Episode 4 Celebrity MasterChef

16 celebrities are battling it out to win the coveted Masterchef crown.

I won't to go all the way, I want to get to the final, I want to win it.

These celebrities have already reached the top of their profession.

But can they cut it in the kitchen?

To win Masterchef it would be absolutely amazing.

I dream every single night about food.

I think Masterchef has turned me into a nutter.

Cooking doesn't get tougher than this.

All this week these three celebrities have been set challenges

to determine their expertise.

At the end of the week only the best will go through to the semi-finals.

Today they'll be thrown in at the deep end,

cooking to a professional standard in a busy London restaurant.

Two rib-eye, medium rare, now please.

Then they'll have to show John and Greg what they've learnt.

I'm really surprised how tough Masterchef is.

This year there's even harder challenges.

If I was to leave Masterchef at the end of the week

I would be disappointed.

I've got so much out of it so far.

I've really got the Masterchef bug.

I'm absolutely determined to keep improving and go further.

It's 9am and Linda, Michelle and Nick

are heading to cook in their first professional service.

Yeah, looking forward to it, going to a restaurant and being a chef

for the day, and I'm on board the honey wagon here with the girls.

I'm really excited about the restaurant,

I'm really looking forward to it,

and I promise I'm not going to cry.

I'm extremely nervous

because know that it's going to be high, high pressure.

This is a culinary baptism of fire.

Today they face the white hot heat of a restaurant kitchen.

I hope they've got their gloves on.

They've been sent to Redhook in London's Farringdon district

which specialises in seafood and steak.

For them it's an exciting experience,

for us it will give us an insight as to whether

they can actually cope with the pressure of this competition.

-Hi. Good morning, guys.

-Morning.

-My name is Jose.

-Morning, Jose.

I'll be your head chef for the day.

You guys will be cooking for our customers.

We've got our busiest service today.

Make your way to the kitchen and we'll crack on.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

Former model Linda Lusardi

is cooking an starter of seared pan fried scallops with chorizo,

red pepper and parsley oil.

You don't want to deep fry them, you want to pan fry them.

So you grab your scallop, don't fry it, nice and gently into the pan.

-A bit of butter in there. Can you see it all getting nice, golden?

-Yeah.

-And you flip the scallops over.

Look at them. Beauties.

Last minute you just want a touch of lemon juice.

The lemon juice is doing two things, you are adding flavour into it

and it's stopping the heat, so they stop cooking.

A bit mind-boggled at the moment.

I am nervous about it because if you are serving to members of the public it's important it's right,

you want to get it right for the chef and get it right for yourself.

Entrepreneur and former model Michelle has been put in charge

of the rib-eye steak, with hand cut chips and bearnaise sauce.

Before service you have to cut all of these down to portion.

300 grams each.

-So...two?

-Two fingers.

-Perfect.

I might have no fingers left.

You'll be fine. This is exactly what you are going to be doing.

Adding a nice colour on it.

Let's pretend it's been there for two minutes.

-Two minutes for what? Medium?

-Yeah.

The rule of meat is if you cook it for two minutes

you rest it for four minutes.

So double the time you cook it, you rest it.

That's the way you should do.

-How hot is it in here?

-It's not hot.

-Oh.

I have never in my life done anything like this.

The pressure is on.

That's hot.

The saying is, if you can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen.

Hollyoaks actor Nick is cooking pan fried lemon sole

with a citrus, tomato and basil sauce.

This is a lovely dish.

If you don't do it properly it can be a horrible dish.

-OK.

-We dust the fish in flour.

That hits the pan. You will start seeing it,

right here you will start getting a little bit of brown.

-Right.

-That's when you know your fish has gone a nice golden colour.

I've tilted the pan,

and when you're flipping it over and the fish snaps into pieces

-I'm sorry, but that's a no.

-I won't be cocky.

It is quite daunting.

Old chef, Jose, he's just shown me how to do my fish

and hopefully there won't be too many spoils and spillages.

There's two hours till service. Michelle first has to prepare two bags of potatoes for her chips.

One potato, two potato, three potato, more.

I feel as if I've been peeling potatoes for hours.

Do you know what? No more bingo wings.

Linda has begun shelling 100 scallops.

I've just opened my first scallop ever in my life

and it's going OK, I don't think I'm doing it wrong.

I wouldn't be adding anything else to this dish.

Lusardi-isms are staying at home!

I'm going to do it exactly as I was shown.

Meanwhile, Nick has got the tricky job of filleting his lemon sole.

I nearly went swimming.

Can you just show me how to do this fish again, Chef?

You want to start from the back to the head.

Right.

When it doesn't work you have to try and rescue.

Right. Brilliant, Chef, thank you.

There's now only 40 minutes until service.

I'm hoping I'm on schedule but I'm not too sure, to be honest.

I'm a bit out of my league.

Should be all right.

All right on the night.

Michelle's only just started prepping her steak.

-Michelle, how are we doing here with our meat?

-Yes, fine, Chef.

We need to crack on with that.

You really, really need to step up the game. Everyone needs to step up their game.

The heat is on, pressure's on.

And Linda is still working on 100 scallops.

I'm not sure there's 100 here though, if he's given me them all.

I'll have to count. I've lost count now.

-We've got 20 minutes and ah...

-I know. I need to get the peppers in.

Yeah. The peppers not in the oven yet?

-No. You said to do these first.

-Stop there. Get them in the oven now.

Get them in the oven quickly, yeah.

All right, lets speed up a little bit more because you're behind.

Hey, everyone, hello.

Oi, when I talk I want to hear people answer me.

If I say something I want to hear, "Yes, no, maybe."

Yes, Chef.

-So much to do.

-Michelle.

-Yes, Chef?

How are we doing on them steaks?

-Yes, almost there, Chef.

-Good. Good. Good. Keep going.

SCREAM

What's wrong? What happened? Let me see.

Let me see. Let me see.

Come here. Put your hand up.

Where's, come, come, get out of the kitchen. No worries.

It's nothing. No, no, it's nothing, it's not that bad.

You are in my hands, you are in safe hands. Don't worry. Just look away.

I don't know how bad her cut was, I didn't see it,

but I know she's very distressed and upset.

I just hope it can be patched up so she can carry on today

because she'll be gutted if she doesn't get to do her service.

Upstairs, the first customers are starting to arrive.

Right guys, you've got five minutes to service.

Oh, you're back. Well, done. Are you OK?

I think I almost took the tip of my finger off.

I'm feeling a nervous wreck

but I think because I'm just in so much pain.

But it's fine. I'm determined I am going to continue.

We got the first order in the kitchen, yeah.

Prawns, one seared scallop. To follow, Two rib-eyes.

-Yes, Chef.

-Bearnaise sauce please.

Linda is the first to be called into action

with a single order of scallops.

Linda with the scallops,

I will be well disappointed if she overcooks it.

It is a very, very simple dish to do.

Yeah. Yeah. Very good.

They are done lovely. They are perfect.

-Thank you.

-Really, really good. Let's go, let's go, let's go.

I had the scallops and chorizo.

Very tasty, the scallops were cooked very nicely. It was very good.

I've done one good one so there's no reason they can't all be like that.

One grilled prawn, one scallop. To follow, two rib-eye.

Michelle on the beef.

I would say that's the easiest from the whole lot.

The key thing is getting it all together on time.

A huge big bit of meat just came flipping off

right into my cheek.

I'm having a bad day.

Come on, Michelle, let's go, let's go.

Let's get them out. We need to get them faster, yeah.

Chips coming up, Chef.

I need the chips.

-I need the chips.

-Yes, Chef.

-One plate.

-Service.

My finger is full of blood and painful, yes,

but no blood will go in the food. That's fine.

A cut finger and a burnt nose.

Check on one grilled prawn, one scallop. To follow, one sole.

Nick's got the sole. A tricky dish.

You have to get it cooking right, you have to get the nice colour.

You over-cook it you've got it dry.

You don't want to be eating a piece of dry.

No. Get rid of that. Get rid of that. I don't want to see it, get rid of it.

Get rid of the pan, get rid of the whole lot.

I messed up the fish. I hadn't floured it properly.

If you don't flour it it sticks to the pan

and he wouldn't let it go out so I have to take it out of my wages!

It's mid-way through service and the restaurant is packed.

I've got loads of checks on the pass.

I need some food up here please.

Linda's got three orders on.

Scallops are very popular today so I have got quite a run on.

We need to speed up a little bit more, guys.

It's been eight minutes for the scallops, it's a bit long.

Sorry. It's on its way.

Oh, my sleeves keep pushing it.

Can I have another plate.

I really need three scallops right now.

-They're coming now, Chef.

-They're getting cold over there.

-Cleaning up.

Get them over here.

Let's make sure these plates are clean, yeah. They're very messy.

-Yes, Chef.

-I need a little bit more golden colour on these scallops.

Sorry, Chef.

It is hard to get it all right and all done at the same time.

You can't make things cook quicker.

They're shouting for it and it's not ready.

Seven steak on order. All of them medium rare.

I'm coping OK, high pressure though. But I'm fine.

-Two rib-eye, medium rare, now please.

-Yes, Chef.

Come on, let's get the other steak. Let's go. Get the other steak.

Dress everything all together. Let's go, let's go, Michelle.

We need to really speed up this whole thing.

Michelle, this isn't medium rare, get it longer on the grill.

Another two minutes on the grill. Quickly please, quickly.

Because we've got sole here getting cold and overcooked.

-How is it?

-Yeah.

-Here, Chef.

-Service please!

Seven steaks coming all at once, so pretty full on.

Four sole on order, Nick.

This time Nick is determined to get his fish right.

-You happy with that?

-Yeah, I'm happy with that one.

Get it in the oven. He's happy.

We've got a few fish on the go now, yeah.

Lovely colour on that fish, Nick.

Lovely. Come on, let's move it. Let's go, let's go.

Three minutes, Chef.

Very, very pleased with that. They look good. You've done well.

-Thank you, Chef. Appreciate that.

-Cool. Go. Service.

I ordered the sole and it was absolutely delicious.

Really fat and juicy and cooked just so.

As service draws to a close Linda is finding her stride.

I must say, Linda, lovely scallops.

-Thank you, Chef.

-You're welcome.

-Let's get two steak, now.

-Yes, Chef.

-Thank you.

And Michelle's turning out perfect steaks.

-Here, Chef.

-Good. They look great.

I ordered my steak medium rare and it's cooked perfectly, it tastes great.

The wine's good, the chips are good. All good.

All right, ladies and gentlemen,

that is our last courses for the day. Thank you very much.

Well, done everyone. Go.

Table 25. Thank you. It's over.

-Well, done, guys.

-Oh, God.

Service was OK.

Linda, she surprised me.

All through the service her two dishes,

the colour on them wasn't great. I told her and it was sorted.

I've never cooked anything under that kind of pressure before.

The dishes went out, I didn't burn any, I couldn't be happier with what I've done really.

Michelle, I think she was panicking a little bit

and that got in the way.

I think she could do a lot better if she didn't panic so much.

A bit unfortunate that I almost took my finger off

but, you know, I didn't give up.

Nick, he mucked one up, I told him,

he got rid of it, another one on the go,

cooked the fish perfectly.

He did well. It was good.

I had to throw one so I wasn't too happy with that

but apart from that I did have a good day.

I'm feeling good, yeah.

A gruelling service is over

but the celebrities now face another challenge.

To cook Chef Jose Azevedo's signature dish,

wine and crab tagliatelle with lime.

They will have to perfectly balance the white wine,

chilli and garlic sauce.

It's very easy to cook.

Very easy to get wrong as well.

Over cook the pasta, too much of one ingredient,

that will just kill the whole thing.

OK, I'll show you how to roll the pasta.

You have always got to make sure the pasta is dusted in flour.

You just go on and on like this

until you bring it down to number two.

All right, guys, half an hour from now

I want to be tasting a lovely tagliatelle

from each one of you.

Never ever made my own pasta, never used a pasta machine before.

I just hope mine goes to plan.

Hey, hey, we have tagliatelle.

That looks brilliant.

Oh, wasn't going to put that in yet.

I put the coriander in too early, I think.

I think that's probably done.

I think the tagliatelle's too thick and a little bit rubbery.

Too late to go back now unfortunately.

Done.

It's a bit dry. Lack of seasoning.

Looks like you put the herbs in a little bit early

because they lost their colour a little bit.

Apart from them the flavours are there.

The pasta is cooked perfectly, al dente.

The crab has been put in at the right time.

Well done. Thank you very much.

-Thank you very much. I've really enjoyed today.

-You're welcome.

-Thanks for having us.

It was very nerve wracking cooking Chef's dish.

I feel I've probably got 6/10.

Could have been worse, could have been better.

I've never made pasta before.

I've had to do it once in Hollyoaks and pretend to do it but that's about as far as I got.

Well, it won't go through!

Now I know why I buy it in a packet.

That was a laugh.

I don't know if this is over-cooked or under-cooked but we'll see.

I'm not feeling that great about it.

I don't know, I think the presentation is all right.

I'd eat it looking like that.

The flavour is there, the pasta is cooked right.

The only thing that let you down, Nick, is lack of seasoning and the lime.

The lime just helps bring in the light flavours,

freshen them up and that's it.

-Thank you very much. Well done.

-Cheers. See you later.

-Cheers.

Thank you.

Even though I had 20 minutes, which is plenty of time to do that dish,

you just start panicking again

and forgetting things like seasoning, Nick.

But hey, never mind.

Oh, my finger.

It's very important for me to get this right.

I don't want to look like a fool.

My sauce is on and I'm now making my pasta.

Oh. It's coming out. Yes.

I've tried my best.

The lime is missing on it and seasoning as well is missing on it.

I did cut the lime. How did I miss that?

The pasta is good, it's nice and al dente.

The presentation of it, fantastic.

-Thank you.

-Thank you very much.

-Thanks very much.

-Cheers.

It wasn't perfect but I'm happy with it.

My biggest problem is I panic, and that's bad.

I don't understand, I never panic in business

so I don't understand why I'm panicking in the kitchen.

I think this is possibly the hardest day we've done so far.

I've achieved a lot for myself and I am quite proud of what I've done.

Everything we've done has been tough so I don't expect it to get any easier,

in fact all I do is think it's going to get harder.

We'll just have to see how it goes.

I'm going to keep trying my best and that's all I can do really.

I've never been through so much drama in one day.

I don't think ever.

I've not thrown in the towel yet and I'm still here fighting another day

and looking forward to tomorrow.

We put our celebrities through the pressure of a true restaurant service

and now it's time to understand

what they've learned in that restaurant kitchen.

Every time you go in there the pressure is right back on you.

You've just got to cook really well and hopefully everything will go right.

I'm thoroughly enjoying Masterchef.

I'm just immersed in the whole thing

but I didn't think it would take over my life, and it has.

My cooking is getting better by the day.

I've learned so much.

On the benches next to me are a beautiful set of ingredients

and from those ingredients we want you to create two dishes.

You have to continue to perform if you want to stay in this competition

because we are fast approaching a time

where the weakest will leave and only the strongest will stay.

Please come up and select your ingredients.

The celebrities how have ten minutes

to choose from a selection of ingredients including Dover sole,

smoked haddock, squid, mussels, minced chicken, berries,

citrus fruit and vegetables.

I thought I'd do some garlicky mushrooms to start,

I don't know whether that's adventurous enough.

My mind is changing all the time actually.

Only four more minutes to choose your ingredients.

Come on, guys, you need to hot up.

Nick, you really need to move, mate.

I love squid and I haven't cooked it here yet.

Hopefully I'll cook it OK today.

I'm thinking maybe a moules marinieres

with the mussels and maybe with the squid.

I'm not sure, I'm really not sure yet.

Come on. You need to choose these ingredients. Hurry up.

Decision made. Well done.

You have your ingredients.

Cook beautifully.

One hour 15 minutes. Let's cook.

Oh, mate.

We've got ourselves three strong cooks,

all of them with different talents,

now it's time for us to see what they're truly made of.

I think Nick's a great cook. I think he's had quite a strong competition.

Very, very good mayonnaise.

-I think you've done a decent job.

-Thanks.

Your crab cakes are really good. Nick, good job.

He just panics a little bit too much.

It is still like eating raw cake mix.

Um...bother.

Nick has to be a little bit more in control.

The pressure in this competition is unbelievable.

The panic sets in,

that is the most annoying thing. You can't even think.

Nick, the pressure is on today,

-you're back to your old huff and puff self.

-Yep.

-What are you doing for us today?

-Fried squid rings with mayonnaise,

and I'm going to try and do something

that we sort of did yesterday with the pasta

and the white wine sauce

and I'm going to throw in some mussels instead

because we did it with crab yesterday.

I might throw in a bit of the squid and haddock as well.

-Where are the tomatoes going?

-I'm not sure yet.

I did another little dressing yesterday and I might do something with that if it goes Pete Tong.

Are you under more pressure now since that failed cake fiasco?

Yeah definitely.

I was going mad at myself the whole of the other night after that.

-So what do you need to do now?

-Pull it out of the bag, mate. Literally.

Nick isn't quite sure what his last pasta dish is going to be.

I hope he makes his mind up soon because he's running out of time.

You've had 15 minutes, you have an hour to go.

Linda cooks at home for her family,

she has a good pallet, she knows what people like to eat.

-Ta-dah!

-Was that a good "ta-dah"?

There's no such thing as a bad "ta-dah"!

That sauce is delicious.

Linda's foundations I think are solid.

Sometimes here concoctions were a bit weird.

You have taken lovely things

and made them silly by putting them all together.

Lesson learned.

I'd like now to see a little bit of finesse. Be a bit braver.

The invention tests I think are the worst of all. I hate them.

I am very scared about it.

-Linda, what are your dishes?

-I'm going to do a nice little fruit crumble,

I've never done a fruit crumble before,

and then I'm going to do fish on a couscous with lots of things in it.

I'm hoping it will work. It's a creation.

-This is really experimental for you.

-Totally.

Was there nothing that you'd done before rang any bells over there?

Well, I've obviously cooked smoked haddock before

but just sort of plain for the kids just in the microwave.

-Oh, Linda!

-In water in the microwave. I should probably...

-Sorry?

In the microwave in a little dish of water for a couple of minutes.

I wish you'd cook with a little bit more confidence because I actually think you're a really good cook.

I am cooking with confidence. I'm quite happy here today, there's no tears. I'm not going to cry any more.

-Linda, good luck.

-Thank you.

Linda is attempting something she's not quite sure of.

If she can make it work I think that's really impressive

because she's cooking on instinct.

Half way, guys. Half way.

The start of the competition for Michelle

was nothing short of a disaster.

-Michelle, you've cut yourself.

-Oh, dear.

It tastes like a piece of fish

-which is undercooked and not seasoned enough.

-OK.

John, she's ambitious and she's working really hard.

It looks like a dish that should come out of a restaurant

the way it's been presented.

That lady is nothing if not a fighter.

I feel tired today.

It's incredible because I do very long hours in the business

but I'm here again today with all ten fingers.

Michelle, what two dishes are you cooking for us?

I am going to cook you squids with olive oil and chillies.

The main course I'm cooking chicken

with peppers, garlic and a cream sauce.

Minced chicken with a cream sauce.

Is there anything firm in this dish at all?

Oh, pasta. I'm making pasta too. Sorry?

We've seen you rise to the challenge.

You obviously love competition.

You know, I've given up my day job for weeks now,

but I think when you commit to something

you should do it really well.

So I've committed to this competition and I'm going to do my best.

She's got a pasta dish she's making with a creamy sauce and minced chicken. That's unusual.

Guys, seven minutes. Seven minutes, that is all you've got.

Please move yourselves.

Guys, two minutes please.

Just two minutes.

You've literally got a minute.

That's it. Time's up.

Linda's two dishes are smoked haddock and mussels

on a bed of garlic and chilli couscous,

and mixed berry crumble with whipped cream.

That rich garlic, parsley, salty mussels,

beautifully smoked piece of fish cooked beautifully

is really lovely.

It's all a bit wet but I love the way it tastes.

Oh, good. Good.

Flavour-wise, great.

Texture of your fish, texture of the mussels, great.

But texture of your couscous doesn't do it for me.

It's like a smoked fish porridge.

I don't think many people would order that on the menu would they?

No, they wouldn't.

From your haddock and mussels... to crumble.

There are issues on here, Linda.

The first one is there is water coming out of your cream

and that signifies it's over-whipped.

Your crumble, first topping didn't work

so we've got a sort of pie top with lovely sweet,

beautifully cooked fruit.

Oh, you see, I meant to say, it's a little fruit pie.

Fruit crumble it's not.

-But delicious it is.

-Oh!

Mmm.

That's really good.

That's like a wet bakewell tart.

It's changing by the minute.

That is a very, very morish, well-balance pud.

Oh, I'm really pleased. Thank you.

I feel like I've really achieved something today.

A creation that did not exist until I cooked it, so that's fantastic.

I'm really pleased.

Michelle has made pan fried chilli squid

and macaroni with a minced chicken,

red pepper and white wine cream sauce.

I really like that sweet but hot chilli sauce you made,

I love the look of your dish,

but the squid themselves need some more cooking.

They are a little bit wet and slimy on the inside there.

Yes.

I think the concept is a very, very good one,

salty squid quickly cooked,

but for you it hasn't quite worked.

-Squid's not cooked enough and not enough spice in the chilli.

-OK.

Let's have a look at the pasta.

It is slightly dry and also the chicken is slightly dry

but it tastes OK.

Glass of wine and a bit of company you'd get it down you.

Cream, chicken, peppers. Not for me, I'm sorry.

-Oh, really?

-I'm really sorry.

-I just think pepper is very acidic and sweet and then cream...

-Right.

OK.

I'm just gutted because I thought my presentation with those dishes were lovely.

They just didn't taste as good as they looked.

Nick has made battered squid with mayonnaise

and macaroni topped with mussels

in a garlic, chilli and white wine sauce.

The squids really crunchy on the outside, the inside is getting a little bit rubbery,

they are slightly over-cooked but not that bad.

Your mayonnaise, lots and lots of lemon juice in it

but I think for a lot of people

that mayonnaise will be too sharp to go with your squid rings.

But not bad at all, Nick, not bad at all.

Squid's cooked all right for me

but your mayonnaise is a little too lemony.

There are errors creeping into your food dish by dish.

From squid to...pasta.

It's sweet and it's acidic and it's hot peppery and that's good.

Nice flavours.

But those flavours don't necessarily work with macaroni pasta.

When we asked you what you were going to do you were like,

"It may be this and it may be that", and that's what we've ended up with.

We've ended up with a dish full of maybes.

It is a weird combination

because I love the mussels with that sharp white wine.

The pasta on the other hand then thrown into it,

for me it doesn't quite work.

It wasn't quite right.

I didn't really know what I was doing until the end.

It's just getting over myself.

But there you go, them's the breaks.

Well, done. Thank you very much.

The next time you cook for us you'll be cooking to stay in the competition.

Thank you. Off you go.

Today we wanted them to recreate food of a restaurant standard.

For me actually the results aren't as good as I wanted

but they are showing they have potential.

The star of the day, interestingly enough, Linda.

She cooks crowd pleasing food, food that people like to eat.

And her presentation, John, is good. Really good.

It's an emotional roller coaster but you're learning so much.

I wouldn't have missed this journey for the world.

The creations Michelle has made

don't really fill me with joy

but she is a fighter, she is resilient.

You know, during prep she cut her finger really bad but she came back

and she fought for her life.

If Michelle is going to survive in this competition

she needs to match that fight with a fair amount of skill.

The next challenge there can't be any muck ups whatsoever.

I've just got as much luck as anyone else.

I think Nick could actually be a class act.

If you look at the way he performed in the restaurant, Chef loved him.

Nick has great ideas but somehow or another the man needs to settle down

and have courage of his convictions.

I want to carry on and I want to get through to the next stage.

I'm just going to try and just stay focused and not get into a tizz

over silly things, and just really try and keep calm.

There is so much at stake in the next round, John.

They've got to turn it on, they've got to deliver,

because tomorrow you and I decide who stays and who goes.

Tomorrow, the battle for a place in the semi-finals

reaches its climax...

-Come here, tell me.

-No, you're using up my time.

How's that lamb?

..as the celebrities face the harshest of critics...

Three little slivers of mushroom. I think that's really mean.

..and find out their fate.

The first person to leave us is...

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