Episode 3 MasterChef: The Professionals

It's the Professional MasterChef quarterfinal.

These six talented chefs stood out in their heats.

Tonight, they will face two more challenges to test them even further.

'I've loved the competition so far.'

It's been the highlight of my life, really.

It puts you through the mill, but you just want more and more of it.

'There's no resting on laurels. It's a new day.'

I want to be here as long as I can.

First, they will have to face an invention test.

It's delicious.

Really delicious.

Those that get through will then face the country's

most discerning food critics.

This is great food and this is what this competition's about.

Only the best will earn a place in knockout week.

I want to see the chefs shine,

I want to see them push themselves to new limits now.

They've got to rise to this challenge today.

This is where it gets tough.

Chefs, welcome to the quarterfinals and congratulations.

Now...it's going to get even harder.

What you have in front of you is an invention test.

This is when you get to shine and show off without limits.

Please reveal your ingredients.

In front of you, you have ten ingredients.

A whole poussin...

one squid...

tomatoes, couscous,

tender stem broccoli,

spinach, chillies, some thyme,

a mango and some dark chocolate.

You've all done amazing to get here today.

But that does not mean you get to relax.

Because, at the end of this test, two of you will be leaving us.

One hour and 15 minutes, one dish, for a place in the next round.

Off you go.

We've tested them on their skills, we've seen their signature dishes,

now we want to see how creative they can be.

This is the quarterfinal.

It's really important that they take it very, very seriously,

because this is where it really heats up.

27-year-old Nick is a sous-chef

at a fine dining restaurant in Oxfordshire.

Nick's personality really shines through in his food.

He's done two fantastic dishes so far.

He's an endearing personality

and I enjoy watching this chef cook.

If he can do that again today,

wow, I think we have a very strong chef on our hands.

'The further you're in it, the more you want it, definitely.'

I have no plans for going home, but...

I've just got to, just keep calm.

Keep calm and carry on cooking and...

-I'll be OK.

-NICK LAUGHS

Nick, what have you decided to make with the ingredients?

I'm roasting the breast of poussin and I've stuffed the leg,

doing it with some tempura squid

and an Asian-style broth, with the chicken bones,

fish sauce and there's some confit potato as well.

Do you think you can stretch enough flavour out of a poussin carcass?

-I've given it my best shot, yeah.

-THEY LAUGH

I can see food brings a smile to your face.

You're one of those cooks, aren't you, you sort of...

-you can cook anywhere, probably?

-Yeah, I was lucky enough,

in my house there was always fresh produce,

my mum was baking, my nans were baking,

I got my first job in a pub, making potato salad

-and dressing plates with a bit of veg and potatoes...

-Great.

-..my radar's on cooking, I'm pretty much...

-You enjoy it.

-..can't be happier.

-Good man. We'll let you crack on.

-Thank you very much.

Nick is going down an Asian route with his dish,

he's making an Asian-inspired broth,

he's taking the leg of the poussin and made a mousse to fill that leg.

Nick's also going to be using the squid as well,

which is fantastic. But the most important thing about the squid

is that you don't sit it inside the stock,

you need to elevate it above the dish, so it stays nice and crisp.

33-year-old Andi is a senior sous-chef

at King's College in Cambridge.

Andi, wow, was he nervous!

Andi really struggled with the skills test,

but actually, his signature dish was fantastic.

There's something a bit exciting about his cooking.

If Andi can continue to keep showing us his neat tricks

he's got up his sleeve, we're in for a great surprise today.

'I'm still a bit nervous,'

but hopefully, going forward, I can show a bit more of my personality

'and get that across a bit more, cos I'm not sure that I did.'

-Andi, how are you?

-I'm good, thank you, chefs.

-Stop shaking.

-A little bit.

-Come on, you should be used to it by now. What's the dish?

It's my take on a laksa,

which is a Malaysian broth with some squid

and some couscous that I've made with the broccoli

and hopefully, if I've got time, some crispy chicken wings as well.

Andi, what do you do when you're not in the kitchen?

I'm a single dad, I have a three-year-old son.

Normally, I'd shy away from this sort of thing, but...

I want to teach him not to shy away from anything that he's scared of.

So, you're going to show your son his father, petrified,

-shaking like a...

-THEY LAUGH

-..shaking like a leaf on television?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-Be careful here, OK?

Just so he can laugh at me one day.

-That's what dads are for.

-Yeah.

Andi's really sold me on the laksa.

We know he can cook Asian-style food, because he did it with his signature dish

and did a really good job as well.

Laksa is an Asian broth that's packed with flavours.

I'm curious about the dish,

whether he's got enough of a choice of ingredients to make this

a fragrant and delicious laksa.

-What's the measurements?

-100g of flour, 50g of butter.

-Good lad.

25-year-old Bobby is a sous-chef at a fine dining restaurant in Colchester.

Last round, I didn't perform great, at all.

I'm very grateful they've given me a second chance.

So, yeah, I'm just going to go in with all guns blazing with it.

There's no room for failure any more.

Bobby's got passion, he's got drive.

We want some great cooking from him. The simpler, the better.

We just want to see what he's able to do properly.

Quarterfinal, what does that really, really, really mean to Bobby?

It means everything. I mean, you know,

I had a lot of self-doubt before I come in this competition, loads and loads and loads.

I'm just hoping I proved to you that I am a good chef

and that way I prove it to myself.

-What are you making for us?

-Sort of take on a chicken pie.

-Lovely.

-Best chicken pie you've ever had...

-I hope so.

-Let's hope so.

-Yeah.

-Well, it'll be a little bit different. Sort of deconstructed it, a little bit.

-So, different?

-Yeah.

-I know we said that in the last round, don't be different, but...

-OK.

There you go, notice that's cheering Marcus.

Bobby's going to be cooking us a deconstructed chicken pie.

That's gutsy. Or naive!

He doesn't want to overcook this chicken.

It's a poussin, so it's even smaller.

If it is then not cooked within the sauce, it can dry out really quick.

He's making a short pastry,

and what you want with short pastry is you want it to melt in the mouth.

I really want to see Bobby do well today,

and I hope this chicken pie really is what he wants it to be.

Chefs, you've got 35 minutes left.

25-year-old Sam is a junior sous-chef at a busy hotel restaurant

in his hometown of Newcastle.

I thought Sam was really brave using a stone bass for his

signature dish, because it is not a fish that is widely used.

I hope he can continue that bravery and bring it into the quarterfinals.

This is a chef that makes me excited about his cooking and I really

hope he's on his way to developing and becoming a much better chef.

After the last round, I feel quite confident.

Again, I'm feeling nervous, but I'm nervous,

because I really do care and I don't want to slip and make mistakes.

Sam, tell me, what are you making with these ingredients?

I'm just basically making Asian poussin broth.

And I'm using a breast for filling in the tortellini

and some crisp skin for the texture.

Tell me, why are you a chef?

I'm a chef by fluke, basically.

When I was 17, my knee was done in, I was playing rugby,

so I had to change my career,

but I've just been like a duck to water, really.

I've thrived on it and I love it.

Sam's making a tortellini of the poussin breast.

The most important thing about the tortellini

is the thickness of the pasta, the seasoning of the mixing side

and making sure that he makes a beautiful shaped tortellini.

There's not a lot else going on with the dish,

this is slightly concerning.

Sam looks just a little bit maybe lost

and I'm hoping that the dish will develop as it goes along.

23-year-old Alex is a senior chef de partie

at an award-winning restaurant in a garden centre.

I think that, now I've had a taste, I'm still going

to stick to my game plan of one step at a time.

I'm hoping that the judges see some potential in me and get what I'm about.

Alex, what are you cooking for us?

I'm cooking poussin on the crown with a rub of thyme,

a bit of peppercorns, garlic and lemon.

I've made a little ravioli,

which I'm going to fill with a bit of spinach.

So why the pasta, why the Italian sort of...?

Well, there was more Asian things which I'm not 100%

confident in using at this stage on an invention test.

I think I'd be safer to stick with something I know

and put up a good dish.

-Good luck.

-Thank you.

Alex is using a lemon thyme and peppercorn marinade

and he's left the poussin on the crown.

He is also making a spinach ravioli as well.

I like the fact Alex is making his own pasta.

I hope it is a skill he has refined and it's lovely and thin.

One of the things you need to be very careful of, is that it drains

the water from the spinach.

Because, if you've got water inside the ravioli,

it just has a tendency to make the ravioli burst.

Chefs, you've got 20 minutes left.

34-year-old Mark is a sous-chef at a gastro pub in London.

Mark's skills test was a disaster. He only served us a bowl of custard.

I thought, at that point, I would be amazed

if he could pull this back and he's done it, he's here.

He's done it, because he served us an amazing lamb dish.

Yeah, I kicked myself after the first round,

but, you know, thankfully I got it back.

That feeling, when you are told

you can come back the following day, is incredible.

I've not had a relief like that for years.

I want to have that feeling over and over again, right up until the end.

What are you making for us?

I'm going to do Poussin, I'm going to confit the legs,

I'm going to make a nice sauce out of the carcasses, broccoli puree

and am going to do some roasted shallots.

-So you feel very confident, then?

-Yeah.

-You look confident.

-I feel happy.

It's interesting, because, last time you walked in here,

not knowing what was coming, it was a nightmare for you.

It's just being in the presence of you two and, you know,

-it's quite intimidating. Quite nerve-racking.

-Hmm.

-Both of you.

-I'm not intimidating.

-Yeah, you are. You are.

-It's you.

-You are.

-You both are.

-See!

-THEY LAUGH

Mark's poussin dish, to me, sounds very classical.

He has taken the crown off, which he's going to do separately,

the legs he's confit...

He's also making a fondant potato and I know, Monica,

that you love a good fondant.

A fondant is about great colour, great caramelisation,

but it has to be cooked all the way through.

And if it is not cooked well, I know how upset you get.

Chefs, you have five minutes left.

Just five minutes.

All of our chefs here today have opted for the poussin.

I would have liked to have seen one dessert, but you know what?

If we've got six different dishes here, I'm happy.

If they are all done well, even happier.

Chefs, you've got three minutes.

OK, stop cooking.

Time is up.

You never feel confident, do you, when you're looking at everybody else's?

Yeah, mate, you've done really well.

-That looks stunning!

-Yeah, looks lovely.

-I fell to pieces, mate.

-Hm?

I fell to pieces.

From the ten ingredients that were given,

Nick has made roasted breast of poussin and a mousse-stuffed leg.

He's served it with crispy squid, confit potato

and a Thai-style vegetable broth.

-It's a little plate of art, I think.

-Thank you.

Nick, I think that's a very, very well-executed plate of food.

The broth is divine.

Love the fact you have taken the legs and thighs off

and you've turned them into a little boudin.

Tomato garnish, spinach, everything works, it's all seasoned.

-It's a very nice plate of food, Nick. Well done.

-Thank you.

What you seem to do is just take these great

but simple ingredients and you elevate them.

Anyone can roast a poussin.

But you've made a mousse, you've stuffed the legs,

you've cooked the breast really well.

But it's that roasting of the bird, that seasoning of it,

it's caramelised, it's delicious.

-Really delicious.

-Sure.

Well, I get good feedback at work, obviously,

but to get someone like Marcus and Monica to taste your food

and just praise you out loud, it's just unbelievable.

Andy's dish is his interpretation of a laksa, with pan-roasted squid

and deep-fried salt-and-pepper tentacles,

crispy chicken and broccoli couscous.

Andy, it's a nice dish. You've made a good sauce.

The squid is cooked nicely, so was the chicken.

But they're not elements that have been cooked together,

and I guess, because I have this laksa word stuck in my head,

I want to be eating something that is harmonious.

There's a nice warmth in the background there, but I just wish

you'd have cooked it together in the flavours of this sauce.

That's how I would attempt a laksa.

-Would I be right or wrong?

-Right.

-OK. Why didn't you do that then?

I was trying to just make it a bit more refined, but...

I should have just stuck with my gut instinct and...

Stick with what the dish is.

I sort of knew what I should have done, but hopefully, they can see

past the faults in the dish and they will want to see more of me.

Bobby has made a deconstructed chicken pie,

roast poussin breast on caramelised onion mash, served with poussin thigh

between pastry layers, tender stem broccoli and a veloute sauce.

Bobby, it's not the sort of pie I was thinking of,

-to be honest with you.

-Mm-hm.

And when you mentioned the word "deconstruct",

that did ring alarm bells in my head and I was actually longing

and hoping for a pie, and that's not a pie.

Oh, Bobby.

Not good.

Really, really not good.

For me... The pastry, there's no flavour to it.

It's certainly not short.

The thigh is just dry, the breasts are dry.

I'm really... I'm really struggling to find a positive on this plate, Bobby.

In fact, I'm going to ask Monica.

-MONICA SIGHS

-Oh, Bobby.

I applaud your enthusiasm about cooking

and your ideas of wanting to be different,

but I now question, do you have enough of the skill behind that

to back up your ideas at this point in your career?

You know...

Oh, it went terrible.

I could have delivered more, but that was me

trying to go all out there and obviously it just didn't work.

Sam has made tortellini stuffed with a poussin mousse.

They are accompanied by broccoli, wilted spinach,

crispy chicken skin flavoured with thyme and an Asian-style broth.

Sam, when a chef is unsure of his cooking,

it shows in his plate of food.

The tortellinis, there is nothing in the filling that

you eat and a burst of flavour hits you. The spinach, broccoli...

Yeah, they are all cooked well,

but there's nothing outstanding about it.

It is not a great dish.

There are things in here that I actually like.

The broth has got more flavour than I expected it to have.

It has got a little bit of warmth behind it as well,

a little bit of a kick.

I think this stage could go to another level,

if you just felt a little bit more enthusiastic about it yourself.

-Yeah, I apologise for that.

-Sam, don't apologise.

If you are looking at us, thinking,

"What are they talking about?" then I would be slightly concerned.

The best part about this dish, and you, is that you are concerned,

-and that is fantastic.

-Thank you.

I think I just went way too safe.

I don't know what happened to it, that's just not me.

Alex's dish is lemon and thyme marinated poussin

with spinach ravioli.

A tomato concasse, broccoli with a chicken jus.

Alex, the best thing about this dish is the chicken breast

and the thigh - they're cooked very well. But that is it for me,

it doesn't go much further than that.

I don't think the raviolis are that good.

It's sort of a light English roast dinner

meets Italian raviolis with spinach.

It just doesn't sort of work together as a complete dish.

I like it in parts.

I like the broccoli with the chicken on its own,

but it is just very disjointed, if that makes sense.

I had loads of ideas running through my head,

so maybe it didn't work as a whole.

I should have tasted it all in one spoon, got it all together

when I was plating and gone, "Yum."

Finally, it is Mark,

who has made roasted poussin breast with a confit leg, fondant potato,

roasted shallots, deep-fried spinach leaves and a broccoli puree.

That is a good plate of food, Mark.

Thank you.

Mark, it is a great eating dish.

The breast meat is just cooked nicely,

still got the crispy skin on there. The fondant is lovely

and the caramelised shallots just bring a bit of sweetness to it.

-But it is not overdone and that is a great-tasting sauce.

-Thank you.

Really well cooked, Mark, very good.

The puree is excellent - great colour, nice and smooth -

and your seasoning on the dish is very good.

-It is beautifully executed, so a really good job. Well done.

-Cheers.

I feel absolutely amazed. I could not have asked for better comments.

Really, really happy, yeah. Ecstatic, in fact, yeah.

Brilliant.

Our first invention test and, boy,

what a variety of dishes we got today.

We can only take four through to our next round. Who are our favourites?

Nick, without a doubt, stands out head and shoulders

above everyone else at the moment and even Mark as well.

I think they absolutely deserve to sail through to the next round.

For me, Bobby has to be the first chef to leave the competition.

He, for me, let himself down.

He was up against some good chefs

and, unfortunately, those highlighted his errors even more.

It then comes down to Sam, Alex and Andy.

We have to lose one of these chefs.

What happened to Sam today?

Sam, he was just a little bit off his mark, off his game.

But there was a few little bits in there that shows potential.

You know, we know he can cook,

I just think today was a little bit too tough for him.

I really want to stay in the competition

because I am really passionate about being a chef

and I don't want to just be a bog-standard chef.

I really want to be a MasterChef.

Alex's dish I found disjointed.

It didn't completely come together to make one harmonious dish,

but I did like parts of it.

This is a massive challenge that is coming next.

Is Alex good enough to cook for the critics?

I think you and I need to really question

-whether or not he can cope with that.

-Not too confident.

If I stay in, then I really have to get it 100% this time.

Andy was a little bit disappointing today for me.

I felt that he had sold me the dish when we were talking to him

at the bench and then, when it came to the dish

being presented in front of us, it didn't quite hit the mark.

If Andy goes through to cook for the critics,

I want to see more diversity from him. There is more to him than this.

Yeah, I would love to stay in and cook my food for the critics,

just to show the critics that it is not just Asian food that I can cook.

I want to show them another side of me.

We have got three chefs here and we need to lose one.

Marcus, which two do you think can produce the most exciting food here

and please the critics?

There have been some great plates of food.

But there have also been some errors here,

and it is those errors that will cost you the competition.

The first chef leaving the competition is...

..Bobby. Thank you.

The second chef leaving the competition is...

..Alex.

I feel slightly disappointed but very happy

in how far I have come and how I competed against the other chefs.

I came here for a bit of self belief and I got to the quarterfinal,

you know? So, of course, I have it good, you know?

I will just keep pinching myself, really, just to improve

and become, you know, a good chef one day.

Congratulations, well done.

Chefs, you are now going to cook for the critics -

some of the toughest in the country.

No pressure, then!

One of you is going to be leaving the competition at the end

of today, so give it your best shot.

You have an hour and 15 minutes to cook two courses -

a main course and a dessert.

Off you go. Good luck.

You know, cooking for the critics is a big challenge -

probably the most intense things I will ever have to do, I reckon.

I am going there to focus on my food.

I am not phased by anyone else in the kitchen.

I know on my day I can cook better than them, I know I can.

We are going to have to really fly today.

There's some serious amount of work to get done

in such a short amount of time.

Cooking for the critics is something a little different.

It's another level.

They are going to be looking for something new, something exciting...

They are also going to pull it to pieces, given half a chance.

Our critics do not leave any stone unturned.

No, they don't, but if they find a star in this room,

the chef has made it.

There is a lot of pressure.

For me, the better the comments I get, the higher the expectation is.

It is the further I can fall, so, yeah, I am enjoying it,

but by no means am I taking it easy.

-Hey, Nick, how are you doing?

-Hot.

-Hot?

What are you cooking for the critics today?

I am doing pan-fried halibut fillet with a cauliflower puree,

curried red lentil and lemon grass sauce.

-And I am doing a popcorn cake as my dessert.

-Popcorn cake?

Yeah, I suppose it was created by accident.

I tried to make a popcorn ganache, didn't work.

The mix resembled ground almond,

so I made a financier out of it and it really worked.

I really, really like it.

Do you think these dishes are good enough to put you through to

-knockout week?

-I do think they're good enough, yeah.

I can't rest on my laurels.

I have had praise beyond what I could possibly dream,

but I want more. I want more praise.

-I like that.

-Thank you.

I love the sound of Nick's dish.

Curried lentils, raisins, cauliflower puree

and that lemon grass sauce as well.

I hope Nick looks after the halibut.

It needs to go into a hot pan to seal it.

He has got to be very careful with the timing.

The lentils is all about the balance of the cooking.

You want the curry to come through but you don't want the curry flavour

to overpower the halibut and the rest of the garnishes.

Nick's dessert sounds interesting.

I have never had a popcorn cake before.

He is serving it with salted peanut mousse and caramelised bananas.

Mmm!

The mousse has to be light, fragrant.

You want the peanut flavour to come through and yet be very

careful with the quantity of salt that you put in that dish.

Too much salt and the dish is ruined.

My dishes today, I'm doing a lamb rump with stuffed courgette flowers

with goat's cheese and honey.

Courgette and basil puree, compressed tomato

and caramelised onion.

For dessert, I am doing chocolate coffee mouse,

caramel chocolate shard in a yoghurt sorbet.

They are not safe.

My last dish I did before was way too safe.

I think it should go great today, fingers crossed.

Sam, your last round was tough, wasn't it?

You find that really hard, the invention test.

It was an easy test, I was just... I don't know. Words cannot explain.

I need to pull my socks up, basically.

-Have you done this before?

-Yes.

-Tried and tested?

-Yeah.

It's the closest to a service you have got so far in the competition.

-It is, yeah. I love service. Should be fine.

-Good.

-Better let you get on.

-Off you go.

Sam has chosen a rump of lamb.

He is cooking it in the vac pack machine, which is a very good idea,

especially with the time limit here.

All he needs to do then is to sear it in a lovely hot pan with

some butter and get that lovely caramelisation into it.

Sam's dessert is a chocolate and coffee mousse.

One of the most important things is that the mousse sets on time.

The sorbet needs to be made, it needs to be put into the freezer

so it is nice and firm.

What we don't want is our sorbet melting

before it gets to our critics.

Up until now, I cooked quite a lot of Asian flavours.

Hopefully, today, I can show them that I am not a one-trick pony -

it's not all I can do.

These dishes are pretty much as British as you can get,

so I am really looking forward to showing them something different.

The title of the dish is Nanny Pickles' Lamb And Greens.

It is a loin of lamb with spring vegetables

-and a shepherd's pie on the side.

-Nanny Pickles?

-Yeah.

Is your second name Pickles?

No, it is Peacock, but my son and my niece

and nephew couldn't pronounce Peacock.

It turned out to be Pickles and we have just run with it ever since.

For dessert, I have got a honey and vanilla parfait

-with strawberries and crumble.

-You really want this, Andy.

Yeah, I think the last couple of rounds I have been a bit quiet

-but today is the day.

-The last rounds have been a bit quiet?

Is the animal coming out of you now, is it?

No, I have just got too much to do now, I think!

-All right, get on with it.

-Thank you, Chefs.

Nana Pickles' Lamb Loin - I quite like the title of that dish, but

the bit I'm really looking forward to, Monica, is the shepherd's pie.

I love shepherd's pie.

Just got to get some big, bold flavours in there.

You want it to be nice and rich and oozing lamb flavour,

and then, on top, you want a beautiful, creamy potato puree.

That's what I look for in a good shepherd's pie.

Perfect parfait for me, it's all about making sure that you can

still cut into it without having to chip through it like an ice block.

Sounds simple, but it's actually quite a lot of detail in there.

He's got to get the parfait right.

Chefs, you've had 30 minutes.

30 minutes.

Mark is going 100mph.

This chef is hungry for it and we can see it.

He's making for us a hazelnut-crusted cod

which he's going to slowly poach and then finish under the grill.

He's also serving it with the clam vinaigrette.

It should work as long as he gets it right, and the most important thing

I'm going to be looking for is

making sure that he doesn't overcook that cod.

For a dessert, Mark is making us

a chocolate marquise with pickled cherries and a creme fraiche sorbet.

The marquise is a little bit firmer than a chocolate mousse.

It's very, very rich and I think -

with the chocolate glaze on top cut through with the cherries - wow.

But Mark has got to watch the pickling of the cherry.

If they're too sharp, too sour, it can destroy this dessert.

-Hi, Mark.

-How are you doing?

-I'm all right, are you?

-Good, thanks, Chef.

Nice to see you've got some colour back on your cheeks.

-You're normally as white as a ghost!

-Why these two dishes?

Where's the inspiration from your dishes to date?

I think that it's just stuff that I've cooked before, stuff that's

been raved about by my fiancee, by my family, by my friends.

I love cod, I think it's a really flavourful piece of fish.

Chocolate - I'm a massive chocoholic.

-So are we!

-Yeah.

-Looking forward to it.

You know, obviously, I hoped that I'd get far in the competition,

but when you get here and you have to deal with the nerves and

the pressure, you know, there's more to it than just cooking some food.

Just to get this far I'm more than happy,

but I really want to go further.

What's happened, Sam?

I was making the chocolate-coffee mousse,

just added the sugar not as slow as I would like to.

And it's not worked.

-I'll get another batch on.

-Pick yourself up.

You've got to go even faster now.

Chefs, you've got 15 minutes left.

The critics are here and hungry.

I always look forward to MasterChef: The Professionals,

because I hope I'm about to come across someone

at the beginning of a brilliant career so that

I can really smugly say, a few years down the line, that I met them when.

What I don't want to see is a load of foraging.

Don't come in here with a basket of sea vegetables from your beach hut

or some dandelion leaves from your nanny's back yard.

That doesn't tell me about how you cook, it just tells me

that you're following fashion.

I think the food that we want is food that mixes simplicity

with a little bit of a twist.

We want to be surprised, pleasantly,

and we're here to eat and we're hungry.

-Nick, you've got 2½ minutes left.

-Oui.

Are we getting there?

The cauliflower's ready, puree's hot, lentils are hot.

Literally the cooking of the fish.

If I actually had a choice,

I could choose one of the main courses from this menu,

Nick's would be the one that would instinctively appeal to me -

pan-fried halibut, curried red lentils, cauliflower,

lemon grass sauce.

It's certainly the most interesting.

-Been tasting everything?

-Absolutely.

I guess the one thing that worries me about it is there's not a lot of

comfort there, of squish and squelch and carbs and that sort of thing.

It's all about clean, pure flavours.

You happy with the fish?

I'd have liked a better colour.

You need to really just take your time a little bit here, OK?

Just keep it together, send out some nice plates.

Yeah, that's it.

Lovely. Are you happy?

-Yes.

-OK.

-OK, off you go.

-Thank you, Chef.

-That's the first time I've seen him flustered.

-Yeah.

-It's the first time he's been under pressure, hasn't it?

-It shows.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I've cooked you a pan-fried halibut fillet with curried lentils,

cauliflower and a lemon grass sauce.

-Hope you enjoy.

-Thank you.

The menu had colour and flavour and a certain amount of pizzazz,

and what's come out is...

-JAY RAYNER:

-A symphony of beige.

This is quite a frustrating dish.

It's a perfectly decent, nice piece of fish, but that quite

clever lemon grass sauce, I think he could have made more of it.

Then you've got this curried lentil dhal, which is really, really nice.

-But there's not any of it.

-I don't know what to make of this.

He's reached for something, but I don't know what it is.

I actually like this dish a lot more than you guys.

You're nicer than us!

I'm really enjoying it. I think he understands flavour.

I really like the spicy warmth from the lentils,

there's sweetness from this cauliflower puree

and there's sharp, sweet sultanas

and I think, you know, I'd like to taste more of his food.

-MARCUS:

-I think both you and I had big expectations.

I just don't think that Nick has taken this dish to another level.

When it comes to Nick's dessert, I'm genuinely excited.

Warm popcorn cake, salted peanut mousse, caramelised banana...

That better be all the things it says it is,

because I want to eat that.

Cake's come out really well.

Really happy with it.

I'm just worried it could be too sweet and too chewy and,

you know, my mouth won't open, which could be a tremendous thing!

Is the mousse all right, Nick?

Yeah, it's set, it's light and, yeah,

there's just enough salt in there.

Take your best plates.

Thank you.

For dessert, I've made a popcorn financier cake with peanut mousse,

caramelised banana and salted peanut.

Thank you.

Again, I think Nick has shown that he really does understand flavour.

I think there's some really delicious tastes on this plate

and I think that the popcorn cake is great.

I think it's really innovative - I've never had it before.

I really like it.

I really like the salted peanut mousse, which is delicious.

There's good stuff happening there, but it's just not quite there.

If it had been a big disc of a cake

and then some of the caramelised bananas

and a big heap of the cream, that would have been fabulous.

Instead it's trying to be grown up.

I think there's no question that Nick is a good chef.

He's got some nice light touches,

he understands about flavour combination...

But this guy just needs a bit of fire in his belly.

He needs to be a bit braver.

The cake, it's got an interesting flavour, I just...

I can't see this cake as a dessert, personally, and I think Nick

has just not quite hit the mark that we both were expecting him to.

HE SIGHS

Exhausted. Erm, that was hard, that was really hard.

The pressure is just...

It gets turned up about ten notches from what we've done before.

That was really, really tough.

Sam, you've got six minutes. How's it going?

OK, OK. Not as well as I planned.

So, Sam's main course is pan-fried lamb rump,

stuffed courgette flower with compressed tomato and goat's cheese.

Well, nothing to upset Auntie there, is there?

This combination is very, very tried and tested,

so it has to be done absolutely perfectly.

If he can cook it well, there may be a great dish.

My fear is it just could be a really boring dish.

-Are you happy with that lamb?

-Yeah, perfect.

-Ready to go.

-Ready?

Afternoon.

-Thank you.

-You're welcome.

Thank you.

Your rump of lamb with compressed tomato,

stuffed courgette flowers with goat's cheese and honey,

confit onion and courgette and basil puree with lamb and Madeira sauce.

Thank you.

Well, it's an interesting-looking plateful, isn't it?

Because it's been put together with a slightly artistic eye.

Well, Tracey, I couldn't disagree with you more.

I can't see any artistry here.

It's like food that's landed on a plate with a kind of dull thud.

I like knowing that an animal is an animal,

but I don't necessarily like seeing the connective tissue.

This is undercooked to an extraordinary degree.

This is quite a curious plate of food,

because this compressed tomato,

that looks like a big chunk of watermelon, adds nothing.

The onion, it's OK where it's caramelised,

but this lacks, to me, any sort of sophistication.

This basil puree not only underpins the whole thing,

it overwhelms the whole thing.

I mean, it really is a very dominant flavour.

Altogether, it's just not harmonising, is it?

Didn't look too great. Didn't taste great either.

The thing that really jumps out at me is the bleeding of the meat,

and the deep-frying of the courgette with the cheese inside.

This, for me, has been a car crash for Sam.

The big question is going to be -

can he pull it back with his dessert?

-Sam, do you want to move a bit faster?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

Sam's dessert is a chocolate espresso mousse

with a chocolate caramel shard and yoghurt sorbet.

Obviously, with the mousse, it needs to be light.

HE KNOCKS ON FOOD

It's frozen solid, man.

Have you left it in the blast chiller all this time?

-Or was it in the freezer?

-It was in the blast chiller.

Is the sorbet ready?

It's in the freezer. It's setting.

Yoghurt sorbet - could be a good way of cutting through

the bitterness of the espresso mousse.

-It's not set, is it?

-Not set.

'So, it could be a lovely combination of

'temperatures and textures,'

we hope.

-MONICA:

-Come on, Sam.

Yeah, I'm ready to go.

-I'm not happy.

-Oh, my God.

-Thank you.

-You're welcome.

For you, I've got chocolate espresso mousse, caramel,

chocolate rocks, yoghurt sorbet.

I apologise for the tuile,

as I just wasn't happy to serve it.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

In an ideal world, the presentation of a dish should give you

some idea of what the experience of eating it is going to be,

and I will say that, in that regard, Sam has succeeded.

It's a terrible dish.

I think Sam might have had, sort of, technical problems,

but even if he hadn't, there's a fundamental problem with it,

which is that everything is turned up to 11, isn't it?

The chocolate is very bitter.

The coffee mousse tastes a little bit like coffee extract,

and there's an unpleasant sort of lactic tang to the sorbet,

which is now a sauce.

It is... It's dreadful.

Wow(!)

Marcus, we've seen some of our chefs crumble

when they cook for the critics,

-but I don't recall having it this bad.

-Mmm.

HE SIGHS

'Horrendous. That's...'

Oh, it's just the worst nightmare.

Everything went wrong for us today. Everything.

Erm, I'm pretty embarrassed.

So, Andi's main dish, I think, sounds very attractive.

'This is basically lamb two ways.'

If Nanny Pickles offered me a shepherd's pie with some peas,

asparagus, baby gem and shallots, I'd be quite happy.

I don't think I need the loin of lamb with it.

I think he's slightly indecisive.

Shepherd's pie has to be really, really good, though.

Really, really good.

-Time to plate up.

-Yup.

I wish I could stop shaking.

-All you've got to do is press the plates now.

-It's the fun part.

You need to enjoy it.

Good job. Good job.

How is the shepherd's pie?

-They're good.

-Ooh.

-Are we good to go?

-Yes, Chef.

Thanks, Andi.

Today's main course is Nanny Pickles' lamb and greens,

which is a loin of lamb with spring greens,

pea puree and a shepherd's pie.

-You know what I'm going to ask you, don't you?

-Who's Nanny Pickles?

-Who's Nanny Pickles?

-It's my nan.

When I was younger, I always used to go to her house,

she would ask what I would like,

and it was always lamb and runner beans.

Thank you.

I do think that it's a bit of a mismatch.

This is a lovely spring, light...

light-looking plateful,

and then there's this big, autumnal, very rich-looking thing.

You know, I think we need to eat them together to see how it's

-going to work.

-Shall we?

Let's do it.

All right. Doesn't work together.

I mean, there's lots of good cooking.

That lovely, sweet pea puree.

The vegetables have really got crunch.

The lamb is well cooked, but the problem comes with

the fact that the shepherd's pie just doesn't match with it at all.

I mean, it's like serving a self-saucing chocolate fondant

with, you know, a treacle tart.

Get rid of the lamb loin,

and replace it with the shepherd's pie,

or vice versa, but both...

You know, it's a waste of time, doing that separate dish.

The shepherd's pie is not needed,

but yet it's so good.

That's such a shame, because this is supposed to be the side dish,

yet that is better than the main plate itself.

Oh, dear.

The honey and vanilla parfait, strawberries and crumble

has me worrying about the two extremes.

On the one hand, it could be exactly as written,

which is a little bit dull.

On the other hand, it could be textures of honey and vanilla

and strawberry and crumble, and shoot me be now.

'With a parfait, you've got to get it set exactly right,'

and bring it to us in peak condition, or don't bother.

It's looking quite good.

I'm quite pleased that it's set.

-Is that the last thing to go on that?

-Yes, Chef.

-Are you happy?

-Yeah.

It's good.

Thank you.

For dessert, we have a honey and vanilla parfait

with strawberries and crumble.

-Thank you.

-Thanks.

The parfait is well made, and he has the strawberries,

and he's sort of made a crumble-like thing,

but none of that makes excuses for just the lack of ideas.

I actually like that honey parfait a lot,

but what it needs with it is something dark and toffee-ish,

and caramel-y,

and these strawberries are just flabby and nothing.

It's dull, and I know it's picky,

cos if I cooked this at home, there would be dancing

-in the streets of Plumpton...

-TRACEY CHUCKLES

..but on this show, what can one say?

You know, snooze-erama.

I think Andi's done a safe dessert here,

but the balance of the flavours,

which was what we want to see, is what makes it work.

It's not a bad dish, but it's not a great dish.

HE SIGHS

'It was tough.'

The timeframe is so, so tough,

to get everything absolutely bang on, exactly how you want it.

Erm...

Overall, I'm relatively happy.

'If I had the energy, I'd probably smile.'

Mark, you have three minutes left.

-Yeah, thank you.

-What's left to do?

Just blanch the sea veg,

grill the cod,

and then that's it. I'm good to go.

Well, having said I didn't want to see someone turning up

with their foraging basket,

we have inevitably got some sea vegetables with Mark's main course,

but I do like the sound of it.

Hazelnut cod, with some lovely, slippery, dark onion puree,

clams and sea vegetables. Well, it all makes sense.

It all sounds like it could work well together.

-Sort of try and enjoy this bit, Mark, if you can?

-Yeah.

I know that's easy for us to say.

'The problem with this kind of cookery is...'

it's not enough to just corral a bunch of ingredients on a plate.

You've got to be really good at it.

Good job.

-Nearly there?

-Nearly there.

-Good job.

-Yeah. He did very well.

-Hi there.

-Hi.

Thank you very much.

OK, guys, so we've got a herb-crusted cod,

caramelised onion puree,

with clams and roasted Roscoff onions,

and some wilted sea veg.

And what's your foam?

It's cockle foam. Thank you.

Mark has delivered us a stunning plate of food here.

Wow.

That fish is cooked to perfection.

The clam vinaigrette is divine.

The nut crust, phew...

If those critics don't like that, Monica,

then both you and I should just give up,

cos that is good. Brilliant.

Wow. I think this is extraordinarily good.

The fish is perfectly cooked,

and that hazelnut crust is amazing.

It's inspired, the texture it gives to it.

What's clever about it is it's all supporting the fish,

like the fish is totally the star of the show,

but there's loads of other tastes going on.

But what really makes it sing is the use of acidity.

It just points everything up,

like little splashes of colour on an Impressionist painting.

That's me saying I like it.

It almost doesn't need that cheesy crust,

because there's lots of powerful flavours going...

-I'll have yours, then.

-You can have it.

I mean, it's good, but the dish doesn't need it.

Mmm.

-It's one of those "Are we going to clear the plate?" moments.

-Mmm.

Mark's dessert is dark chocolate marquise,

creme fraiche sorbet, pickled cherries and caramel tuile.

That combination of cherries and dark chocolate calls to mind,

inevitably, the Black Forest gateau, doesn't it?

Mark, it's looking good. Are you happy with it?

I am, yeah. Chuffed, yeah.

-All right, cos we've got to get a bit of a move on, OK?

-Yes, Chef.

The little USP, the thing that's making you think

it's original, is the pickled cherries.

They'd better be really, really good pickled cherries.

How's the sorbet, Mark?

Yeah, it's not right. It's not set.

-Are you going to use it?

-I might try and use the top.

-The top?

-Yeah.

There's no point trying to make a quenelle out of that,

-you might as well just put it in.

-Yes, Chef.

-Nice, rustic sorbet.

-Just the way I wanted it.

-Exactly.

That's it.

Thank you.

Thank you.

We've got a dark chocolate marquise with a chocolate glaze,

pickled cherries, caramel tuile, and a creme fraiche sorbet.

Thank you very much.

Mmm.

It's really nice, isn't it?

I love it when this sort of thing happens on this show -

a sensational first course,

and now this dessert, which is, I think, perfect in every way.

He's coaxed a real depth of chocolaty flavour

out of that chocolate mousse,

but kept it just on the right side of being overwhelming.

The pickling of the cherries is interesting.

It just gives a little acidity to what otherwise could be

a cloying plateful. It's very clever.

The lovely, softness of his sorbet,

the sugar tuile... I mean, it's amazing.

This is great food and this is what this competition is about.

The marquise is delicious. It's so rich and velvety.

The cherries, that have been very gently pickled...

It goes without saying that they go together.

This is a fantastic pudding.

Mark's had a good day in the kitchen today.

He ought to hold his head up high.

HE SIGHS

'Yeah, I feel relieved that I've actually done it.'

I've actually got the food that I wanted to produce up on the plate.

I don't know what they've said,

so I'm not going to be overly happy,

but, yeah, I'm confident in what I've done today.

There is one thing very clear -

there's never an easy round in MasterChef.

Wow, that was tough.

I think, straight off, there's one chef that stood out today,

and that was Mark.

That cod dish was sensational.

You and I loved it, and the critics loved it too.

His dessert was the marquise -

this was a delicious dessert.

We're in absolute agreement.

Mark sails through to Knockout Week.

Nick is one of our star cooks.

He's done so well in the competition.

Today was a different day for Nick.

The critics really did enjoy Nick's popcorn cake,

which was quite clever.

The main course, the fish,

they didn't think quite came together, but they can see

some great potential in this chef,

which is what I'm really happy about,

-because we can see great potential in Nick.

-Yeah.

For me, I mean, yeah, in my eyes, it wasn't, it wasn't...

It wasn't as I wanted it,

'so to make myself 100% happy again, want to stay in'

and I want to prove to them that, yeah, I can do better than that.

Well, that leaves us Sam and Andi.

Sam, oh, not a great day.

The lamb that was just sort of pushed to the limit

and bleeding all over the plate -

the courgette flower in the deep-fat fryer. Such a shame.

I didn't think it could get any worse, but then we got his dessert.

Got to keep your fingers crossed and hope for the best

and I know there's something inside of us,

you know, and I hope they see it in us.

Andi told us a story about his cooking,

and it was about Nanny Pickles,

and the memories of the food that he knew.

However, I don't think the cooking quite lived up to the story.

There is definitely, without a doubt, potential there.

The question is, can he deal with what's coming next?

Is he the chef we should take through to the next round?

'It's like an emotional, draining experience, but there's'

nothing more that I want than to go through to the next stage.

We'll just have to see.

-Phew, well, Marcus, we've got to make a decision.

-Mm-hm.

Who deserves to go through to Knockout Week?

Who can deal with the pressure that's coming around the corner?

I think I know who.

Chefs, you should be proud of yourselves.

You've got this far. You've set the bar very, very high.

Unfortunately,

we can only take three of you through to Knockout Week.

The chef that is leaving us is...

..Sam.

Thank you.

-Best of luck.

-Thank you.

-Thanks, Sam.

'Yeah, just disappointed.'

I mean, I was expecting it. I had a horrendous round.

'But I'm going to hold my head up high, you know?

'I've got to cook for the critics,

'and there's not a lot of people who have done that.'

And I'm still really young and eager to do really well.

Guys, you are now through to Knockout Week.

'Yeah, today was the toughest so far.'

It was the most I've sweated in a kitchen for a long time.

'But I'm absolutely ecstatic.'

I mean, a place in the Knockout Week is just unreal.

'I mean, to even get this far is brilliant.'

I'm just, yeah, I'm buzzing, absolutely.

'Oh, I'm just over the moon,'

and, if I could just take this excitement and what I did with me,

then, yeah, the only way is up, really.

Next week,

another six professionals fight for a place in the quarterfinal.

It's all happening, isn't it?

I think it's a delightful eating dish.

Absolutely stunning.