Episode 11 MasterChef

It's the final week of the MasterChef heats,

and so far, ten exceptional cooks are through to the next round.

Bingo.

Today, the last group of contestants will battle for just three places

in Friday's quarterfinal.

It's rich, it's serious, it's fantastic.

Only the strongest will make it through to the final challenges.

Argh!

Can I just say, that's not frightening at all.

-So clever, so brilliant.

-We know how high the standard is this year.

Our expectations are sky-high.

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

to become this year's MasterChef.

'I really want to do well.'

I would like to go all the way. I think everybody would.

'I'll run through brick walls to win.'

I'm horrendously competitive and I'm a terribly sore loser.

'I'm really looking forward to it. I want to get in the kitchen,'

get my hands on a knife and start chopping up some stuff.

But at the end of today's heat, only three will become quarterfinalists.

Welcome to MasterChef.

Your job is to cook as well as you can, impress me and John,

and, who knows,

perhaps kick off the biggest adventure of your life.

This first round is your calling card.

At the end of this round, Gregg and I will each

choose our favourite dish.

Those two cooks will go straight through to the next round.

One hour and 15 minutes, one plate of food. Let's cook.

I'm here for a number of reasons.

I love a challenge, and as an amateur cook

it doesn't get more challenging than MasterChef.

I'm also here because my mum really, really wanted me

to be on MasterChef, so here I am.

-I like the stuff on your bench, Liz.

-Do you? Good.

-SHE LAUGHS

-Very, very much. Tell me what you're making.

I'm making a chicken dinner,

but hopefully a sophisticated chicken dinner.

So, a chicken breast, a ballotine out of the leg, some masala sauce

and some nice vegetables. It's kind of a take on a Sunday lunch.

It was my favourite meal growing up.

It was one of the only things my mum could actually cook...

-SHE LAUGHS

-..which is probably why it was my favourite.

-How much do you love cooking, Liz?

-I love it loads, yeah.

I love showing off, I love entertaining

and I love the wine and the socialising that goes with it all.

-Anything about this dish that particularly bothers you?

-No.

This says that she's competitive,

she likes to show off and she loves a challenge.

I tell you what, MasterChef is the place to do it.

If she gets this done and it is tasty like a Sunday roast and

at the same time has a bit of style,

I'm going to be mightily impressed.

I love cooking traditional, homely dishes.

Flavours are my big strength. Just that food that gives you a hug.

You know, that feeling where you eat something

and you just think, "Oh, yeah, this is good."

Right, Chris, what are you making for us?

I'm making a take on a shepherd's pie with some caramelised carrots,

baby shallots. There's some petits pois in there.

A gravy, I'll call it, cos I'm from up north. It's not a jus.

I keep getting told by my friends and family that I can produce

decent food, so I thought, why not challenge myself at the best level?

And you've seen MasterChef, obviously?

I have, yeah. I watch it every year.

It's one of those programmes that religiously I sit down

with the missus with a cup of tea and watch.

And John Torode doesn't ruin it for you?

No, he's a good-looking chap, so, you know.

So the missus says, anyway.

-Is that right?

-Yeah.

-Hm.

-My mum prefers you though.

-Oh, your mum?

-Yeah.

-OK.

Chris, it was nice talking to you.

Chris seems to me to be a generous, robust, hearty cook.

He's got to make sure that lamb is really tender,

the gravy's proper gravy,

the cheddar cheese mash on top is crispy and those Brussels sprouts

are cooked all the way through and not al dente.

30 minutes have gone. You have 45 minutes left.

I regularly cook with about 20 teenagers all howling round me,

dogs under my feet, and people screaming at me and stuff,

so I think it will be a bit quieter than at home, to be honest.

You actually look very relaxed and like you're enjoying yourself.

It might hit in later. You might see me having a meltdown.

-At the moment I feel fine.

-And how much cooking do you do?

-Every day, all day. I've got four kids, so...

-Have you?

-Yeah.

-You've got four children?

-Yeah.

-You're busy, aren't you?

-I am, yeah.

-What are you cooking for us?

-Stuffed lamb loin.

It's stuffed with harissa and it's going with saute potatoes,

-spinach and roast tomatoes.

-Why MasterChef?

It's something I've been toying with for a while,

but then my 13-year-old just kept on saying, "Go on, Mum, you can do it."

And I think when you're a mum you sort of lose a bit

of your confidence sometimes, and I didn't think I was good enough.

But then, I'm here.

Jane sounds to me like an eclectic cook.

She's got two halves to her calling card.

She's got lamb with harissa which is very much out of north Africa,

and she's got spinach and potatoes, very much out of Europe.

I like the confidence of Jane.

I just hope it's not just all a little bit too much on a plate.

I'd like to think that I react well under pressure.

I think my job is high-pressured, there's a lot of responsibility.

Hopefully I've practised enough to be able to go into automatic mode

and get on with it, but you never know. Anything can happen.

Which is daunting.

-Jamie, how you getting on?

-I'm pretty nervous.

I think it's always going to be a nerve-racking experience,

cooking for people you don't know.

I'm so used to cooking for people I do know who give good compliments,

but you never know whether they're lying or not.

What are you making for us?

I am making pan-seared duck breast with potatoes dauphinoise,

parsnip puree, honey-glazed carrots and a red wine and cherry sauce.

-Classic.

-Very classic. It's my style, I like classic food.

I don't try and go too far out of my comfort zone

when it comes to doing it,

cos I'd rather just get it right and it be tasty and perfect, hopefully.

-I like the sound of this dish.

-Thank you.

-Looking forward to tasting it.

-Cheers.

Duck and cherry sauce?

The duck breast has to be lovely and pink, the fat's got to be rendered nicely,

the duck itself needs to be rested,

and those dauphinoise potatoes have to be soft and unctuous as you like.

Crispy on top, a hint of garlic, flavoured with cheese

and not too creamy.

Ladies and gentlemen, you have 20 minutes.

My friends would say I'm competitive.

I try and disguise the fact, but actually, deep down,

I have to win, I have to win!

Nick, big smile on your face, are you having a good time?

-Cooking is what I enjoy, so yeah!

-What are you making for us, mate?

I'm doing a rack of lamb with a red wine reduction, pomme puree,

some asparagus and pickled beetroot

-and some little potatoey bits on the side.

-What do you do, Nick?

-I study medicine.

-Ah, where?

-At Bristol.

Are there any links between medicine and cooking?

You could say surgeons like wielding knives, but in a different sense.

Nick's going to attempt a real classic dish.

It's the other bits that are going with the lamb that concern me

a little bit.

The pickled beetroot and the little tiny cubes of potatoes.

It doesn't seem to have a place.

Get your food on your plates, please.

Final five minutes.

I'm kind of like, "Oh, I'm at a loose end."

-Chris is in the same boat by the looks of it.

-What's that, waiting?

-Just waiting.

-Yeah, yeah. I'm just waiting to serve now.

I got to the checkout and the girl was like,

"Oh, you've got a discount card..."

-Er, are you having a nice time?

-I'm having a whale of a time.

Stressed, are you?

Work smart, not hard. That's my mantra in life.

-Are you ready to plate?

-Yeah.

Oh...

Stop, time's up. Well done.

-That looks awesome.

-Yeah.

-Love that.

-I love this idea.

-That's great.

Everybody's looks really good.

Right, Jamie, bring your dish up here, please.

For his calling card,

recruitment head Jamie has served duck breast with parsnip puree,

potato dauphinoise, honey-glazed carrots,

green beans and a red wine and cherry sauce.

This is a real bloke's dish, isn't it?

-You're a bloke's bloke, aren't you?

-I am.

-You're a bloke.

-Yes.

-You like to go to the pub, watch the rugby, have a couple

-of pints with the blokes.

-Absolutely.

You could tell that from a sliced duck?!

Cos it's a big hunk of duck, it's a big hunk of potatoes.

It's just blokes.

I wish you'd have rested that duck longer cos it's bleeding

into your puree.

However, that's decent cooking. Right.

Your duck's got crispy skin, it's lovely and moist.

Your dauphinoise is soft, crispy on the top,

it's got a hint of cheese as well.

There's a slight bitterness to your cherry sauce, unfortunately.

Your puree's creamy and smooth.

Without setting the competition on fire, it's a good, steady start.

There's a lot of big flavours on the plate.

And if you say that yourself, cherries, cheese and honey.

Let one thing stand out.

At the moment, I'm not quite sure who's the lead singer.

-Thanks very much.

-Thanks.

'There are obviously some bits to work on,

'but I kind of expected that.'

It would be great if they would be wowed by it, but I think...

You know, I'm positive. I feel positive after that.

Supermarket store manager Chris has made a shepherd's pie with

a lamb neck filling and a cheddar cheese mash top,

creamed Brussels sprouts and bacon

and a lamb sauce with salted baby onions.

With this you've got a little bit of a chew from the lamb neck,

and I would like to see those pieces maybe just a little bit smaller

rather than so big. And the Brussels sprouts and bacon

with a little bit of cream are a good thing.

But they've got to be cooked.

It's sort of a cross between coleslaw

and sort of braised cabbage.

I really like your flavours. I think you've got a great palate.

However, that's just a little bit wet for me.

-It's almost like a broth. Broth and mash.

-Thank you.

'A bit of a mixed bag, to be honest.'

I thought it had gone that little bit better.

Well done.

I tried to refine it, and possibly refined it too much.

Mum-of-four Jane has served loin of lamb

staffed with harissa-spiced lamb sausage meat, spinach,

red pepper and pine nuts, with saute potatoes, roasted tomatoes,

spinach with feta cheese and a lamb sauce.

There's a technical term,

I don't know whether you would have come across it.

-Mmm.

-Thank you.

-GREG LAUGHS

-That looks very mmm.

I like that a lot.

Did you see what I just did then?

I ate it.

I didn't taste it. I ate it.

-Cos I think it's delicious.

-Thank you.

It's got layers of flavour and spice,

there's the big robust flavour of sausage, there's the lovely,

rich sauce that's going through there.

-And to watch you work is a joy, Jane.

-Thank you so much!

The lamb meat itself is beautifully sweet and succulent and juicy.

Love the crispy potatoes.

-However, I'd like the fat on the lamb cooked a little more.

-OK.

-This is a pretty good start, Jane.

-Thank you.

-Pretty good start.

Well done.

They liked it!

Ooh!

Medical student Nick's rack of lamb is served with pomme puree,

roast potatoes, asparagus, pickled beetroot and a red wine jus.

I very much like your lamb.

I like it's pink in the middle, crusty on the outside.

I like the pickled beetroot with the lamb.

-I don't like pickled beetroot with mashed potato.

-Yeah.

-Seems like a clash of styles to me there.

-Yeah.

The pickled beetroot, funnily enough,

I quite like with the mashed potato.

If the sauce was punchy, this could be a really good dish.

-You had a lot of spare time today. Make it punchy.

-Thank you so much.

Some of the things that I thought were a little bit out there,

they actually kind of liked.

I think they kind of saw where I was coming from, so, yeah.

It was pretty good, I think.

Last up is company director Liz.

She's made a chicken dinner -

roasted chicken breast, a leg-meat ballotine

stuffed with sausage meat and wrapped in Parma ham,

crispy chicken skin, pomme Anna, honeyed carrots, stuffing balls,

kale with smoked lardons and a masala gravy.

I tell you what, for an amateur cook,

that is an incredible looking plate. I am so impressed.

-Look at the work in there. That's beautiful, Liz.

-Thank you.

Where on earth did you learn to cook like this?

Because that is fantastic. That is bordering brilliant.

That chicken, we've got smoky bacon on the outside of it, we've got

stuffing in the middle of it. It's all the flavours of a roast dinner,

plus the quality of your sauce is incredible.

Your potatoes are soft and buttery, crispy on the outside. I love that.

-I absolutely love that.

-Wow, thank you.

I don't know where you've come from, mate, but you are a hell of a cook.

Thank you.

Bingo.

Right in the hole-in-one, back of the net, whatever he says,

the whole lot, it's all there, every single sports term you want to use.

LBW.

No, that's the wrong one to say, that's the wrong one.

Liz, it's really very, very good.

Thank you so much. Thanks.

I can't actually believe it. I can't actually believe it.

Oh, my God. I can't believe that. Wow.

At the start of this we said that we would each choose our favourite

dish, and those two cooks would go straight through to the next round.

I don't think there's any secret about this at all.

My favourite dish was cooked by Liz.

Liz, you were my favourite dish as well.

I think that was obvious, wasn't it?

So, my second favourite dish...

-..was cooked by Jane.

-Oh, wow, thank you!

Jane, Liz, off you go.

-Well done. Girls on top!

-Yeah.

-Going home.

-You don't like this game any more.

Right, you three chaps, this is an invention test.

You have to decide

whether you're going to cook a savoury or a sweet dish.

Gentlemen, reveal your ingredients.

You have to choose

whether you're going to cook a sweet dish with the mangoes...

or a savoury dish with the lamb rump.

Gentlemen, one hour, one plate of food.

At the end of this one of you's going home.

Let's cook.

Nick, what are you making for us?

I'm marinating the lamb in kind of I suppose a Moroccan style...

marinade, that's the word I'm looking for.

You're going to serve it with...?

At the moment, some couscous and hopefully a sauce.

It might be quite simple,

but I think simple is best if it tastes good.

Nick's inventing as he's going along.

He's going to rump a lamb, he's got some couscous,

and there's the base of his dish.

I hope it's going to be OK because on top of that couscous

he says he's going to make a red wine sauce.

It's a bit of a mishmash.

You're halfway. 30 minutes left.

Let's go!

-Chris, lamb again?

-Yep.

My favourite enemy.

-What are you going to make for us?

-I'm going for a north African-type

spiced lamb,

so with loads of coriander seeds, cumin seeds, chilli, to go with

like a nice little fruity, herby couscous as well on the side.

The thing is that Chris has cut that rump of lamb up

into little tiny steaks.

That means the fat's not going to be rendered,

and it could be a little bit tough.

Jamie, how do you now push on from your duck?

I'm sticking to my roots, I'm keeping it quite classic.

What are you going to make for us?

Lamb rump, crispy skin, hopefully, with fondant potato, greens,

and just a red wine reduction. So very simple.

-How do you feel about not going straight through?

-I was gutted.

But the positive side of me is thinking it's another chance

to show that hopefully I'm better than the others.

He's going with what he knows, bold, bloke food.

The thing is, is that going to be good enough?

If the lamb is cooked beautifully and has a crispy outside,

if that sauce is rich and fruity and thick,

if the fondant is soft and wonderful,

yes, it could be good enough.

You've got five minutes left. Get the lamb out.

As long as it's pink, it's not brown. That's good.

-That looks pretty good, Jamie.

-Yeah.

That's it, time is up.

Jamie has roasted the lamb rump and served it with fondant potatoes,

tender stem broccoli and a red wine sauce.

-Do you know what, you are very much a meat and two veg man.

-Yep.

Very much so.

Ooh.

Nah.

Your lamb itself I like. You could do with a little bit more seasoning

around the outside. Your sauce is lovely.

Your broccoli is good, your presentation is there.

But those pomme fondant, as buttery as they could be,

They're not cooked in the middle, Jamie. Sorry.

Really well-cooked pink lamb, you've got a nice crust to that as well.

I find your sauce delightful. It's nice and sweet and sticky.

-It's a real shame about that fondant.

-Yep.

I was really happy with the way it looked and the way it tasted.

I'm just disappointed about the potato, really. But what can you do?

Chris has marinated his lamb rump in Moroccan spices and chilli

and served it with couscous, fresh herbs and pomegranate.

The flavours aren't bad at all. There is a heat on your marinade.

The couscous has got the crunch of nuts in it as well.

It's got seasoning, it's got the sharp sweetness of pomegranate

and it's got heat. You've chucked quite a bit of chilli in there.

However, I have got an issue with the presentation here,

and I would like that lamb cooked a little less. So would you.

-Yeah, I would.

-Wow.

It's like Dante's Inferno in there. It's on my lips,

it's on my tongue, it's in my throat.

It needs a dressing and it doesn't need that ferocious heat.

It's just burning.

-A mixed bag, again.

-Was it hot?

-It's not that hot, I don't think.

I don't think it's as hot as John was saying.

The lamb rump's something I've not cooked with before,

but I did what I thought would go well.

Let's see what happens.

Finally, it's Nick. His lamb rump is also marinated with Moroccan spices.

His couscous is flavoured with carrots,

red pepper and dates, and garnished with herbs and pomegranate.

He's also served a Madeira and chilli sauce.

I like the sauce, I like the lamb. I think the sauce is a very good idea.

Very good idea, Madeira and chilli.

But in the middle of that you have couscous which is overcooked,

which is really wet with chunks of carrot,

and it has the texture of a granola breakfast bar. It's a weird mixture.

Like your lamb, like the marinade. Don't like your couscous one bit.

It's a cloggy, soggy... almost like porridge.

Guys, this isn't going to be easy for us to make a decision.

One of you will be leaving the competition.

Off you go.

It's done.

Our three have done OK.

All three of them went for the lamb rump.

Nobody went for a dessert, which I'm a bit sad about.

But these three blokes want to show what they could do with lamb.

Well, my favourite dish was cooked by Jamie.

He had the best cooked lamb, and he had a very, very good sauce.

I can forgive him the fondants, actually.

I believe Jamie's a good cook, and I thought his lamb was excellent.

-Can we put him through?

-Yeah, Jamie goes through.

Right, that leaves us with the couscous brothers.

There's chinks in the armour of both Chris and Nick,

and the next round coming up is pretty tough.

Who can cope with that next round?

Who can cope with the pressure?

Two of you will be joining Jane and Liz in the next round.

The contestant leaving us

is Chris.

Thanks, Chris. Thanks very much indeed.

I'm gutted. I thought I had enough.

But obviously other people disagreed.

Going down at the first hurdle just doesn't feel nice.

Well done, mate. Oh, so nervous.

You're going to have to be at your absolute best today

because this is, no doubt about it, a much tougher challenge.

You are going to cook today for the winner and finalists

from 2014.

Angela Langford, Luke Owen,

and, of course, Ping Coombes.

Two courses. Your main course is in one hour,

your desserts 15 minutes later.

That is tough.

A quarterfinal place up for grabs.

At the end of this, one of you is going home.

Let's cook.

What I need to show John and Gregg today

is a little bit more refinement in my cooking.

And it's an opportunity to kind of showcase

that I can cook fish as well as meat.

So, fingers crossed it goes well.

-Jamie, a bit of pressure on you today.

-Yeah.

It's nowhere to hide.

I'm here to win, I'm here to beat the others,

and hopefully the food I put out today will enable me to do that.

What are you making for us, Jamie?

Filet of sea bass with champ, garlic spinach

and a cream and clam sauce.

And then an apple tarte Tatin with vanilla cream.

It sounds little bit more like, you know, dinner with your girlfriend

-rather than out for lunch with your rugby mates.

-Yeah.

I've shown you my rugby side,

and now I'm showing you the romantic side.

I like a lot of what Jamie's doing but I have reservations as well.

Our dessert is an apple tarte Tatin, made with Bramleys? Wow.

The danger with Bramleys, as you know, they fall into mush.

I think a tarte Tatin with Bramley apples is a dangerous,

dangerous thing.

'To be a quarterfinalist would be huge.'

I'm trying not to think of that.

Because if I start focusing on words like quarterfinals,

I know my brain will just go whizzy.

So it's best to try and stay a bit grounded.

-Jane, you did a huge amount of work with your calling card.

-Mm-hm.

By the looks of the ingredients on your bench you're doing

-a huge amount of work again.

-I am.

I'm doing a stuffed chicken breast with fondant potatoes,

-asparagus and a masala sauce.

-Dessert?

Pears in a ginger syrup with almond tuiles and Chantilly cream.

Fine, fine things.

How do you feel about the competition now

-after such a great start?

-It's just brilliant, isn't it?

It's what I want to do, I'm where I want to be.

-It sounds great, but it sounds like a lot of work.

-I know.

I need to get on!

I'm really impressed with all the work that Jane is doing.

Lots and lots of technical know-how.

Wrapping, stuffing, making stock, poaching.

She's got ginger, pear, Chantilly cream. That's beautiful.

It could taste absolutely phenomenal.

Two courses, Liz. What are you going to cook for us?

A cannon of lamb with a pistachio and mint crumb,

rosemary infused potato fondant, peas with mint,

-and a Madeira sauce, and a mint sauce as well.

-OK. Dessert?

-Dessert, cherry chocolate fondant and a Chantilly kirsch cream.

-Wow.

-Listen, have you timed this, Liz?

-Yep.

-Seriously?

-Seriously.

Can it be done in the time?

I've done it four times in the time, but the last time I did it

I messed it up.

Peas, mint, pistachio and lamb.

That could work.

But with Madeira sauce AND rosemary AND thyme AND onions?

There's a lot of stuff going on the plate.

On top of all that work she's given herself a cherry chocolate fondant.

Unless Liz has got jet-propelled roller skates I've no idea

how she's going to get all this done.

HE BLOWS

I tested lots of things that tasted really good

but that could be cooked in a short amount of time.

And lamb was one of the things that could deliver a lot of flavour

but didn't need a hell of a lot of attention.

And everyone loves a chocolate pud,

so hopefully it'll impress Gregg.

You've got 15 minutes to go.

Nick, how are you feeling about being here?

A bit nervous, cos I've got quite a lot of work to do.

What are you going to make for us?

I'm doing venison wrapped in pancetta on a bed of Savoy cabbage,

celeriac puree and a red wine and chocolate sauce to go on top.

And for dessert I'm doing a balsamic strawberry millefeuille

with pink peppercorns.

I'm going to have a layer of puff pastry in the middle of this

really thin caramel layer,

and then hopefully another layer of puff pastry on top.

-Very technical, Nick.

-Yeah. If it works it'll be fantastic.

If it doesn't, I'm stuffed.

I've had strawberries and pepper before.

I've had strawberries and balsamic before.

Never have I had them together.

Neither have I had had them in a millefeuille with a caramel slice.

I'm worried for Nick's timing.

I'm worried and excited by some of those flavour combinations.

Doing eight plates of food is going to be a mission.

I'm very nervous about that part, but I think if I just focus

and get down to the nitty-gritty and just work hard, I can do it.

'Today's challenge is extremely difficult.

'I remember when I was doing this,'

it was the most stressful experience I'd ever had in a kitchen.

'It's really, really tough.

'Doing these dishes from scratch in this amount of time,'

it's a massive, massive challenge.

Sorry, I am a little over.

He shows the potential of somebody who could go a long way

in the competition.

Oh, I can remember doing this heat so well.

Are you going to get all this done?

No, I've had a bit of a nightmare with my pheasant.

It didn't cook properly, and I really thought I was going home.

It's really quite scary.

When I did this round it went really, really well for me.

That is lush.

Flavour-wise, Ping's got it down.

I can feel the nerves radiating through those walls.

And I wish them luck.

You're only here once, and I would say give it your best shot.

Jamie, you've got six minutes. Are we ready to go?

-Just the final touches, really.

-We're there, Jamie.

Spinach takes 30 seconds, so does the fish. We're there, mate.

Let's go.

So Jamie's making a fillet of sea bass with champ,

spinach and a clam and cream sauce.

That sounds really nice.

Do not overcook the sea bass, and a crispy skin, that's what's key.

That's something I would order. I think that sounds delicious.

I like your ideas on presentation.

-What's to come on this, Jamie?

-The sauce, and then it's done.

-Sauce?

Very nice, very nice.

Let's go, let's go, let's go.

Lovely. Thank you.

So, we have a fillet of sea bass with champ,

garlic spinach and a clam, cream and white wine sauce.

-I hope you enjoy it.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

-It does smell nice.

-Crispy skin, yay!

-Yeah, crispy skin.

Jamie's a generous man. I have a lot of champ.

I have a lot of champ as well.

The fish is beautifully cooked. It's got crispy skin.

Everything's really well-seasoned.

I'd like probably the sauce to be a little bit lighter rather than

so thick. But it's a good dish. A really good dish.

Although there is a lot of champ, it's not dry in any way at all.

I was worried that there wouldn't be enough sauce,

but it's absolutely, you know, bang on.

I think this is delicious. I'm really impressed.

I find that dish immensely eatable without being stunning.

Left to my own devices I'd probably polish off the whole lot.

It's a crowd-pleasing dish.

A crowd-pleasing dish, that's what it is.

Jamie, you now have 15 minutes for your dessert, yeah?

Are you OK, you up to speed on that as well?

-Yes, absolutely fine.

-You are flying, mate. You are flying!

Well done.

For dessert, Jamie's making apple tarte Tatin.

Although it sounds simple,

it's quite brave to go with a classic, I think.

We want a deep caramel in the apple, a nice, crispy pastry.

He has nowhere to hide, really, and it needs to be spot on.

Is it ready to come out? Yay! Come on.

You going to turn it out?

-You got him.

-Are you happy with this, Jamie?

-No.

It hasn't caramelised nearly as much as I would like it to have done.

But hopefully it still tastes nice.

-Can we go?

-Yep.

We have for dessert an apple tarte Tatin with vanilla cream.

-I hope you enjoy.

-Thank you.

-Thanks.

-Thanks.

It doesn't look like tarte Tatin to me.

There's no caramel in that apple at all. It's like it's apple pie.

-Yeah, it is apple pie that's been put upside down.

-Yeah!

It's not tarte Tatin,

but it is really tasty.

I quite like the taste of it.

I quite enjoy the tartness, the Chantilly cream is nicely sweetened

and the pastry, surprisingly, is quite crispy.

I've turned mine over. Mine's apple pie now.

I'm not really sure what's gone on here.

The apples have almost broken down to a puree.

I've enjoyed eating it, but it's not a tarte Tatin.

It's almost like an apple pie without the pie.

It's a bit of a shambles.

If you were very, very small and you were sitting in a high chair

going "Goo-goo-ga-ga" I think you'd probably like it.

It's so stressful in there, it's really, really tough

to get it all on the right time.

I'm sure if I'd had four hours it would probably have been fantastic.

But I gave it my best shot.

-Hey, Jane, four minutes, please. Main course.

-It will be ready.

Right. A gang of teenagers, just about to come round. Come on!

Oh, normal night, then.

OK.

So, Jane is cooking us a stuffed chicken breast with asparagus,

fondant potato and a masala sauce.

As long as the chicken's not dry, the fondant potato's cooked,

and it's a nice masala sauce, what could go wrong?

-How long have I got, please, guys?

-You've got three minutes.

-Right.

-You're under a bit of pressure here, aren't you?

-Just a little.

But then, cooking anything for four people in an hour, I think

that's what you would expect.

Right.

-So moment of truth on these chickens.

-It is, without a doubt.

That's going to be the thing. Come on, breast.

-Happy, Jane?

-Yeah.

-Very good.

Wow, really lovely.

Steady hand, you'll throw the sauce all over the place.

-Now I can start shaking.

-Don't shake.

SHE LAUGHS

-Hi, all.

-Hello.

-Hi.

Sorry, my hands are shaking a bit,

so the sauce has gone a little bit...

-a little haywire on the plate.

-Thank you.

Today I've made you stuffed chicken breast with pancetta and mushrooms,

asparagus, a fondant potato and a masala sauce.

-I hope you enjoy it. Thank you.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

She's done a nice job with the presentation here.

It smells really delicious.

Individually, the components are cooked really beautifully.

The chicken is moist, it's not dry, the stuffing's really nice.

I wouldn't complain if I got this in a restaurant. I would pay for it.

The potato fondant's got a lovely colour on it.

The asparagus is al dente.

I really like the stuffing with the mushrooms and the pancetta.

The sauce is nice, but it's not wow, and I think it could have been wow

if she'd maybe had a little bit more time. But it's tasty.

The chicken is moist and cooked beautifully.

The stuffing with the mushrooms and the bacon is lovely.

Fondant, perfect.

Asparagus, unnecessary, sauce, a bit disappointing.

However, the skill in that chicken has really, really impressed me.

Right, Jane. 15 minutes.

OK.

Jane's dessert is poached pears in ginger syrup with almond tuile

-and Chantilly cream.

-This shows me a confident cook.

She wants to keep it simple and focus on the flavours.

-Look at you shaking.

-I know.

The further on you get, the more it means, doesn't it?

They look good, Jane. They look good.

Thank you, guys.

Phew!

Thank you, Jane.

You've got a pair poached in a ginger syrup with a Chantilly cream

and an almond tuile.

-I hope you enjoy it. Thank you.

-Thank you.

The pear is cooked all the way through, and I like the fact

that it's cored so you don't have to wrestle with it.

It is quite a subtle flavour on the pear itself.

You can taste the ginger,

there's also star anise or something going on.

I really quite like this dessert.

The cream and the tuile, I really like the texture.

She knows what she's doing, she is a good cook.

Mmm!

Oh, baby. Oh, mate.

Cor, that is fabulous.

It works. It works.

Oh...!

I'm really proud. I can't believe that I've done that, you know?

I just came out of here, and you could see on my face probably,

-I was like...

-SHE GASPS

I did it!

Oh, yeah. I am very proud of myself.

For main, Liz is making cannon of lamb with pistachio mint crumb,

onions, peas, potato fondant, mint sauce and a Madeira lamb sauce,

so that's eight elements.

That's ambitious.

I think with an hour, if she pulls it off, I'll be really impressed.

You have just ten minutes to finish off your dish.

Hey!

You've worked hard.

SHE SCOFFS

Right, what's got to go on there?

Lamb, caramelised onions and then sauce.

And pistachio?

-Oh!

-SHE LAUGHS

Yeah.

-You've got a minute of normal time here.

-Mmm.

That looks lovely.

-Done?

-Yeah.

-Right.

Come on, let's go.

-Hi!

-ALL: Hi!

-In the nick of time!

-THEY ALL LAUGH

You sound exhausted.

So, we've got a cannon of lamb with some pistachio mint crumb,

rosemary potato fondant,

some caramelised onions,

roasted onion, minted peas,

a tiny little bit of mint sauce

and a Madeira sauce as well.

-Thank you!

-Yeah, thanks very much.

-Wow!

EVERYONE LAUGHS

-Great.

-THEY LAUGH

There's a lot of work gone on here.

I like the way it looks.

She's a little bit exhausted and I'm not surprised.

It looks really appealing.

Presentation-wise?

Spot on.

The lamb is perfectly cooked.

Really, really nice.

Very even colour all the way through. Absolutely delicious.

The potato fondant, it's soft, it's cooked all the way through.

The caramelised onions, I like those.

It all tastes a little bit sweet to me.

Just not enough seasoning to balance it all,

but the amount of work she puts in is impressive.

Liz is a very clever cook.

I think that's great.

Interestingly, I'm not convinced.

That sauce is too sweet for me.

I think she gave herself a little bit too much to do.

-15 minutes.

-Right.

-Fondants, please.

And she's just like, "OK, right, I'm just going to start making a fondant now!"

-And cooking it in 15 minutes.

-THEY LAUGH

Pretty stressed.

You have nine minutes.

-Your fondant's just gone in?

-Yeah.

-They're for eight.

-Yeah.

-Going to be able to serve?

-Yeah.

-Come on, then.

ELECTRIC WHISK WHIRS

-It's curdled.

-Oh!

Just a disaster.

I'm just going to have to do it again.

-You've got a minute of time left.

-A minute of time.

-They're coming out very easily, well done.

-Very good.

Right. Liz! Go!

-Hello.

-THEY ALL LAUGH

Cherry chocolate fondants,

morello cherries inside the fondant

and some kirsch Chantilly cream.

-Phew!

-SHE LAUGHS

-Nice to see you.

-Thank you.

-Bye-bye!

Please be gooey.

Here we go. Here we go.

Yes.

Oh, yes!

-Gooey middle!

-SHE LAUGHS

Mmm.

-Oh, yeah.

-HE LAUGHS

-Absolutely nailed it.

-HE LAUGHS

That makes me giggle.

It is so delicious. THEY LAUGH

Oh, it's so chocolaty and gooey

and that cherry flavour, ah, it's delicious.

Cream with the booze running through it.

It's just so, so good.

Perfect, the whole thing.

Probably the best pudding, I think,

that I've judged on MasterChef.

Crying out loud.

You've got so much booze in there, it's making you look attractive.

It tastes like a dream.

It's a big chocolate, boozy snog.

It's fine with me.

SHE SIGHS

SHE GIGGLES BREATHLESSLY

-Oh, my God!

-SHE LAUGHS

I put everything into it, but for some reason it wasn't as good

as normal, so I'm kind of a little bit disappointed about that.

-What have you got left to do, Nick?

-Chanterelles in.

-The meat's just resting, place it up.

-Cool.

Venison, celeriac puree,

cabbage, mushrooms and a chocolate and red wine jus.

There's some classic flavours there.

If Nick doesn't get the venison right,

it's game over for the dish.

It's like a suntanned zebra.

-You're supposed to be serving in four minutes, Nick.

-Yeah.

Aye-aye.

-OK, that's due out now.

-OK.

We've got to move, mate. Come on, come on, come on.

Right, Nick, you're a little bit late, four minutes over. Off you go.

That's it.

-Hi.

-Hi.

-Hello.

Sorry I'm a little bit late.

Thank you very much.

So, we have a venison fillet wrapped in pancetta,

on a bed of cabbage, pancetta and pine nuts, celeriac puree,

chanterelle mushrooms and a red wine and chocolate sauce.

-I hope you enjoy it.

-ALL: Thank you.

It looks really lovely.

I think it's really beautiful.

If I'm being really picky, there's bits of the stalk

that are quite difficult to eat,

but I think the sauce is delicious.

And it is a massive shame that the venison's overcooked.

We're not talking medium, were talking well.

Aren't we?

But there are other elements that have been done well,

particularly the sauce.

The meat is overcooked,

but I actually really like the flavours in there.

It's just timing issue of the meat.

One piece of venison on the plate is nicely cooked.

One piece is as dry as a board.

There were just a couple of things on here that need a little bit more refinement.

He needs to chop up the cabbage better.

He needs to keep his eye on the venison.

OK, Nick, dessert, 15 minutes.

Nick's dessert is strawberry millefeuille

with a caramel layer.

Good luck to him, it's a lot of work there.

What could go wrong?

Nick, you're going to run out of time, mate.

Yep, at the moment, I am.

Aah!

-How long have I got?

-You've got three minutes left.

-Ooh.

-Uh-oh.

Problem is, you aren't going to be able to get them out.

-Yeah.

-There's big holes in them. That's not going to stand up

as a wafer, is it? You'll have to go without it.

Let's go. You're about four, five minutes late there, Nick.

So, you have a strawberry millefeuille.

Hope you enjoy it.

-Thank you very much.

-ALL:

-Thank you.

HE SIGHS

HE SIGHS

It's fair to say it's not a millefeuille.

And I'm a little bit concerned of those pink peppercorns

and I'm just a bit wary about eating it.

Hmm.

I just got the peppercorn.

The creme pat, it's OK.

You've got the vanilla running through it.

I just don't understand what the pink peppercorns

are doing in there.

It's not a nice thing to eat.

I mean, I had quite a lot in mine and they are

quite overpowering and quite overwhelming.

I feel sorry for Nick and he did look disappointed,

but you take a risk and sometimes it pays off,

and sometimes it doesn't and, unfortunately, today,

I don't think it has.

That's a peppercorn. What's it doing in there?

The creme patissiere, it's nicely made.

The pastry is crispy, the strawberries are a wonderful,

natural thing, but then we've got sour vinegar and peppercorns.

Disastrous.

I thought I was on top of it all doing my main course...

..and then...

just the world collapsing around me and doing that dessert,

I just wanted to be swallowed up into the air.

Pretty sound round here today.

Three quarterfinal places up for grabs,

the last three quarterfinal places in the whole competition.

A lot of pressure on our four cooks and I've got to say,

there's a couple of stars in the room...

and there's a couple left wanting.

I loved the chicken from Jane, however,

I was disappointed with the quality of the sauce.

It was a little bit watery for me.

I thought the poached pear was absolutely delicious.

For somebody walking out of their own kitchen

and having cooked in this MasterChef kitchen only twice,

good food.

Really good food, and, I think, great promise.

Liz, today, demonstrated skill, invention, adventure

and real tenacity. She pushed herself.

She gave herself far too much to do with that main course.

I did love the lamb with the nut crust.

I found her sauce too sweet and, in fact, our guests agree.

They found the sauce too sweet as well.

However, all of us - you, me and our mates in the back room -

loved that chocolate and cherry fondant.

-I think Liz and Jane should be quarterfinalists, do you agree on that?

-Very much.

-Absolutely.

This, now, is a conversation on who we keep out of Jamie and Nick.

Jamie's main course, both you and I really enjoyed.

There were little things that you pick up on.

But, actually, a really lovely dish to eat.

Unfortunately, with Jamie, his dessert was

the other end of the spectrum.

It was supposed to be a tarte Tatin, it wasn't.

It was more like an apple pie with an undercooked pastry.

Decent fishy main from Jamie, disappointing dessert.

I liked Nick's venison dish.

One bit was cooked nicely, one bit overcooked.

I liked the flavours.

I think we're all in agreement that Nick's dessert

was a little disappointing.

It went wrong for Nick. He tried to do something very complex,

but it didn't really work, and you, me

and our guests, all did not like the peppercorns.

You don't serve a whole peppercorn, you crush it up.

It's a whole peppercorn!

Both have made errors.

It's what errors are we willing to forgive?

Who will we take through with us?

I hope it's enough, I really do. I don't want to go home.

The competition is amazing. There's some other really good cooks here,

so fingers crossed, it's enough.

I think I was just overambitious.

Maybe just think I was better than I actually was, unfortunately.

A great day, you four.

But we only have three quarterfinal places.

Our first quarterfinalist

is Liz.

Very good, Liz.

Our second quarterfinalist...

..is Jane.

-Oh, thank you.

-Well done.

Thank you.

Jamie...

Nick...

..one place left.

Our third quarterfinalist...

..is Jamie.

Nick, so sorry.

Well done.

I think I kind of knew it was coming.

Absolutely gutted and really upset, but I think,

at least, I knew I'd made mistakes and it wasn't

a massive surprise.

It's all been a blur, it's amazing.

Can't quite believe... I wasn't expecting it.

I completely stuffed up my pudding and I genuinely thought that was it.

But still here.

Just so emotional to know that I'm through.

Yeah, I'm just so, so, so, so pleased and happy.

Oh, wow!

'Beyond incredible.'

I'm so chuffed, I can't wait to go home and tell my husband.

Tomorrow night it's the quarterfinal

and Jane, Liz and Jamie

will join Billy, Annie and Hope

to fight for their place,

cooking for one of the country's top restaurant critics.

Burning.

Burning is flavour, John, don't you worry about it.

Bleugh!

It's rich, it's serious, it's fantastic.