Episode 3 Celebrity MasterChef

It's Celebrity MasterChef.

We've got 16 celebs all hoping to show off their cooking talent.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if I went all the way to the end?

They've proved themselves in their own profession, now let's see

if they can cut it in the kitchen.

They might just give me a whole ostrich and tell me to cook it.

How am I supposed to plan for that?

I like the way I cook.

I'm not going to stand here and snivel and be grateful.

Cooking doesn't get tougher than this.

Throughout this week, these three celebrities have been through

some tough culinary challenges.

But only two can stay in the competition.

The stakes are high.

They now know what they can get out of this competition,

and we know how good they can be.

Welcome back to the MasterChef kitchen.

Good day today, great day.

You are presenting your food today, not just to John and I,

but to three guest judges.

Three people that know this competition very well -

two finalists and a previous winner.

You three are brilliant.

But the issue today is that one of you will leave the competition.

One hour and 15 minutes. Ladies, let's cook.

The contestants must cook a two-course meal of their own design,

to impress the past finalists.

When you put yourself up to be on MasterChef,

you're putting yourself up to be judged.

I expect to have food that I would pay for in a restaurant.

I'm looking for really good food, nicely presented.

I really, really want all six courses to be fabulous

and I want to be able to say, "Yes!"

At this stage, the competition suddenly steps up.

You just want to rise to the challenge.

I'll bet they're terrified.

Our three guest judges, John, they know good food.

They are great cooks in their own right.

They will expect decent stuff here today.

The skills that I've shown John and Gregg are -

sense of humour, stoicism, triumph in the face of criticism.

Today, I'm worried about - when I put the food in the plates,

they're going to start sneering.

And my natural reaction, when blokes start sneering at me,

is I want to deck 'em.

So, Janet, what are you cooking for us?

A frisee lettuce salad with pears and walnuts,

and for the main course, a fish stew with a rouille on the side.

-Yum!

-Yeah.

It's hard enough cooking one piece of fish perfectly, you've got five.

I think the thing is, to cut them

so they're all roughly the same size and the same thicknesses.

And also, you don't want to overcook the squid cos it goes rubbery.

A pot of stew's all right - doesn't need presentation.

How about your salad?

-Well, my salad obviously, Gregg, is going to give you heartbreak.

-Why?

However I arrange those leaves on the plate...

-I'll find something to complain about.

-You will, basically.

Your food is becoming more and more elegant, more sophisticated as we're going through each round.

How much are you loving it, properly?

It's like doing the Grand National. I'm going round, I'm covering all the hurdles,

I'm jumping all the fences,

and it's like the Becher's Brook at the end is you,

and your, like...arrangement thing.

-Fetish.

-Let me tell you something about your dishes today - I love them.

-Well, that's good.

-I love it, love it, love it.

-Thank you.

-Good luck.

-Thanks a lot.

Janet's got two very, very intriguing, promising courses.

The fish stew, I think, sounds amazing.

But it would have been nice to see something cooked with that salad.

This is MasterChef, Gregg, not Master-salad-maker.

I think the salad's good enough for a quarterfinal,

as long as it's got some elegance to it.

My worry is, she's going to serve that up on a shovel.

Halfway, Janet - 30 minutes till your first course.

I don't want to be eliminated.

I'm enjoying, you know, learning how to cook new things.

Today I'm cooking a dish I've made before and I just really like it.

I'm just hoping it all comes together - that's my hope.

Tell us what you're going to cook for us today, Katy.

I'm going to cook salmon in a mirin and soy sauce with

some Japanese sticky rice and some little cucumber salsa.

And then, chocolate balsamic mousse with some crushed summer berries

in ginger liquor.

-Whoa! What's that?

-Balsamic going in the chocolate.

-Yes.

-You're nuts.

-Am I?

-I don't know. Are you?

I-I like it!

But then, I like lemon and dark chocolate, so...

Katy's taking a risk here because, I think,

that salmon dish as a first course - brilliant for quarterfinal.

That chocolate with balsamic vinegar -

I think it's a really big risk.

After all these years of being a home cook...

Perfecto.

..now I've got to take all the flavours that I'm not bad on,

and turn it into a beautiful dish of food.

I'm doing this for my kids, really.

They're loving that I'm here.

Jo, what are you going to cook for us?

I'm going to do a really nice, healthy starter - a rainbow salad.

You've got different colour beetroots and different colour carrots.

-Yes.

-Beautiful root vegetables.

-And cucumber and fennel.

And then I'm going to do scallops with pureed swede and potato mash,

greens and lardons.

And what are you most worried about with these dishes?

I'll overcook my scallops and that you don't like the combinations.

Why are loving the competition so much?

Because it's making me use my brain and try and be really creative,

and I want to get better.

Good.

Jo is making a first course with absolutely no cooking at all.

Once again, it's Master-salad-cook.

-Nine minutes on your first course, Janet.

-OK.

-Don't forget your potatoes to get in there first, uh?

-I'm doing them now!

-Quick, quick, quick.

-Bloody Nora!

-You going to be on time?

-I think so.

I would be doing a much more lovely arrangement of these leaves

if I had a bit longer.

A little salad with pears and walnuts is beautiful.

Might be simple, but those flavours together are lovely.

-It could really work.

-It's a light starter, it's relatively easy -

it is all in the dressing.

Got about two minutes left.

Looking nice though, Janet.

There's a bit of elegance about this.

Oh, no, the walnuts are different sized pieces,

they're not all the same size cos God doesn't make them like that.

Janet, that is your first grown-up presentation.

Thank you, Gregg.

It's good to see you two are getting on so well.

I know. I feel like a teenager having a first snog.

-OK, Janet, you ready to rock 'n roll?

-Yep.

Can you take those plates to the dining room, please?

-And be nice to people.

-OK, Uncle John.

Hello.

Very excited by this.

I'm not very good at being a waitress,

so this is where I might let myself down.

-No, no - round the back!

-All right, round the...

-Andi.

-ANDI: Thank you very much.

It's frisee salad with a little bit of rocket of in it,

comice pear, Roquefort and walnut.

With a dressing that's walnut oil and white wine vinegar.

All right.

I think that looks gorgeous. It's what it says - it's a simple salad.

The balance of the flavours is lovely.

She's gone slightly over on the dressing,

but it's delicious and I will eat all of this.

Lovely.

It's just a bit dull.

It's so simple, I don't know if I can judge anything other than

the dressing, because, actually, you haven't done anything else.

No. So, it all hinges on the fish stew.

-Mm.

-It's a classic combination, she's done it very, very well.

The tang and the strength of that cheese near the honeyed

juice of a pear.

And the richness of that smoky walnut oil with the sweet

but sour mustard seed dressing -

I think that's really good.

There's no cooking going on there, but the flavours are superb.

And she's made it look nice.

-All right, Janet?

-Yep.

Five minutes.

Fish stew - something you cook in one pot.

One-pot cookery can't win MasterChef.

It depends upon, you know, what flavours she's putting into it,

what balance of herbs, spices, what's she's doing with it.

It's not just throw everything into a pot.

It would have been nice to have warmed the plates, Janet.

Oh, shut it.

-Right-o.

-What she say?

She said, "Shut it."

HE LAUGHS

Two-and-a-half minutes and it should be leaving the room.

Right.

-It smells delicious.

-My sort of food, that is.

Janet, we should be serving now.

All right, don't nag.

You don't want a, like, catastrophe at the last-minute.

Take the little plates first then they know they've got

something bigger coming.

Hi.

Hello, Janet.

Now, we're going to have my fish stew.

This is the side.

Ah.

-Oh, I've got to go round the back.

-Round the back, yes.

Now, because I've been so upset by Gregg saying my presentation

is rubbish, I've brought my squid napkins.

LISA: I love them.

-ANDI:

-Thank you very much.

Janet versus Gregg - my money's on Janet to win any time.

THEY LAUGH

Thank you.

It's squid, hake and cod.

-Is the little...a rouille?

-A rouille, yeah.

It's cayenne pepper, garlic...if you don't want to stink all day...

don't have to much of that.

Well, enjoy! Don't worry about getting it on the napkins.

-OK. Thank you.

-See ya.

I'm a bit disappointed in the presentation.

Looks a bit, sort of "bleurgh".

Oh, dear.

My scallop's raw.

My potato's raw too. CHRISTINE: Oh, is it?

The rouille is good.

Now, that's delicious - she's got that right, that's beautiful.

The sauce is lovely.

You can tell it's a home-made stock,

you can tell it's a home-made base and I like that.

We've got an issue and we thought we would -

the fish is slightly overcooked, the scallops are slightly undercooked.

You can't just throw it all in a pot

and hope it comes out cooked - it won't.

But, I love the richness of the base of that stew -

sweet with tomato but still fragrant with saffron.

There's a little bit of chilli running through it and it's got lovely depth.

I think it's a pretty good job.

In my head, I've done really well.

I pulled it off by my standards, definitely.

In Gregg's head - who knows?

-15 minutes, Katy.

-Till I serve the first course?

-Yep, 15 minutes, OK?

-OK.

Katy, we've got mirin glazed salmon followed by

balsamic chocolate mousse with ginger, berries and shortbread.

The salmon has got to be cooked to perfection.

Simple piece of fish. She's got to do it well, hasn't she?

You got three minutes left.

OK.

Nice, nice, nice.

60 seconds, please.

Yep. Mm-hm.

Go on, girl. Go on, girl.

-Hello.

-Hello.

-There you go.

-Thank you.

Whoops!

-And one for you.

-ANDI: Thank you very much.

This is a salmon in mirin and soy sauce,

Japanese sticky rice

and a little cucumber salsa.

This looks absolutely delicious.

I hope the rice is going to be as good as it looks.

Ooh!

The flavour she's got in the salmon is exceptional.

The sauce...I want to know that that didn't come out of a packet,

cos that sauce is fantastic.

I think it's lovely. I think the pickled cucumber

and that little hit of sesame on it is lovely.

The weakest thing on the plate is the rice.

It's literally boiled rice that's been compacted,

but everything else is full of flavour.

For me, that salmon is absolutely perfectly cooked -

that's exactly how I like it.

It's delicious and the flavour is glorious.

Oh, yeah.

The salmon is beautiful.

There is a sweetness to that sauce and it ends in bitterness as well.

There's also a sweetness to the rice. Really love it.

But the rice is overcooked

and I think the sauce is a little bit too sweet and a bit sticky.

I think you're being a little bit harsh there.

I think that the guest judges will agree with me.

Tasty, very tasty dish.

-15 minutes till your dessert goes out.

-OK.

ANDI: I've never had the combination of chocolate and balsamic before.

I love balsamic flavour, I love chocolate,

I love ginger and I love shortbread, so that pudding could be brill.

Are you happy?

I don't think they're quite set.

I should've, eh, got it in the fridge...a little earlier.

You know your mousse isn't properly set when a raspberry sinks in it.

-Well, I'm done.

-Biscuits?

Oh, biscuits.

Good, Katy.

Go get 'em, girl.

-Hello.

-Hello.

-One for you.

-Thank you.

-There you go.

-Thank you.

This is a balsamic chocolate mousse with some ginger,

berries and shortbread.

-I hope you enjoy it.

-Certainly will.

-Thank you.

-Bye.

If this tastes as good as it looks, it's going to be a winner.

I'm getting the ginger and the berries - I'm tasting that.

The mousse - I cannot find balsamic in there anywhere.

If I hadn't known it was balsamic, I would say there was something

about the mousse that I didn't like that makes it almost fruity.

It doesn't do it for me.

I like the chocolate mousse, I could happily eat all of that.

The biscuit and the berries are the winners here, on this plate, for me.

The balsamic vinegar is sharp on the back of your palate,

almost spicy with the chocolate.

The texture's all a bit weird.

I like the ginger liquor around the outside of the berries,

I don't like the chocolate mousse.

Well, I...like what you don't like

and I don't like what you like.

I don't like ginger liquor around my fruit.

I do, however do really like the chocolate with the balsamic finish.

The good thing is - I don't like it

so you can have the whole lot to yourself.

I'm not massively confident about that, to be honest.

Some of my flavours and the balances of flavours -

I just know it's not quite right.

15 minutes, OK?

Panic, panic.

A vegetable salad could be just chopped vegetables.

I think it might be quite nice.

I think the honey and the pomegranates will go really nicely together.

It's just what vegetables and how

she's going to dress that up, really.

Nice-looking dish.

Lovely colours.

If that tastes as good as it looks, you're doing well.

What are you sprinkling on there?

I'm sprinkling pomegranate powder, it's a Persian super-food.

Jo, I think they're beautiful.

Go on, present them with pride.

Thank you.

-Hi.

-Hello.

Thank you.

This is a raw vegetable salad with pomegranate dressing.

CHRISTINE: I think it looks delicious.

-ANDI:

-You could hang this in the Tate.

It's like a big clash of colours and they're beautiful.

I love them.

The good thing about this dish, for me,

is that you've got the crunchy vegetables, you've got that lovely

vinaigrette and you've got, then, a pop of a little pomegranate seed.

CHRISTINE: It's terribly good for us.

If you went to a restaurant and somebody served you this,

you would literally be like, "What? That's it?"

It's not served up as something to fill a navvy

while they're out in the freezing cold. It's a light starter.

I think it looked wonderful.

It's raw vegetables on a plate.

It's crunchy, there's sweetness on there,

there's a little bit of sharpness on there.

It feels like a big plate of nature.

But, where's the cookery skill?

Calm...

Jo's scallops and bacon is the most wonderful mix, isn't it,

-those two flavours together?

-Yeah.

She's got a swede and potato puree,

so she's got a little bit of sweetness in there.

I think it sounds lovely, actually.

You've got four minutes.

Oh, fudge!

I'll have to do just a few bits of cleaning up.

Very nice.

Is that it? Anything else to go?

Yep, there's just a little...of these.

Nice.

Well done, Jo.

Well done, Jo.

This is scallops with swede and potato puree.

-Hope you enjoy it.

-Thank you.

CHRISTINE: Looks delicious.

It's quite tough to cut into that scallop, it's not cooked.

If you're going to do a simple dish, it has to be beautifully cooked

and the scallops aren't very well cooked.

No, they're not.

There was no cooking time in the starter.

Scallops cook, literally, in two minutes, three minutes, four minutes, five minutes!

She had an hour-and-a-quarter.

What did she do for an hour-and-a-quarter, boil Swede?

It hasn't lived up to expectations, has it?

LISA: Not at all.

I really like that rich, peppery cavolo nero - black cabbage -

with the sweet scallop.

But what I really enjoy is that rich butter sauce that

sits across the whole lot.

I don't get enough. I want something bolder or sharper or...even saltier.

I feel a little bit disappointed. I want a little more "oomph",

to coin a phrase.

Oh, my God, I'm glad that's over.

I've really tried on this, very hard.

In a way, to have a simpler dish but do it more beautiful was...

That, for me, was my challenge.

I actually think that today's round's really close.

Janet's salad, I think,

was probably one of the tastiest things we had today.

Roquefort, pear and frisee salad is a classic, classic combination.

I thought the addition of a dressing made from walnut oil was clever.

It was the first time we saw Janet present something with

a bit of style and sophistication.

Janet's stew - she made a really good rich, sweet base,

but the fish and the potatoes weren't very well cooked.

There were mistakes, as we predicted there would be.

I'm proud of the fact that I can cook pretty well

and make people pleased with my food.

Whether the people that are pleased with my food include Gregg

and John, who knows?

I really liked Katy's salmon dish,

for me that was the best dish of the day.

Really nice sweet sauce on it with a bitter finish.

Look, the salmon was cooked beautifully. The sauce was sticky round the outside.

The dessert though, I thought was wrong, I really did.

The berries and the ginger liquor I quite like.

Chocolate mousse with balsamic vinegar - why, oh, why, oh, why?

-I have no idea.

-Funnily enough, I didn't mind

the balsamic vinegar in the chocolate mousse.

Guest judges were divided on it.

It's never nice waiting for a result,

but if I were to go home today I'd feel very proud of what I've done.

Jo did a very nice, very tasty, very good-looking shaved vegetable salad.

But, John, that's not cooking.

It was the start of a dish, it wasn't a whole dish, in my opinion.

As for the scallops, I liked the scallop dish.

I thought the sauce that went around the outside,

which was almost smelling of lobster, with the smoky bacon

and the saltiness coming from that cavolo nero, was a really nice thing.

It has to be pointed out that none of the guest judges liked

Jo's scallop dish at all.

It would really mean a lot to stay in because you start to get

that cooking bug and just want to learn more.

Not an easy judging decision today.

Who's got the necessary to march forward in this competition?

Today was good.

Judging wasn't easy.

Unfortunately, one of you is going to be leaving the competition.

The person leaving us is...

..Jo.

Thanks, Jo.

Bye, guys.

I loved coming on Celebrity MasterChef,

it was a really great experience

and really great to learn so much in such a little amount of time.

It's been hard work, it's been nerve-racking,

but it's been wonderful.

I've loved it.

Very, very well done.

Katy, Janet, brilliant.

Yeah!

I'm really pleased about that, yeah.

I'm feeling good about that.

I'm really looking forward to going on to the next stage

and just seeing what kind of things I'm going to be asked to do.

I don't know, maybe butcher a buffalo carcass in an aeroplane or something like that.

I don't know. Goodness only knows what's going to happen.

Yeah, I was pleased with what I did today.

I think the idea of having a heat that was all women has set

a very high standard.

Next week, the pressure is on for four new celebrities.

To become MasterChef champion,

they'll have to prove they've got what it takes.

Your sauce - that is disgusting.

I'm a bit concerned.

-Have you got your vegetables done for this yet?

-No, nothing.

Ooh! Phillip, I've really cut myself badly.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd