Episode 23 Celebrity MasterChef

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

The pressure is endless on this show.

Only the best are left. Now the competition really begins.

Another knockout round today.

Hopefully we're still here tomorrow.

You can't think anything less than getting to the final.

Celebrity MasterChef and we have our final six celebrities.

It feels amazing to be in the final six.

I don't think I ever thought I'd really make it this far.

I am all consumed by MasterChef - every waking minute.

And probably in my dreams as well.

Lot of pressure on today's plate - it could all end today.

So it's absolutely vital that I get it right.

At the end of the day we're going to lose two.

They want to stay in the competition,

they've got to deliver something wonderful.

Welcome back.

Good to see you.

We want a dish inspired by somebody you love.

Something that celebrates a memory.

At the end of today, two of you are leaving us.

Guys, put your heart and soul into this - it's a really special round.

One hour and 15 minutes.

Let's cook.

Today we want to see our celebs cook with their heart

as well as their head.

Delivered with skill, forged from passion.

Cheryl Baker has great knowledge. Her food can be brilliant.

-Great smells coming from your bench.

-Thank you.

-What are you going to cook for us?

-I'm making an orange souffle.

A champagne sorbet and orange biscuits with chocolate.

-So you got oranges and champagne?

-Bucks fizz.

-A bucks fizz.

-Yes.

Very good.

Inspiration is Mike Nolan, who I first met years ago

when I first started with Bucks Fizz.

He's one of my best mates but he almost lost his life.

We had a coach crash and he had brain damage and he nearly died.

We still work together, he still rips my skirt off,

I still love him so much and this is for him.

Plenty of things can go wrong today.

If I do it well, it could all be marvellous.

If I do it wrong, I could be waving goodbye.

I'm scared because all of those three things

are technically demanding and they have to be precise.

That is tricky in the extreme.

I'm living life on the edge today

because I've gone for an orange souffle

which can go horribly, horribly wrong.

Because it's personal, because I'm actually dedicating it

to someone that means so much to me, it's important that I get it right.

And also because it's going to keep me in the competition, hopefully.

You've had 20 minutes.

Michael Underwood - he has skill and passion. I love some of his food.

But there's always the odd mistake with Michael.

He has got to aim for absolute perfection.

Michael, what are you cooking for us?

I'm doing a classic New York City burger, with Delmonico potatoes,

battered gherkins and a spicy corn relish.

I have no idea what a Delmonico potato is.

Basically it's potatoes cooked in cream and milk,

with a small parmesan cheese and baked off.

This is a sort of celebration of New York by the sounds of it, why is it?

I got married in New York.

On the day of our wedding there was two foot of snow

and the restaurant at the hotel couldn't open.

After our wedding, we're thinking, "What are we going to eat?"

All we had was the 24-hour menu.

We were sat there, me in my suit, my lovely wife in her beautiful dress

with a cocktail each and a burger.

It puts a smile on my face even thinking about it.

It's something I'd like to eat -

whether it's good enough for MasterChef I'm not sure.

I know to most people a burger's just a burger.

But to me,

this burger brings out one of the happiest memories I've ever had.

That moment that I got married -

it means the world to me.

Javine Hylton - I believe she's got a great touch

but she cooks very well.

-Javine, what are you going to cook for us?

-I'm doing a rhubarb tart with crumble on top,

with ginger ice-cream and a rhubarb coulis.

Javine, from you a dessert?

My daughter loves crumble,

she loves ice-cream and it's completely inspired by her.

What about timing today, Javine?

Yeah, I've got a lot to do,

so I'm just pushed for time trying to get everything done.

-Javine, good luck.

-Thank you.

Javine is cooking a rhubarb crumble tart with ginger ice-cream.

If Javine can produce this dessert with style and flavour and elegance,

I will be blown off my feet.

Serious pressure today.

I'm not really used to doing desserts.

It's inspired by my daughter and she's the love of my life

so I thought I'd do something based around her.

Guys, you are halfway.

Halfway.

Danny Mills, there is a guy who wants to demonstrate

all his skill on one plate.

Don't push yourself so hard, Danny.

Today, just show us some simplistic beauty.

Competition's hotting up, Danny, what are you going to cook for us today?

I'm going to do a piece of fillet beef with some potatoes,

-a red wine gravy, just on some spinach.

-And the inspiration?

My nan used to cook beef fillets for me.

Normally on a Saturday. I'd go round, look after her.

No longer with us but that's where the inspiration comes from.

-Happy memory?

-It is, yeah.

My nan was a very, very dear person to me - very, very strong woman.

Lot of respect for her.

Probably one of the only people in the world that I was ever scared of.

It was good times and good memories. I just want to make my nan proud.

My nan died a few years ago now.

Sad, obviously, when she passed away.

But I've taken on a lot that I learnt from her.

Danny Mills is going to cook for us a steak with potatoes,

mushrooms, red wine sauce and horseradish.

If he gets every single thing right, it's going to be a beautiful dish.

You've got to push now, 25 minutes left.

Emma Kennedy, a lady who has a really interesting imagination.

Her food has gone right up there,

she has just got to keep that momentum going.

Prove it wasn't a flash in the pan.

Emma, what are you cooking for us?

I am cooking a lamb loin, served on green olives with basil,

with a flash-braised lettuce with anchovies

and then goat's cheese quenelle.

-Who's inspired this dish?

-This is for my dad.

He used to take us every year on holidays that made

absolutely no sense whatsoever, but were strangely brilliant.

And about two weeks ago,

I went to a restaurant and there was this crazy lamb dish on the menu.

It made no sense whatsoever, yet was strangely brilliant.

And it came to me and I thought,

"Well, I'll do that, that's like my dad on a plate."

-Emma, sounds really interesting.

-Thank you.

I want to show John and Gregg that I mean business.

In a nutshell, I'm attempting to recreate a Michelin-star dish

that I saw once, from memory.

I haven't even got a recipe to follow.

Emma is pushing the boat out - extraordinary-sounding dish.

I hope, for Emma, that risk pays off because it sounds quite kooky.

Guys, you've got 20 minutes left, that's all you've got.

Jamie Theakston has delivered some really good food.

-What are you cooking for us?

-Fish fingers.

-Fish fingers?

-Yes.

Tell us what it really is.

These will be the finest fish fingers you'll have ever tasted.

You're saying fish fingers - I can see peas,

you've got some chips over there.

You've got fennel and tomato sauce so this is more than just fish fingers?

Yeah, I'm going to put some fennel and some onions in my peas.

I'm making my own ketchup.

I'm going to make a lemon mayonnaise and then the fish fingers,

I'm going to put basil and sundried tomatoes inside the fish fingers.

-Why fish fingers, Jamie?

-My two boys love fish fingers.

It's all they eat and so this has been inspired by them.

Everyone loves fish fingers.

But no-one has had fish fingers quite as good as mine.

Today I'm attempting to make the best tomato ketchup...

..the best fish fingers...

..and the best chips...

..of all time!

Five minutes left.

Just three minutes.

Last 60 seconds.

That's it - stop!

-Cheryl, where's your souffle?

-It's in the oven.

-How long's it going to be?

-Two minutes.

So we'll let you finish

-but you'll be three/four minutes over.

-Yeah.

-I appreciate it, I know.

-All right, all right.

Dedicated to Mike Nolan, her bandmate from Bucks Fizz,

Cheryl has made an orange souffle

served with a champagne sorbet and orange sauce.

And shortbread biscuits dipped in chocolate.

It hasn't cooked all the way through.

So it's not as light and fluffy as it should be, this souffle.

But it's a wonderful flavour of sharp orange and orange liqueur.

Lovely, it needed about another six/seven minutes, didn't it?

Champagne sorbet. Oh, that's lovely.

There's all the sweetness and the cleansing of champagne,

and there's something quite citrusy and sticky down the bottom.

And it's very grown-up. Cor!

You have got some wonderful flavour combinations

BUT it's not perfect.

It's not perfect because you gave yourself too much to do

and you didn't have enough time to cook your souffle.

I know.

Your flavours are extraordinary.

They're brilliant, bold, exciting.

Your souffle, although it rose up in the oven,

didn't have enough time to set in the middle, it's collapsed.

Do you wish you hadn't given yourself so much to do?

I was nuts to think that I could do a sorbet and a souffle and

biscuits in an hour and a quarter - I must need my head examined.

You not only ran out of time but you ran over time.

-Cheryl, thank you.

-Thank you.

I mean I knew that my souffle

wasn't in the oven long enough.

I could hit myself, I really could.

Inspired by his wedding day,

Michael has made a classic New York City cheeseburger

with Delmonico potatoes,

spicy sweetcorn relish and battered gherkins.

I love it. I love the look of it.

Listen, so much to admire on here.

It's real fun, but there's a touch of class about it.

That's a nice burger.

The meat inside there is well-cooked,

juicy and well-flavoured.

Love those Delmonico potatoes, creamy and rich.

Like your relish that you've made, as well,

with the corn - that's sweet.

Do not like your fried gherkin, dah!

But the rest of it - yeah, yeah. You know what I like about it?

It's inspired by your time in New York. It's a happy memory for you.

This is a happy dish, but it's also got style, Michael.

I think a good burger is a really under-rated thing,

and I think you have a very good burger.

I love corn relish, and I think it's good.

Your Delmonico potatoes, I think the flavour is great.

I'm with Gregg,

the deep fried gherkins with that batter on them don't work.

But, actually, as a whole, it's a really well-executed thing.

It's beautiful. I like the presentation.

-Cheers, Michael.

-Thanks, guys.

I think it's fair to say that Gregg was repulsed

by my battered gherkins.

But, other than that, I'm pleased.

It went better than I thought it was going to go, so I'm pleased.

Javine has made a rhubarb custard crumble tart, with ginger ice-cream

sitting in a spun-sugar basket, and a raspberry and rhubarb coulis.

You made this rhubarb crumble tart, inspired by your daughter.

I love the ice-cream. Love the ice-cream.

Love the sauce around the outside, rich with raspberries

and sharp with the rhubarb.

The actual tart itself is not what I expected.

I thought we're going to get stewed rhubarb inside a tart case

with crumble top, but what we've got inside is a rhubarb mousse.

It's all going a little bit dry in my mouth.

But the amount of work you've put into this plate, Javine,

is quite extraordinary.

You OK?

I love the flavour of it. I absolutely love the flavour of it.

That warm ginger and vanilla that comes through your ice-cream

is divine.

The tart needs more filling. It needs to be wetter.

What we asked you to do was do something that means something

to you. And when you cook something that means something to you

and it doesn't quite work out, then it really hits home.

You know, I don't do desserts and I thought the idea was good.

I didn't pull it off, I don't think.

I should have maybe thought about it a bit more.

Inspired by his nan, Danny has made fillet beef on spinach,

served with Parisian potatoes, caramelised shallots,

horseradish cream cubes and a red wine and wild mushroom sauce.

Back of the net!

JOHN TORODE LAUGHS

Great. The beef is cooked brilliantly, absolute to perfection.

That's more of a wild mushroom sauce than it is a red wine sauce,

and what really brings it alive is the good heat

and tang you've got in that horseradish.

Danny, really good.

Well done, mate. Well done.

I love the richness of the beef with the woodness of the mushrooms, and

that real wonderful spice and cream that comes with the horseradish.

The buttery potatoes go really well with the spinach,

and it all starts to come together.

A huge amount of work and I really respect what you're doing -

-I think it's great.

-Thank you.

Danny, thank you.

I really pleased with what I've done.

Proud of that dish, so yeah... So hopefully now we can go on.

As a tribute to her dad, Emma has made a lamb loin

on chopped green olives and basil, served with flash-braised lettuce,

fresh anchovy, a quenelle of goat's cheese and a lamb sauce.

Love the look of it. Now it's just got to taste as good as it looks.

There's just this weird sensation going on, and I'm unsure

whether I absolutely love it or I'm a bit frightened of it.

EMMA LAUGHS

I actually love the goat's cheese and the Gem, and the olives.

The lamb sitting on top, I'm not quite sure about.

I think it's really well cooked. I think it's really well seasoned.

I think there's interesting balance of flavours,

because everything is distinct.

I think it's beautifully presented.

I'm just... It's so different from anything I've ever had before.

It's...out there.

You can put anchovies when you are roasting a lamb

and they will dissolve and they will leave their salt,

but what they don't leave is a flavour of fish.

That anchovy leaves the flavour of fish.

Cooking is precise,

but I think you've gone an anchovy too far, here.

-Thanks, Emma.

-It's a pleasure.

I feel all right.

It was lovely to be able to cook something for my dad today.

Jamie has made fish fingers, stuffed with sun-dried tomatoes

and basil, served with twice-cooked chips, a pea and fennel cake,

and homemade mayonnaise and ketchup.

Inspired by your boys.

My two young boys, yeah.

Cos they love fish fingers, and they love chips.

-They can't get enough of them.

-I'm really impressed.

I love the sweet peas against that crunchy, really well-cooked fish.

The sharpness of your mayonnaise, really seasoned.

The sourness of that tomato ketchup, which is lovely and fine,

but still sticks to the outside of the fish.

I love your chips,

but I don't understand why you put a sun-dried tomato

in the middle of a fish finger.

For me, the addition of the sun-dried tomato is actually a little

too strong for the subtle fish.

Cos everything else, to me, on that plate is cooked really well

and made really well.

It's great. It's great!

Really, really good. Your fish is just brilliantly cooked -

it's flaky. You've got a really nice, crispy outside coating.

You've got sweet peas.

You've got a really brilliant attempt at ketchup, it's sweet and tangy.

There's nothing to not like about it, Jamie.

You done really well.

I am feeling relieved.

I hope I've done enough.

Thank you very much. Off you go.

That was just...intense.

I think a very, very exciting day.

The room was full of emotion and, I've got to say, some really good food.

Some very exciting food.

Danny's beef was excellent. Beef well cooked.

Loved the red wine sauce. What you going to complain about?

-Well you couldn't complain about it, could you?

-Yeah. Danny goes through.

Mr Theakston, I've got to say, I was really impressed.

Made his own mayonnaise, a very good ketchup, really nicely made chips.

The crust around the outside of the fish was wonderful and crunchy,

but not too thick.

But, for me, this issue that Jamie had today were those sun-dried

tomatoes in the middle of the fish fingers.

Jamie, leave it alone. Good dish, though.

Jamie's in.

Michael's dish was fun. Love the burger. Liked the relish.

Really loved those potatoes with the parmesan and the cream,

thought they were great.

Don't really want to eat a deep fried gherkin.

Well, Michael's concept was great.

He delivered what he intended to deliver,

and that was a good burger which was better than the norm.

-Michael goes through.

-Yes.

-Good.

So here's the deal - we've got the boys through.

We've got Michael, Jamie and Danny through.

It's now between Cheryl, Javine and Emma.

Cheryl made us a dessert inspired by her love for Mike Nolan.

She almost made three brilliant desserts.

She's so skilful, she's so passionate, she's so knowledgeable.

I so love her food, but she got it wrong today.

Not only running out of time, but being over time,

and the souffle still not cooked.

She bit off more than she could chew and she came a cropper.

I'm totally expecting to be eliminated today,

but I don't want it to happen. I want to go through.

I'm loving this too much.

Javine, today, made a dessert that's inspired by her child, Angel.

Javine's pastry was excellent, the ice-cream was wonderful, John,

ginger and vanilla. I mean, really really lovely.

But it didn't taste right because the pie was too dry.

My little girl, she's just kind of mucking in,

loving cooking with me and stuff, and I'm really enjoying it.

And I want to get to the final.

Emma did an unusual lamb dish today,

inspired by her father's adventurism on holiday.

You were confused by it.

I outright didn't like the anchovy on there, but I can't actually

complain about how she cooked it all, or how she presented it.

Real invention from Emma today - lamb, goat's cheese, chopped olives,

basil and fennel seeds around the lamb. It was a really interesting,

strange combination - provocative and thought provoking.

If I go home today, then it's because I deserve to go home.

If I'm not good enough to stay, then I'm not good enough to stay.

We're going to send two of these people home today.

-Tough decision.

-I don't like this.

We've always said we can only take the best cooks through.

The two celebrities that are leaving us are...

Javine and Cheryl.

Guys, thank you so much for everything you've done.

Me and you, girl.

-Oh.

-Oh, well.

-Darling.

I'm really, really disappointed, but not at all surprised.

It was the right decision, but I'm just gutted.

I've enjoyed my time here. It's been amazing.

I'm not going to do a tart ever, ever again!

Guys, congratulations, you are our final four.

I can't believe I've made it to the final four. It is unbelievable.

I am literally beaming from ear to ear.

Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would get this far.

Just astonished.

I'm pleased, yeah. Pretty happy.

It's another few days of living, eating, sleeping, breathing food.

The overriding feeling is shock. It hasn't really sunk in yet.

Oh, man. Wow.

Tomorrow night, they face the ultimate masterclass.

Slowly, but nice, long, smooth slices.

The attention to detail at this level of cooking

is just way beyond anything I'm used to.

-Four minutes on the pass, Danny.

-Four minutes. Yes, chef.

You haven't got time to think.

These aren't good enough. We're going to start again.

Grrr!

-Jamie, two lamb coming up.

-Yeah, it's coming.

-Please?

This looks a little bit rare.

Before returning to show what they've learnt.

The whole thing is just juicy, juicy, juicy.

That is heart-thumping stuff from you.

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