Episode 19 Celebrity MasterChef

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

Feeling absolutely nervous because it's the unknown.

These celebrities have already made a name for themselves in their own professions.

But can they cut it in the kitchen?

Get it wrong at home, you put it in the bin.

Get it wrong here, it doesn't really work.

I want to stay in this competition.

Now it really matters.

Cooking doesn't get tougher than this.

This week, these three celebrities have been competing for a place

in the final eight.

Now Cheryl,

Danny, and Zoe

are heading to cook in their first

restaurant kitchen.

Feeling jittery today, which I haven't done before.

Feel a little bit sick about what's going to happen this morning.

So far, the challenges have been pretty tough.

Tougher than I expected.

I think today is going to be the hardest so far.

We are sending our celebs to a world they have no idea about.

Our three celebs are about to enter a world of pain.

This is Plateau Restaurant,

situated in London's busy

financial district, Canary Wharf.

It serves classic French food,

with a contemporary twist.

Morning, guys. My name's Allan Pickett. I'm the head chef at Plateau Restaurant.

We have a really busy lunch, of about 80 to 90 covers.

Let's go to the kitchen.

The contestants have just three hours to prep their dishes.

-Have you ever filleted a salmon before?

-No.

That's what fishmongers are for.

Well, not today.

During service,

Danny will be making salmon,

served with spiced aubergine

and baby fennel.

The knife's finding that bone structure.

Very little meat left on the bone.

Obviously, the more we leave, the less profit I make.

Trim it up.

That's what we're looking for, OK?

What we need to do now is take all those bones out here.

The last thing we want is the customer having any bone in their salmon.

-Are you happy with that?

-Yup.

-Confident?

-No.

Get it right.

I'm making sure it looks right.

I want this to be absolutely perfect.

If I was at home, I might cut a corner or two.

But obviously can't do that here.

-I'm not very good with beef, Chef.

-Aren't you?

My husband likes his beef well done.

I was avoiding beef at all costs!

Cheryl is making

roast rump of beef,

served with a fondant potato,

sauteed wild mushrooms,

spinach, bone marrow,

and a red wine jus.

And that's what we're looking for.

I would cut that in half again,

width-ways,

to make sure it's done well!

Ideally, looking for about 15 portions in all.

We have a really busy lunch service.

-Happy? All right?

-No.

Brilliant(!) Call me if you need me.

-I need you!

-SHE LAUGHS

I'm not feeling good about this,

because I don't do beef. I never get it right.

So this is my worst nightmare.

I'm cutting half of this meat off. This is wrong.

That's his profit going out of the window.

I'm cutting off big chunks of meat here.

Push that forward, OK?

So it comes out as clean as that.

Zoe will be responsible

for the confit duck leg,

served with black pudding, a frisee salad,

and a red wine sauce.

This is exactly what I want.

No cuts through the leg.

The skin's perfect there.

I'll absolutely give it a go.

I hope I can make it as perfect as yours!

-Thank you.

-Thank you very much.

Very excited and very nervous about the duck,

because obviously, I haven't done it before.

There's huge potential for mistakes when it's your first time doing something.

As always, the pressure is definitely on.

I feel it already.

This bit here,

where you've taken the tail bit off,

that's a bit scraggy.

Here it's all going to fall apart,

-but obviously we need to take all these bones out.

-Yep.

Take all these pin bones out and look once it's trimmed up, and we'll see where we are from there.

It's massive to get it right today. I want to get it perfect,

and make the chef happy.

It's his restaurant, his livelihood. and his reputation on the line.

All right, Danny? How did you do?

-OK, I think.

-Yeah, OK.

-Make sure the bones are out, did you?

-Yeah.

-Lovely.

Yeah, all good.

So, cut through there.

Cut through there, all right?

Yeah.

Having butchered the beef, Cheryl sets to work on the fondant potatoes.

Easy one to do.

-Straight down.

-Yeah.

-Use that as your guide and then you'll be fine.

-OK.

-Thank you.

-OK?

-Yeah, thank you. Yeah, happy.

-Good.

Sort of.

Ah, come on!

Oh, blimey!

-OK, Zoe?

-Is it OK?

Looking all right, yeah.

These are good. You happy with these?

I'm happy that you're happy,

-so I'm delighted.

-SHE LAUGHS

-The hard part is to come.

-Oh, right. I thought you'd say that!

Basically, these are being confied, that process.

We want them to be nice and crispy on our skin side now,

so we don't need to cook them too much on top of the stove.

I'll go straight into the oven with these, OK?

Frisee salad. We've got some chives

going in there.

Into that, I've got smoked bacon, OK?

Black pudding, just been cooked under the grill.

And that's going to go on here.

The last thing - one thing I don't do is sauce over the black pudding,

cos it makes it look a bit...

Right. Don't touch the black pudding.

Don't touch the black pudding, OK?

-That's how I want it today. Are you happy?

-Yes.

I'm really big on presentation

and things that look pretty and elegant,

and I hope I don't let him down.

It's 12 o'clock, and the first customers have started to arrive.

The standards are very, very high.

We need to make sure the food goes out really quickly.

If it's not perfect, we can't send it.

It's as simple as that.

OK, guys. First order up. Cheryl, two beef.

-Medium rare, medium.

-Yes, Chef.

-How long will that take now?

-One minute, Chef.

-Brilliant.

Be careful, yeah?

Ooh!

-SHE LAUGHS

-That comes out fast!

-Hold on. It needs dressed, this one. Re-dress it.

-I'll take it off.

-On there again.

-OK.

-Really, really quickly.

It's not good enough to serve, sorry.

I gotcha, OK?

Mushrooms. See the bone?

Got to really go now. That's fine. Stop, stop!

OK. Bring them over here onto this tray.

First two are ready.

Hey, Monsieur.

-This one, medium rare.

-Ha-ha!

Hey, Cheryl. Down here, crack on.

Clear down.

-Yeah.

-You'll get another beef order in a minute.

That was really exciting. It was great.

But look at this smile.

Ah!

One salmon.

The hardest part is making sure the salmon's cooked properly.

Not overcooked, not undercooked.

This is my first one, so fingers crossed.

How far are you away on those salmon?

They're about to go in the oven.

Put the timer on four minutes for those.

That's it.

-Two salmon are coming right now, yeah?

-Yeah, lovely.

They look spot-on to me, mate.

Nicely cooked. Bring them over, mate.

Mind, mind, mind.

Go, go, go!

TIMER BEEPS

Trickiest bit's just the salmon. Just making sure it's cooked, it's ready.

It's just keeping an eye on everything and staying calm.

If I can do that, it should be OK.

Duck leg, salmon on order, yeah?

Chef.

How will I know when it's ready? Will I look at it

just to be sure?

-You can't really know.

-No? "You can't really know." I love that(!)

You can never be sure until it's wrong.

Zoe, how are you doing?

Just 20 seconds...

Couple of minutes? Brilliant.

Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop.

Jut go easy on the sauce, OK?

Yes. I don't like that squirter.

Quick, quick, quick, quick. Well done.

Ooh!

One oyster, roquette and prosciutto salad, one beetroot, two rump.

Cheryl?

-Yeah!

-Got two rump away.

Two rump away? Two rump away, two rump away.

OK!

Some Irish pig burger, rump of beef.

Very well done, so you'll be all right, Cheryl?

Is that extra to the last lot?

Yes, it's extra!

-Got two and a half minutes, Cheryl, OK?

-What for?

First two beef.

The first two? Yeah, that's fine. Yeah, I'll be there, Chef.

They're medium.

Medium? I've got one medium,

one well done,

and one...I don't know.

-How far are you off, Cheryl?

-One minute, Chef.

One minute!

Cheryl, I'm waiting for you now.

I'm coming, Chef!

Go, go, go, go!

Doing really well.

Oh, that's it, yeah.

Two beef dressed, Chef.

Brilliant.

I'm telling you. Bang me on a stage in the Albert Hall.

Here you are. Stand Chef on the stage on the Albert Hall. See how he gets on.

SHE LAUGHS

It's good fun, though.

Danny, we've got three salmon

-just coming on order now.

-Yes, Chef.

It's midway through service,

and Danny's salmon dish is proving popular.

Danny, how far are you away, mate?

Erm, will be

two minutes on the salmon.

Once you've gone on these three, you've got five more on order, yeah?

OK, no worries, Chef.

I just got to get these three away, and I have five more salmon going on.

Busy.

That's it. Lovely.

Service!

Yes, Chef.

Danny, salmon's looking lovely, mate.

Service!

Go. Just take that. Go.

Right, Zoe?

Don't dress that salad.

-You got any dressing in there?

-Yup.

So put it all back in the bowl.

-You'll need a little bit less than that.

-OK, no problem.

-That's about three portions in there. We need to make money here, yeah?

-Yup.

-OK?

-OK.

Is there any bacon in that salad?

Yeah, there is.

Duck, Chef!

Salmon and a duck away, yes?

-Zoe?

-Yeah, duck away.

OK, Zoe. Can I have an answer then, please?

-Yeah, Chef.

-Thank you.

Yeah, you know -

first time in a professional kitchen with paying customers.

It's never going to be easy, but we'll get there.

Can I have a rump steak and a salmon, guys, yes?

-Now?

-Now. No?

-No, no!

-Two minutes?

-Two minutes.

-OK, two minutes.

Salmon and a rump coming up now, Cheryl, yeah?

Give me one minute, Chef.

One minute?

Can't keep extending the time.

This is nuts! This is nuts!

We need that beef right up, please.

I'm coming in 15 seconds.

Cor! Haven't said that for a while.

Come on, Cheryl. I need that beef.

It's coming now.

Come on, come on, come on.

Watch the side of the plate with sauce.

Rump steak, medium.

Well done. Brilliant.

I had the steak. Cooked to absolute perfection.

And bone marrow, which I've never had before, tastes quite nice, as well. I'm impressed.

US entrecote, three cods, salmon and a rump. Yes?

-So, Danny...

-Yeah?

After this salmon, two more salmon away.

-Another salmon, Chef?

-Yes.

Yeah, busy now.

Just keeping track of what the chef's shouting.

-Where's that salmon, Dan?

-Yeah, here, Chef.

Brilliant. Thank you.

To be honest, I'm very fussy about my salmon

and this was absolutely perfect.

Thoroughly enjoyed it.

Just give me one duck straight up right now, really quickly.

Yeah, Chef, there's one coming right now.

Zoe, let's go. I need that really, really quickly.

Brilliant. Let's go.

Let's have this duck then, please.

I really need that duck.

Yeah, Chef. It's coming right now.

Come on, Zoe, you'll have to pick it up a bit.

It's literally...

Go, go, go, come on!

Literally seconds away.

Sauce on then, Zo'?

Yep.

Come on, let's have 'em, mate.

Go quickly.

I had the duck salad.

It was really beautiful.

I wasn't expecting the flavours.

What really blew me away was the black pudding.

I just wasn't expecting to taste like that, cos normally it can be a bit dry.

So I was really impressed.

OK, guys, that's it. End of service. Well done. Thank you very much.

HE SIGHS

I've really enjoyed it. I really did.

It was mad and exciting.

But it's something I'm really glad I've done.

Goodness, it was just like a big whirlwind.

Professional kitchens are just hectic.

I feel good, actually. I'm pleased with that.

On to the next challenge, I suppose.

A tough service is over,

but the celebrities now face another test -

to cook head chef Allen's classic dish

of seared scallops,

served with a sauce vierge

and vine tomatoes.

They skills they'll have to demonstrate -

absolute lightness of touch,

attention for detail,

and the seasoning

is going to have to be second to none.

So, first job to do

is to open the scallops.

All you want to do is just press that out,

and we're left with that, OK?

The last thing I want is for you to leave half the scallop on the shell.

Put your thumb in there.

And that is what you want.

The next stage is making the sauce.

Olive oil.

Coriander seeds.

Just put them on the side, to warm.

OK. Tomatoes.

What I'm looking for is a nice, even dice.

This is where you prove to me

what your knife skills are like.

Parsley.

It needs to be really, really, really fine.

And then into there,

I'm going to put my tomatoes to warm up.

and into that,

parsley.

Lemon juice.

Scallops.

These will take seconds.

Finish the dish off with some caviar.

That's a seared scallop with sauce vierge and vine tomato.

What I'm looking for -

perfect seasoning, not too much sauce,

and the scallops need to be perfectly cooked.

OK?

I've never opened a scallop before.

It's not as easy as he made it look.

Come on!

Hello! Come on, open!

Open wide!

How did he open it?!

Ah, gotcha!

OK.

Right, that's that. Now, he said

you get this bit, and pop it out.

OK. How's that?

I think this dish could be ruined

by overcooking the scallops.

I've got to make sure that they're not raw.

He browned them really nicely, didn't he?

That's what I need to do.

OK, I think I'm done.

That's it.

The only thing I'm not sure of is if the scallops

are cooked through.

Presentation looks good.

Scallops, from what I can see,

look lovely and even.

Let's hope they're seasoned perfectly.

I have to say, I think you've done really well.

It's a pleasure to eat.

Scallops are cooked perfectly.

Tomatoes are cut nicely.

Seasoning's there.

Yep, I'd be happy to serve that.

Oh!

I'm very excited now!

SHE LAUGHS

-Thank you very much, Chef.

-Thank you.

-Now I'm going to collapse.

That was brilliant.

That was absolutely brilliant. He loved it.

So, absolutely thrilled with the result of that, I am.

And amazed.

I want to make this dish as best I can.

If I fail,

I'm going to be annoyed at myself.

This is down to me,

so I've got to do it right.

For me, there's not enough lemon. I like a bit of sharpness.

That's better. I can taste the lemon now.

I'm just making sure they're not overdone.

OK, done. Hopefully chef likes it.

Hopefully the scallops are cooked just right.

I don't think I could have done it a lot better than that.

Presentation looks good.

But some of the tomatoes look a bit big.

Looking for a nice dice with the tomato.

The actual scallops

feel a bit overcooked, Danny.

Nice amount of sauce vierge.

It's awash with lemon juice,

but overall, the dish has come together well.

-A couple of things to work on.

-OK.

Thank you very much.

-Thanks, Chef. Real pleasure.

-Thank you.

That wasn't so bad. Of course, you can always do better.

Every single scallop could have been perfect.

Maybe just be a little bit more careful next time.

But again, self-critical more than anything else.

I'd rather he said, "That's not perfect, but give me another one."

This is all completely new to me.

Again, everything's always new to me.

It's just all about nice, elegant chopping, you know.

Keeping it fine, keeping it nicely-shaped.

I want them all to look exactly the same.

No big surprises in there.

Yeah, nicely caramelised, I think.

OK, let's just get these in the plate.

And then, finally,

a few little bits.

He wants to keep the garnish fine.

So tricky to do when your hands are shaking like crazy.

There we go.

I was really nervous.

My hands were shaking. I'm so relieved it's finished.

But it's all about what he thinks, so...

Huh!

And breathe.

So, the actual scallop - what I'd like to see is a bit more colour.

The one here, that could have done a bit more.

Is the other side of it maybe browner? Not really?

Not really, no.

I'd like to see the tomato diced a bit finer,

but all the flavours are coming through nicely.

You get the ground coriander and the caviar comes through, as well, which is nice. Perfect.

Thank you.

I just wanted to do it really well.

I'm actually really thrilled, because generally it was quite positive feedback, I thought.

Overall today, I was really impressed with the three contestants.

Cheryl did really well. She's really impressed me,

especially during lunch, because she had a lot going on.

And this afternoon, she's done really well.

D'you know what I'm really proud with today?

That I managed to cook rump steaks,

and I cooked them rare, medium,

well done.

And I think I did all right.

Zoe's performance overall today - I thought she did really well.

There's a couple of things to work on - attention to detail,

but if she gets those other couple of details right,

she'll be up there.

Today had been an absolutely incredible experience.

To actually get into a professional kitchen,

where you've got paying customers coming in, and you've got that pressure,

there has been so much to go home and think about.

So I'm really pleased with the whole experience.

I was really impressed with Danny at lunch time.

He did really well. He kept his calm.

Scallop dish - a couple of things to work on.

But once he's got those down, he's a good chef.

After a day like today,

I want to go on as far as I possibly can.

It's been a great day. Experiences so far

have been fantastic.

I want to have as many of these great experiences as I possibly can.

Tomorrow night, the battle for a place in the final eight

reaches its climax.

-What have you got left to do?

-I've got it all to do!

As the celebrities face their harshest critics yet.

It's the kind of thing that gives me nightmares.

It's geriatric food - and I'm not there yet!

Only the best will make it.

Get those scallops on, or our three guest judges will be going home.

The person leaving us is...

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