MasterChef has some interesting characters this year. While I’m not exactly happy with Tosi as a judge for the show, she does bring an interesting perspective to the judging team. Can she loosen up as these home chefs work with crab? Should we be worried? And we’re off on another edition of MasterChef.
The Crab Challenge
The chefs get off to a fast start with crab almost before the intro finishes. Ramsay is surprised how good the set smells. He can smell Cajun spices which he likes. I honestly like Ramsay better on MasterChefs than on Hell’s Kitchen! As the last few seconds tick down, the dishes are complete and the judges are ready.
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Ramsay tells the chefs that they will judge the best three dishes of the night. The first dish belongs to Amanda and is a crab wrap with salsa. The judges love it. Next up is Olivia who has a eggs Benedict style with crab. She’s told to be more confident. The final contestant to be chosen is Louisiana boy, Jesse. He has done a soup and wins the competition hands down. Even before the announcement, Ramsay tells him he can cook! That’s quite a compliment coming from Gordon Ramsay!
Jesse gets a key advantage in naming someone to leave. He chooses Stephen but Stephen isn’t leaving. Jesse will not be cooking in the second challenge. The ingredient is something of beauty from Mother Nature. As the ingredient is shown to the judges and Jesse, all are impressed. They do not show the home chefs, but tell them that the ingredient will be waiting for then in the pantry. With no one safe but Jesse, this could get interesting. Jesse’s next job is to assign who will be cooking what. The first two baskets, which go to Derrick and Veronica, are for a sweet dish. After Stephen demands (and gets) the savory basket, Tommy gets a sweet basket. What scheme is Jesse using in assigning the dishes? Jesse shares that he thinks the ingredient will be hard for a sweet dish. He is giving those baskets to the weaker chefs.
The Elimination Challenge
The chefs enter the pantry to find that the mystery ingredient is corn. There is not only fresh corn but candy corn and corn pops. Now why is there candy corn to choose from? Oh well, the chefs have to make the best dish they can. Elliott tells the chefs that they will also have access to a limited pantry. It’s a sweet corn or savory corn dish. Tosi tells us that dessert is not how the mind goes when chefs see corn.
The judges move out to observe the dishes. Justin draws both Elliott and Tosi’s attention because he has chosen to use the candy corn. They both taste the dish and have issues, but Justin refuses to back down. I think we have found our first bad dish of the night. At least they did warn him about using the candy corn instead of the real ingredient!
Stephen’s dish is first and he’s done a take on a corn tamale. Jesse is laughing as Stephen describes the dish. Ramsay sees it as his best effort. Elliot loves it and likes the four different techniques that Stephen has used on the corn. I think it is obvious that Stephen is safe even if Jesse declared him as the loser.
As the judges choose the MasterChef’s dishes they want to taste, some are surprises. The dishes that don’t impress the judges belong to Veronica with her corn cream brulee, Charlie with a shrimp and grits dish, and Justin’s candy corn dish. I’m a little surprised that Veronica was in the bottom but it’s Charlie’s dish that makes Ramsay get bleeped by the censors. The best dishes belong to Shelly and Stephen and they are safe and made the team captains for the next challenge. Tommy and Claudia’s dishes also pass the judges taste challenge and they are safe.
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The Elimination
The three chefs with the worse dishes are called forward. Charlie is quickly sent back to his station. This leaves the oldest chef, Veronica, and the youngest chef, Justin, to learn their fate. Jesse is consulted and chooses Justin’s dish as the worst because he didn’t use the natural ingredient. Ramsay agrees and sends the 18-year-old home. Justin tells us he plans to finish high school, go to college, and become a chef.
Next Time on MasterChef
It’s a high stake challenge for entertainers. Lobsters seems to be on the star on the menu. Pressure mounts on the home chefs but who can take the stress. Ramsay does threaten to throw someone in the pool and he doesn’t look happy. It may be an exciting episode of MasterChef!
MasterChef airs on Wednesdays at 8pm on FOX
(Image courtesy of FOX)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
