MasterChef – Recap & Review – Top 15 Compete

photo: fox

MasterChef
Top 15 Compete

Original Air Date: Jun 27, 2011

JD – Sr. Staff Writer
jd@thetwocentscorp.com

So we were taunted with a shocking elimination in the commercials over and over, and got dramatic clips of the judges tearing the cooks new ones. For sure, this was one of the most disastrous elimination challenges in the show, but I wasn’t really all that shocked. Maybe I missed something.

Anyway, the cooks took on rack of lamb this week, and coffee desserts. In my experience, you’re either a dessert person (as far as being able to make them), or you’re not. It doesn’t seem like many of our current cooks are. Read on for the tale(s) of woe. Okay, and some really good looking stuff too.

Mystery Box Challenge:

So we all know the drill, right? Surprise ingredients, one hour to cook, only three (out of fifteen) dishes tasted, and the winner gets an advantage going into round two. What did the mystery box contain this week? Rack of lamb, peaches, romanesco cauliflower, fava beans, feta cheese, white rice, Thai chili peppers, tarragon, creme fraiche, pie crust, heavy cream, and eggs. Cauliflower pie, anyone?

Ah, no.

The cooks all dash off to get started, and fifteen minutes in, it looks like everyone is making lamb lollipops. Sounds awfully cute when you call them that, but it’s just lamb on the bone, so… Anyway, the first major concern of the judges is Derrick, who’s ground his lamb. Graham compares it to taking a Bentley and crashing it into a wall. Alejandra is leaving her rack whole, but she puts it in the oven with what Graham worries is too much time left.

Suzy opts not to use her lamb at all, and starts on a cauliflower and spiced rice dish. Okay, now in the last challenge, I would have liked to see someone try to make a dish without the salmon, but it should be a crime to turn your nose up at a good piece of lamb. Just saying. Meanwhile, Graham asks Jennifer if she’s using her whole rack, even though she already has nice “lollipops” cooked up, and she decided to throw it in the pan too.

When the dust clears after the last frantic rush, Jennifer is immediately put on the spot as the worst dish. Her rack is raw, and honestly, even if it had been cooked through, it didn’t look good. Joe tears into her for a few minutes, telling her that he would send her home right then if it was just his call, then we move on to who made the best three dishes…

Alejandra, who made a curried rack of lamb with peach chutney – Gordon said she made four dishes instead of one, as every element on the place could stand for itself. Or in Joe’s words, as he pointed his fork at each thing on her plate, “You nailed it, you nailed it, you nailed it, you nailed it.”

Adrien, who made a “farmer’s market lamb” – Joe said it was like fireworks on his palate. Gordon said he had thought Adrien was disappearing in the competition, but this dish was remarkable.

Tracy, who made sweet and salty lamb and feta – Graham said the feta part of her dish could have stood alone as it’s one dish, and the lamb was beautiful. Joe called the feta and lamb a winning combination.

Who wins the round? Adrien. I have to admit being surprised, as I really thought Alejandra’s looked the best, but Gordon won’t return my calls about judging with them.

Coffee Challenge:

So Adrien gets to pick the main ingredient in the next challenge, but there is a twist. He gets to pick one ingredient for himself, and another for everyone else. The theme of the challenge is dessert, and he gets his pick of coffee, pineapple, and nuts. He picks the nuts for himself (prompting Gordon to ask the other cooks if anyone was jealous of Adrien’s nuts), and coffee for everyone else.

Alvin is so happy that he wants to hug Adrien. Esther is not so enthused. Apparently all she ever cooks dessert-wise at home is cookies. She decides to try a coffee cheesecake, while Tracy sets off making a flour-less cake. Joe gives Alvin a hard time about wanting to do “coffee spears” inside beignets, but Graham thinks Alvin can convert Joe to molecular gastronomy.

Max decides to make a layer cake with crepes, and the first thing I think is “but aren’t crepes a little chewy?” While he’s thinking he’s going to be a top competitor, Christine is worried because her tarts look like soup. I… don’t even know how she did that, actually. With six minutes left, she panics and does the only thing she can think to do, a coffee mousse.

Time runs out, and Adrien is up first with his chocolate torte, and his advantage bites him in the butt. Graham said the nuts only seemed like a garnish, and Joe was confused by Adrien having used every nut he was given. He said Adrien squandered his advantage.

Oops.

Moving on. Surprisingly, Christine was praised for pulling off something that tasted “nice” in the last minute. Max, on the other hand, is convinced the judges will think his dish is genius, but winds up getting told by Gordon that it’s like a skin graft of his a** dipped in caramel. I’m not sure I even want to know where he came up with that.

Alejandra and Jennie both wind up serving uncooked dishes….and the judges lay the smack down on the cooks, getting lots of crazy pained faces from Ben (seriously, I can never tell whether I should laugh or not when they show his reactions!). Fortunately the next dish brings it back around, and Tracy’s flour-less cake is declared delicious. Gordon said it was the sort of thing he wanted to see on his menu. Yay, the string of bad dishes is broken!

Who won the challenge? Tracy… and Esther. I can’t help but think Esther just got lucky with her cheesecake.

What three dishes went on the chopping block?

Jennie – Joe interrupted her description of what it was to ask if it was supposed to look like it did. Gordon spit it out into a napkin, and called it an embarrassment.

Alvin, who made coffee filled beignets with chicory coffee pudding – Gordon said the filling was like a “coffee blot clot”. Disgusting image aside, when he picked a dollop up on his fingertip, it looked like used motor oil. Graham said the dish gave what he did a bad name, and even with the cool technique, it was just bad food.

Max – Joe said the dish was poor in it’s conception, rancid in flavor, and one of the worst things he’d ever tasted. Yeah, and this was after Gordon called it butt skin.

Who went home? Alvin.

After all the talk about such a “shocking” elimination, I was really expecting it to be Max. Alvin is clearly talented, and it seemed like half the people in the room started crying over his departure. Suzy even said she thought he would make the top five, but I don’t really think he got a large share of the camera time, though, so I didn’t feel too attached. I would have been more shocked if it was Max…

Well, not shocked, since his dish (and Alvin’s) seemed disgusting, but you know what I mean. And Max dismissing Alvin by saying at least his dish was a “true dish” that didn’t have “chemicals and wizardry” was annoying. What a sore loser. But wasn’t it great how convinced he was that he was amazing, and then turned kind of pink at the judging?

Anyway, I really wish we could have seen more of Alvin, even if I’m not overly upset. Oh, and best line of the night? When Alejandra said she mixed instant coffee with whipped cream, Joe’s response was, “that is like so ghetto delicious, it’s awesome”.

Ghetto delicious. Bask in it.

What did you guys think? Give me your two cents!

If you’d like to follow JD’s TV stories from TTC and beyond, you can follow her on Twitter at @JDeckerTV.