Episode 13 MasterChef: The Professionals

It's Professional MasterChef Knockout Week.

Over the past four weeks, 48 chefs have given it their all.

But only the most talented 12 remain.

I didn't think I would get this far, no, definitely not.

So excited to be here.

The competition so far, I think, has been

one of the hardest things I have ever done.

It's so hard to explain the nerves, the atmosphere, the pressure.

We're all competing for the same goals,

so everyone is going to have their best head on.

Now the competition really begins.

Over the next three nights, they will be challenged like never before.

This means everything to these chefs.

They're going to have to fight to stay in the competition.

I'd like to remind you that in this room right now

we have the future Professional MasterChef champion.

Today you have an invention test.

You have two hours and 15 minutes to create one outstanding dish.

Savoury or sweet, it is absolutely up to you.

We've also removed the water baths,

the sous-vide machines and your chemicals.

Today is all about creative thinking and good cookery.

At the end of this, the best eight will go straight through.

The four that are left are going to have to

cook off against each other for the remaining two places.

Off you go.

The 12 chefs have ten minutes to choose from a range of ingredients,

including duck, quail, pork belly, venison, oxtail and pancetta

as well as sea bass, baby octopus and oysters,

and a wide range of fruit and vegetables, herbs and spices.

When you have a table full with so many ingredients,

it starts to play on your mind.

"Do I take this, do I take that? What shall I have?"

I like this challenge.

But they've got to now stand out for the right reasons.

And, boy, is it going to be tough.

Having gained six years' Michelin experience,

27-year-old Nick now works

in a fine-dining restaurant in Oxfordshire.

Just going to go in all guns blazing today,

just got to completely do what I do and do what I have done before

and just show the other 11 chefs that, yeah, I am serious,

I'm not just here to make the numbers up.

What are you going to make that is going to impress everybody?

I'm going to do duck and plums - classic.

Doing it with a butternut squash cumin puree and either a bit

of gnocchi or confit potatoes, and pickled shiitake mushrooms as well.

-Make a really good duck sauce.

-You and the duck, Nick, good luck.

Nick is using duck.

He's taken the breast meat off, he's going to cure them gently

and then roast the breast meat off, serving his duck dish with plums.

Plums go great with duck, we all know that,

but it has to be the right amount.

With the leg, he's confited them down

and he's going to be making chou farci cabbage balls.

Delicious.

Joey is a 27-year-old who has travelled the world

as a private chef.

So far I'm proud of how I have performed.

Obviously nothing has been faultless -

there has been areas for improvement.

But on the whole there's been positives in every dish as well.

So, yeah, I'll take that.

Joey has chosen the quail. She is serving it with game faggots,

potato croquettes, and is also making a consomme, a quail tea.

Phew, that's going to be a tough one

because quail is a very bland-flavoured bird.

But I think this dish sounds incredible.

Is this a more complex move from your natural style, or is this you?

The judges said I had to kind of spice it up a bit,

so that is definitely what I'm trying to do.

It's bold, it's complex, I can't wait to see it.

33-year-old sous-chef Scott works

in a five-star hotel in Hertfordshire.

My food is quite simple.

I'm a little bit worried that there's not enough technical skill,

but hopefully the technique IS the flavour.

Hopefully the judges can see that.

Scott is using a duck, but he's taken the breasts off.

He's going to render down or cook down the fat of the duck

then take that fat to confit some potatoes.

He's going to be serving those with beetroot and raspberries.

A little bit of sweetness works well with duck.

-There's no gimmicks here.

-Exactly.

There's no water baths, no chemicals.

-How does that make you feel?

-I'm happy with that.

I like cooking meat in a pan.

My food is not about bells and whistles.

I just need to nail the cooking on this

and hopefully that will get me through.

Gastro-pub chef Mark has been a standout cook,

managing to impress the critics as well as the judges.

I think we are all sizing each other up at the moment.

It's a contest at the end of the day

and no-one is really sure of how capable each other are.

But this is what the competition is about -

challenging yourself and competing against the best.

I'm going to go with seared fillet of venison today,

with braised oxtail croquettes.

Going to do some sauteed girolles, a butternut squash puree

and some pickled beetroot.

What standard do think you have to cook at to guarantee a place?

Oh, the top, the highest level I have got.

I know I'm competing against these guys, but as long as

I cook what I know I can cook, I shouldn't have a problem.

Oxtail has great flavour,

so bringing it back into the dish as a croquette

and using the cooking liquid for the sauce is a great idea.

My concern is, does oxtail sauce go with venison?

We'll soon find out.

26-year-old head chef Josh has impressed the judges,

in spite of one odd pairing of honeycomb with lamb.

I think all the other chefs should be concerned about me

because I'm wacky, I'm raw, I've got fire in my belly,

I'm young, I want to push these to the limits

and really show them that I'm the one to worry about.

Josh is the only chef in the kitchen today making a dessert.

Pearl barley, rice pudding with saffron and black pepper?

It screams of savoury to me. If there is too much saffron

on this dish it will be almost like eating a saffron risotto

with pearl barley.

He's already thrown one batch of pearl barley out.

I hope he's not testing it on us today.

I want to be different, I want to push on,

I want to do something that will wow you.

I'm not here just to be the same, the norm.

I'm confident in what I'm doing.

Chefs, last hour. 60 minutes left.

The Italian Embassy's head chef Danilo has earned his place

with well-executed Italian cuisine.

What I'm actually about is simple food.

If you plan it too much, you end up trying to show off.

I don't like that.

-What are you making?

-I'm making sea bass, cooked in two ways.

One is wrapped with spinach leaves and the other one is just pan-fried.

I'm going to try to do an oyster juice.

-Were you making some pasta earlier?

-Yes, I did make some pasta.

I was going to do a ravioli with sea bass.

Am I right in thinking you're not actually 100% sure

-what your dish is going to be yet?

-Exactly.

Danilo, you've got an hour!

Yeah. Trying to focus, trying to focus.

-Attenzione! Come on!

-Thank you.

How could you not come up with a dish from what was in front of you?

I'm finding that really hard to believe.

Danilo is struggling right now.

33-year-old King's College sous-chef Andy has shown real promise...

..despite some confused combinations.

I think just under the pressure of it all sometimes you are not

executing things exactly how you would like.

So I really want to just get every element absolutely perfect,

and I will be a happy man.

I'm braising some pork belly down with some braised fennel

and some pickled fennel.

I'm not sure yet, I might do a bit with the baby octopus,

but I'm going to taste everything

as I go along and see whether it will complement it.

This is evolving as you work?

Yeah, so I've got some samphire to go on it as well,

some crispy onion rings.

So almost like a bit of a surf and turf.

Should I be nervous that you haven't yet quite decided what

-this dish should be?

-I'm not.

There's not a lot I can say about Andy's dish at the moment

because he's not too sure what he's going to bring into it.

For me, the cooking of the pork belly will make or break this dish.

38-year-old Gavin has been the head chef

of a boutique New Forest hotel for the last two years.

I think it is a clean slate with the final 12.

We're all against one another,

so it's going to be every man for himself, really.

Oh, and Joey, yeah. Every man and woman for himself.

Can we edit that in?

Gavin is using duck.

He's going to make fondants to go with it, he's got beetroot,

there's mushrooms and girolles going...

He's focused and seems to know exactly what he's doing here today.

Are you growing as the competition develops?

Getting more confident, definitely.

It's sort of finding your comfort zone,

being a bit more relaxed in what you are doing.

So I think that is quite important,

otherwise you just end up nervous all the time, which isn't good.

You've got just 45 minutes left, all right? 45 minutes!

PIERCING WHISTLE

Sorry.

27-year-old head chef Mark also left the critics

and judges raving about his food.

Mark has chosen venison for his dish today,

but he's bringing to it a puree made from black pudding.

He's got beetroots that he's pickling,

he's cooking oxtail to make a sauce with.

You want this competition, brother, don't you?

Yeah, I do, it's an amazing competition to be part of

and hopefully I can keep showcasing my food.

Just got to keep stepping up my game.

With each round comes a little bit more confidence, and you can

really push the boundaries with the next dishes you are going to do.

Hopefully I can really show what I have been doing

for the last ten years.

25-year-old Dean's food reflects the skill that made him

a junior sous-chef in a Michelin-starred restaurant.

Food is so personal that you are always worried about what

people are going to think and say. But so far I've had quite good

feedback, so I just need to be more confident and crack on.

Dean has chosen the venison today.

He's also making a sauce from the oxtail and serving redcurrants,

girolles and a little bit of beetroot as well.

Dean has said that he is very happy with the challenge.

It is all about the cooking - he doesn't need all the mod cons.

It's great to see that he has taken this challenge full-on.

You've got a steely look in your eyes, Chef.

Obviously cooking back to basics is another level.

Taking away everything, all the equipment, all the sous-vide

so it is all good, proper, raw cooking -

-just flavour and that is all that counts.

-Good, innit?

Great, I love it.

34-year-old development chef Darren's food has stood out

because of its intense flavours.

As a chef, I believe that the first and foremost thing

you have got to think about in a dish is the flavour.

I think quite a lot of chefs forget that - they go for technique -

and I believe in concentrating on the flavour and the texture.

That's where I... make the magic happen.

Darren is cooking a pork belly dish.

He is braising the meat so it is falling apart, he's going

to use some of that meat to make little tortellini parcels.

He's got girolles, some Swiss chard and I love the fact that he

is going to crisp up some of the skin to serve with his dish.

Everything that should accompany pork well, Darren has here.

What's happening over there with Bobby?

He seems to be taking up squatter's rights.

I don't know, I think he has used just about every bit

-of equipment in the kitchen today.

-Not making it any easier, is it?

No, but it's all right, it'll just make it better when I get through.

HE LAUGHS

Last 15 minutes, please.

32-year-old Park Lane head chef Bobby has produced

some stunning food to get this far.

There's two ways you can win in a competition -

either all of them doing really bad food and you stand out

if you're doing OK, or you do better than the best.

Then you feel proud.

What are you making?

Pork belly, bit of galangal, chilli and lemon grass.

Then black pudding, merguez sausage and Le Puy lentils.

There's a sauce I'm making with a bit of oxtail to give body.

What have you got to do today in order to progress?

To give the best out of... Better than the best, so...

-Better than the best?

-Exactly.

-Yeah, Bobby!

I'm not sure what the dish is,

I just know there is a lot going into it.

Bobby always manages to deliver on the plate, he's done it so far.

I love the sound of the ingredients,

the key question is going to be - is it going to work?

Chefs, you have two minutes left!

Come on!

You have got just 20 seconds to do whatever it is you've got to do.

Time's up! Stop.

Have a look.

-So pretty. So pretty, well done.

-Thanks.

-You happy?

-Not really, no.

First to be judged is Danilo.

He pan-fried sea bass and rolled half in spinach.

It is served with fennel, spring and pickled onions, orange,

a fennel and basil puree and an oyster water.

I like your fennel and basil puree with the fish.

Fennel and fish is tried and tested the world over.

Basil adds another element to it that I really enjoy.

I think the oyster water is great because that is light,

but it's salty and it is naturally salty.

The cooked fennel, as well as the little hints of the orange -

I think it is lovely and light and works very well together.

I like the fish.

I was a little bit unsure about you wrapping it in spinach,

but it works, it really sort of works.

And then when you add this water to it...

When you say the word water you think, "Tasteless."

No, this is TASTY.

This tastes great. This is like adding the ocean back

to the fish itself.

I think you've been very clever,

even though you probably didn't know what you were doing at the time.

But if I had that in a restaurant, I would eat all of it.

Thank you very much, thank you.

This test, it was just craziness.

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

I didn't know what I was plating, I was just doing.

It could have been so much worse, believe me.

Nick has served pan-fried duck breast with chou farci cabbage rolls

stuffed with leg meat,

accompanied by caramelised plums,

pickled shiitake mushrooms, butternut squash puree and a duck sauce.

All these individual elements have been cooked very, very well.

But what really brings this dish together as a really good dish

is this amazing sauce you have made.

And the little hint of sweetness in that, absolutely fantastic.

-I really like this dish.

-GREGG:

-Mmm.

It's just delicious.

Absolutely delicious.

I love the hint of the pickle, not too much on here,

the sharpness of the plum, the plum is not raw. You have cooked it off.

Potatoes - melting in your mouth.

I think you have done a great job here today, Nick.

Thank you.

Very nice indeed.

I think everyone is impressed by the quality of that sauce.

-NICK:

-'To get 100% good comments is just...

'It's unbelievable, I couldn't have

'asked for any more. I'm over the moon.'

I was just waiting for a negative comment, but they didn't come, so...

Yeah, I'm thrilled to bits, as you can imagine.

Dean's venison has been served with wild mushrooms,

onion puree, diced golden beetroot, wilted chard

and a venison, redcurrant and oxtail sauce.

I love the look of that. That's beautiful, Dean.

Dean, the venison, for me, is cooked perfectly.

The garnish, everything here worked.

From the wilted chard leaves down to the yellow pickled dice

of golden beetroot, the mushrooms, the shallots,

it's a well thought-out and very well-balanced plate.

Thank you.

The sauce is rich and bold,

it has a nice touch of acid in the background that we always

look for - that fruity acid flavour always complements game very well.

What you have shown here today is that you have grown as

you have gone through the competition. That's a good thing.

Thank you.

-GREGG:

-I like how it looks, I like how it tastes, I like the textures.

I'd come back again.

-DEAN:

-I think the confidence is coming to me now more naturally

and I'm just doing good food.

I don't want to do just good food, I want to do great food,

and hopefully if I carry on through the competition that'll happen.

Joey's dish is a quail and pork faggot served with confit quail leg,

a potato croquette, pork scratchings and a quail tea.

-Unusual-looking dish, that. I like it, but it is unusual.

-Mm-hmm.

There are bits I like and bits that I am unsure of.

I like the croquette,

but I wonder why the crispy croquette is sitting in something

wet which is going to take the crispy away from it, make it soggy?

That consomme is too sweet for me.

We wanted to see another side to you,

and that was really to have a wow factor in your cooking.

I think this is still a bit away from that,

you're still not quite there, but you still retained

the amazing flavours that you achieve in your cooking, Joey.

OK, thank you.

You have got amazing flavour in the consomme.

For me, the faggot and the consomme, I could eat that on its own.

What you need to start doing, Joey, is refining your presentation.

That is quite bold and big and chunky in many ways.

-Make it detailed, make it look great.

-Thank you.

A mixed bag, and I'm sort of feeling decidedly average.

SHE CHUCKLES

Scott chose the duck and served the breasts with confit potatoes,

beetroot, Swiss chard,

baby onions and raspberries which have been served fresh

and freeze-dried in a duck sauce.

The duck, for me, is nice. It's been seasoned well,

the skin is crispy.

I would like it just a little bit under,

but that is my personal taste.

I think everything that has been chosen as a garnish

-to this plate works.

-I think what you have done in the sauce,

by freezing the raspberries and chopping them,

putting them inside, that really works.

That is a really nice surprise.

But raw raspberries on top of meat - not really for me.

-OK.

-I love the sweet sauce, I'm happy with the raspberries.

I would like more veg to eat, not just to catch the eye.

-LAUGHING:

-However, the duck tastes superb.

I agree with Gregg's comments on the vegetables,

maybe I could have put a couple more on.

But overall, yeah, pretty happy.

Darren's pork belly has been served with crackling,

pork-filled tortellini, wild mushrooms,

shallot puree, Swiss chard and a Madeira red wine sauce.

I don't think the pork is cooked very well.

For me, it's a little bit on the dry side.

I find the chard slightly undercooked.

The dish had the makings of a really good dish.

I have seen your presentation time and time again

and your precision and attention to detail,

and I actually don't think you've done it here.

I don't think you have done this dish justice

like you have in the past.

Your sauce is very sweet, with the caramelised onion and red wine.

I love it. It's very rich, it's got the sweetness,

but there is so much of it here that it overtakes the pork.

I know that that is a very sweet sauce.

That's fine, I've got a very sweet tooth.

And I think it is very clever to be able to pull off tortellini

and that pork together.

One should be dry, one should be wet,

and I think you've combined them very cleverly.

Thank you.

I don't feel very confident. I think I'll be on the verge

of being in the bottom four, so I just have to wait and see.

Bobby also chose the pork belly but braised his with galangal,

lemon grass and chilli,

accompanied by lentils with merguez sausage, carrots, tomatoes,

samphire, butternut squash and cardamom puree,

Madeira sauce and a chilli, coriander and orange dressing.

Bobby, that pork is delicious.

I love how you have glazed it, the spices, the galangal,

there's hints of that coming through it

and it's just falling apart - love it.

The lentils - absolutely delicious.

With your sauce, I love the warmth of the chilli that is just

coming through the sweetness of the orange.

It's not overpowering yet you know it is there.

I think it is a well-accomplished plate of food.

Thanks, Chef.

It's complex, but actually, the flavours are relatively simple.

It's well-cooked pork, it's soft with fat,

there is a sweet sharpness, a lightness to it.

And I think the cardamom through the squash is inspired.

Thank you.

Bobby, erm...

Every dish you have cooked in this competition, you've surprised me.

And for me, you've just done it again. This is brilliant.

Absolutely brilliant in so many ways.

You're showing us something very new and very different

and I think that is very clever.

Putting layers and layers and layers of flavour together

and making it work is one of the hardest things to do in food.

And for me, on this dish, you've absolutely got it on the button.

-Really.

-Thank you.

To make chef Monica smile feels good. They say, like,

she don't smile often.

But I think she should smile often - she looks very good when she smiles.

INDISTINCT WHISPERS

Mark seared his venison and has served it with an oxtail croquette,

butternut squash puree, carrot tops, beetroot, pickled shallots,

sauteed mushrooms and an oxtail sauce.

Venison - perfectly cooked, well-seasoned, love it.

The croquette is delicious, absolutely delicious,

and I love the crunch that you have on there.

Thank you.

The sauce has a colossal, rich, MASSIVE flavour to it

from the oxtail.

Which is great. It just doesn't work with the venison...

..because I'm tasting beef all over this plate and not the venison.

Have you overpowered it? It's hard to disagree.

However, I'm enjoying the taste of the sauce

so much, I will forgive you.

I tell you what, as an invention test, I think

it is really clever and it looks beautiful.

I'm just glad those judgements are over now.

Hope I'm not in the bottom four.

Really hope I'm not.

Josh has made the only dessert

by using the pearl barley for his take on rice pudding,

with caramelised peaches sprinkled with honeycomb,

pickled peaches, raspberries and a peach puree.

Bit psychedelic-looking, Josh. It's a bit wild.

I don't like the idea, Josh. Pearl barley with saffron and pepper...

-Yeah, black pepper.

-..doesn't really work as a dessert.

The biggest thing for me as well is it's so strong,

and saffron, it almost feels like it should be a savoury.

But then the texture of the pearl barley,

it's not meant to be a dessert.

-OK.

-And that's what I find unpleasant about it.

Mate, this one needs reinventing.

-JOSH:

-Feeling terrible, you know.

I went a bit out there, like normal, and it hasn't paid off.

Well, not really a great round for me, to be honest.

Gavin's main is duck breast on a bed of spinach, fondant potato,

pickled beetroot, baby onions, wild mushrooms,

onion puree and a duck jus.

The duck breast - lovely and crispy.

The fondant, for me, is so delicious, so soft.

You can taste the fat through that - you're meant to -

and it's really well seasoned.

It just melts in your mouth.

The garnish round the outside, beautifully executed,

well put together. The sauce is good as well.

It's not sweet, it's nice. It complements

the dish very, very well. But I think you played it safe.

It's a good, decent dish. I'd happily eat the whole lot.

Thank you.

They loved everything.

I know I've got to give a little bit more,

and I know I need the wow factor, but I think in tests

like this it is quite important to give them a good plate of food.

Andy chose the pork belly, which he braised and served with squid,

baby leeks and carrots, pickled fennel, chard, spring onion,

apple salsa and a red wine sauce.

When I see a chef pouring a sauce over what should be

a crispy skin, it tells me he knows it is not crispy.

The pork is burnt underneath and the top of it is not crunchy.

There's no crackling on it there at all.

The garnish is very average, not very well-cooked,

there's no togetherness about them.

And I think you were making this up as you were going along, Andy.

Everything I'm tasting is just hitting

you in the mouth for the wrong reasons.

I'm eating your apples. With the sharpness

and the rawness in there, it's not nice.

The crispy squid is so sharp, and lemon

and the pepper, it's overpowered the squid.

I'm really surprised, Andy, and upset,

that at this level you have taken a step back.

Not as upset as me.

Not a great day, mate, I'm afraid. Thank you.

Just didn't do myself justice at all

and got what I deserved, really.

Last up is Mark's venison, served with a ballotine of oxtail,

smoked and pickled beetroot, black pudding puree,

beetroot leaves and an oxtail sauce.

You have such a light touch.

The venison is juicy, the oxtail is so deep, beautiful and soft.

It's lovely. The sauce is good

and I particularly like the sweetness

that you get from the beetroot.

Tried and tested combinations I think

in the hands of someone who really loves cooking.

-I love this.

-Thank you.

Your plates of food is like art.

And in eating, it doesn't fail to deliver that.

This is a fantastic plate of food.

You've shown skill, and that's what I'm looking for on a plate.

I want to see the chef that shows me some skill,

something different, something daring,

and I think you have really done that very, very well.

-Another great dish from you.

-Thank you. Can relax a bit now.

Today was an amazing day.

Hopefully I can keep pushing forward with that sort of comments.

Chefs, thank you. That was an invention test of real quality.

We need to decide which of you go through

and which of you stay to cook off against each other.

Thank you. Off you go.

I've got my two favourites straight off.

Bobby, with his European style with Indian flavours,

and Mark, who just seems to have the touch and the palate of an angel.

-I agree.

-I wouldn't put the one above the other -

absolutely fantastic from these two chefs.

Dean made us a venison dish. Was cooked brilliantly.

Nick is another one that has to go through.

That duck dish with the plums and the amazing sauce was wonderful.

Marcus, you really liked Danilo's dish.

I thought Danilo was creative, he was inventive, the flavours

were bold and gentle and light. I thought it was a great dish.

Mark made us a venison dish.

For me, the sauce slightly camouflaged the venison flavour,

-but overall the dish was executed very, very well.

-I agree.

We've got six chefs left. Josh...

..Joey...

..Darren...

..Scott...

Andy...

..and Gavin.

Out of those remaining six, which four are going to stay here

and cook again?

Chefs, thank you. That was a tough test.

Some of you rose to the challenge

and some of you let the pressure get to you.

Eight of you are going straight through to the next round.

Four of you are going to remain here

and cook off again for the remaining two places.

The first chef that we would like to see cook again is...

..Josh.

The second is...

..Andy.

The third is...

..Joey.

And the fourth chef that we would like to see cooking again is...

..Darren.

The eight of you going through to the next round,

off you go, well done.

I feel incredible. My hands are still shaking. Really happy.

I was really worried, didn't expect to get through actually.

I'm glad I'm not cooking again. I don't think I could deal with that.

Right, you four, another invention test.

We want you now to cook with the ingredients that were

left from the earlier round.

One hour to choose your ingredients

and cook yourself into the next round. Off you go.

One hour is not a long time and it's going to go very quick.

Our chefs are going to have to focus, think on their feet.

You've just got to get in, choose your ingredients and start cooking.

Yeah, a little bit disappointed.

Sort of knew I'd be in with a chance of being in the bottom four,

so it wasn't a complete shock.

Thought maybe I'd just done enough, but...

I deserve to be here, and hopefully going to be able to do a bit

better this time and prove that I'm OK to stay, but we'll see.

It's going to be tough to pick your head up after such a bad round,

but you've got to take everything on board and just work with it.

Being experimental, it didn't work last time, it has in the past.

I've got to put that behind me,

look forward to the future and just crack on.

You have not got time to make things too complicated.

This is about fresh ingredients and bringing the best out of them.

None of the chefs want to go home,

there's a serious battle on their hands now.

Josh, I'm guessing you're going to approach this

invention test slightly differently than you

-approached the last one.

-Definitely, yeah, 100%.

I'm going to stay normal. I don't know if I can do it,

but I'm going to try my best.

It's going to be beef onglet two ways.

A confit yolk, so a play on tartare, black pudding puree

and some great vegetables.

It's great produce, why not use it?

Why didn't I think this the first time around?

Interesting. I've never had a tartare

on a plate with seared beef before.

This is going to be a first.

He's still challenging us and I respect that in Josh.

We don't want him to change completely,

he's just got to make sure it works this time.

Not too wacky this time. Classic elements.

Hopefully my classic training will push through.

If not, it's home time.

Got to give it my all now, and I am.

15 minutes gone, 45 minutes left.

You've only got an hour now. Does that help or make it worse?

Erm, a little bit of both, I think. In the last round, for me,

I was questioning myself a lot, so this time I haven't got time to.

-I've just got to crack on and do it.

-And are you determined?

Very much so. I'm too stubborn to give in.

-Far too stubborn.

-Good lad.

Andy is cooking us a dish using the beef onglet.

He's serving it with mashed potato, a ketchup made from mushrooms

and carrots, which he is cooking

to the point where they should be just melting.

This is a very straightforward dish.

There can be no faults here.

They can't hide with a dish like this.

The risk for Andy's dish, for me, is the smoothness of the puree,

the cooking of the fondant of carrot,

but not only that - the beef.

The beef has got to be right, it's got to be seared,

it's got to be pink in the middle, and I hope it's tender.

It's got to be absolutely perfect, otherwise game over, home time.

Not something I want to be doing, but...

You're halfway. 30 minutes gone.

-So, what are you going to give to this now?

-Everything.

I'm going to just try and make it...

I'm going for big, zingy, fresh, exciting.

I'm doing a salad with some sort of spicy, gingery squid,

tomatoes, lime, some fennel.

It's probably more me.

Maybe I tried to be clever or do something that wasn't

very convincing, I don't know, but I know I deserve to be here.

-I like it that you're cooking the food that you love.

-OK.

It's incredibly simple, maybe too simple,

but I sort of panicked. Erm...

-MONICA:

-There's got to be something here that Joey is going to

add to really knock us out with this dish.

Last 15 minutes, please.

15 minutes left.

-How much fight have you got left in you?

-Lots.

Lots. I'm going to stick to what I believe in,

so I'm going to try and make sure my flavours are on point.

That's the most important thing. Just hoping you guys like what I do.

What are you going to make for us?

I'm doing a piece of salmon, some nice summer vegetables,

a brown butter and a nice lemon and shallot vinaigrette.

There's no Bobby here, you can spread out if you want.

I know, I can use my whole bench this time.

Salmon is a beautiful oily fish.

You want it to stay moist,

you want it to be nice and pink in the centre.

I think the idea is very straightforward.

What I'm going to be looking for here is great cooking,

fantastic flavours and all those ingredients coming together.

It's coming together really well,

just a case of whether they think it's too simple or not.

It is really simple, I'm thinking, "There's maybe not a lot here,"

but hopefully the flavours will speak for themselves.

We've only had an hour, let's see what happens.

What we are looking for is simple beauty.

Focus, focus, push, push, push.

Last ten minutes, please, Chefs. Two fish, two beef.

Ready in ten.

I need to remind you,

this is cooking for your place in the competition.

Two minutes.

60 seconds.

That's it, stop, time's up.

-DARREN:

-I think I've under-seasoned it.

To stay in the competition,

Darren has served pan-fried salmon on a bed of spinach,

with fennel, carrots, baby leeks, samphire, croutons,

a confit lemon and shallot vinaigrette and a brown butter sauce.

Darren, the fact that we've eaten 12 plates of food already today

and we are still eating it, I think says pretty much everything.

The salmon is very, very well cooked.

The brown butter is on the button.

But what I really love about this dish is the little segments

of lemon you have got running through it.

They just take the thing to another level.

That's what cuts through the butter. Great job, well done.

-Thank you very much.

-Yeah, I have to say, I completely and utterly agree.

It's the butter sauce that is oily, it's got lots of salt in it as well,

but it's the pieces of lemon that just come right through it.

I very much like that.

I'm looking round for a glass of very cold white wine.

-Sorry.

-But I very much like that now.

-Thank you very much.

-Mmm.

I'd say 100 times better than your first cooking.

The vegetables, they've all been cooked perfectly,

the croutons just soaking up the butter

and all the flavours of this dish - a delightful texture.

Well done to you for coming back in here and giving it

a great, great battle.

-Thank you very much. I should have made it first time.

-Well done.

Thank you very much.

I feel great, I feel fantastic.

There's no way I was going out of this competition without a fight.

It means far too much to let that happen.

(Why didn't I just make it the first time?)

OTHER CONTESTANTS LAUGH

-(Well done, mate.)

-(Thank you.)

Joey's made a salad of sliced tomatoes topped with chilli squid

and served with a lime, shallot and ginger dressing.

I could eat this dish all day long, especially in hot weather.

The squid is perfectly cooked for me.

You get the juiciness, the tomatoes,

there is a real zing of citrus in there as well, and good seasoning.

Joey, I agree with Gregg. I could eat this all day long.

Beautiful dish. It is well-executed,

it's got great flavour - there's no fault in it at all.

The question is going to be - have you done enough?

It's a refreshing dish, but...

I find it so simple.

There should be something in this dish that I'm going to taste

and think, "Wow, that was unexpected," in this salad...

And I'm not finding it.

-JOEY:

-I wish I had been able to demonstrate another skill

or add another dimension to the dish.

-DARREN:

-(Well done.)

So, no, I'm not confident in the sense

that it's enough to get me through.

Josh has served beef onglet and also made a tartare topped with egg yolk,

accompanied by raw carrot and turnips, chard,

black pudding puree and a chicken sauce.

I think the beef is cooked wonderfully.

It's lovely, it's medium rare, it's been seasoned well

and the garnish, the warm garnish around it works very well together.

The tartare - there's not a lot there.

What I could taste was seasoned very nicely,

but the yolk obviously still warm when it touched the tartare

cos then it had cooked in parts.

The reason why I'm not feeling that it's working for me

is that tartare is not served like that.

There's got to be more of it, it's got to work with

the quantity of egg that is sitting on top of it,

and it's just sort of...

Is it all about the decoration for you?

Or is about the dish working? And I'm still not sure.

OK, Josh, we like your beef, not sure about your tartare.

Thank you, Chef. Thanks very much.

It's just one bit of confusion possibly, but I have always

confused them and that's what they seem to like about me -

if they do like me.

But that's what it is.

You're here to push boundaries. I've pushed boundaries

when I have done stuff.

Last up, it's Andy,

who has pinned his hopes on a beef onglet steak served with

mashed potato, confit carrots,

pickled wild mushrooms and a mushroom ketchup.

Andy, I personally don't think the presentation of this dish

does any justice to what lies underneath it.

I like the cooking of the beef,

your mashed potatoes are very smooth, very creamy.

The pickled mushrooms and the carrots, the fondant carrots,

they're delicious.

I think it is a really tasty plate of food.

I think your presentation is what lets it down.

Once we've cooked onglet, it's very, very difficult to slice it

and make it look good. It's not an easy thing to do.

But I think we have to focus on the flavour.

Does it work? Yes, it does.

Absolutely, it works a treat.

There are some flavours on there that are really lovely.

'It looks OK, but at this stage of the game is not about OK.'

The amount of work I had to get through to get it on the plate,

I was happy that it all got there, to be honest.

-JOEY:

-(Well done.)

Chefs, it is so difficult to come back here a second time

and pick yourselves up and really go at it with the same enthusiasm

and passion as you did the first time around. But you all did that.

As you well know, two of you are going to stay in the competition,

two are going to be leaving.

Thank you very much for a big, big day.

I've got to admire the fight of the four that had to cook again

and I think we saw, actually, the chefs' true colours here,

all four of them.

-Darren of the four chefs cooked the strongest for me.

-Mmm.

He chose the right ingredients to marry with the salmon

and then adding the beautiful lemon confit, just... Phew, just blew

the dish almost out of the plate. It was a great dish, well cooked.

So Darren is the strongest of the four,

Darren joins the previous eight that have gone through?

Darren without a doubt for me definitely joins the previous eight.

Today his dish was outstanding.

That leaves us Josh, Joey and Andy.

Josh is about as experimental as you can get.

I liked the classic stuff he did, I liked the beef with the sauce,

-that was lovely.

-Yeah.

But the mini steak tartare with an egg on it? That was odd.

-JOSH:

-To stay in the competition would be amazing.

I've tried to still be me, and that's all I can be.

I can't be anything else, I'm always going to be me.

Joey, I've loved her cooking throughout.

The flavours that this chef can get

in simple cooking have been outstanding.

But I just wanted her to bring that extra factor,

that extra wow factor in her cooking.

-JOEY:

-Today it was the first time we saw all 12

and the standard was exceptionally high.

So I'm proud I was able to compete at this level and if this is

the end of the road for me, I do understand that, definitely.

Andy definitely had a much better round this time. Much, much better.

To cook that dish with less than an hour is a skill.

I enjoyed what he had on the plate.

My biggest worry was the presentation.

But I've seen good-looking plates of food from Andy.

-ANDY:

-I'm pleased with what I have done.

And someone has got to go, just hopefully not me.

Chefs, only two of you can go through to the next round

and we've made our decision.

The first chef through to the next round is...

..Darren.

Well done.

Thank you.

Our second chef through to the next round is...

..Andy.

-JOSH:

-Well done.

-Josh, Joey, good competition.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

-It's been a pleasure.

-MONICA: Best of luck.

Great achievement.

It's a shame, definitely, but I have no regrets.

It's been so fun and epic, and absolutely

the right decision was made. 100%.

Everything about this I have loved - everything -

and I wouldn't change it for the world.

Well, maybe winning! But, you know, what I've done

I am really proud of and, yeah, I'll just keep going.

Thank you.

Unbelievable, eh?

Can't believe it, I just make it hard for myself.

I thought it was done and dusted anyway.

To still be here is very humbling.

It's been an incredibly long, hard day today

but it's all forgotten now.

I'm in the last ten, so it was worth it.

Tomorrow, Knockout Week continues...

..and the contestants...

will be split into two teams.

For the first time, they will have to work together...

Watch your back, please, Andy.

..to create a meal to remember...

Let's go, let's go, talk to us, talk to us.

..and then cook a standout dish to stay in the competition.

I could give you a hug right now, but he'd get upset.

MAN LAUGHS

That shouldn't work.

You have made it work!