Episode 12 MasterChef

It's the MasterChef quarterfinal

and this week's best amateurs are back.

It's a bit like going back to school,

so if I get my gold star today,

I'll be really, really happy.

I'll try to be a bit calmer,

but mad man's probably what you'll see, I would think.

I said I wanted to get through the first stage, I've done that

and now I just want to keep going and going and going.

Tonight, they will face just one challenge -

to cook one exceptional dish from a brief set by

renowned restaurant critic Jay Rayner.

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

Mr Wallace, the last quarterfinal of the competition.

Their opportunity to realise a dream.

Quarterfinal day means it's critic day

and the critic today tasting your food

is none other than Jay Rayner.

You've got to cook a beautiful dish centred on one ingredient...

..duck breast.

You have 90 minutes to cook that dish,

that means you've got to demonstrate some skill.

But, more importantly, it's got to be delicious.

Ladies and gentlemen, let's cook.

Duck breasts are not like other poultry.

It's dark, it's very meaty, it's closer to beef, if anything.

You've got a thick layer of fat, which is a brilliant thing because

you get a lovely crisp skin if you've done it well,

but also, you can end up with something which is just very fatty.

You have to cook it very, very accurately.

So, it's a real challenge.

What I don't want to see today is a dish which does not remind me

that it's duck breast.

Where they've just taken a piece of meat

and turned it into something else entirely.

If they've done that, well, what's the point?

They've ducked the challenge.

Jane creates great food, her flavours are really good,

she cooks really well and she's just really happy.

Get drunk on that one!

I think having been a stay-at-home mum, this has given me an

opportunity to express a creativity that I haven't had for a while.

You get these amazing dishes in your head at home and you think,

"Oh, I can't cook that cos one of the kids won't eat it."

And that creative process is a real buzz

and I'm absolutely loving that side of it.

Jane, how do you feel about ducks?

I love ducks, I keep ducks as pets.

Do you eat your pets at home?

No, if I ate the pets, I would be in real trouble.

No, we eat the eggs. I'm cooking with some of my duck eggs today.

What do the kids think of Mum's achievement on MasterChef?

Oh, they were over the moon.

When I went in the house yesterday, I got the biggest hug,

but brought me down to earth very quickly by leaving a

big bowl of washing up for me. I had to cook them tea yesterday.

So, didn't last long!

-Jane, good luck.

-Cheers, thank you.

Jane's dish is extremely interesting.

We've got duck, which has got truffle underneath the skin,

we've got a truffle sauce, we've got peas, we've got crispy egg

and we've got ham.

I've never seen anything like it, never tasted anything like it

but I've got an open mind.

It could be luscious.

So, the wooden spoon stops it from cutting all the way through?

-Yes.

-Who taught you that one?

-Nigella.

-Did she?

-Yes.

-How lovely.

I love Annie, she's half French

and she cooks with wonderful French technique.

I think she's a fascinating cook, I think

she's taking great classics and I think she's playing with them

just enough to make them really exciting.

The experience has been surreal,

chaotic, exciting.

A bit like a dream. Whenever I leave, I feel like it hasn't

happened and I have to, sort of, pinch myself to remember that it has.

Annie, are you a duck fan?

I am after this challenge.

I've never cooked duck breast before ever, or eaten it.

You've never ate a duck breast?

-Nope.

-You're half French.

-I know.

-The French invented ducks.

I know, exactly, yeah. No, I've never eaten it.

What are you cooking today?

I'm doing pan-fried duck breast with a red wine sauce,

Jerusalem artichoke puree,

caramelised chicory with walnuts and hasselback potatoes.

Hasselback potatoes - baked potato, sliced first,

-slight crisp on the top and puffs up.

-Yep.

-Ooh.

-Yeah.

-Does it look pretty on a plate?

It's the prettiest plate of food I've ever done

and I've worked very hard at making it look pretty

cos, the last round, my plates did not look pretty at all.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

Annie has had to learn how to cook a duck breast for this challenge.

The problem is if that duck breast hasn't rested, the blood will

leech out onto that beautiful, silky white artichoke puree.

But, knowing Annie, she's practised.

You've had 20 minutes.

Got an hour and ten left.

Jamie has been up and down like a souffle.

You can see the talent from Jamie, we need consistency.

Jamie, what are you making?

I'm doing a duck Thai green curry with jasmine and coconut rice.

I really like it, my friends and family really like it,

so I'm just hoping that it's good enough to be here

and for you guys to enjoy it as well.

Are you doubting whether it's good enough to be here?

It's a simple dish, it's non-complicated.

It's just that the competition is so high and, you know,

the talent of the guys here is amazing,

so it's just whether it steps up to what they're doing.

-Jamie, good luck with the curry.

-Thank you.

They've already referred to me as "the meat and two veg"

and I kind of, as much as I love that

cos that's the kind of food I want to cook all the time,

I really want to show that I can do other things.

Green curry is a big bowl of steaming stew.

That's what it should be.

And what we've got from Jamie is a pan-fried duck breast with

a green curry dressing.

Unusual.

That is smoke, mate, rather than steam.

Smoke usually means burning.

-It is burning, but it's all right.

-Burning?

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

HE COUGHS

Oh.

Wow.

Billy has the makings of an amazing cook, but he likes to work

really under pressure and up against it for time.

Billy, what are you making?

A curry duck pithivier,

with tarka dhal, pickled carrots, coriander chutney,

burnt onions and I think that's it.

-Duck pithivier, pithivier's like a French pastry pie.

-Yeah.

-You're sticking a French pie in a curry.

-Yeah.

What about feeding big bad Jay Rayner?

I'm looking forward to it, yeah.

It's just great to get some feedback from other

esteemed people in the food industry.

Did you almost say, it would be nice to get some feedback

from someone who knows what he's talking about?

No, not at all, not at all, Gregg.

I love puff pastry.

I think puff pastry should surround everything that's

good in the whole world.

If I could eat puff pastry for every meal, I would.

But I've never had a duck curry puff pastry pie.

I mean, you do have chicken balti pies at football matches,

so why not have a duck breast pie for MasterChef?

You are halfway, you've got 45 minutes left.

Liz cooks crowd-pleasing food with real style.

Her calling card chicken was just incredible.

Maybe the best dish of any heat.

At the start of the competition, I thought I was passionate about food

and it builds with every single day that goes by.

So, I just want it so bad.

-You all right, Liz?

-I'm all right, yeah, not too bad.

You're putting yourself under a fair amount of pressure, aren't you?

Yeah, yeah, I really am.

I'm trying to enjoy the experience, but, at the same time,

I'm trying to be as good as I can be.

Why is this competition meaning so much to you?

I think it's a lot to do with wanting to do this seriously

as a career and I really think that if I can do myself proud,

that I've got a good chance as well.

-Liz, good luck.

-Thank you.

-Not too much pressure, all right?

-OK, I'll try.

Liz is sticking with what she calls her traditional style,

however, she's putting an Asian twist on it.

We've got a duck breast, she's serving with a five spice sauce,

a bok choy and butternut squash with ginger.

But also on her bench, she has carrots, orange juice,

lavender and redcurrants.

I don't know where this is going, I have no idea,

but we've tasted Liz's food before and it's been delicious,

so who knows?

30 minutes left, 30 minutes.

Hope, our youngest contestant in the competition.

I expected a lack of experience and a bit of lack of knowledge.

I haven't seen any of that so far.

When I hear other contestants talking about what they're doing,

it does scare me a bit because they definitely

have a wider knowledge of food.

But I guess I'll just have to use my youth to my advantage.

How I can do that I'm not sure yet, but...

How are you doing, Hope?

I'm really happy with this brief actually.

Hasn't really suited my student budget, though.

Poor and duck breast haven't really gone down well.

Cooking for Jay Rayner?

Yes.

That's scary.

To be honest, though, I was thinking about it earlier

and cooking for you and John is quite scary as well,

so I'm just trying to forget about that all

and just try and cook to the best of my ability.

Hope's gone very classy and, some may say, safe.

Pan-fried duck breast, celeriac puree, crispy parsnips

and a blackberry sauce.

That's the ambition.

I hope she's got the skill to make sure it gets on the plate properly.

Absolute disaster.

Billy, what's happening over here?

-You seem a tad stressed.

-Yeah.

-Cooked the lentils three times.

-Have you really?

I don't think I've ever cooked lentils incorrectly

in my life before.

First off, they had too much chilli and second off they had

too much salt in, so this time, they should be all right.

Listen, you've got 15 minutes left.

On track.

I hope.

I'm just waiting for that to rest.

Middles for diddles.

I'm kind of like happy with some things and not so happy with others.

Don't forget your egg, Jane.

Yeah, that's what I'm just about to do, yeah.

You'll run out of time, quick.

I'll do that.

I've got to plate up though, haven't I?

If you can find some space.

Five minutes on the duck.

Right, that's it, guys. Time's up.

Stop, please.

Billy, stop.

Well done.

-Well done.

-Yeah, well done.

Oh! How's yours? You pleased with it?

Good, I'm really... I'm over the moon.

Oh, that looks lovely.

You've just got so many ingredients.

Right, all the duck breasts are cooked.

Now, let me introduce you to the food critic

that's going to taste your food.

Jay Rayner.

Good afternoon, ready for your lunch?

I hope so.

Liz, come and bring your duck up here, please.

Company director Liz has made pan-fried duck breast with

roasted butternut squash and ginger puree, rolled purple carrots,

parmentier potatoes, leeks, bok choy and a five-spice sauce.

I absolutely love it.

I love your modern presentation.

The duck is accurately cooked,

but what really makes it sing are the sauces you've put underneath.

The puree with that little hint of ginger

and then the five-spice gravy on the top, it becomes one.

They do sort of mingle in with each other,

but they've become a very nice one.

They shake hands and move off into the sunset together

like they're best friends.

I like the ginger butternut squash five-spice duck combination.

I like the leek, potato combination.

But when I try and put those two together, I'm a little bit confused.

I find so much on that dish to admire.

But I've got the texture of a European roast dinner,

I've got the flavours of a beautiful Asian dish.

-We're holding you to your own standards here.

-Yeah.

That's a great bit of duck with some really, really great sauces.

It's about the rest of the things, whether they need to be there

or whether they confuse things,

-so you shouldn't be down on yourself.

-OK.

It's easy to focus on the bad things,

but I think they said some good things as well.

You can't not be happy with that.

Mum of four Jane has pan-fried her duck breast with

black truffles under the skin and served it with duck liver, kale,

pea puree, garlic and thyme mushrooms, Parma ham,

a crispy soft-boiled duck egg and a juniper duck sauce.

Let's go into the egg.

Ooh.

Bang on.

That's not always easy.

The key thing, as far as I'm concerned,

is that you have done justice to that duck breast.

The skin is crisp, the fat's rendered, the meat's not overcooked.

I could clear the plate of that breast, it's really well done.

Everything's cooked very, very well.

With those crispy, sticky mushrooms and your rich sauce,

it's a lovely, lovely thing.

I've never seen a big egg with duck, however, I love it.

I think the whole thing is absolutely delicious.

You're a lovely cook.

This is food for people to eat and munch the living daylights out of.

I really like it.

Thank you very much.

Oh, gosh.

Phew.

I can breathe now, can I, please?

I'm absolutely elated to be given that sort of feedback.

IT recruiter Jamie has made a Thai green duck curry

with coconut jasmine rice.

A Thai green curry actually is quite a thin, soupy affair

and this is more of a sort of a green gravy.

It's not taking me down the streets of Bangkok.

Yeah, it's not brilliant, Jamie.

It's just not brilliant.

I find the duck in there a little overcooked

and your rice is most certainly gloopy.

It's not setting the competition on fire, that's for sure.

The other point, though, is it could have been duck,

it could've been chicken, it could have been Gregg Wallace's

left arm and we wouldn't have been any the wiser.

Nice flavour, but not really a great way of displaying duck.

Sure.

"Thai green gravy."

It's not what you want to hear, is it?

Oh, well.

I like it a bit thicker.

Student Hope has served pan-fried duck breast with celeriac puree,

broccoli, celeriac crisps, caramelised apple

and a blackberry juniper sauce.

The classical flavours of blackberry and duck are a good choice

and I really like your celeriac puree.

It doesn't scream out vast inventiveness.

Fruit, celeriac, the sweet duck, it's decent, it's nice.

I can't tell you off over anything, just that, I don't know,

I'd like something a little more exciting.

Sorry, gentlemen, but I think you're being a bit tough on the girl.

You've got a lovely blackberry sauce,

which in the background's got a huge amount of juniper berries,

I like your little bits of apple on the side,

which are caramelised and sweet.

I think it's a tasty, tasty thing.

On the whole, I am really happy.

Yeah, but it's just a bit annoying that they didn't all see it

how John saw it, really.

Yeah.

Property surveyor Billy has made a curry duck pithivier

with tarka dhal, pickled carrots, charred onions

and coriander chutney, served with curry sauce.

Can I say, I do admire a man who comes up to the table

wearying his dish on his apron.

Practically a Turner painting.

I admire your bravery. I really do.

Your creamy coconut sauce with your dhal, your pickled carrots

and your coriander chutney, I really like.

The pastry and the curry sauce, I find fun.

I'd like a big pint of beer with it

and couple of mates to have a chat with cos I feel like I'm at the pub

or I'm on a railway station concourse about to go to a game.

You start bringing in things like pithivier into a curry, mate.

You're gambling.

I personally think your gamble's paid off, I like it a great deal.

As soon as I got into that duck pie, I thought,

"Yeah, this is quite a comforting thing."

I'm very impressed.

I admire what you've done.

I would've loved a lot more of the coriander chutney

because that's got a real punch to it.

It's a little bit, just, underpowered.

I think they admire my courage, if you like,

and trying to attempt it.

To get something up there that was edible,

they seemed to eat quite a lot of it, so we shall see.

Actor Annie has pan-fried her duck breast

and served it with Jerusalem artichoke puree,

caramelised chicory with walnuts,

hasselback potatoes and a Bordelaise sauce.

You can see what's going on here, can't you?

I'm not sure.

If you get us a bottle of wine, you'll understand what's going on.

See that?

It's good, isn't it?

We could clear the rest off, but we thought that would just be overkill.

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

I love it.

The nuts with the duck and the red wine sauce, the chicory

and the artichoke puree - fantastic.

But what I really like about it is your boldness.

There is a couple of things on the plate,

they're cooked really well and they're done

with real pride and real care.

It's a lovely, lovely thing, Annie.

Thank you.

-Are you happy?

-Yeah.

I'm really emotional, yeah.

-Thank you.

-Well done, Annie.

-Thanks, Annie.

-Thank you.

-Well done, you.

-Thank you.

Wonderful day.

What a brilliant collection of amateur cooks, incredible.

This is the quarterfinal, we can't take all of you through.

We have to make a decision on who stays and who goes.

Off you go.

-Thanks very much, Jay.

-Thank you for letting me into your kitchen.

-It's been a pleasure as always.

-Thanks very much.

-Take care.

That was ridiculous. Well done.

I thought it was a great task.

It shows you how versatile a duck can be,

but it also shows you how tricky it is to get it absolutely right.

It's easy to see who the best cook of the day was and that's

Annie with her duck, her chicory, Jerusalem artichoke puree.

What a beautiful-looking dish.

We finished the whole plate, she goes straight through.

I told myself all I wanted to do was get through the first round

and then to have comments like that is incredible.

Jane is my other pick of the ducks, I thought she was wonderful today.

It's a great dish.

She cooks well, doesn't she?

That's all I wanted - people to enjoy what I'm cooking

and like what they're eating, so I'm over the moon.

Jamie and his green duck curry, compared to the rest of the room,

I'm really sorry, there wasn't enough skill involved

and I think in a quarterfinal,

you've got to do better than overcooked rice

and a pretty mediocre curry.

Liz, her food was cooked well, her sauces were lovely, the dish

itself looked great, but it didn't belong together on the same plate.

However, she, in my mind, is a good cook with great technique

great aptitude for this competition.

I just can't bear the thought of going home.

I know I keep saying this, but I don't want to think about that.

Look what it does just to even think about it.

I don't know what to do about Hope.

When you serve a dish like she did and there's very little wrong

with it, but it doesn't actually excite anybody at all.

I just thought it showed a little bit of a lack of ambition.

There's not mistake on the plate, it just doesn't have the wow factor.

I think I'm a bit in the middle at the moment, maybe towards the bottom.

I don't know, but...

it's up to them now, yeah.

Billy went for really quite a weird, outlandish thing,

a duck pithivier with Indian flavours.

I like Billy's bravery, I liked his difference.

It's not easy to do fusion food.

I'd like to grab hold of Billy and just steer him a little bit.

He cooked his dhal three times and there's mess everywhere.

It's whether we decide to give him another chance or not.

I don't think I'll be strolling through to the next round.

I think it'll very much be in the balance, so we shall see.

It's a big call.

You want to give someone a chance,

but you want to make sure they can actually do it.

I thought today was very, very good indeed.

Lots of passion,

lots of great ideas as well.

The decision we've made is that we will take four of you

through to the next round.

The first person going through...

is Annie.

Congratulations.

The second person going through...

..is Jane.

Thank you.

The third person going through to knock-out week...

..is Liz.

Our fourth and final person going through to knock-out week...

..is Billy.

Congratulations.

Hope, Jamie, thank you very much for everything.

Thank you.

I think I was getting a little bit out of my depth.

I was just really happy to be here today.

I had a great time and, yeah, I'm pleased with what I cooked, so yeah.

Gutted. Really, really gutted,

but getting this far and John and Gregg enjoying your food

is a massive accolade for me and I'm really, really pleased.

I thought it was 50-50 and proved again being the last one

through for the second time in a row, so making a habit of it.

Yeah, I am really, really happy.

Over the moon, so excited.

Raring to go and get stuck into some more cooking.

I'm ready for the next stage,

this is where it starts to get interesting, so, yeah.

Head down, carry on.

It's exhilarating, it's a bit like being on a rollercoaster, isn't it?

When you're on it, you think "Oh, God, what have I done?"

And it stops for a minute and you're like,

"Great, I want to get on again."

Next time, it's knock-out week.

The best 14 from the heats will compete

to stay in the competition...

Time is flying.

I think you're a genius.

I absolutely love it.

..and experience the pressure of their first professional kitchen.

We're going to get slammed in a minute, come on.