Episode 18 MasterChef: The Professionals

It's the last of the Professional MasterChef semifinals.

This week, the contestants have been sent to cook for

some of the most inspirational chefs in the country.

Good start. Good solid start. I'm impressed.

Happy food, happy chefs, happy customers.

So far, Mark, Nick

and Danilo have earned a place in finals week.

Tonight, the last three chefs will battle to stay in the competition.

33-year-old Scott from Hertfordshire, 27-year-old

Mark from Worcestershire and 33-year-old Andy from Suffolk.

My competition so far has been very much up and down.

But whenever my neck's right on the block,

I just seem to produce the best work that I've ever done.

I'm not thinking about winning it just yet.

I'm taking each stage at a time.

I don't think there can be any mistakes.

It's a tough challenge ahead.

I'd love our chefs to go out there, open their minds and take it all in.

It's 6am.

And Andy, Mark and Scott are in Lancashire.

-Where do you think we're off to, Scott?

-No idea. Could be anywhere.

I've never seen so many fields.

For the next two days,

they'll be working at the one-Michelin-starred Northcote,

situated in the heart of the Ribble Valley.

-Pretty impressive, isn't it?

-Yeah, it is.

-Absolutely beautiful.

During their stay, they'll be under the guidance of one

of the country's most respected chefs, Lisa Allen.

My love of food came from when I was younger.

I think food gives you a chance to express yourself emotionally,

physically.

Food is really, you know - is in my heart.

After spending two years at the two-star Le Champignon Sauvage

in Cheltenham, she returned to her home county.

When I was 21, I came back up north,

cos that's where I'm from, then came here to Northcote.

Working under Chef Patron Nigel Haworth, Lisa quickly rose

through the ranks, becoming Head Chef at just 24.

It was a shock becoming Head Chef at such a young age

but I really relished it, because it made me grow as a person

and it made me the better chef that I am today.

For the last 11 years, Lisa has held the restaurant's Michelin star

by showcasing the very best of Lancashire produce.

I love the fact that we can make our region shine by using all the produce,

to actually put them in dishes and get the best out of them.

It's an amazing opportunity.

It's like once-in-a-lifetime, really, for me.

It is pretty daunting, but I'm definitely going to learn.

I've not cooked in any Michelin-starred restaurants.

Obviously I'm nervous,

but hopefully I can get through the day with a smile on my face.

I think the level of expectation on us is going to be massive.

And hopefully I can do a good job in there.

It's a big risk, bringing the chefs into the kitchen.

We've got paying customers to feed,

so they're coming here with high expectations.

Those chefs have got to deliver it.

Good morning, guys. Welcome to Northcote.

This place is grown over the years and I've been here a long time

so it's really important to me, close to my heart.

For you to come into the kitchen is a big deal for me,

because obviously I want to see that the food is going out correctly and precisely.

We've got a full hotel and a very busy lunch, so let's get cracking.

For today's service,

the contestants will have to become part of Lisa's brigade.

They will each be solely responsible for one dish on the lunch menu.

It's an amazing experience.

I love going into other people's kitchen and kind of learning and seeing what people do.

So this is another good day.

Mark is on a starter section.

His dish is Boland venison tartare with pickled mushrooms,

a local Lancashire sheep's milk curd, fresh peas, sorrel

and pea puree.

And on the side, a pastry cracker topped with Parmesan cheese.

I think this dish is very deceiving, because there's not a lot of cooking involved.

But actually, the technique is in the seasoning

and the plating of it.

The most important part of this is the dicing of the venison.

Cos it's raw, we like to do it nice and fresh

-and this is all done to order, OK?

-Dice it to order?

-Yeah.

Dice it to order. We're looking for absolute precision.

Everything's got to be the same size. All right?

-You want exactly 50g.

-Yeah.

-OK?

-The next crucial part is the seasoning.

-Yeah.

-Add a little bit of salt, a little bit of hazelnut oil.

-Yeah.

-OK?

We want the venison to shine in this dish.

Do you want to try a bit?

Get a nice little bit of salt in it.

So what I'm looking for is for you to taste, taste and taste. All right?

Next is the Parmesan cracker - a thin sheet of feuille de brick

pastry that must be deep-fried to order.

You've got to keep it moving, get a nice golden colour to it. OK?

We also want to get like, you know, layers of crispiness coming through.

So this is giving you another element of texture. So basically, take it out,

and then you're going to season it with

salt from a height, so it evenly distributes over the cracker.

Then you're going to finish it with Parmesan cheese.

So you want the tuile to be a little bit rustic, not flat?

Yeah, exactly. So you want to get that height to it.

The complex starter has nine different elements to plate up.

This is a crucial part of the plate. If it's not

-put down precisely, it can look very messy.

-Yeah.

So next, you're going to put on the pickled mushrooms. You're going to place them on

so you get a little bit of height to the dish as well.

-Keep the dish looking elegant, cos it can easily look flat.

-Yeah.

Yeah. OK.

So on goes the cheese. Again, randomly.

Keep looking at the plate and then your hazelnuts on the top.

And around, and then the peas.

Here is the husks of the hazelnut.

Again, you know, you can go on the rim of the plate as well.

I'm going to put the cracker on the side

-so you can see how the dish is coming together.

-Yeah.

-All right?

The dish is finished with red-veined sorrel leaves,

sorrel and pea puree and the hazelnut oil.

OK, so that's the dish. OK? Venison tartare.

You can see how it's about freshness, precision, flavour,

so you'll be tasting all the time

and I want to see that elegancy on the plate.

Yeah, it's an amazing dish. It's just fresh and beautiful in your mouth to eat.

Every plate has got to look the same.

If it's not, it has to be done again.

If the stuff's not diced correctly, it has to be done again. Do you feel confident?

-Can you deliver it and, you know, get the precision I'm looking for?

-Yes, Chef.

-Yeah? Perfect.

Most of the dish is done last minute, to keep it nice

and fresh, to make sure it's not dry,

so yeah, that's kind of what I've got to battle against as well.

Scott is on the main course.

It's amazing that Lisa's let us into her kitchen.

Of course, I don't want to let her down today.

I'm going to give it my best and hopefully, I can deliver.

He is responsible for the wood pigeon, glazed in an onion caramel,

pigeon legs stuffed with chicken mousse,

roasted and steamed cabbage with sauteed girolles,

with a garnish of blue cheese and crispy cabbage leaves,

all finished with a rich pigeon sauce.

There is a lot of detail in the cooking, in the plating,

and also, it's a very busy corner.

So this is a lovely local pigeon.

I just want a nice distribution of colour on there, you see.

I'm going to pop it into the oven. 190, OK? All right.

Again, it'll take about 10, 12 minutes.

We need to make sure you're cooking it correctly.

-We're looking for something that's beautifully pink.

-OK.

-OK?

-It needs at least five to six minutes' resting time.

-Yeah.

So while the bird's resting, we're going to start bringing together the rest of the dish.

The chicken-mousse-stuffed pigeon leg and the cabbage are steamed,

while the girolles are lightly sauteed with shallots and chives.

Straight out onto your tray.

You're going to remove your legs

and your cabbage from the steamer, OK?

-It's important that everything is hot.

-Yes, Chef.

The pigeon crown is then coated with an onion caramel

and is finished on the plancher.

-So again, keep it moving...

-Yeah.

-..all the time.

-Just to get it nice and sticky?

-Yeah.

-To get that nice and... You see the nice glaze on top there?

-Yeah.

-You can see that you've got quite a lot to do.

-Yeah.

With the pigeon, as well as cooking it to perfection, we've got

-to take it off the bone, yeah?

-Yeah.

Going to turn it around, take your time.

That's what we're looking for, yeah? Beautiful pink.

Girolles.

And your legs.

And the cabbage leaf on the top and then what we're going to do

is finish by placing it on to the dish.

Sauce on, a little bit over the pigeon.

-You can see how it's coming down there. And then just finish it off.

-OK, yeah.

-Yeah?

Perfect.

Beautiful. For me, the onion reduction is just sort of lifting the dish to another level.

You could be under pressure with this

because if you get quite a few on at the same time,

you've got to think what your next point of call is.

I'll do my best.

Yeah, I think I've got the tough one out of the three of us.

Maybe I've upset someone along the line!

I'm going to give it my best go.

It's a lot of ask but...talented chef,

so I'm sure you'll nail it, Scott.

Yeah.

Cheers, boys.

Finally, it's Andy, who's on dessert.

Pastry isn't my strongest point but that's why I wanted to do this,

to get out of my comfort zone and learn new things and

just absorb as much as I can in this amazing kitchen.

His dish is a take on peaches and cream.

Roasted peach flavoured with Champagne, redcurrant granita,

redcurrant compote, a peach, Champagne and lime syrup,

edible flowers, and a mascarpone ice cream served on a brandy snap.

This dish definitely requires delicate hands.

If your hands are shaking when you're plating this dish,

I think you might be plating it a few times.

It's important when you start plating this that they're nicely glazed, all right?

We don't want a peach on like that that's not glazed, OK?

Peach into the centre.

So this is a redcurrant compote.

The redcurrant comes from our garden.

So when you're putting it on, you're going to get height to the dish and just precisely

put it around the peach, take a little bit of your liquid again.

That bit, you know, it was the easiest part. The next bit is where your timing is crucial.

-We want it to go out cold. We don't want anything to be melted. OK?

-Yeah.

In between, you put your granita.

OK? You're going to spoon on your liquid.

You're going to finish with flowers.

You have a brandy snap that's on the side.

You want a perfect, perfect rocher of ice cream.

So you can see, it's already starting to melt

so the devil in this dish is the fact it's got to go out quickly,

precisely, and cold.

That syrup is... I mean... Explodes in your mouth, doesn't it?

It's a beautiful dish. It looks so simple but it isn't, by any means.

We had to make the brandy snaps in our first skills test.

-Mine didn't quite look like that, though!

-Ha-ha!

Lisa's a top, top chef and just to be in the same kitchen

as her is amazing but to actually have her show you one of her

dishes and put her trust in you to replicate it is a big deal for me.

The restaurant is fully booked.

Many of the guests have travelled here specifically to try Lisa's food.

I think it's going to be really tough for the contestants.

With the high standard that we hold here, it is big pressure for them.

We're just about to hit service now.

The adrenaline is starting to kick in.

We've got a busy lunch, so it could get a bit lairy!

It's the calm before the storm.

Hopefully, there's a few dishes that come my way so I can really showcase what I can do.

By being on dessert, it's probably going to be a good

hour or so before one of my dishes go out.

It's going to ramp up the nerves a bit but hopefully,

once I get going, I should be OK.

I think it's just gone 12 o'clock, you know. The checks are just about to start rolling on.

I'm a little bit nervous because it does get busy.

They've got to keep up with the pace

and they've got to keep up with the rest of us.

They seem pretty good so let's see how they get on.

OK, an order. Four covers. You got the four soup.

There's one veggie on this table.

You've got salmon, a tomato salad, two venison.

-Yes, Chef!

-Wa-hay!

-Mark, you're on, big boy.

-Yes, Chef.

His first challenge is to dice the venison

so each piece is exactly the same size.

Getting the first one out is always going to be the difficult one

and then, you've just got to keep going from there.

Perfect. If they're all the same size, we're good.

OK, an order. One venison, to beef.

Mark, that's another one to think about. Yes, Chef.

That's it. Keep it moving, so it doesn't go together too much,

or it'll be harder to get it crispy all the way through

when it starts folding.

-Is that a bit small, or...?

-Yeah. That one is too small.

So you need to do another one, so don't use that one, yeah?

You need to move quickly now, cos you're going to be away soon, yeah?

If you move them too quickly, they fold in half on each other.

If you don't move them, they go flat, so, it's a balancing act, I think.

OK, that's it. Much better.

-You need to start cracking on with those plates, yeah?

-Yeah, Chef.

So really concentrate. Build your height up, yeah?

-You've got one minute, yeah?

-Yes, Chef.

Nice and easy. Make sure you're getting your height.

That's it. Just a little drizzle of your hazelnut oil.

One second. Excellent. Away, please. OK. Good first start. That's it.

Just take it easy and get that height into it

and separate the ingredients out a little bit more, yeah?

I've just got to make sure that every one's got to go out exactly the same as I've just sent it,

so it's just a little bit hard - just try and get ahead now.

Mark's first dishes have gone.

I think he's got a few things to improve on,

although he's doing well.

On the other side of the kitchen,

Scott is still waiting for his first pigeon order to come in.

Yeah, I am nervous. I want to get it out now. Out in the restaurant.

OK, an order. Two venison, to follow, a pigeon and beef.

-Wa-hay!

-Chef!

-You're on next, Scott.

-Oui!

Two soup, a beef, a crab, to follow a pigeon and beef.

Oui, Chef.

-How long one pigeon, one beef?

-Three and a half, Chef.

Yeah, I need to nail this first one. As soon as I carve into that pigeon,

I'll know a little bit more about what's happening.

-OK, boys. One minute to the pass, yeah?

-Yeah.

What you want to do is plate first and then cook the bird.

Pick your cabbage up a little bit more. You know how I twisted it and had it up a bit?

-We need to move a lot faster than this, yeah?

-All right.

-OK?

-Quick, quick now, please.

-Yeah.

Nice and easy. Not too much.

-Not a bad first attempt. With your pigeon, if you just gently cut the sides off there. Yeah?

-Yeah.

-OK. Off you go. It's your first-time plating, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-You just need to be a little bit more... A little bit more care, yeah?

-Yeah, Chef.

-With your cabbage and everything, yeah?

-Yeah.

Yeah, I've been waiting a long time for that one.

We got it out, the pigeon was cooked OK, I think. She didn't say it wasn't overcooked,

so, I just need to keep it a little bit neater.

-Andy, so you've got one peach on, yeah?

-Yeah, Chef.

-OK, so you're going to plate it, then I'm going to check it.

-Yes, Chef.

For Andy, it's now all about the timing.

OK, nice and neat. Take it easy.

OK, Andy. So this is a crucial bit, remember, yeah?

-You've got to work fast, cos you don't want it to melt.

-Chef.

Rush, Andy. Quick.

OK, right. What we need to do is we need to redo the rocher,

so it needs to be perfect, right?

Just remove the ice cream off the plate.

OK, I think what we need to do is re-plate it.

It's starting to melt, so let's re-plate.

Rob, we're going to re-plate, yeah?

-Calm down.

-Yeah.

-That's it. Really focus and concentrate, yeah?

OK, we're getting there.

That's it. Nice and easy.

OK, now let's finish with your rocher.

Yeah, much better. We need to work on those rochers, yeah?

Did you notice, when you're in a different environment,

and you're under pressure, that's when you start shaking. I know it's really hard to say,

-but you need to control those nerves a little bit.

-Yeah.

The rocher is something I've done before

but as soon as chef's there,

just the nerves get a bit...better of you.

It's tough but I just learned from the first plate and, yeah,

hopefully, make sure every one is perfect from now on.

The restaurant is reaching capacity

and Mark and Scott's dishes are proving to be popular.

Lisa, just to let you know, really good

feedback from the restaurant, particularly the venison dish.

Lots of good comments about that today.

-Great feedback from the restaurant. Your venison dish.

-Thank you, Chef.

OK, Scott, so this is where it really hits you.

The last four checks are all going to be one pigeon,

two pigeon on every table

-so you need to really knuckle down, yeah?

-Yeah.

Both Scott and Mark are still being flooded with orders.

-I need two venisons off you.

-Yes, Chef.

-One - no mushrooms, yeah?

I need it really quickly

-cos the lady's already got her salmon, yeah?

-Yes, Chef.

A little bit stretched at the minute.

I'm just finding this dish quite difficult to naturally plate.

But with so many orders on,

Mark isn't the only one feeling the pressure of cooking at this level.

Yeah. It's just a bit under there, you can see it.

Use another one, we'll get another one for the table.

Don't use that one. You're really under on that one.

Scott's struggle to cook the pigeon

means his orders are starting to back up.

Kirk, do you want to jump on and just give him a quick help, yeah?

-Kirk'll do your pigeons.

-OK.

-Seal these and in the oven.

-You come up and plate your pigeon, yeah?

-OK, Chef.

Scott, you need to move it on this plating

cos I need you back on those pigeons.

You need to be quick cos the table's already gone.

OK, let's have a look.

That's it, yeah, much better.

Off you go, please.

-OK, lovely, Scott.

-Cheers, Chef.

It's hard, but I'm enjoying it.

We've got our last few tables now

so it's going to be a big push getting these out

and then I'm done, so happy days.

Meanwhile, Andy is also trying to keep up with the pace.

All right, let's change this one here cos it's melted.

OK, let's go, quickly now.

OK, off you go.

When you get a push on and there's a lot to go together,

it's got to go fast cos it's cold, yeah?

-Otherwise it's redoing it all again.

-Exactly.

The last few tables are now seated and service is starting to wind down.

OK, guys, we're away on salmon and a venison

and that's your last check, Mark, so let's make it the best one, yeah?

Yes, Chef.

These are my last two checks, the last two I'm plating.

I think they look amazing.

Think about the last finishing touches, yeah?

Great last one, well done.

You did really well, kept up with the pace

cos it can get a bit tough as well

cos there's a lot of time plating with it

and when you've got so many on,

you've got to listen as well as cutting and doing other stuff

-so you did really well. Excellent.

-Cheers, thank you.

Today has been an amazing learning experience.

At the start, trying to build the height,

it just got difficult, but I think I got into it

and, by the last one, I was just about there.

I had the tartare of venison and it was really magnificent.

I'm very impressed. I hadn't had it before.

It was lovely to try it and I'm happy I did.

It was absolutely fabulous, thank you.

It had really nice texture and a really nice flavour

and it had curds, like a curd cheese with it

which was absolutely fabulous.

OK, Scott, one more pigeon. Let's make it the best one, yeah?

OK, Chef, two minutes.

With Scott back on track,

he needs to prove he can perfect his final check of the day.

Yeah, the last pigeon, I still don't know

if it's going to be perfect until I cut into it so we'll see how it is.

That's it, nice and neat.

That pigeon's lovely, that.

-Perfect, that looks great.

-Thanks.

-Well done.

You did a good job, well done.

-Thanks for letting me in the kitchen.

-Not a problem.

Yeah, tough today. The first place I dressed was a little bit ropey,

but as I got into it,

I started dressing them a little bit neater

and a little bit tidier so overall, I think she was happy.

Very nice, really well cooked.

Perfect, really, very well presented.

It was just what you expect here and they never let you down.

Well done, chief.

That was hard.

OK, the starters and the mains have gone now, Andy,

so it's all on you, OK, so three peach away there, yeah?

Yes, Chef.

Now, it's Andy's last chance to conquer his nerves.

OK, nice and quick. We need to move, yeah?

-OK, Andy, I'll jump in and give you a hand here.

-Thank you, Chef.

OK, off you go. Service!

-You want to do dessert again, do you?

-No!

For as long as I live!

To get everything out perfectly without things melting

and the precision on the plate, it's a very difficult thing to do.

I just found it difficult.

Fair play to you, you got stuck in

and nothing went unless it was right.

-Yeah, thank you. Sorry, Chef.

-Well done.

To start off, I found it really difficult.

Hopefully, the next time I cook for a chef, it might be something

a little bit more what I'm used to, hopefully some meat or some fish.

It was one of the prettiest desserts I've had.

It was delicious and refreshing, really lovely.

It was gorgeous.

The flowers were a really nice touch on there. Yeah, it was beautiful.

I think it's been a really interesting day.

There's times when things weren't quite right,

but we rectified it before it went out.

All the customers are very happy.

Part of my career is teaching other people

and to have three people come into the kitchen

and show them here what we do, I think it's been a great challenge.

Three cracking lads and I've really enjoyed having them in my company.

It's day two and Mark, Scott and Andy

have one more chance to impress Lisa Allen.

They will have to cook one of her signature dishes -

a tempered dark chocolate cylinder, filled with chocolate mousse,

vanilla-soaked yellow sultanas, smoked nuts

and a condensed milk caramel

with pulled sugar

and a salted sheep's milk ice cream.

This dish, to me, is very close to my heart.

I like playing with a few childhood favourite things.

Chocolate, smoked nuts reminds me of the chocolate bar

that is quite a lot of people's favourite.

One of the biggest elements of this dish

and the most important is the tempering of the chocolate.

You've got to hit the temperatures bang on

to get that cylinder perfect cos you want the shine,

you want the snap on it.

This is really important cos if you go over,

you start to blow the chocolate.

They have to smear the chocolate onto the acetate,

but it's got to be a thin, even layer

and then carefully roll up the acetate to form a long cylinder.

The pulled sugar needs to be taken to 170 degrees.

It's poured out onto a Silpat mat...

..and finished off with smoked nuts.

And the plating - the sweep of the chocolate, cylinder down,

beautiful rocher of the ice cream and then finished with the sugar.

I want it to be nice, clean, precise and very tasty.

I'm worried about everything.

I was hoping that it wasn't going to be pastry,

but it is and I have to deal with that and get on with it.

I'm feeling good about this dish, it sounds like a lovely dish.

I've just got to do it justice.

I've tempered chocolate before.

I don't do it every day, I'm not the best at it.

I know what she's going to be looking for,

it's just if I can deliver it.

I really have no idea how I'm going to get that chocolate out.

The crucial point with that chocolate cylinder

and you'll know whether you've done that right or wrong

is when you take that acetate off.

If you haven't got it right,

it could easily collapse or just won't hold its shape.

It's a bit big!

It looks like a cigar.

The chocolate could have been tempered a bit better,

but I've sort of done it. I'll see what Lisa says.

There you can see on your cylinder that it's starting to blow,

but overall, presentation, I think you've done really well.

CRUNCHING

You have got that snap on that chocolate and you can hear it.

Inside, for me, there's quite a lot of chocolate mousse for the balance,

but I can see where you've put most of the ingredients on the plate

rather than in the middle so it's your own interpretation.

Maybe a few more nuts in the middle

and a little bit more caramel for the balance,

but I think, overall, I think you've done a great job.

-Thank you, Chef.

-I really enjoyed having you in the kitchen.

I can see that you're a very talented chef

and you've got a lot to offer the industry.

If something doesn't go quite right, you can see that you care,

-which is a great thing for a chef to have.

-Thank you.

-Thanks for having me.

-You're more than welcome.

I'm happy overall with the day.

She said it was nice to have me in the kitchen,

she could see my passion, she could see my desire to get it right

when I did get it wrong so, overall, yeah, it's been a good day.

Yeah, I'm pleased with what I've done.

Maybe the chocolate could have had a bit more shine. Yeah, happy.

It looks different to mine,

but that's not a bad thing cos it shows individuality.

-Your rocher looks perfect.

-Thank you.

-You've done that really well.

Your sugar's great, maybe just a little thick at the end here,

-but apart from that, I think it looks great.

-Thank you.

CRUNCHING

You need a few more nuts in there,

a few more sultanas to get the balance.

You're very keen, enthusiastic, very confident.

So, yeah, you've done a great job

and I hope you've learned something from the experience here

and take something away that can help you within your career.

It's been a pleasure. Cheers, Kirk.

I think there was just a few blushes on the chocolate.

It still had a nice crack. Yeah, I'm proud of what I've done.

It's been an amazing day.

I'll never be able to do this with my shaky hands.

That was sort of like my tester just to make sure the chocolate was set.

I've got the other one so I'm going to pipe the mousse

and everything into it and then take the outer layer off.

I'm starting to get the shakes a little bit.

Oh, man! I haven't had the shakes for weeks.

I don't know what's wrong with me.

It's now or never.

I've just got to get it from the plate to there without...

HE SIGHS

I just can't control the shaking today,

I don't know what's wrong with me. I'm relatively pleased with it.

I'm glad it's in one piece and, hopefully, she'll enjoy it.

Wow!

You've got a nice distribution of caramel in there.

Maybe just a few more nuts and stuff for the balance of it,

but I can see that you've put some onto the plate.

You've got a nice snap in the chocolate.

I think you should be very proud of yourself.

-Thanks, Chef.

-I'd be very happy for you to serve that dish.

-Overall, it's very good.

-Thank you.

My advice to you would be is have a little bit more

confidence in yourself. You're very passionate and you can see that.

Conquer those nerves in the pastry and I think you'll do very well.

-Thanks, Chef.

-Thanks.

It went really well.

It went a lot better than I thought it was going to.

To get the feedback I did, I'm really chuffed with that.

It's been great having the guys in the kitchen.

You can see they're very keen and passionate lads.

They've all done extremely well.

They fit into the kitchen, they served some great food

and I was very happy with the signature dish.

It's been an inspiration coming up here - amazing chef,

beautiful building, amazing food.

It's been a once in a lifetime opportunity

to get one-on-one tuition with Lisa.

Her team have been very welcoming and made it very easy for us.

I just didn't make it very easy for myself!

It's been a massive experience coming to Northcote.

Lisa's been amazing.

Every day's a school day and I've learned today

so, yeah, it's been good.

I want our chefs to come back from Northcote feeling

energised about where they've been.

The passion that Lisa has for her food is incredible.

I hope our chefs managed to absorb a little bit of that talent

because that could be the extra push

that they will need in their cooking today.

Chefs, welcome back. You've seen Lisa's food.

Today, it's all about you and your food.

You're cooking for a place in finals week.

You have one hour and 45 minutes to cook one main course and a dessert.

We can only take the best chefs through

so you'd better make this count if you want that place.

Good luck. Off you go!

My competition has been up and down. It's taken its toll on me.

If I nail these dishes and Monica and Marcus like them

and they can see technical skill,

I believe these dishes are strong enough to get me through.

-Scott, how are you?

-Yeah, very well, thank you.

-Good, good.

How was your time with Lisa?

It was tough, but I really enjoyed the experience,

it was amazing and you pick up little tips and techniques.

It's given me that little kick up the backside,

-I guess, to carry on and keep doing well.

-Good!

Right, so what are you going to make for us today, Scott?

I'm doing John Dory with oysters, cockles, cucumber,

Cornish potatoes and caviar

and dessert, I'm going to do a honeycomb mousse

with sorrel, raspberries and apple.

Wow, Scott, where are these dishes from?

It sounds a bit of a cliche, but this is the best of the south-west.

My dad used to live down in Devon so, as a young boy,

we used to go fishing.

Being brought up in south-east London, I love cockles.

I still go to Southend on my bank holiday

and have a tub of cockles with my daughter

so this dish means a lot to me.

Where's the inspiration for your dessert come from?

When I used to go to the fairground, I used to love winning the honeycomb

and I just wanted to take honeycomb to the next level

and create something a little bit different in a mousse.

-It's really light, really sweet.

-That sounds great.

-Thank you.

With you, there's always a little twist,

-and that's what we like about your food so far.

-Thank you.

-Let's hope that continues.

-Go get 'em!

-Cheers!

Scott always brings a bit of Cockney charm to the kitchen.

I love the little twists that he puts into his food -

pan-fried John Dory with cockles, oysters and oyster juice.

Again, a great-sounding dish.

There's a very fine line with John Dory

between cooked well and overcooked.

Scott is making a honeycomb mousse

and he's going to make a sorrel and apple juice.

I believe sorrel makes sense on a dessert

because it does have that sharpness. He's got to be careful.

We know with honeycomb,

you've got to stop the cooking very quickly, otherwise it will

continue to cook and become very strong and very bitter.

I'm happy at the moment, yeah.

The time catches up with you so quickly,

you just can't take it for granted so I've just got to push now.

Chefs, half an hour has gone.

It's going to be really difficult to cook against Andy and Scott.

It's probably the most nervous I've felt

in the whole competition so far.

Hopefully, if I don't mess up, then these dishes will see me through.

-How are you, Mark?

-I'm very well, thank you.

What are you cooking for us?

Some plaice with different textures of cauliflower.

For dessert, I'm doing a coconut panna cotta

with salt-baked pineapple and ginger beer sorbet.

There's a little bit of coriander and basil gel on there.

It's a nice fresh dessert after you've tried everything today.

Where's the inspiration for these dishes come from?

I really like plaice. I think it's a beautiful fish.

I love the difference you can kind of get with cauliflower

and you can change it by cooking it in different ways.

It sounds like to me, Mark, a very simple dish.

It is simple, but it's a beautiful dish.

There's lots of little elements.

You've tested them and you've tasted them?

The plaice dish I've done twice

and the dessert I've done numerous times.

I'm also against two amazing chefs

who are cooking their heart out today

so I've got to up it and make sure it's perfect for you.

-Great, we'll let you crack on.

-Thank you.

Mark is making for us a main course which is plaice

and a lot of different textures, ways of preparing cauliflower.

We're having pickled cauliflower, roasted cauliflower

and a puree of cauliflower.

One thing I do know about cauliflower -

it does have a big flavour.

Sometimes, if there's too much of it,

it could overpower the fish itself.

Coconut panna cotta - flavours of the tropics. This sounds great.

The garnish is salt-baked pineapple. I really love the sound of that.

But, as always with a panna cotta,

it's got to have the right consistency.

It's got to have the wobble factor.

Chefs, it's your last 45 minutes. Make sure it's a good one.

Andy's main course is sea trout.

He's serving that with a mussel broth.

The cooking of the sea trout is in a sous vide bag in the water bath.

The skin has been taken off. He's going to crisp that separately.

He's serving it with cucumber, samphire

spring onion, cockles - all these ingredients work together.

It's going to be about balance and, of course,

the beautiful cooking of the sea trout.

He needs to be careful on the cooking of the mussels.

I hope he doesn't overcook them

so they shrivel down and they get quite chewy.

Andy's dessert is almost like a mille-feuille of chocolate delice,

a passion fruit parfait.

In between, he's going to have layers of chocolate tuille.

This dessert, if it's balanced right, can work very well.

Obviously, going up against the other two, it is daunting,

but I'm a fighter so they'd best be bringing their A-game.

-Andy, did you enjoy your time at Lisa Allen's?

-I loved it.

I loved every minute of it. It was very tough for me.

One thing that I took away from Lisa

was to be more confident in myself

and I can do it and that's why I'm here, still.

I'm looking forward to seeing these two dishes from our new Andy.

Ha, thank you.

I was a timid boy when I first came into the kitchen

and now I feel a lot more relaxed and confident in what I'm doing.

These two know by now that I'm not going to go down without a fight

so these dishes are going to be

the best I've done in this competition, hopefully.

-I wish you the best of luck, Andy.

-Cheers.

-Yeah, good luck.

-Thank you.

Andy has definitely come back into the kitchen fighting.

He's cooked himself into the semifinals.

The question's going to be

can he can cook himself a place in finals week?

I'm just trying to bring everything together now.

I'm just a little bit worried about my fish.

I could be happier.

Chefs, you've got ten minutes left.

My hands are shaking like mad now.

Chefs, this is your last two minutes.

Andy, just step back and take a deep breath. You've done so well so far.

Don't lose the plot now.

Last 60 seconds. Make them count.

Chefs, that's it, time's up. Stop cooking.

Mark is up first.

These plates of food look fantastic yet again.

Thank you.

His main course is plaice with cauliflower scales,

pickled and roasted cauliflower, cauliflower couscous

and cauliflower puree, pickled grapes

and golden raisins with a creamy fish and grape juice sauce.

The sauce is stunning. It's creamy, it's velvety.

It's such an enjoyable plate of food to eat

and it's so clever how you captured the different textures

and different methods of cooking a simple cauliflower.

Thank you, thank you very much.

The cauliflower does work very, very well.

It's not overpowering the very delicate flavour

of the plaice itself. It's absolutely great.

The sauce, it's got a velvetiness about it, it's rich.

I think that little addition of grape juice in there,

I'm taking that one.

That's a good one.

-Great dish.

-Thank you very much.

For dessert, Mark has made coconut panna cotta

topped with salt-baked pineapple,

a basil coriander gel, ginger tuilles, puffed rice

and viola flowers and a ginger sorbet with desiccated coconut.

The presentation of the panna cotta looks great,

but, as always with a panna cotta, it's all about the texture.

I love the idea of the salt-baked pineapple.

I just find the salt has not penetrated enough

to make a difference, but I love the tuille. The popped rice is nice.

What I do like is when you take that sorbet

with desiccated coconut around it,

it actually enhances what that panna cotta is.

Thank you.

All of the flavours in this dish work together - the coconut,

the pineapple, the mango, the ginger beer sorbet.

They're always going to work together,

but they've been in safe hands today and you've really delivered

that level of expectation that you want from those ingredients.

Thank you. Thank you very much.

-Two fantastic plates of food again - well done.

-Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Today was difficult and I think I pushed myself as much as I could.

I created two good dishes so I can't ask for any more than that.

Scott's main is pan-fried John Dory with oysters, cockles,

Cornish new potatoes, caviar, baby courgette flowers, cucumber,

florets of Romanesco cauliflower

and oyster leaves with an oyster sauce.

Very, very nice eye for detail there and beautiful presentation.

-Thank you.

-Very good.

It's so light and delicate.

The flavours of the sauce in the centre work so well

and the choice of fish is great, beautifully cooked.

The freshness of this dish is just a delight

and really does sing out that beautiful coastal flavour

that you were looking for and I think you've absolutely nailed that.

-Thank you.

-Really good.

-Thank you.

So moist, it's almost like it's jumped out of the sea

into the pan and straight onto the plate.

It's such a joy to eat something

that just comes together so harmoniously.

The bits of cucumber, the samphire, the little bits of caviar,

I believe, is possibly the best plate of food

I've had from you in the competition.

-Very happy here.

-Thank you.

-I think you've done a great, great job.

-Thank you.

Scott's honeycomb mousse topped with honeycomb

is served with fresh raspberries,

diced apple and apple puree with a sorrel sauce.

-Scott, this dessert looks delicious. I love the colours.

-Thank you.

Your honeycomb mousse is so clever. It's almost a caramel. I love it.

And then you've got this lemon flavour coming through the sorrel,

it's just so, so delicious.

Really... That's a really good one.

Brilliant dessert.

It's quite exceptional to see a chef cook under this pressure

and to deliver such great, powerful flavour in a dessert

and make it work.

The sorrel juice with the apple works great.

It's an absolute delight. It's just a fabulous dessert, it's brilliant.

Thank you.

If I was a cooking chef in this competition right now, Scott,

I'd be very worried about you.

Their comments were amazing. Yeah, I'm really happy.

They really like the dishes so happy days!

Finally, it's Andy's confit sea trout, topped with crispy skin

and crab emulsion with a garnish of cockles, mussels, cucumber,

samphire, spring onions and a mussel broth.

Andy, I really like the idea of water bathing the sea trout

and it's worked very well.

The crispy skin with the egg and the crab meat going through it,

I really like that.

Quite a nice big flavour of the crab and the sea

and then this fabulous stock that you've made from your mussels

and the clams and I think it's just absolutely delicious.

-You've delivered it as it reads on the menu. Good dish!

-Thanks, Chef.

The stock is quite flavoursome. The garnish is cooked very well.

The samphire is still firm.

The mussels, for me, are a tad overcooked,

-but it is a good-tasting sea trout dish.

-Thank you, Chef.

For dessert, Andy has served chocolate delice,

passion fruit parfait,

passion fruit curd and pistachio nuts.

Andy, your chocolate delice is not set.

It was runny from the beginning.

The passion fruit parfait, however, is quite lovely,

it's almost like having a lovely passion fruit ice cream on the side

and I loved the crunch of the pistachios.

However, it's not a great dessert,

mainly because the delice hasn't worked.

The passion fruit parfait has a lovely flavour, it's very good.

Passion fruit, chocolate, pistachio nuts, the chocolate tuilles -

this all really does work together as a flavour.

It's just a little unfortunate that it hasn't quite worked

from a setting point of view, which is a shame.

Thank you, Chef.

I'm feeling a little bit disappointed.

I've just made a silly mistake.

I think if I hadn't made that mistake,

I'd feel like I was in with a chance, but at this stage,

you can't make mistakes like that.

Anyway, thanks very much, boys.

Chefs, another great day in the kitchen,

another tough day in the kitchen.

We asked you to come here to cook your best food

and you've done just that, but we are only going to take

the strongest chefs through to finals week.

Go and take a break. We'll call you back with our decision. Thank you.

What a semifinal round! Some great, great cooking here today.

Three good chefs in the kitchen

and they certainly proved themselves worthy of a place in the semifinals.

Mark has been our chef that's cooked steadily throughout the competition.

I always find it's a worry

every time he comes back in here that he's going to stumble,

but, no, Mark's two plates of food today looked stunning

and they tasted as good.

It's pretty hard to find Mark's mistakes.

This chef just isn't putting a foot wrong right now.

I think today was the most pressure I've felt.

I'm up against two great chefs who also deserve to get through

so it's a difficult decision that they've got to make.

What about Scott?

Now, this chef has got my attention, all for the right reasons.

Today, he has really stood out and said,

"I am a contender and I'm here to fight."

Scott raised himself to another level today

that I've not seen him do before.

Great cooking, absolute treat. It was heaven.

Today's comments were absolutely mind-blowing.

It's exactly what I needed.

The business end of the competition now

so hopefully I've done enough to get through.

We really wanted Andy to push himself today

and that's exactly what he did.

I really liked Andy's menu, I liked the ingredients that he was using

and it was also quite original for him, as well.

Andy's dessert had the makings of a great dessert.

Unfortunately, it wasn't executed to the level that Andy needed to.

I feel a little bit frustrated with myself.

I always wanted to go home cooking the best food that I could.

I haven't done that today, but, whatever the outcome,

I'll still be proud and hold my head up high.

We ask our chefs to come into this kitchen and give it their all

and they did just that. We've had some great food.

However, I feel there is one chef

that's been outclassed and outcooked today.

Chefs, what an exceptional day in the kitchen!

Great battle,

but we can only take our strongest chefs through to finals week.

Marcus and I have made a decision.

The chef that is leaving us today is...

..Andy.

Cheers.

-Thanks, Chef.

-Best of luck, Andy.

-Thank you very much, cheers.

Yeah, obviously disappointed,

but this whole experience has taught me I shouldn't doubt myself.

I am good at what I do and this has only just made that more evident.

Obviously, I would have loved to have been through to the final,

but someone's got to go home!

Chefs, congratulations, you're through to the finals.

And then there were two!

I feel absolutely amazing being in the final of MasterChef.

The competition doesn't get any easier.

I don't think I want to face Scott again, to be honest!

Hopefully, it'll all just go well for me.

Yeah, absolutely buzzing with that result today.

Round the corner's just going to get tougher and tougher

so I'm just looking forward to see what happens next.

Next week, it's the professional MasterChef finals

and the fight for the title is on.

They will have to cook for some of the country's greatest chefs...

I'm actually very hungry and looking forward to eating the whole thing.

I couldn't find any faults with it.

Absolutely fantastic. This is what MasterChef's all about.

..and survive in one of the world's most creative restaurants.

That's fantastic!

But only one of them will be crowned

Professional MasterChef Champion 2015.