a classical cranachan.

Pinhead oatmeal, smoky whisky and some lovely raspberries and honey.

If I was sitting in a restaurant right now,

that would probably be the two dishes I ordered.

This is what I would want to order. This is what I would want to eat.

When I get my own restaurant, it's what I'm going to be serving.

He's saying to us, I can cook classic food really well.

I think he's actually in for a big challenge.

He's got to cook four fish at the same time

and make sure that sauce isn't split.

I've got quite a lot of experience for cooking for, like,

groups of people.

With my mum, we've helped cater a wedding.

Obviously, that's not as much pressure as MasterChef judges,

but it does give me, sort of, experience to be able to cook

for more than one person or yourself.

We're definitely not going Malaysian today, Julie.

We're not. We're not. So, I've got sea bass

with a mussel and saffron sauce on a bed of mashed potatoes,

which will go right today.

And I'm also doing a chocolate orange fondant

with orange liqueur and Chantilly cream.

Every time now somebody mentions a fondant, I start to quake.

I'm determined to get it right. I've practised it quite a lot.

So, all going well, it'll go well today.

-Good luck.

-Thank you.

I need to be focused and making sure that fondant is not

one of the graves of MasterChef again.

A chocolate and orange fondant is a wonderful thing,

but it's got to be absolutely perfect.

And does she have the skill to put off.

It sounds pretty easy, but it ain't.

Getting into the quarterfinals,

yeah, would just generally blow my mind.

It's almost I'm too scared to, sort of, say it, in case it all

evaporates and the idea disappears I can get through.

It looks like we're going to Asia.

We are going to Asia.

Asian consomme, deep-fried disk of noodles, bok choy,

glazed, spicy, sweet salmon

with some pickled vegetables on top.

I'm maintaining the theme of Asia with the dessert.

So, we're going for a gingered treacle tart

with a maccha green tea ice cream.

-You have a huge amount of work to do once again.

-Yeah. Yeah.

Are you not in danger of tripping up here?

Massively.

If he can make a consomme, cook salmon, fry noodles,

make a treacle tart and ice cream in an hour,

you've got to take your hat off to him.

He's got his tarts in the oven. He's made his ice cream.

He might actually do this.

I think today I've got to nail it.

Because I think I've got a bit of ground to make up.

Can you cope with the pressure of MasterChef, Dave?

Yes. Yes, I can. That's why I'm here.

It's my recipe and I'm really feeling confident about it today.

What are your two courses today, Dave?

OK. I'm doing a herb-stuffed lamb with a broad-bean puree,

langoustine and a langoustine bisque served on a polenta cake.

Surf and turf I know. Beef and prawns.

-Yeah.

-But lamb and langoustine?

Wow!

-Yes, pretty much, that's the way I'm going for it today.

-OK.

And then for my dessert, I'm doing a peanut butter brownie

with a raspberry ripple ice cream and some peanut brittle.

Right, OK.

-Good luck, Dave.

-Cheers, guys.

Doing things that haven't been tried and tested

and putting your own spin on things

that makes people an outstanding chef.

I mean, I don't think I'm there yet.

But it's definitely where I want to go.

What does Dave think he's up to?

He's trying to stand out in the crowd and be different.

Well, it's great to be different,

but it's just crazy!

The first of today's guest judges is 2008 champion James Nathan

who gave up his career as a criminal barrister to train in top kitchens.

Last year, he opened his first restaurant.

It was time to do something for myself.

It's great to feel that actually I've arrived.

The eagle has landed. I've got a restaurant.

If I put my hand on my heart, there's been some quite dark moments.

It's not a well-paid profession and it's very long hours.

It's very gruelling.

But being a criminal barrister, you never made anyone happy.

And for me, cooking is making people happy.

Dhruv Baker was crowned MasterChef champion in 2010.

After I won, the phone didn't stop ringing.

And it was just this complete whirlwind

at least for the first six to 12 months.

Over the last few years, he's built a catering company,

become a food journalist

and is currently working on his first book.

I often wonder what would have happened had

I not sent the application off.

And it doesn't bear thinking about because I would...

not change anything about my life right now.

And it was all entirely down to being on MasterChef and winning MasterChef.

2013 champion Natalie has spent the year working with

some of the country's best chefs

including Tom Kitchin,

Tom Kerridge,

Theo Randall

and Daniel Clifford.

I, sort of, found my fate. It opens your mind to what you want

and where you want to be in five years' time.

I would like to open a restaurant. And I'd be sticking true to my roots,

it will be in the East End.

And it'll be serving up good British grub.

You've got just over 15 minutes until you get those mains out.

-You going to be all right, big fella?

-Yes.

Joe's cooking a Dover sole

with brown shrimp and chive butter sauce.

It's a delicate fish that needs to be cooked well.

The flavours in that main course,

I'll tell you, all really work together.

It's such a simple dish but it's got to be done so well.

It's got to be perfectly seasoned.

He hasn't tasted that sauce once.

He's not tasted anything today.

It all has to be cooked perfectly,

but if he does, I think we'll have a delicious dish.

The fish looks nice, Joe.

Good luck, lad.

-Hi, guys.

-Hello.

Well, you've got pan-fried Dover sole

with a shrimp and chive butter sauce

and some saffron mash.

ALL: Thank you.

I'm delighted with this.

You know, he's not faffed around with it.

It's plated simply and really beautifully.

It smelled delicious and I just want to eat the whole thing.

This is a success. He's prepared the fish beautifully

and it's cooked beautifully.

And the sauce is really well-balanced.

It's a simple sauce, but it's got acidity.

It's got creamy butteriness.

If I got this in a fish restaurant, I'd happily pay for it

and be chuffed with my lunch.

I love his fish. I love his mash.

I would like a little bit more lemon across my fish.

The fish is cooked absolutely beautifully.

The sauce made really well.

Joe tasted nothing and because of that

everything is under seasoned.

And it's a bit....

all right.

You're a bit over time.

Now you've got ten, 12 minutes to make cranachan.

Cranachan. I'm quite looking forward to. I've not actually tasted one.

I know what one is. The Scottish version of our Eton mess.

It's got to be rich with the cream.

It's got to have that real spiky flavour from the raspberry.

That real kick from the whisky

and then the oats to give it, sort of, a crunch and texture.

Crikey!

Let's go!

There you got cranachan.

You've got some macerated raspberries, some honey,

whipped cream, some pinhead oatmeal

and a Laphroaig ten-year-old whisky. Thank you.

It's got simple elegance again, isn't it?

And let's hope it tastes as good as it looks.

It's delicious, but it's quite a hefty pudding.

I thought, "Oh, there's too much cream," by looking at it

but then there was all them lovely toasted oats

mixed in with the cream and suddenly you get hit with a crunch.

So, there's good textures going on in there.

I don't want to eat all that cream.

There's not enough sharp, sweet raspberry.

There's not enough toasty oat-y. It's mostly cream.

I'm a little bit disappointed in that dessert, actually.

Really, a bit disappointed.

The main course went OK.

Don't know about the dessert.

I'm physically exhausted now.

15 minutes on your main course.

-My fondant mix didn't work.

-What?

My fondant mix curdled.

She's got to start all over again.

In that 15 minutes, she's got a get the fondant ready to go

and the rest of her main course finished off.

She's right up against it.

Julie's main sea bass with a saffron sauce and mussels.

It's quite straightforward. You know, you got to cook a piece of fish

and steam the mussels and make a sauce.

Well, there's nowhere to hide in a dish like this.

The fish has got to be right, isn't it?

You got a minute left to get those out.

I think I might be a few minutes late.

Julie, we've got to go, mate. We've got to go.

We've got to go.

Come on!

Apologies for the lateness.

I've made you sea bass with a mussel and saffron sauce

with mashed potatoes. I hope you enjoy it.

-Thank you.

-Thank you very much.

It's a whopper!

-It's a big portion, isn't it?

-Yeah!

My fish is undercooked.

The mussels are, kind of, a bit bouncy.

So, I'm really disappointed with this, actually.

The samphire's just... Well, I can't even touch it.

It's just been ruined.

It's got no vibrancy.

This isn't without hope because the sauce is good,

my fish was well cooked and the mash is creamy and smooth.

There's...there's...

glimmers of talent here.

That sauce, which is flavourless, is going

into flavourless, starchy mashed potato.

And I'm eating saffron coloured, not even flavoured,

wallpaper paste and a piece of sea bass with a mussel.

Do it as fast as you can. Quick, quick. Let's see what you can do.

OK?

Dark chocolate and orange fondant,

which is most people's misery on MasterChef.

There is something magical about a good fondant.

You know, you've got this, sort of, almost crispy, sort of, sponge

and just then gooey chocolate to go with it.

So, we've got to move. Get them in the oven. Quick, quick. Let's go.

Julie's is in a right panic.

She's got her second batch of fondants in the oven.

We might get dessert on a plate.

You've got 90 seconds.

How are those fondants looking?

They just need another minute.

Very brave for carrying on, Julie. Really impressed.

I am so impressed. Well done.

Thank you very much.

Hi. Apologies again. It's late.

-Enjoy.

-Thank you.

I have made you a chocolate orange fondant

with Chantilly orange liqueur cream.

Enjoy. Thank you very much.

-The initial whiff is really good.

-It smells gorgeous. Really lovely.

Very chocolaty and very orangey which is what she'd want it.

Delicious. Perfectly molten in the middle.

Gorgeous texture, gorgeous flavour.

You wouldn't think it was the same chef that served us

that fish dish before.

It's not too sweet chocolate with a base flavour of orange.

There's also orange in the cream which lightens the whole mix.

I'll tell you what, that is not bad at all.

Considering she did that in 13 minutes.

Wow! Good on Julie!

Had my fondant mix not gone wrong,

I would've been able to focus more on the main course.

And I think overall the dishes would have been a lot better in taste.

But at least you managed to get something out.

Theo's made us Asian Salmon with fried noodles and consomme.

The consomme's a brave thing to do.

Consomme's got to be clear. It's got to be light

and it's got to be packed with flavour.

Yeah, it'll be interesting to see how the salmon comes out.

It's quite easy to toughen the fish up in a hot broth.

Too hot!

What are you going to do? Are you going to go with those noodles?

-Yeah, I think I have to.

-You've got less than three minutes.

Come on, mate! Let's go.

This should actually be sitting in front of them now!

Got to applaud the amount of work,

-but I've got to tell you off for being late.

-Yeah.

Apologies for the slow walk.

So, we've got an Asian-style consomme,

deep-fried noodle bisque, blanched bok choy

with a salmon glaze of a, sort of, hot, spicy lemon grass...

jam and some pickled veg for the top.

And I hope you enjoy. Thank you very much.

It's looking very good indeed.

I'm getting some spice.

The consomme is amazing! It's really clear. It's really broth-y.

It tastes like a consomme should do.

The liquid really helps to soften up those crispy noodles,

which are really quite crispy.

That jam it feels like there's a rave going on in my mouth.

It's like dancing away my tongue. It's beautiful. It's a winning dish.

Technically well done. Balanced perfectly in terms of the flavours.

I'm quite excited by this guy.

It's an interesting combination.

But for me that salmon needs to have more Asian flavours

because the consomme is so subtle

that the salmon is overpowering everything.

I love the consomme and the flavours of ginger. That's lovely.

What I can't get on with is his deep-fried noodle.

I just... wonder why.

-OK. 15 minutes for pudding.

-Fine.

Theo's dessert gingered treacle tart and green tea ice cream.

I think it sounds divine.

I think those two things together, the ginger and the green tea,

has got that Asian thing.

And you know, that's a nice thing about this whole menu,

is that he's got those themes running through all of it.

-You've got two minutes, Theo.

-OK.

Oh, nice!

You've got about 40 seconds to get this out.

I have no idea how to do that.

-Well, don't do it then.

-I'm not.

That's OK, Theo. That's OK.

Apologies a second time for the delay on this.

Thank you.

Gingered treacle tart with a maccha green tea syrup

and a maccha green tea ice cream.

Enjoy. Thank you. Cheers.

You know, it's really pretty!

That's a really good pudding. It's gingery. It's treacle-y.

It's exactly how I want it to taste. It's fantastic!

The pastry's brilliant.

It's just so crumbly and buttery and lovely.

And that green tea, it was lovely.

Every single component of both courses

has been pretty much flawless.

The treacle tart on its own is a good thing.

Flavoured with your ginger slightly too sweet.

The ice cream needs more sweetening.

The two together is a lovely combo.

I love the ice cream and the syrup along with the tart.

Warm with ginger, sweet with treacle, made really nicely.

With all the work he's done, I've got to say I'm impressed.

It's a bit of a blur really.

It's just 100mph for the last hour and 15 minutes.

You know, touch wood, I've nailed it.

Dave, 15 minutes exactly from now.

Dave's main herb stuffed cannon of lamb served on polenta cake

with a broad-bean puree, langoustine tail

and an bisque sauce.

Lamb's a very distinct flavour

and it's going to be battling against langoustine.

And also a bisque, you know, for a lamb...

You know, I want a nice rich gravy not a fishy bisque.

If I'm honest, Dave had three dishes he was going to do

and he thought he do them all at once.

Good job. Right on time.

-There you go.

-Thanks, Dave.

It's herb stuffed cannon of lamb with a broad-bean puree

on polenta cake with langoustine and a langoustine bisque.

-Smells nice.

-It does smell really good.

The polenta is really under seasoned.

The lamb's is kind of...

It's all right. The langoustine's not really that well cooked.

If you're going to bother to slit it to take the vein out

and take a shell off the tail so I can just eat it in one hit.

-It's not working for me.

-We didn't need all of these components.

But I think hidden in amongst there is a reasonable plate of food

and a pretty decent cook.

There's a reason I haven't eaten lamb and langoustine together before

because it doesn't work.

There are, actually, many nice things on that plate,

but none of them match.

Dave is technically really good, but he needs to get a plate of food

that tastes great that people want to eat.

15 minutes now.

Dave's dessert, we've got a peanut butter chocolate brownie

with peanut brittle and a raspberry ripple ice cream.

It sounds like really good, rich comfort food.

You've got three minutes, Dave.

Plenty of time.

-Are you done?

-Yes.

-Good. Go.

Hi, guys.

There we've got a peanut butter brownie with some peanut brittle,

raspberry ripple ice cream and some raspberries on the side.

Thanks, guys.

It's amazing. It's got a real, real deep flavour.

And then you've got nice raspberries to cut through that richness.

And peanut butter brittle is really salty and...

It's good. It's fun.

I like to put fruit with chocolate and nuts.

I just don't know if peanuts in this case was the right nut

to use cos the after taste is quite strong.

He's definitely put too much salt inside this brownie.

It is however a really good brownie.

His ice cream is really good.

This guy puts a lot of work into his food, John. He's really thoughtful.

He's really inventive.

I'd hate to go out playing safe.

I'd much rather go out risking everything.

Throwing all my cards in and just see what I get.

I think Theo should stay cos I think he's got great work ethic

and he's got great skill.

In between his calling card, his invention and today,

he's shown us that he can create interesting food

and he's got a massive repertoire.

John, the work he takes on.

He doesn't even break into a sweat.

Who else is going to go through with Theo?

The champions loved Joe because it was classic and it was simple,

but at the same time tasty.

Beautiful fish from Joe

followed by a very scruffy cranachan.

Two very different sides to Joe.

The pressure was really on today,

but the adrenaline, the rush, the buzz - it's amazing.

I just want more of it.

Julie didn't actually present us with a stunning first course.

There were issues with it. As for the dessert, I was really surprised.

She managed to get a passable fondant out

and that was the second attempt.

So, I've got to commend her.

I'm dying to go to the quarterfinals.

I just want it so badly.

I don't know what to make of Dave.

I think technically, he's great.

He cuts well. He butchers well. He understands how to make a stuffing

and a bisque and a polenta cake. And he gets all that.

But then he puts all those things together on one plate.

He's got skill but his invention is odd.

His palate is odd.

Getting through this means so much.

I'd love to see myself going a lot further in the competition.

We've made a decision.

Our first quarterfinalist...

..is Theo.

Congratulations, mate.

Thank you!

Our second quarterfinalist...

..is Joe.

Congratulations, mate.

Congratulations, Joe.

Thanks, guys, very much indeed.

I mean, it's a dream I've had for a few years to get on MasterChef

and I was lucky enough to do it this year.

It's not the end for me. I don't think. It's just a beginning.

I'll look back on MasterChef experience

as just so much fun, like, getting to know all of the other people.

And the cooks that are in there just now are just amazing.

I'm over the moon. I've got this grin that's just slowly appearing.

And now I'm not going to be able to shrink it for a few hours, you know.

I'm just absolutely overjoyed to get through to this next stage.

MasterChef quarterfinalist.

This is...so cool.

Tomorrow night, it's the quarterfinals.

The four heat winners return to cook for just one critic

face-to-face.

Sadly, it's not doing it for me.

What you've got here is the nucleus of absolute brilliance.