Episode 15 MasterChef

This is the MasterChef knockout week.

After five weeks of heats, only the 12 best amateurs remain in the competition.

Tonight the first six are back to fight for their place.

Larkin does stunning-looking food.

He's got obvious knowledge and great technique.

This is one of the biggest stages, so you think what if you can win it?

Dale has proved himself to be a star.

My biggest concern in the competition is standing still.

I'm looking for new ways to impress, while staying true to my style.

Shivi is a class act.

It's unleashed this person inside me

that I never realised would have so much desire to go all the way.

I believe Sophie to be a wonderfully inventive cook, John. I really like her ideas.

I don't think I've ever felt so stressed, but so happy

at the same time! It's ridiculous.

James is slick and he's bright.

My desire to win is getting stronger.

I want to show what I can do.

Saira's food is delicious.

You get wave upon wave of flavour.

I think there are probably

more dimensions to my cooking

so it might be time for me to show different sides to what I can do.

Only the best will go through to Friday night's showstopper.

You either stand out or you're knocked out.

The week's challenges are mainly about mass catering

and the amateurs are on their way to face their first task.

So now the competition really begins. Six amateur cooks

about to understand the ferocity of mass catering.

-Nothing they have done can prepare them.

-Bring it on, I say.

Morning. And welcome to the British Airways engineering base here at Heathrow.

Inside this hangar is a team of highly-skilled engineers

who take care of the whole of the British Airways flying fleet.

Today you're going to be working in teams. Shivi, James, Sophie, you're one team.

Saira, Dale and Larkin, you're the other team.

Off you go!

Here at Europe's busiest airport, around 250 aircraft will be serviced each day by the engineers.

And keeping them fuelled at the canteen restaurant is OCS Executive Development Chef Errol Rose.

Good morning, everyone. We expect over 200 people today for lunch.

They're very discerning customers, you don't have a lot of time.

So we better get cracking.

Each team will need to come up with two savoury dishes and one pudding

and will have 2½ hours to cook them in.

This challenge has come as a bit of a shock.

We've got a hideous amount to do in the timescale.

If we work together, it'll be OK.

What have we got here?

The two teams have a variety of ingredients to work with, including salmon, beef,

lamb and pork,

as well as a large selection of vegetables and herbs.

Masseuse Sophie has taken on the role of team leader.

Can we do something with the lamb and the pomegranates? Something like that? Tagine-y?

With a lovely couscous. Yes!

'I think 14 is the maximum amount I've cooked for.'

And I may have just got drunk.

I'll try not to do that today!

I can actually do a sweet and sour pork-like dish.

On the other team, housewife Saira is leading the way.

Dessert is the thing to decide on now. I need your help to decide.

The numbers are high, but anyone who's been to a Bengali dinner party

knows you can cater for that many quite easily with not much notice.

-Can you tell me what your dishes are?

-For our two main courses,

we're doing a sweet and sour pork and also a beef bourgignon.

I'm going to be doing the dessert, a sticky caramel sponge.

-You think you'll get it all done in time?

-I hope so. Time's ticking on.

You're quite up against it, certainly with the beef bourgignon, so crack on with that.

With all the prep to do, Saira helps Larkin by breading the pork for his sweet and sour dish

while Dale starts the beef for his bourgignon.

Right, Sophie, tell me about your menu.

We're doing a lamb tagine with couscous. That's going to have lots of veg running through it.

Butternut squash, parsnips. James is doing salmon balls.

They've got Parmesan and, I think, parsley running through them. I'm making a lemon posset

-with frosted raspberries.

-I'll leave you to crack on.

I'm not sure what my expectations are. I know what my customers' expectations are - good service.

I feel a little bit nervous simply because these guys are new to the kitchen.

It takes some time to get used to the equipment, but fingers crossed we'll get everything out in time.

On Sophie's team, James is getting on with prepping the salmon for his fish balls...

I've never handled a whole side of salmon like this before. Taking the skin off is more difficult.

My plan is just to keep calm, not stress out and hopefully it goes to plan. I need to just crack on.

..while team-mate Shivi is grappling with getting her lamb cooked in the industrial fryer.

I've cooked tagines in the past, but it's difficult on this scale.

It's getting all the seasoning in at the right time.

When I get this in the pot, I'll be happier. I'm just conscious about timing.

On the other side of the kitchen, Saira's team are in full swing.

She now starts the sticky caramel pear sponge.

I'm feeling pretty good. The pressure is on. That clock is just ticking so fast.

We've really got to get this dessert at least started or we won't have a dessert at all!

Larkin's big task is to get the huge mountain of pork ready for his sauce.

Hopefully, I haven't bitten off more than I can chew.

As long as this pork's out of the way, I can relax.

I hope I'm on time at the moment.

A lot of Chinese cooking is very front-loaded. It's always a bit stressful to start off with.

Team-mate Dale also needs to get his beef cooked.

-Is it a big beef stew?

-Beef bourgignon.

-As long as you have plenty of depth in that sauce

-and that meat doesn't go tough.

-Yeah, timing's a worry. We haven't got a huge amount of time,

-but I'm confident we got it in quick enough to tenderise.

-Smells good. Tenderising is one point.

-Stewing and going hard is another.

-Yeah. Not overdone, not underdone.

-You are filling me full of confidence, mate! I'm quite pleased with you.

-Cheers.

55 minutes have passed and Shivi is adding the all-important spices to her tagine.

-So this lamb tagine you're doing, tell me about it.

-Seasoning's in there - cinnamon, ginger,

a little bit of turmeric, cumin, a little bit of harissa paste and a tomato base with apricots.

-So spicy and sweet?

-Yeah, but not too spicy. People are more funny if it's too spicy.

-But why?

-A tagine is a tagine. Make it what it should be.

-OK, maybe I'll add extra spice.

Meanwhile, team-mate James is ready to bring his dish together.

What are you doing to all that lovely fish?

Adding some parsley, lemon, lemon juice, eggs, breadcrumbs.

Making it into balls and then making tomato sauce to go with that.

What are you calling it?

-Salmon meatballs...

-That won't work.

-Yeah, I know.

-You can't think of a name because it's slightly odd.

-It'll be OK.

I'll see you at teatime, James.

Team Sophie's work is worrying me a little bit. They seem calm.

If that was me, I'd have an extra oomph of pace on and I'd be looking a little bit more worried.

Sophie, James and Shivi, all working completely apart from each other. They're not a team.

They're doing their own dishes. That's a shame.

Come service, they'll have to knuckle down.

Finally, team leader Sophie gets her lemon possets into the chiller

and can turn her attention to helping James and Shivi with their dishes.

I'm feeling a little bit stressed right now, but there's no time for that. We've got to get through it

and get this food out on the pass!

As for the other team, we have got Saira firmly in control. She's there sailing the ship forward.

I think that's a very strong team.

Right, listen up, guys. You've got 45 minutes left.

You should be starting to think about how you're going to plate the tray up and getting your stuff out.

-OK?

-Yes, Chef!

I'm finally onto my veg now, actually. To cook the pork took a bit longer than I expected,

- so I'm just trying to catch up. - What veg are you going to do?

Peppers, carrots and pineapple. The sauce I'll do on the spot.

There will be a slight reduction with the ginger and onion

and from there I'm going to thicken it with a puree in cornflour. The vegetables add most of the flavour.

- What will you cook it in? - That big pan outside.

I think one's taken at the moment.

Check you have somewhere to do it. Don't leave it to the last minute.

I'm just finishing the bourgignon off, putting some mushrooms in.

-I feel confident, but famous last words.

-How are you getting on?

-The beef's getting there now.

-It's gone a bit dry. You've boiled it so much, the liquid's come out.

Just keep it nice and slow and make sure the sauce covers it. Those bits on top are drying out.

-OK.

-Yeah?

With lunchtime approaching, team leader Sophie is cooking the sauce for James' fishballs,

while she waits for her dish to set.

I am praying right now that those possets set. If they don't set, I'll be absolutely heartbroken.

I probably will cry, so fingers crossed. Keep everything crossed that those possets set!

The tagine is smelling good. I'll give it one more try near the end,

but so far - there's no wood to knock! - so far, knock metal,

but I don't want to speak too fast. You know how these things happen.

And then I just want to get this couscous on the go.

I don't know how long it'll take. I've never cooked three kilograms of couscous!

There's a lot to do. Don't look at the clock!

What our engineers do is really important for safety,

so they have to eat well and be properly looked after.

Most people expect their lunch at 12.30. Hopefully, it's not late!

Guys, you've got just 15 minutes 'til service!

With service imminent, Saira can finally get her pear sponge on so it'll be ready in time for pudding.

I've never made dessert for this many people.

I'm just hoping and praying that it cooks on time. It's close now.

But also that it's edible! Even tasty,

that it goes down well. It should. Everyone likes a bit of sponge and custard.

As Saira gets her pudding going, Sophie is about to get the verdict on hers.

Yay!

Oh, my God.

Right, yeah. Perfect.

Whoo!

I'm really, really relieved. They have set. They could probably do with another 15 minutes.

I've just got to get the raspberries on. The main thing is they've set!

OK, guys, anything that you've got ready, let's get it out now, OK?

Sorry!

Em, I don't want to be awkward, but it's half past twelve! You've got to serve now!

Lamb tagine, apricots and couscous.

I'll have the tagine, please.

We've got crispy salmon balls...

Sounds nice, except the Parmesan.

-Can I have the lamb tagine, please?

-Of course you can.

Shivi has made lamb and apricot tagine and is serving it with couscous and root vegetables.

-Hope you enjoy it.

-Thank you.

I prefer it slightly more spicy. The couscous was perfectly cooked. Overall, it was a very good meal.

It was really nice with the couscous. I don't usually like it. It was great, yeah.

I don't like that because the meat's really dry

and the couscous is wet. I wanted it the other way.

We've got a really nice sauce around that lamb. It's sharp, it's sweet.

It's got the richness of the apricot and some spice running through it, but it's all a bit gentle.

-There's nothing bold about it.

-Salmon fishballs. Is that what you like?

-There you go. Hope you enjoy. Would you like crispy salmon?

-Yes.

James has made salmon fishballs with a tomato sauce

served with roast potatoes, broccoli and courgettes.

The salmon was absolutely beautiful.

The roast potato is just exactly how I like it. I'm just hoping we get this sort of meal again.

The salmon fishballs, actually, surprisingly, are quite tasty.

In the background is some lemon and the smokiness coming from the salmon itself,

but the thing I don't like - that sauce tastes like it came out of a jar.

Not enough craft's been put into it. There should be garlic, butter, layers of flavour.

That's just tinny.

While the tagine and salmon are selling very well, Dale's beef bourgignon and Larkin's pork

are proving less popular.

-Anyone for sweet and sour? Sweet and sour! Hello!

-Saira decides to drum up some trade.

Guys, there's some lovely sweet and sour pork and beef bourgignon further down.

-How do you know it's lovely?

-I've tried it!

- Sweet and sour, anyone? - Beef bourgignon?

-Sweet and sour?

-Yeah, go on.

-You know the score.

Larkin's twice-cooked sweet and sour pork is served with steamed rice.

-I hope you enjoy it.

-Thank you.

I'm having sweet and sour pork with rice. The flavours are very good.

-Can I have some salmon, please?

-Broccoli or courgettes with that?

The rice is loose and light, the pork's cooked well.

I like the sweet flavour. It's more sweet than sour, but I do like it.

The flavours are really good. Lovely sweetness from your sauce, tang from the peppers, pineapple.

-The sauce is great.

-Sweet and sour?

Can I have the beef with mash?

Dale's beef bourgignon is served with mashed potato and spinach.

OK, cheers now.

It was lovely. Very tasty. Mashed potato was a little bit dry, but otherwise lovely.

It was really nice. I'm now ready to go back to work.

Careful. It's hot.

The spinach needs seasoning and there isn't enough sauce.

The sauce that he has made is rich and deep and peppery. I like it.

That coating is a lovely thing, but the beef is dry. It's been boiled rather than been stewed.

I've seen better from Dale. I'm not sure that big food is his thing.

With the main courses over, it's up to the two team leaders to sell their desserts.

-Sticky pear sponge? With custard?

-Yes, please.

Anybody for lemon possets? A really nice, fresh dessert.

Saira's sticky caramel pear sponge is an instant hit,

but no one wants the posset.

- Anybody else for lemon posset? - Would you like this piece?

The dessert was sponge cake with custard and I have to say it was delicious.

Yes!

That is the stuff of champions.

Thick, sticky, not too sweet, school-like custard

with a really light sponge, juicy pears, cinnamon. Fantastic!

The pear is juicy, but still got the bitterness of the caramel. The sponge is wonderful, buttery, soft.

-It's a really good thing.

-What's that?

-Sticky pear sponge pudding.

-I'll try the raspberry.

-Finally, some takers for Sophie's posset.

Thank you.

Before today, I didn't know what it was, but it tasted quite nice.

Can I interest you in a sneaky posset? Yeah, come on! Why not?

It's nice and fresh and zesty with a nice, creamy flavour.

Lemon posset as well? Lovely and light.

This is more like a mousse, almost a cooked custard.

The thing is, a posset is really quite liquid.

You've got that sharpness of lemon in the background and it's creamy from the milk.

And you've a sherbet flavour from the cooked lemon juice itself, but for me it's just way too sweet.

Creamy, thick, lemony, sweet. It's nice.

Well done.

Well done, you did really well.

I've really enjoyed today. Their first ever big catering challenge. I think they did OK.

-For me, the star team was Saira's.

-Saira produced the dish of the day

with that pear sponge and custard that flew out from that kitchen.

She can make a really tasty pudding. It wasn't elegant, but it was delicious.

Absolute hands-down winner.

I think I showed a different side to my cooking and to what I can do.

Larkin, I believe he had the best savoury dish. I loved his sweet and sour pork stir fry. Brilliant.

I'm very pleased with what I've achieved today. Never thought I could do that. In at the deep end.

Kept my head down and got it out.

Not so great for Dale with his beef bourgignon.

As much as that meat was dry, not a bad effort.

Mass catering is cooking in bulk, so it's not as intricate as my food that I've shown in earlier rounds.

I'm really looking forward to what's to come.

Sophie's team got the food out on time, worked pretty well together,

but the best one was James.

James was adventurous, I thought. Those salmon balls, I didn't expect to like them, but they weren't bad.

I think today went OK. We had to pull together as a team.

In future, I need to improve as much as I can and show what I can do.

Poor old Shivi had a hell of a day.

Overcooked her lamb and then produced some of the worst couscous I've ever eaten.

The competition's getting tougher, but I really need to not make silly errors and make some good food.

I think Sophie made a bit of a wrong decision by trying to serve people a lemon posset.

If I'm having lunch, I want lunch and something to fill me up at work.

I think I did OK today. In the next round, I've got to keep pushing myself

and really show what I'm made of.

I think they've done an extremely good job, but from here it's back to the MasterChef kitchen,

a couple more challenges and then who knows what could happen?

Welcome back. As you can see, you are still in your teams.

We are going to carry on with the mass catering challenges.

Each team today needs to invent a breakfast dish and then cook that breakfast 20 times.

At the end of this, the weakest cooks will have to cook off, head to head,

to stay in the competition. Our strongest cooks go straight through.

This is a brilliant challenge for me. I love it. Breakfast is my favourite meal of the day.

One hour. Ladies and gentlemen, let's cook.

Each team has the same ingredients -

a range of smoked fish,

bacon,

eggs,

vegetables,

bread and fruit.

- Eggs Benedict is one suggestion. - Salmon really thin, hollandaise.

I was thinking we could do it with two rashers of crispy bacon.

- Who's good at hollandaise? - I can do that.

- I can poach eggs. - You take poached eggs.

We've got an American pancake-y kind of thing.

- We've got blueberries as well. - We could do pancakes with bacon.

Poached egg and mackerel and hollandaise.

Where are we heading? Pancakes and blueberry?

- I'd go savoury. - I'd go savoury as well.

-What did you decide?

-Batter, layer of spinach, smoked salmon, poached egg, hollandaise sauce, chives.

-How have you worked out labour?

-Larkin's plating up and prep, Saira's poaching eggs,

-I'm doing the hollandaise.

-When did you poach 20 eggs?

-Not that long ago, actually!

-Good!

-I have a big family.

-Conveyor belt poached eggs is pretty natural for me.

-Fine, OK. Good luck.

We've decided on a base of ciabatta with mackerel, a hollandaise with that with poached egg,

-then we'll make our own tomato ketchup for a side.

-I've never had smoked mackerel and hollandaise.

-Anyway, good luck!

-Thank you!

Today it's the battle of the poached eggs. Interesting combinations - smoked mackerel and hollandaise.

-It could work.

-Really? Greasy mackerel?

-It could work.

-So what's Dale's team decided to cook?

-Some spinach, smoked salmon, poached egg and hollandaise.

-Nice.

-It's a nice idea as long as that hollandaise is zingy.

-Go, Team Dale!

13 minutes have gone, so you're nearly a quarter of the way through.

-I'll abandon that one.

-Good idea.

-It's like a disgusting fried egg.

-Have you got vinegar in your water?

-I've got lemon juice, which I hope will do the same trick.

-Lemon juice breaks the egg white down.

-That's why it's not working!

I'm determined to get one out and then hopefully improve. I haven't got one out yet. Pressure's on!

I'm doing a hollandaise now. I've never tried this method before. I'm seeing if it works, basically.

Have you got a reduction for the hollandaise?

I'll reduce the lemon and vinegar, egg yolks in the food processor, then stream the warm butter through?

-You'll make it in a food processor, not in a bowl?

-No.

-How many times have you made a hollandaise?

-Once.

-What is that?

-The beginnings of a hollandaise.

I've never made a hollandaise for more than one or two probably,

so it's going to be a bit of a challenge.

Where's the timer, guys?

Both teams have picked a hollandaise. Both teams don't know how to make it properly.

I mean, it's just crazy.

A hollandaise, you make a reduction of vinegar, you add it to egg yolks,

you cook your egg yolks out and you pour into melted butter.

Why are they both deciding to make hollandaise if they don't know how to make it properly?

Right, you are halfway.

The ketchup is my favourite part of breakfast, so for me, it has to be the best bit.

We've just over half an hour now.

It's time to get the crucial bits together and start the poached eggs.

Once that's on the way, I'll feel a bit more comfortable.

-Sophie, what are you making?

-I will be poaching the eggs.

-How long do eggs take to poach?

-Drop them in, leave them for 30 seconds.

-Are you sure they take 30 seconds?

-I've never timed myself, but I know it's pretty quick.

-You've got 20 of them.

-Yes. I'm getting my boiling water on now. I won't be long.

Poached eggs is my favourite breakfast. I've probably done it for about eight at most.

Why not just throw a couple more in? Just to add to the pressure?

-Saira, how are you doing with the poached eggs?

-I've got four usable ones.

-Four?

-Yeah.

-At that rate, we'll be finished around half past midnight!

-It's getting faster all the time, John.

-Good. Let's go.

These are just not pretty-looking. I'll need help. If we don't have any eggs, we don't have any breakfast.

The two most difficult things to do for breakfast - poach eggs in volume and make a hollandaise. Why do that?

-Especially when you're not sure how to make a hollandaise.

-Or how to poach an egg.

These will be the best poached eggs you'll ever taste.

We're completely in control right now.

That's such an ugly egg.

So Larkin has now stepped in, taken over the egg poaching and it seems like we might have poached eggs.

-These are just splitting.

-Guys, you have just ten minutes left.

Oh, for the love of God!

Right, guys, I might need some help just getting these all poached.

-How many eggs have you got poached?

-We've got five here.

-Five eggs poached?

Oh, sugar lumps! Good.

Come on, guys. You're going to run out of time.

Nearly there, guys.

Yes, I have got 20 eggs.

Right, let's look at plating up.

Guys, we need to... Do you want to get those eggs on the plates?

60 seconds left.

Time's up.

Phew!

I never want to see a poached egg ever again.

JAMES: Well done.

Sophie, James and Shivi

have made smoked mackerel and poached egg

on toasted ciabatta with a hollandaise sauce and a tomato ketchup.

It's fair to say that your presentation is pretty consistent with the exception of the eggs.

You've got some which have got tails on them, some which are bursting out of the whites,

so they're not cooked enough.

At first, the mild flavour of fish with sticky egg and sweet ketchup against crunchy toast is nice.

The longer that's in your mouth, the more and more the mackerel comes to the fore

and that really strong, oily fish doesn't really want anything else, just a bit of toast.

Guys, if you don't know how to poach eggs in volume and you don't know how to make hollandaise,

why would you do it when you could be knocked out of the competition?

Sorry!

We didn't want those eggs to be overcooked. We wanted the yolk to be nice and runny in the middle.

It was important to push ourselves that hard because that's how it woul be in a professional kitchen.

Larkin, Saira and Dale have served their poached eggs

on smoked salmon and spinach with toasted ciabatta

and a hollandaise sauce with chive garnish.

It looks nice, it looks neat and I liked the way you worked most of the time.

Actually, it's not a bad job at all.

Your sauce should really sit across the top of it and flow.

At the moment, you could probably carve your name in it. It's a bit thick.

The poached egg, all that sticky liquid going over the salmon and crunchy toast is lovely.

Yeah, I think it's a poached egg with smoked salmon which is a nice combination -

rich, smoky, oily fish

with the silkiness and the metal taste of your egg yolk running across the top of it. It's great.

Then on top of that you should have this sharp butteriness from the hollandaise.

That hollandaise is a bit greasy.

It's not a bad dish, though, all round.

It's amazing how much time flies.

You could knock up our dish in ten minutes for yourself, but 20 plates, another story.

Based on both mass catering challenges,

the judges now need to select the best cooks to go straight through to Friday's showstopper.

Those who are left will have to cook against each other to win a place.

We believe there are two cooks who deserve the right to go straight through to the next round.

The remaining four will need to cook off against each other.

The first person going through to the next round...

-..is Larkin.

-Oh, my God!

Well done.

The second person going through to the next round...

..is Saira.

Congratulations.

Larkin, Saira, thank you very much indeed. Congratulations. You can leave us now.

Damn!

It's the first knock-back I've had in the competition, but it's far from over.

I've just got to come out fighting.

I've just got to pull myself togethe and just give it my everything and my all and...

I know what I'm going in for and I know what the outcome's going to be. Some of us will be going home

This is the last chance to prove myself.

I've really got to pull out all the stops. I don't really want to feel like this again.

It just proves how much I really wan to be in the competition.

Guys, you've got one hour. One dish.

At the end of this, two of you stay, two of you go home.

Cook something really delicious and you'll stay in the competition. It's as simple as that.

Let's cook.

The contestants now have to create a single dish

from the same ingredients they had in the last test,

including smoked fish, vegetables, mushrooms and cheese.

We have seen these guys do two big, tough mass catering rounds, John.

Now we need to see the same hard graft and determination

with a little bit of style and skill and something that tastes great.

It's whether they've got the gall to go with something which is elegant,

yet simple enough that's going to be very, very impressive.

This truly is anybody's. Who's got something a little extra left in their tank?

What are you going to make?

Today, I'm going to make a mushroom and spinach ravioli with a walnut and thyme pesto

and a brown butter sauce.

Oh! How important is it that you do well now?

Well, my place in the competition depends on how I perform today, so it's really important.

-Be brave.

-Yes.

-Cook well.

Thank you.

Shivi's being clever. She's demonstrating skill. She's making her own pasta.

She's got a lovely filling made with spinach, cream and mushrooms and is serving it with a walnut pesto -

pounded walnuts, Parmesan cheese, garlic, olive oil. A beautiful sauce!

If Shivi pulls this off, it will be fantastic, absolutely fantastic.

You've had 15 minutes.

It's flying by. 15 minutes gone.

-James, you're doing a pudding.

-I am doing a pudding today, yes.

I've made an American pancake. I'll put blueberries in there.

-I've got walnuts with maple syrup and cinnamon.

-How are you feeling?

Out of all the challenges so far, this is the most pressure. In this one, we have to prove what we can do

-I'd be gutted to go out.

-I'm looking forward to my pancake.

-Thank you.

If James can get those pancakes absolutely right, fantastic.

But American pancakes are thick

and they puff up and they're really lovely and soft and they're airy.

Right now, that pancake batter is nowhere near thick enough.

25 minutes gone. 35 minutes left.

How strenuous is this?

This is the hardest thing I'll ever, ever do.

You just can't imagine how much it means to you getting through it all and getting to this point.

-What are you making?

-I'm making potatoes dauphinois, then smoked haddock on a bed of lemon spinach.

-Is this how you normally cook?

-Yeah, this is what I'd cook at home,

so I'm going with something I feel comfortable with.

I'm pushing it a bit. I wouldn't necessarily put these flavours together, but I hope they work.

-So do I.

-Thank you.

A good dauphinoise takes a decent amount of time to prepare and a long time to cook.

You bake it for about an hour and 20 minutes.

Sophie's got an hour and I don't see how that works. I don't get it.

What are you making, Dale?

Pasta, mushroom duxelles ravioli, tarragon sauce, plenty of herbs and grilled mushrooms.

-Have you got time?

-I need to show really what I can do. I'm pushing the boat out.

I want to show you guys what I'm all about. I think now it's down to just me on my own.

I'll do something that I'm confident in delivering.

-How up for it are you?

-Massively up for it. I just want to nail this.

This is the biggest round so far for me. I'm coming out fighting.

Good lad. Good lad. Thank you.

Dale's obviously really, really focused and quite disappointed to be in this situation, I'm sure.

But now he's got to produce food that tastes wonderful. Show us some heart, Dale.

I want to taste that he loves the food he's cooking.

-Ravioli done?

-Yes.

-How happy are you?

-I'm...

Well, I...I...

-I'm scared to say I feel confident, but I've worked hard. I hope you'll really love it.

-So do I. Come on!

-All right, James, where are we?

-I'm struggling to get the batter to the right consistency.

I want my pancakes to be nice and fluffy, so that's what I'm aiming on

-I've done a few. They're getting there now. They're on their way.

-James, keep it fluffy.

-Yeah.

Ten minutes you've got. Just ten minutes.

-How are you feeling?

-I'm feeling quite in control at the moment.

The dish has got to come together at the last minute, so it stays warm

-How confident are you?

-I'm all right.

Go. Quick. Trim, cut, beautiful, wedge, whatever you like. Go, go, go. Come on, let's go!

You've got two minutes left.

20 seconds left. It's final touch time, please.

That's it. Stop. Time's up, time is up. Thank you.

Sophie has made smoked haddock on a bed of lemon spinach

with potato dauphinoise.

Have you squeezed lemon juice into the spinach?

Yeah, I cooked it in butter, then I squeezed lemon juice in, but it's run.

As soon as you put lemon juice into spinach, it breaks it down, so all the water comes out.

Lemon rind, that works.

A good dauphinoise takes a long time to cook. They take a good hour and ten minutes.

Yours is not really a dauphinoise.

It's more like a creamy potato gratin, rich with garlic and cheese.

I think that's quite a nice accompaniment to go with your smoky, rich fish. That's a lovely thing.

Then we've got this spinach which is vibrant, well-cooked and full of lemon.

It's not quite there, Sophie. They aren't quite coming together.

I like your dauphinoise. I like it creamy, I like it garlicky.

I like the flavour of the smokiness of the haddock.

What I don't like is the puddle of water coming out of the spinach and I don't like that much lemon.

OK.

I truly believe I've done the best I could do.

No, I don't want to leave. I'm absolutely loving it, even though I cry quite a bit.

But I genuinely do want to be here and I do want to stay.

Dale has cooked a mushroom duxelles ravioli

with tarragon butter and pan-fried mushrooms.

I love your mushrooms on top

and I really like that crispy, almost translucent-type crepe paper tarragon sitting over the top.

That butter sauce is going to be a bit greasy because you've clarified the butter.

But a good-looking plate of food. Good on you.

Thanks.

On the whole, I think it's a really good dish. I like the nuttiness of your filling with the mushrooms.

I've got crunchy bits of garlic and onions and mushrooms running through the middle of it.

I love the aniseed of the tarragon flecked across the top, but your butter sauce is a bit greasy.

I'd like your pasta to be thinner.

Apart from that, I think that tastes delicious, absolutely delicious.

Mate, that's really good.

I'm not going to say I've done enoug to go through because I've seen what the other contestants have cooked.

I know what I'm up against. If it's good enough, I deserve to be through

Shivi has made spinach and mushroom ravioli

with a walnut and thyme pesto, burnt butter sauce and candied bacon.

I like the flavour of that. I like the tang of the cheese, I like the toastiness of the nuts.

I like the garlic and the sweetness. It's really well made ravioli.

But it's watery in there.

Mushrooms and spinach both release water when you cook them and you've got both in there.

Your food is really tasty. You've got this lovely richness coming from your mushrooms and your spinach.

You've got salty bacon across the top. That walnut pesto is delicious.

It's a really lovely thing.

But the pasta is so thin and the filling is so wet,

I feel like I'm eating a puree with crunchy bits of nuts and crispy bacon on top.

It's really difficult to say whether I've done enough.

I always come out of every task thinking I could have done better

and in the grand scheme of things, I'm not so sure how it will fare up.

Finally, James is serving blueberry pancakes

with fresh strawberries and blueberries, maple cinnamon walnuts

and a summer berry coulis.

It's all right. It's not bad.

It's a decent-looking dish. It's a bit confused, to be honest with you.

I think it's either got to be quite a woody, cinnamon-type pancake or a fresh fruit one and not both.

I don't agree. I think it's absolutely delicious.

Absolutely delicious.

Light, little pancakes and every second mouthful, you get blueberry juice which is cleansing and lovely.

That blueberry and strawberry coulis is so heady with fruit flavour

and the idea of a sort of syrupy, cinnamon-flavoured walnut is divine.

Listen, at the end of the day, it can only be a pancake dish,

but it's a very lovely-tasting pancake dish, as far as I'm concerned.

Thanks.

I'm not sure whether I really did enough.

I think my dish was quite simple, but tasty.

Looking at the other people's dishes that's what makes me think maybe not enough, but wait and see.

We've got some tough talking to do, we've got a decision to make.

Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen. Off you go.

Sophie's dish didn't look right. There's no elegance about it.

I don't think there's enough ambition on that plate.

That much lemon juice does not fit well with smoky fish and a garlicky, creamy, cheesy dauphinoise.

From Sophie I'd like some precision and it wasn't like that at all.

For me, not enough ambition, not enough demonstration of skill.

A big, lumpy piece of potato, a piece of fish which was all right and spinach rich with lemon juice.

Lemon juice and cream and potato is not a combination you want to eat.

Dale's done a very good job. He had to do a bit today to prove that he wanted to stay in the competition.

I loved the vibrancy of that tarragon. The sauce was a bit greasy, but a very tasty dish.

He executed the best flavoured dish and the most technically challenging dish.

-I can't see any reason why Dale shouldn't go through.

-I agree.

James, a stack of pancakes, fruit, walnuts, cinnamon, maple syrup.

-You loved it. I'm not that keen.

-I thought it was really good.

-I'd have eaten the whole plate.

-But is a pancake enough?

I'd be really disappointed to go home. It's in John and Gregg's hands

But hopefully, I'll be going through

-I would rather eat the pancakes from James than I would the ravioli from Shivi.

-Wow!

I like Shivi because I think she's very ambitious.

Ravioli, she's very confident with, the filling is really well seasoned, but the textures are all wrong.

I like Shivi. I've championed her. I'm beginning to lose confidence in her.

Shivi's dish today wasn't absolutely perfect, but she made her own pasta, a decent filling.

She thought outside the box. We had a walnut pesto, her own pasta. It looked elegant.

It just didn't deliver on texture.

I'm feeling very nervous. I had some good comments and some criticisms,

but I'm not so sure whether the good comments are enough to keep me in the competition.

I don't know what outweighs the other, so I'm nervous. I want to stay in.

It's been a hard decision and we believe we know who has the right to stay.

The first contestant going through to the next round...

..is Dale.

The second contestant to go through to the next round...

..is Shivi.

-James and Sophie, I'm terribly sorry. You're leaving us.

-Thank you very much. Thanks.

I'm really disappointed I've gone out at this stage.

I feel like I've got a lot to learn

and I need to improve my skills and knowledge base of different things,

but that's all started here, so I'm just going to continue with that

I don't know, I wish I could have done things a bit better,

but on the whole, I came in and I cooked food that I really believed in,

so I did my best.

-Well done, guys, another round over.

-You're getting closer and closer, but there's still a fair way to go.

I feel absolutely fantastic.

I feel really great. It's just a brilliant feeling to have got this far.

It feels great, but it just feels like relief.

Every bit of adrenaline that has bee pumping through me has gone and I'm just like relieved.

To get here is completely beyond my expectations,

so, yeah, I'm really proud of myself

A tough day, but my cheeks are hurting from smiling so much.

It was tough, but it feels better on the other side. It feels so much better on the other side.

Well done, chaps.

- Well done, guys. - Good job.

Tomorrow night, it's the second MasterChef knock-out round.

-Mind your head.

-The six remaining contestants have to fight for their place.

- I can't get it to fit on. - It's all going a bit...thingy.

-We are two minutes late.

-Yeah, we're all getting impatient.

But only the top three will go through to the semi-finals.

It's going like that.

Chef!

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