Episode 13 MasterChef

MasterChef is back. Hundreds auditioned. Now the best 50 amateur cooks are through.

Let's cook.

-Get your pudding spoon out and man up.

-You either stand out or you're knocked out.

Each week, ten new contestants, battling for a place in Friday's quarter-final.

-I don't want to eat it.

-I already feel nervous for them.

-This is just...bang!

Only the strongest will make it to the final challenges.

-Come on, we've got to move now.

-You've got six minutes left.

-Oh!

-Cooking does not get tougher than this.

These five amateurs all think they have what it takes to become MasterChef champion.

But at the end of today's heat, only the best will become quarter-finalists.

I think the competition is going to be very pressurised.

My strategy is to treat every round as the final.

I wouldn't be entering MasterChef if I didn't feel I could win it.

Right now, I'm feeling very excited, very energetic,

but also very nervous. That much!

Welcome to MasterChef.

What you need to do is show us

that you are a culinary legend waiting to be discovered.

Ladies and gentlemen, one hour, your invention test.

Let's cook.

Today's ingredients include:

pork tenderloin, prosciutto,

apricots, almonds,

basil, plum tomatoes,

ricotta, carrots,

mozzarella and pasta flour.

30-year-old Jo is from Edinburgh and is passionate about Scottish ingredients.

Cooking for John and Gregg is going to be one of these things

that I remember for the rest of my life. I'm very excited about it and so looking forward to it. Can't wait.

What are you making, Jo?

Pork stuffed with apricots and almonds with some citrus veg on the side.

-What sort of cook would you say you were?

-Inventive. I like to take a recipe and funk it up.

-What do you do right now?

-I'm a lecturer in Dance.

-Come on, let's have a bit of a waltz.

-To the right. There you go.

-And back.

-Let me lead, let me lead, let me lead.

-Sorry.

-Let me lead.

-Do you cook as well as you dance?

-I hope so.

I don't know if Jo is doing a sauce, but she needs to do something to make sure that pork is moist.

Because that piece of pork, as moist as the stuffing might be, is going to be dry on the outside.

The reason I know that is because it's already cooking.

Ten minutes gone.

I first got into cooking about five years ago.

I was living with my mate.

I was sick of shoving things in the oven and now it's a passion.

James, you've got a very serious game face on.

-That changed quick.

-What's going through your mind?

Panic. I don't want to let myself down. I hope you like my food.

-Are you a family man?

-Yes, I've got a two-week-old little boy.

-Congratulations, but terrible timing!

-Yeah, but it's the best thing that's ever happened.

Hopefully, I can start a legacy.

-What are you making for us?

-I'm just going to do a pork fillet with a tomato and basil sauce

with some sauteed potatoes, so I just want to do something I know I'm capable of doing.

James said he's not going to cook anything outside his comfort zone.

Pan-fry a piece of pork, make a tomato sauce and cook some potatoes.

But the problem is - is it enough?

I love going to restaurants, seeing what they've done

and trying to replicate that at home.

When you put it in front of somebody, I like them to think, "Wow, that looks really nice!"

-Barry, what are you making?

-I've gone for a fondant potato with a carrot puree

-and a tomato and "basilly" sauce with the pork fillet.

-Perfect.

-What cuisine do you love?

-My favourite cuisine to go out and eat is Indian.

In fact, our whole wedding that me and my wife had was at an Indian restaurant.

-It sounds different, but it's amazing.

-How good does your wife think you are?

She tells me I'm great, but she has to.

Barry, I'll get out of your hair!

Pork is a very sweet meat,

so you've got sweet pork, then you've got sweet tomato sauce.

With pork you need something sharp like apple or rosemary and garlic.

My mum has been a big influence on my cooking. Food for me is memories

of my early childhood -

roast dinners, sitting with all the family round the table.

Graeme, what are you going to make for us?

I've got patatas bravas on the go, ham-wrapped pork and I'll use a few other ingredients along the way.

-Where are you from?

-Originally, from Scotland.

-Where are you now?

-I live in London, having just moved back very recently. We lived in Brussels for six years.

It definitely inspired me. It opened up the world of going to markets.

You meet the producers, taste the food. It's fantastic.

Graeme is going to make for us patatas bravas,

that classic dish of Spain, spicy potatoes.

There is not a piece of chilli powder or smoked paprika.

There is nothing to make those potatoes "brave" in any way, shape or form on that bench.

Pescetarian Rachael cooks meat for her family

and, like all the contestants, has also chosen to use the pork fillet.

The main thing that I love about cooking is being creative.

I'm always trying to have to think of different ways of cooking basic foods.

Rachael, what sort of cuisine do you really love?

I love pastry cooking.

I love doing Bakewell tarts or almond and Stilton tarts. Pastry is my thing.

-What are you making?

-I should've made a nice tart, but I didn't.

Instead, I'm doing pork with a potato herbed rosti served with a cream and almond sauce.

Brilliant. You're a counsellor. You love doing desserts. You and I could be very close friends.

Absolutely. Are you into open water swimming?

No, maybe not.

Two minutes.

Just two minutes.

That's it. Time's up. Stop.

First up is dance lecturer Jo

who has chosen to stuff her pork loin with almonds and apricots

and serve them with honey-glazed carrots and a garlic and lemon mash.

Very neat and clean. Well done for that,

although I do feel that I want to grab for the gravy jug.

Right, OK.

Oh, my word!

The pork and the apricots is a nice idea.

I really like the sweet honey carrots. That's lovely. I do like that.

But that mashed potato is awful.

Big lumps of uncooked potato and great big lumps of raw garlic!

That sweetness of the carrot with the honey goes really nice with the almonds and the apricots.

That's taking me somewhere where I feel very comfortable. Your pork's a little bit dry.

That's because there's nothing to protect that delicate flesh.

I think the comments were absolutely fair.

I'm just kicking myself at doing stupid, stupid errors.

Graeme has wrapped his pork loin in prosciutto and served it

with patatas bravas and a fig, ricotta and olive herb salad.

Graeme, I couldn't work out what you were doing, but I really like the look of your dish.

Thank you.

That fig salad, really sharp, lovely dressing,

sweet ricotta, together with those salty olives, is really beautiful.

Your pork is cooked really well,

protected on the outside by that crispy piece of salted ham.

But you promised us potatoes bravas. You didn't have anything to make them spicy, so they're non-bravas!

I'll not tell you off for putting a fig salad next to a pretend patatas bravas with well-cooked pork

because your cooking is sound.

I got great feedback, but I think you can always kind of up your game.

New dad James has chosen to cook his pork fillet

with a tomato and basil sauce and garlic sauteed potatoes.

-James, it looks a little messy.

-A little?

-Looks very messy?

Yeah, as scruffy as a scruffy thing on scruff day!

I love the basil going through the tomatoes, but the tomatoes need more seasoning.

I love your sauteed potatoes, but your pork is overcooked.

The problem you've got is there's no acid in there, so it's too sweet.

The pork is just dry because it's been put into a pan and roasted.

It's not a great start, I'm sorry to say.

I've let myself down, really, more than anything else.

All I can do is do everything I can to rectify that and show them actually how good I can be.

Pescetarian Rachael has served her pork loin wrapped in prosciutto

on a potato and herb rosti

with caramelised carrots and an almond cream sauce.

Rachael, why have you cooked meat?

I do cook meat at home, but I have to say that's the first time I've ever cooked pork.

Your pork is overcooked. The cream sauce I don't think goes with the dish.

-I don't know what to say to you. You went down the wrong path. It's not for me, I'm sorry to say.

-OK.

It's a collection of bits and pieces together on a plate, rather than a properly thought-out meal.

I wish I'd gone with what I knew I could do well,

rather than attempting to use new ingredients.

Operations manager Barry has created a dish of pork loin with fondant potatoes,

a carrot puree and a tomato basil sauce.

Barry, I don't mind the presentation, although I'm being transported back to the mid-'80s.

Lovely potato fondant. It's soft all the way through.

I love your two sweet sauces, the carrot one and the tomato one. It's really good work, mate.

You have got some really nice cooking - a very strong, quite concentrated, sweet tomato sauce.

Your pork, beautiful.

Even though the comments were really positive,

there are still areas I need to look to improve on,

so they have got a lot more to see from myself.

For some of you, not a bad effort at all.

There is another challenge coming up and at the end of that, two of you will be going home.

Thanks very much indeed.

We've had three people here who have had very nervy starts, John.

Jo, Rachael and James have got work to do.

We have seen people with disastrous invention tests turn it around.

There is still hope for some of these guys.

This palate test is a great test.

It's a scallop and crab ravioli with a spiced prawn sauce.

So, flour, two whole eggs and three egg yolks.

It's one of those - you either know how to do it or you don't.

A tiny drop of water, a little bit of salt,

then I'm just going to blend it.

Done, put it in the clingfilm, rest it in the fridge. Luckily, I've got some here.

Now I'm going to make the spicy prawn sauce - carrots, leeks, celery

and then some ginger and some chillies with the star anise.

And now the lemongrass.

Chop the prawns up, heads and all.

So, the prawns in with the frying vegetables and then to the sauce we're just going to add a tomato.

Some rice. The rice is used as a thickening agent.

Brandy.

You need to burn the alcohol away because it is too strong on the back of the palate,

but you want the sweetness and the flavour of the brandy.

And add a little bit of chicken stock to those prawn shells.

That's lovely. That's singing to me.

So, now the filling for the ravioli -

finely chopped chilli, the tarragon and the parsley.

Put the crab into a mixing bowl.

Add our chopped aromates and the tiniest amount of cream.

Just give me a little bit of fine toast. I'm ready for lunch now.

Roll out the pasta.

You can just see my hands through it. Just.

-Beautiful pasta.

-The scallop, crab on top.

Egg wash around the outside.

Gently push every single, tiny bit of air out of it

because if you have any air pockets in it, they blow up.

Take some cutters with frilly bits round the outside.

Double-check to make sure they're sealed properly.

Our raviolis are ready, our water, then just drop them in.

Three and then four.

They're going to take two or three minutes to cook.

I take my sauce and strain it into a pot.

A tiny bit of creme fraiche into our sauce.

Look at our sauce, all caramel and thick. Now to finish off the dish.

Add to the top some sliced spring onions.

So there we have it, scallop and crab ravioli

with a spiced prawn sauce.

I love it. Let's get our contestants in.

I have cooked you some lunch.

And what we would like you to do is to eat that dish

and on the piece of paper that's next to you, we'd like you to write down all the ingredients in it.

Off you go.

There's something in there that I can't get my head around.

It's really starting to annoy me.

I think I've got most of it, but I'm struggling a wee bit with the components of the sauce.

There's a lot of aniseedy, spicy flavours, but it's difficult to differentiate.

But no, I think I've pretty much sussed out what goes into most of it.

I like the combination of the pasta and the seafood...

if that's what it is.

Now you've had a chance to taste it, what we want you to do now is cook it.

Under that cloth on the bench are all the ingredients that went into the making of that dish.

There's also some ingredients under there that didn't.

Have a look at your ingredients. Off you go.

The ingredients have been separated into three groups -

the proteins for the pasta filling, the sauce

and pre-made pasta dough or flour and eggs to make their own.

Graeme's got a very impressive list. He talks about a fish reduction, he talks about a bisque.

He talks about shellfish through the sauce, star anise, aniseed flavour, tamarind cos it's sharp and sour.

I tell you what. Graeme's got a pretty good palate.

I feel in control which makes me feel a bit out of control.

15 minutes gone, guys. You've got 45 minutes left.

I'm definitely having a rethink at the moment in terms of what I thought went in it.

Tough times.

James is looking very worried

and what really scares me is the last time I checked,

he had nothing in the pot at all to make a sauce.

Nothing at all.

30 minutes left.

I'm all right with the filling, but I don't know what I'm doing with this.

I don't know what I'm doing with this.

-You've not used one of these?

-I've never used one of these.

-Just put the little bit there, then next time, take it down one.

-Thank you very much.

-A pleasure, Rachael.

Rachael said she's never made pasta before, so she's using the ready-made stuff.

The sauce, she's saying there was soy sauce, clams, fish sauce and tamarind all together and salt!

She's got five lots of salt. My sauce is good. It's not like that!

I've made home-made pasta a lot and I think it's the sauce that's really getting me this time,

so that's why I'm using...

I haven't gone for the "make your own pasta" option.

That sauce doesn't look right at all.

She's got lots of vegetables stewing down in a pot and there's not a hint of fish in there.

Where's your sauce, Barry?

It's there. I lost half of it. I had to start again.

-You've got ten minutes.

-That's the second attempt.

So I'm just trying to work out what I can do instead.

Barry very boldly has made his own pasta.

I don't think he quite understands the sauce. The last time I looked he had chillies cooking in cream.

You've got three minutes to finish your dishes. Three minutes left.

-What's happened to your sauce? You've only got a few minutes left.

-I'll quickly do a prawn oil.

Time's up. That's it.

What I cooked for you was a ravioli of crab and scallop with a spiced bisque.

Jo, let's start with you.

-Oh, oh, oh! You like your food spicy, do you, Jo?

-A wee bit.

Nice ravioli. I like the flavour of the crab and the scallop inside there. That's fine.

The sauce is ginger and chilli. That's it. And it's ferocious!

The raviolis aren't bad. The sauce looks good, but it doesn't have that depth of flavour which is a shame.

Yeah.

I'm not sure if I've done enough.

Time will tell, I guess.

Graeme!

The filling inside of the crab and the scallop is lovely.

Your sauce is so salty. It's as if the crab is trying to get back to the sea.

Graeme, you've got that wonderful aniseed flavour of tarragon running through your crab meat.

You had the right idea with your sauce. I like the colour and I love the consistency.

But it's far too salty because the stock has reduced too much.

Not a bad show, Graeme.

James...

Your ravioli was split open.

Inside your ravioli you've got little flecks of ginger and chilli and herb which is good,

but when you've put the ravioli in the water, it's washed away every single flavour inside.

You've got a hint of chilli, some saltiness from the stock and the merest hint of prawn. That is it.

Such a shame.

I think today, I've failed to impress John and Gregg. I've failed to impress myself.

Rachael, your turn.

Definitely not the sauce I made. That's for sure.

Inside that ravioli you've got raw lemongrass, chilli with a little bit of crab,

and because the flavours are so intense and so strong, it's hard to taste the scallop.

That's quite a remarkable and astonishing tasting plate of food.

It's about as far removed from John's as you could imagine.

Something was on the plate.

It may not have been exactly what was meant to be on there, but something was and they didn't choke,

so it couldn't have been that far wrong.

Barry, your turn.

You made your own pasta for the ravioli, but your sauce is a pasta disaster.

It doesn't have enough flavour to it, Barry.

It's a bit sort of pallid.

You made wonderful pasta, beautiful ravioli, as light as you like.

Your sauce is abominable. It's just salty flavoured cream.

If I was sent home today, I'd be really disappointed.

I've really enjoyed today and I just want to progress further.

Thanks very much. Off you go.

Two pretty tough challenges and we've got to get three people to go through to the next round.

Graeme needs to stay. He had the best invention test. The guy looks solid as a rock.

I agree with you. Graeme should stay.

The one I suggest leaves the competition is Rachael.

She doesn't normally cook meat, but decided to cook the pork and when we asked her to do the ravioli,

she looked just as scared, if not more scared than she did in the invention test.

-I don't believe Rachael has a future on MasterChef.

-So we have to decide between Barry, Jo and James.

As much as I admired Barry's skill and adventure and his presentation in the invention test,

I don't know, now I've tasted his ravioli, how good a cook he is.

Jo, I think, has had a day of two halves

because for Jo, it was one of the best raviolis on the bench,

but in the invention test, there was that issue with the potato and raw garlic and lemon juice

which was pretty nasty. Let's just remember that.

I'm really not sure about Jo now.

With James, he pan-fried a bit of pork and he made some chips. On MasterChef, we need a bit more.

I feel sorry for James. One mistake where he hasn't sealed the ravioli,

the water's come in and washed it away. Otherwise, he was making a decent fist of that.

Professional kitchen tomorrow - who's going to cut the mustard?

We have made our decision.

The first person leaving us is...

-..is Rachael.

-Thank you.

The second person leaving the competition is...

..James.

-Thanks very much, guys.

-Cheers, James.

-Thanks very much.

Disappointed, but I've realised a dream.

I won't stop cooking.

If anything, it makes you want to do it even more.

I don't think I've performed to my best.

But that's not to say that my best would have been good enough to get through the competition.

Well done, you three. You've got big smiles on your faces now.

Let's see how you feel tomorrow because we are taking you to a professional kitchen.

- Oh, wow! - Oh, my God!

Fantastic!

It's early morning

and Graeme, Jo and Barry are travelling to their first professional kitchen service.

Today, they will be cooking at the Terrace Bar & Grill, a modern British restaurant in Piccadilly.

I'm Michael Dutnall. I'm the head chef.

We've got a busy lunch today. We're expecting a full house of 50 covers and we've got a lot of work to do.

OK, so let's get to it.

Lunch service begins in just three hours.

The standards at this restaurant are very high.

Nothing will go into that restaurant that wouldn't go into it any other day.

If it's not good, it goes straight back and they start again.

Dance lecturer Jo is in charge of the starter,

a trio of salmon with a grilled pave on pickled cucumber,

a smoked roulade with lemon verbena sauce

and cured gravlax with dill.

The first job to do, when I call a check on, is to put the salmon into the duck fat which is on the stove.

While we're waiting for that, we'll plate up the rest of the dish. OK?

Pickled cucumber on to the plate like this.

This is seeded cracker bread and that sits in the middle like that.

We have the smoked salmon roulade in there and the smoked salmon mousse.

Caviar, delicate hands. What you need to do is gently squeeze...

OK?

In here we have lemon verbena sauce. You'll feather this over the top of the roulade. You need a steady hand.

OK, so, cured salmon. We need to make a nice, little flower shape,

place it on the plate, giving a nice bit of height to the dish.

We finish the gravlax off with a little quenelle of cream cheese.

Now that we've finished that, our pave will be ready and place it on top of your salad.

-That is your starter for today.

-Fantastic.

I want to make sure I'm spot-on with my feathering and with my piping.

Graeme will be cooking the grilled rib-eye with Somerset Brie fondant,

roasted bone marrow farce, sweet cherry tomatoes

and glazed shallot with a Bearnaise sauce.

OK, what we're looking for here is nice, clean bar marking

and an evenly cooked steak.

Into our oven. You're looking at about four minutes for the garnish and two minutes for the tomatoes.

Our steak's ready to turn again now. You need to make sure you're getting a good criss-cross.

Put it in the middle of the plate.

Be careful when picking up the fondant, so it doesn't fall apart. Cherry tomatoes...

A little bit of watercress, a little bit of vinaigrette. OK?

Turn it over. Get it nicely in there, tucked away nicely.

Bearnaise sauce.

One last garnish, a bit of thyme sticking out of the bone marrow.

It looks fantastic. I can't wait to get stuck in and give it a try.

Timing is clearly going to be absolutely key to getting the steak cooked right,

getting all the accompaniments ready, so I think it will be really tough.

Operations manager Barry is making the grilled fish casserole

with sea bass, scallops, monkfish,

prawns and mussels with a lobster bisque.

We'll grill our fish. We'll season it, a little bit of oil, a little bit of salt.

Put your fish straight on.

What you're looking for with this is really clear bar marking, yeah?

This into the oven.

-Don't overcook the fish.

-No.

Julienne of veg in the dead centre of the plate.

Pour your bisque.

What you've got to think about is the colours. You need to mix it up.

You don't want to make a mess all over your plate.

OK, now for the mussels, gently putting them on top.

To finish off, just a little bit of a garnish.

A nice tomato in the middle.

-How do you feel about that?

-It looks amazing.

Timing is going to be so important because fish, you can't serve overdone. I need to be on the ball.

It's nearly 12.30 and service is about to start.

Check on, one salmon.

-Can someone answer me?

-Yes, chef!

-Too much cucumber going on that plate.

-Yes, chef.

To meet the chef's exacting standards,

Jo not only has to be fast, but each dish must be identical.

That looks like a spider's web.

Ohh!

Service!

-Jo, just be careful with your verbena sauce. You need to be a bit smoother than that.

-Yes, chef.

The lemon sauce is looking a bit shaky.

I've got to make sure I've got the right pressure on it and it's going smoothly.

-OK, check on - one salmon, one rib-eye.

-Yes, chef!

Yes, chef! Unbelievable.

-How is it cooked, chef?

-Medium-rare.

Yes, chef.

Early days. Not much scope for many things to go wrong yet, but we'll see.

With seven elements to bring together on the plate, Graeme's timing is crucial to his dish.

You've got to think about getting your garnish in, yeah? Get it hot, get it resting up there, OK?

It is a complete and utter adrenaline rush.

Graeme, nice marking on your steak. That's very nice.

I've never experienced the kind of crazy, frantic pressure like this in my life.

-One thing, you forgot to put your thyme garnish in, yeah?

-Sorry, chef.

-OK, table six!

-Check on. Two fish casserole coming up. Let's make sure they're as good as the ones I showed you.

-Yes, chef.

-I called two fish away. You've only got one ready.

-There's one ready and another one just finishing off.

-I saw one on there. Where's it gone?

-Just in the oven.

-I saw a pan with bisque and mussels there. Where's it gone?

-It was overdone. I had to get rid of it.

-You need to tell me that.

-OK, chef.

-Barry, you're going to have to speed up.

-Yes, chef.

I need to get it right this time. I'm waiting for these mussels to finish off, then I can plate up.

I've got two steaks here. I need that casserole now.

With Graeme's steaks ready for the same table, Barry needs to speed up.

-It's nice, but you need to be a lot quicker.

-OK. Thank you.

-I'll need two fresh watercress for this because it's taken so long to plate up the casserole.

-Sorry, chef.

Let's go. One more casserole quickly, please.

This plate is disgusting.

This plate's got grease, finger marks, dirt all the way around it, OK?

OK, service!

Table 41!

It's getting everything working at the same time. It's a difficult skill to master.

Very slow start. We'll get there.

Got to speed up. We'll have hungry people in the restaurant otherwise.

With service in full swing, the orders are coming in thick and fast.

Check on - one Set A, one Set C.

-One fish, one meat, medium.

-Yes, chef!

-One fish casserole, one rib-eye, medium-rare.

-Yes, chef!

-Just answer me.

-Yes, chef!

-I know you're under pressure, but just answer at least.

-Sorry, chef.

-Check on. Two salmon, yeah? It's the last two.

-Yes, chef.

The cucumber is going all over the place and it shouldn't be.

The piping of the lemon verbena sauce is too squiggly, too shaky.

-Do that one again. It's for the same table. Let's have them both looking the same.

-Yes, chef.

That's a lot better.

Very nice.

Service!

-You've got three casserole on order, yeah?

-Yes, chef.

-Everything under control?

-Yes, chef.

-Good.

OK, Graeme, last two away.

-Two rib-eye, medium-rare.

-Yes, chef.

With three orders on the go at once, Barry now needs to show he can keep up with the pace.

This fish casserole is going with that wellington on table 62.

-But you need one fish casserole with these two.

-Yes, chef.

Barry's caught up. I'll have to start putting the pressure on Graeme and push him along a little bit.

A whole lot of people wanting a whole lot of meat.

-Medium-well, yeah?

-Yeah.

-Let's cook another one.

-Very nice.

-Thank you, chef.

-I think you've even finally got the plates clean.

-Thank you, chef.

-It wasn't easy, but we got there.

-And I got clean plates.

-How long are you going to be? His is drying out.

-30 seconds.

-Sorry, chef.

-He finally gets it right and you mess his dish up. What's going on?

-Sorry, chef.

Excellent. OK, service!

-Well done. End of service. Good job. I think everyone will leave happy today. Thank you.

-Thank you, chef!

Barry started off slow, sped up during the middle of the service.

By the end of the service, he was serving some real quality food. Overall, happy.

Graeme started off the service really well.

Then I think he got maybe a bit too confident during the middle of the service and slowed down.

That's when Barry caught up.

After this experience, I'm just ready to get back in the kitchen and try and get into the next round.

With Jo, a couple of times, I had to stop the plate going out just to re-do the piping,

but it didn't affect her much, it didn't dent her confidence.

She took it on board and again did a great job in my opinion.

I was very surprised at the food I was turning out today.

Hopefully, one day, I will be in this kind of environment for my day-to-day work.

Welcome back. You have now earned the right to cook your own food.

Two courses, one hour. At the end of this, we'll decide who becomes a quarter-finalist and who goes home.

Let's cook.

I've chosen two different dishes for my menu which do challenge me

and do show a little bit of a cheeky side.

I've tried to throw things off-kilter.

-Jo, what are you making for us?

-The first course is a fillet of sea bass with fennel

on a bed of kale, leek, fennel, ginger and chilli with a rhubarb sauce.

The second course is a Highland version of surf and turf

with scallops and venison with a blackberry sauce.

A quarter-final place up for grabs.

These are daring combinations - sea bass and rhubarb and scallops and blackberry.

At any point in this competition, you're wanting to show that you're not afraid to try things

and if they don't work, then you've tried it.

Good luck. You've got a huge amount of work to do and I think you are being daring.

-The girl who played with fire!

-That's me.

Jo's got her work cut out because she's got some lovely things like sea bass, scallops and venison.

They've all got to be cooked perfectly well.

Rhubarb and fish I've had before, but blackberry and scallop?

Really? Jam and scallop?!

You've had 15 minutes. 15 minutes gone!

I'm really excited about getting to cook my own food for John and Gregg.

It's something I know that works and I hope it will be good enough to get me through to the next stage.

Graeme, I'm intrigued. What are you making?

I'm starting off with a nod to my mum.

I'm making potato soup, but with black pudding to give it a bit of a Scottish twist and some lardons.

-And your main course?

-Pancetta-wrapped monkfish served with sweet and sour red pepper sauce

and black olive tapenade.

-Don't be offended, but is leek and potato soup boring?

-It's my favourite soup.

My mum used to always make it. The black pudding and lardons is just my little twist.

What do you want from today?

All I want from today is to be able to impress you and to get to the next stage.

I love the sound of Graeme's leek and potato soup with the black pudding,

but how do you make a bowl of soup look like a dish worthy of a MasterChef quarter-final?

Monkfish with sweet and sour pepper sauce, spinach and a black olive tapenade...

Again, it doesn't sound very complicated, but as far as flavour is concerned, that is extraordinary.

You're halfway.

Halfway to a quarter-final possibly.

Cooking my own dishes for John and Gregg, it's about making sure I can impress people with my food.

The pressure will be immense, but it's what I'm here for.

-Tell us your two courses, Barry.

-My two courses, I'm doing scallops with a pea puree.

You've got also a chorizo sauce to go with that.

For my main course, pan-fried duck, bok choy

with a honey and black pepper sauce, a parsnip puree and apples to go with it.

-Why these two dishes?

-These two dishes are what I enjoy eating and hopefully, you'll enjoy it as well.

I'm worried that Barry's duck dish is going to be too sweet,

but he did a beautiful sweet dish with pork and two sweet sauces in the invention test,

so maybe he can pull it off.

Ten minutes left. Ten minutes!

-That's just gone in, right?

-Yeah.

-How long is it going to take?

-It's four minutes each side.

-That's about as long as you've got.

-Yeah.

-Good, good, good.

You have got just 60 seconds. That is all you've got.

Barry, you've got to get this on a plate right now, right now.

Stop. Stop.

Jo has made a fillet of sea bass on a bed of kale with ginger and chilli, leek and fennel

on a rhubarb sauce.

It's a very striking-looking plate.

Striking on the borders of alarming.

The rhubarb sauce, because there's so much ginger and chilli in the vegetable mixture,

the rhubarb sauce is getting lost.

-If the rhubarb sauce is getting lost, you can imagine where the fish is.

-OK.

The kale is a northern European, hearty winter vegetable.

You've put the flavours of the east in with that.

-We've then got the flavour of what you normally associate with a dessert on top of that.

-Yeah.

Maybe the world's not ready for you, Jo.

Her main is a Scottish surf and turf

with venison, scallops,

carrots, turnips and a blackberry sauce.

I like my meat rare, but I look down at that plate and I'm wondering, "Has it still got antlers or not?"

That venison is really, really, really, really undercooked.

The combination of the venison and the turnip I really like,

but I feel slightly disturbed by the fact that I've got a scallop and blackberry jam as well.

The scallops are disappearing among all the other powerful flavours.

I like the sweetness of your blackberry sauce with the venison

and I like it with your root veg.

I even like the sweet blackberry sauce against your scallop.

What I can't contend with is the venison being that raw.

I've just got all my fingers and toes crossed that something somewhere is shining down on me,

going, "Yeah, take her through."

Graeme's starter is leek and potato soup

with black pudding and lardons.

The soup itself is well made and with little salty lardons, that's pretty decent.

But the black pudding is so strong, the soup becomes just a texture.

I really like it. I think the sweetness of that leek and potato soup is really wonderful.

I agree with Gregg. It's too much black pudding in with the soup, but I like to eat it.

His main is pancetta and herb-wrapped monkfish

with a sweet pepper and tomato sauce and a black olive tapenade.

I like the shine to it, the fact it jumps out from the plate.

What I'd really like is the whole plate and not this little sample one you've given me.

Your sauces are fantastic. Your pepper one is sweet and slightly smoky.

Your tapenade one is divine.

It's saltiness, it's depth, a bit of sharpness. Really good.

It's really, very good indeed.

I love the herbs underneath that salty bacon with that wonderful, rich, really sea-water tasting fish.

I love the fight going on between those two sauces because they've both got sour, sharp, sweet notes,

and they're bashing against each other, but having a good time. I think it's a very good dish.

Barry has served pan-fried scallops on a pea puree with a chorizo foam.

I like your chorizo foam. I really like the way that flavour comes from the smoky paprika.

Your scallops need a bit more cooking.

Nice ideas, but you needed to cook the scallops longer and you needed to give us more pea puree.

His main is duck breast with bok choy,

parsnip puree, apple and a honey and pepper sauce.

It just looks rushed, doesn't it?

I really like that combination of that apple with the lemon,

the parsnip, the duck and that honey and pepper sauce.

The honey and pepper sauce is lovely.

I think the sweet flavours there are very, very good with that duck,

but again you haven't served enough sauce.

It would mean so much to go through to the next round. I've learnt so much and I could carry on learning.

Thank you very much indeed. There were some really clever, original ideas there.

We'll have to have a long chat because what comes next is a quarter-final.

I believe there is some cooking potential here.

Some of the dishes today were great, some of them not so great.

Graeme has looked like finalist potential since the moment he walked in here

and today, I thought it was very, very good.

When he got the fig combination on his invention test, I thought, "You understand flavours and textures,"

and today, I think he proved that.

The monkfish wrapped in that salty bacon with the herbs under the skin, tarragon and parsley, was lovely.

Jo's Scottish surf and turf, I'm really sorry, it didn't work. It was not good.

Blackberry jam with scallops and raw venison? It wasn't right.

There is a serious question mark over her touch, but there is also an issue with her palate.

We had rhubarb with sea bass

and we had blackberry with scallops.

Fruit and fish are two F-words that don't belong together.

Graeme stays and Jo goes home.

I've got to say, Gregg, I don't necessarily believe

there's an automatic pass for Barry to go through to the quarter-final.

There is a man who, in the invention test, wowed us both.

With the palate test, he didn't do wonderfully well

because he tried to make a cream chilli sauce which was a disaster,

but then we see today a really good, interesting duck dish

and undercooked scallops on the first course.

Barry has got some good food, John, but he makes mistakes. What are we going to do?

Do you want to give him a chance?

We have made a decision.

Jo...

-..I'm afraid you're leaving us.

-OK. Thank you so much. Thanks.

I'm really proud of getting this far. It's a huge achievement.

I hope that this is a stepping stone,

that I can take what I've learnt here

and go on and do some more funky, crazy plates of food.

We said we would only take you through if you were good enough.

-You are both going through to a quarter-final.

-Yes! Come on!

-Well done, mate.

-Congratulations. Well done.

- Thank you so much. - Thank you.

It's been a long, stressful day, but it's been fantastic and exciting to go alongside with it

and I just can't wait for the quarter-finals.

It feels out of this world to be in the quarter-final. I just can't describe it.

I'm actually starting to believe that I'm not so bad after all.

Tomorrow night, Barry and Graeme will join other heat winners Natalie, Louise and Saira

as they battle to stay in the competition.

Eek! Oh!

I'm not over-excited about trying it.

It tastes like you're licking the inside of a tin. Eugh!

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