Episode 11 Celebrity MasterChef

We've got 16 celebrities battling it out to win the MasterChef crown.

I want to say I have a great palate.

But I'm not entirely sure I do.

These celebrities have already made a name for themselves

in their own professions.

But can they cut it in the kitchen?

I'm not here for a bit of a laugh.

I love criticism, I love learning. That's why I'm here.

I have not progressed beyond a fruit salad.

Cooking doesn't get tougher than this.

These four celebrities are taking on the challenge

to become the next MasterChef champion.

But at the end of this week,

only the best cooks will continue in the competition.

I enjoy cooking.

Am I good at cooking? I'm not entirely sure.

But I like to give it a go.

Cooking for John and Gregg -

that will be terrifying.

I just hope I don't poison them.

I would be terrible at making things up,

or being inventive.

The only recipe I know, I follow it

to the letter.

I have never made a pudding in my adult life. Ever.

Ever, ever, ever.

Four fresh celebrities.

Four lambs to the slaughter.

We have no idea how good they are.

We have no idea how bad they are.

This is a mystery box round.

You don't know what's under that box.

All I'll ask you is, try and hold your nerve.

Cook like you do at home. If, that is, you do actually cook at home.

SHE LAUGHS

Don't be scared.

Lift your boxes.

Today's main ingredients are

calf's liver,

kidneys

and a brain.

The box also includes

broccoli,

mushrooms,

blue cheese,

bacon,

brandy

and tarragon.

One plate of food, guys. You've got 50 minutes.

Let's cook.

We are really chucking some quite unusual ingredients at them, John.

I have learned that unless I slavishly follow a recipe,

it can go horribly wrong.

I don't know the basics.

I can only blame my mother.

I can make a very good salad.

How you doing, Jenny?

I'm doing quite badly. I'm really sorry about it.

This is beyond me.

I'm in a mess already,

and I can't apologise enough.

I thought at one point

I would make a meat trifle,

with mashed potato and stuff,

but then I thought I'd have potato gratin.

And then broccoli cheese.

And then I'd do crispy bacon on the top of that.

Wonder what it's going to be like?

Everyone likes a surprise,

but it should be a surprise to everybody apart from the cook.

SHE LAUGHS

I'm so sorry.

Ten minutes has gone!

Olympic rower and cyclist, Rebecca,

is only the second woman in history

to win medals in two different events.

The one thing that will probably give me the edge

is my driven nature.

Deep inside, I always want to be the winner.

I will be giving it everything.

Hello, Rebecca, how are you?

Very nervous, actually.

I feel incredibly stupid right now.

It's in the kitchen - when I don't normally feel like this.

You've competed in two separate Olympics?!

This can't be pressure!

But I train every day

to sit on the start line of an Olympic Games.

What are you going to cook for us?

I'm attempting to cook a kidney and bacon pie,

with some mustard mash.

When you were training,

did you not delve into the world of positive thinking?

Always, yeah!

Did you have to visualise the end of the race?

Can you visualise the pie?

-SHE LAUGHS

-I can visualise it, yeah.

You've only got 30 minutes left.

TV presenter Michael's love of food

started when he left university and moved to London.

Food, for me, is a real passion.

I know on MasterChef everyone says that.

"It's passion" - but I really do enjoy it.

I love learning about it,

I love making it,

and I love eating it.

-You much of a cook, mate?

-I like cooking at home. I do probably most of the cooking.

I like to throw myself in and go for it.

Do you have any idea what you'll cook for us?

I'll be honest - I'm not used to cooking with offal.

I'm leaving the brain alone.

I'm going with the liver.

Liver and bacon with a mushroom sauce, something like that.

If you're not used to cooking something,

why would you venture into that unknown world?

I can cook meat, he says, hopefully well,

so that's what I'm thinking of going with.

-Good luck!

-Thanks, mate.

He's been stirring some mushrooms and cream together for about 20 minutes.

If he keeps on stirring it and cooking it,

it's going to split and become like curdled custard.

Mushroom mustard custard. Bleurgh!

You have ten minutes left.

30 years ago,

gardener Diarmuid

spent time working in a professional kitchen.

I worked in this place for four months.

I was in heaven, but then a job in a gardening shop came up,

so I left and I never went back in a kitchen after that.

Never, ever. Not even my own.

Now, we know you can grow it.

-Yeah.

-Can you cook it?

I don't generally cook.

If I'm going to do it, I want to do it the best in the world.

But you're OK being second or third-best in gardening?

Oh! He's nasty, isn't he?

Erm, because I love being able to grow food.

I'm amazed at what comes out of the ground.

What will you try and cook for us?

I'm going to make a mash with some cream,

and put in a bit of broccoli.

And I'm going to pan fry some of the kidneys.

I don't want to produce something that's not edible, though.

That would be the important thing for me.

-Good luck!

-Thank you very much.

You've got two minutes to go, that's all!

Last 30 seconds.

Time's up. Step away from your benches, please.

First up is Jenny,

who has pan fried the liver in brandy and thyme,

and has served it with broccoli in a blue cheese sauce,

potato gratin,

and roasted tomatoes.

It looks an absolute disaster,

but nothing is cooked badly.

Your broccoli still has a crunch,

your potatoes are soft and buttery and creamy.

Your liver is cooked absolutely perfectly, but...

it doesn't all go together.

Mm.

I've just had to eat it, Jenny. Don't you start retching!

SHE LAUGHS I've had to put it in my gob!

For a start,

don't put so much food on a plate.

Have a go at presentation.

The liver's cooked really well.

The potatoes are browned-up and crisp.

Anything that's come out all right

is totally by fluke.

That inspires confidence, Jenny(!)

I'm so sorry.

Thanks, Jenny.

Thank you.

That went much better than expected,

because it did look like a big old school dinner.

Dairmuid has pan fried the kidneys,

and served them with mushrooms and bacon in a cream sauce,

mashed potato with broccoli

and roasted tomatoes.

Your mash has little lumps in.

Lumps are inexcusable.

But your bacon and mushroom medley

with nicely-cooked kidneys

is a joy.

Mate, I think you've got a decent touch and a decent palate.

I like that mushroom and bacon combination with the mustard.

And I love it with the kidneys, and I even like the mashed potato, despite the lumps.

You know what you're doing. You'll be all right.

Thank you.

It was one of the first meals I've ever prepared

without following a recipe. Yeah, I loved it.

Rebecca has made a kidney and bacon pie

with tarragon and mustard mash,

served with broccoli.

Your pie-cum-tart hasn't quite worked out.

A pie should be encased in pastry.

Instead, we have a tart.

The pastry itself is not cooked enough,

but your mashed potato with the mustard and the tarragon

is actually delicious.

The earthiness of your mushrooms,

the smokiness of your bacon,

the iron-richness of your kidney is not a bad combination.

It's not perfect,

but it's not bad.

You are heavy-handed with the tarragon,

and you're a little short of seasoning.

That's my only complaint.

My only complaint.

You're OK.

There's no need to be as nervous as that.

I'm feeling really relieved.

I need to just get a grip.

Relax a bit, and know that I've just taken that first step

and it all went OK.

Michael has pan fried the liver and bacon,

and served it with a creamy mushroom sauce

and broccoli.

It's a little under-cooked there, mate.

Interesting.

Your liver's under-cooked, your sauce is too sweet

and too thick.

Your broccoli's waterlogged.

There are mistakes on here.

I'm disappointed.

It's not right.

You were in love with your sauce, so much you cooked it and cooked it and cooked it.

And you cooked it so much that if you look in that pan,

it's actually split apart.

We've got woody mushrooms, smoky bacon

with cream and bloody liver.

But the good thing is,

I can wash it down with the waterlogged, over-cooked broccoli.

Cos that then takes away all the flavour out of my mouth.

HE MOUTHS

I'm really gutted, actually. He killed me!

They really did not like it,

at all!

Thanks very much. Off you go.

No-one has wowed us yet,

but there's plenty of opportunity to prove they may have something.

I've no idea what to expect from the next part of the test.

To be quite honest, I'm completely exhausted.

If I do badly in this one,

after doing badly in the one we've just done, I'm in big trouble.

The next test - let's see what they can do.

We know what they can do, John!

Yeah, not very much!

This is a skills test.

The skills test today is a butterflied,

breaded chicken schnitzel,

with a little mixed salad and a dressing,

in ten minutes.

All we want is one breast to come off.

A large knife.

One incision in the skin,

and then all the way down with a lovely, clean cut.

Right through to the bone.

Use the weight of the meat

to allow it to come away from the bone itself,

and off the frame of the bird.

And there we have...

You definitely don't want the skin.

Skin comes off. So that's that.

The important thing about cooking a piece of chicken like this

is it needs to be cooked evenly.

So, to do that,

we're going to butterfly it.

Opening it up and rolling it back...

so it is all perfectly even.

And it will cook really quickly.

Around about four minutes.

If they don't cut that chicken thin enough,

they'll have a great big hunk that's no way going to cook through?

That's right.

Vegetable oil. Enough - not deep fried but shallow fried.

And let that heat up. Now for the actual coating.

So flour first. Egg.

And then our breadcrumb.

Just gently drop in.

Just gently frying.

There are so many things that could go wrong. So many.

I'm going to take this out and let this drain

and hold it up for a sec.

And now a really quick little salad dressing.

I just like a nice well-flavoured,

well-balanced dressing of vinegar, mustard and oil.

Some leaves.

And now our schnitzel and then...

OK? There you have it.

Chicken schnitzel, mixed leaf, vinaigrette.

Got to be crunchy on the outside and still moist on the inside.

Lovely, lovely lunch but a very tough skills test.

It's a piece of breaded chicken and salad.

To you. To others, mission impossible.

Ten minutes, young man. Let's go.

I have never done this to a chicken before.

You've had three minutes. You've got seven minutes left.

You've got three minutes left, chef.

-How long left?

-90 seconds.

-All done?

-That's more batter than schnitz, I think.

The butterflying was really impressive

and what you did was absolutely right.

From there, it started to go a little bit wrong.

The simple thing is flour, egg then breadcrumb.

You went egg, flour, breadcrumb.

By the time you have done that, you've got batter.

You put the tiniest amount of oil and it needs to sizzle.

So that's why it didn't cook.

Yeah. That is not cooked.

-I'd like to eat some but I'd like to be standing tomorrow.

-Yeah, I know.

I'll try a salad leaf.

It is a salad leaf, sweet with balsamic vinegar.

Sweet and slightly acidic. What can I say?

It's probably, actually, a really good accompaniment for raw chicken.

-Thanks, curly. Off you go.

-Cheers.

Overall, it wasn't good. I knew I hadn't done well.

Having to take a breast off a chicken!

God, I didn't know where to look!

-Jenny.

-Yes.

-This is a skills test.

-A-ha.

We are going to give you ten minutes.

We want you to prepare us a chicken schnitzel

with a matching salad.

-Have you taken the breast from a chicken before?

-No.

Ten minutes. Jenny, off you go.

Ergh!

Halfway, Jenny.

Still a couple of minutes left.

I'm worried about it being raw in the middle and burnt on the outside.

You've got 60 seconds to go.

All right. It's got to come out.

-All right, all done?

-All done.

-Chicken schnitzel?

-And salad!

I like the skills test because it speaks the truth.

And we've just uncovered that you actually really do cook.

I promise you, I don't!

Jenny, you boned that chicken really well and very efficiently.

The way you whisked your dressing together, you cook.

You've been found out, Jenny.

SHE LAUGHS

I've got to say, the only mistake I can see is that you didn't

halve the chicken breast and butterfly it out so it was thinner.

I am really impressed.

We are about to have the moment of truth.

The end of your breast, the thin end, is cooked perfectly.

But the fat end...

-is not cooked.

-No.

The outside of your chicken is lovely and crispy.

It's well seasoned.

The bits that are cooked are beautifully cooked and still moist.

It's a shame the fat end isn't cooked all the way through.

I like your sharp, rich with olive oil dressing on those salad leaves.

I reckon you're all right.

I think I've peaked!

-Jenny, thank you very much.

-Absolute pleasure. Thank you very much.

Hooray!

That was, again, a little bit of a fluke.

Rebecca, ten minutes. Your time starts now.

You've had three minutes. You've got seven minutes left.

(Salad dressing, Rebecca.)

You've got three minutes left.

Last minute.

-Finished?

-Finished, in the timespan. Yep.

I'm probably not going to be able to eat that chicken.

I don't believe that it's cooked.

Big mistake was there was nowhere near enough oil in that pan

and the oil wasn't hot when you put the chicken in.

But you actually removed the breast really well

and butterflied it extremely well.

Extremely well.

Still too pink.

It's all a little too pink for me.

HE COUGHS

What you thought was white wine was white wine vinegar.

You've got to taste these dressings.

You are a couple of minutes off. Honestly, you really are.

I know Greg's scared of it. I'm not.

This bit here, that's cooked.

The way you started, I thought we'd end up with something really good

and it hasn't quite worked out for you and I feel for you.

-Thank you.

-See you soon.

Nervy. Very nervy.

Really disappointed.

I should've been able to complete that task without a problem.

-How you doing, Michael?

-Yeah. Well, thank you very much. Very well.

Good luck. Ten minutes. Let's go.

Good.

You've had three minutes.

-You've still got seven minutes left.

-OK. Yeah.

Four minutes gone.

Six minutes of cooking left.

Should have cut it thinner.

That's a big old bit of schnitzel.

-You've got two minutes.

-Come on. Come on.

Last minute, Michael.

Come on then, boy. Here we go.

-You've got 30 seconds.

-30 seconds.

-You've got to get it on the plate.

Yep.

-All right?

-Yeah.

-Guys, I don't want to serve that bit because that's not cooked, there.

-Are you done?

-I'm done.

I am so impressed by the fact

you knew it wasn't cooked at the edge, you got scared and sliced it.

Really, really quite impressive work.

A pretty good result, Michael,

but you didn't butterfly your chicken breast correctly.

You've got to make sure the meat is all exactly the same thickness

-and then you get even cooking.

-Yeah.

I'm so happy. It's breadcrumbed beautifully, it's soft and moist.

Go, Michael! You picked yourself up off the canvas from the first round,

you've come and delivered a knockout blow.

Crispy outside, really well seasoned.

You've got a salad dressing that's coating all your leaves

and I'm so pleased you've left the raw bit behind.

-Thank you very much indeed and we'll see you soon.

-Thanks, guys.

Good boy. Good lad. Done well, there.

Do you know what? I feel so much better after that.

Yeah, I'm really chuffed with that.

We've seen lots of mistakes today but there are a couple

of little sparkles going on through the room and maybe a bit of talent.

Diarmuid I'm a little frustrated with

because it was not a very good end to a very promising start.

I produced some food that was edible,

using ingredients, in some cases, I'd never eaten before.

So, I'm happy enough.

Rebecca, you know, is very tough on herself.

So tough she is making herself too nervous.

I'd like to see her just relax a little bit more.

I need to pick my game up, I think.

Jenny looks like she has the makings of a decent cook,

although funny sort of style and a little bit messy.

I mean, already,

I've done two things today that I've never done before in my life.

But I think I've got more to learn than to prove.

Michael couldn't cook the liver properly in the first round,

came in here and did a really, really good job with his chicken.

I'm really excited. Survived the first day. Ready for day two.

They are going to have to really step it up in the next round.

Next time, the celebrities face their first outside challenge.

If they get this wrong today, they could feed them to the lions.

-We're up against it, we always were going to be.

-It's really hard and it's so hot.

Guys, get your acts together.

-You won't get this out otherwise.

-Should be afraid of us.

-I'm not afraid of you, I'm afraid of the food.

-We've lost it already.

-We haven't lost anything already, woman.

-No! Bring it back!

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