MasterChef Aus S12E53 – Recap

It’s the Immunity Challenge, with the winner getting into the top five, and avoiding elimination on Sunday.

Poh, Reynold and Laura and fighting in a sea of cloches.

The contestants walk in to find the judges excited to tell them about today’s twist

Andy tells them that once in the top five, they have a 20% chance of winning, compared to when they first started this season with a 4% chance.

Under each cloche is an ingredient. They will take it in turns to pick only two of the secret ingredients. Andy calls it the best ever lucky dip.

But if they’re not happy with one of their ingredients, they can pick another. They have to declare which one they’re giving up first, and then choose the replacement. Whatever they get is that.
They need to make a sweet and savoury dish. They only have to use one of the two ingredients in each dish.

Mel tells Reynold to pick first. He starts to meander down the aisles with Mel close behind. She opens the lid to reveal madeira.
He starts wandering around again and picks one that Poh wanted. It’s fennel. Reynold decides he’s going to change the fennel.
He picks another one, further down the aisle. It’s dates. Reynold hates cooking with dates, he’s not happy, and he would have preferred the fennel.

Next up is Laura, with Andy following her around. She does a spin and chooses one. Andy lifts the cloche. It’s red miso.
Next, she has another wander around, looking for a good vibe. It’s vanilla.
Laura decides to keep her red miso and vanilla.

Finally, it’s Poh. She starts with a wander, Jock telling her there’s truffles around her. She chooses one. It’s bergamot.
She does not care for this at all.

She will be swapping it out.
Her second ingredient, after having a sniff around the cloches, is ruby grapefruit. She also does not like it, and is sick of the citrus.
She keeps the grapefruit and kicks the bergamot out.
It’s time for her third choice, and meanders around again, willing positive vibes. She gets olives.
Again, she’s a bit shook, a very dramatic facial expression.
“They’re both really ok,” she says.

So Reynold has dates and medira, Laura has vanilla and red miso, and Poh has olives and ruby grapefruit.

They have 90 minutes to cook a sweet dish and a savoury dish, featuring a highlighted ingredient in each.

I start to watch the cooking a bit, but I got too bored, so time ended quickly for me!

---

First to taste is Poh. Her savoury dish is Olive Ragù Gnocchi with Brodo and Chilli Oil, and her sweet dish is Chocolate Hazelnut Pastry with Mascarpone Yoghurt and Fresh Grapefruit.

The judges first comment on how big the stuffed gnocchi’s are.

Andy is first to talk about how great the savoury dish is, and how much olives were in there. Jock says he can taste the olives, which is good. The broth was the best, which Mel agreed with. However the gnocchi itself wasn’t the greatest and could have been done differently.

For the sweet, Andy says the grapefruit was there, but they all agreed it was just a 20 minute dish for when you have an unexpected guest come over. Immunity worthy? Hmm…

Next is Laura. Her savoury is Red Miso Pork with Turnips and Turnip Emulsion. Her sweet is a Sfogliatella Cannoli with Vanilla Custard and Brown Bread Crumble.

They enjoy the pork, it’s well done, and the red miso is there, which is good.
For the sweet, however, they couldn’t guess that vanilla was an ingredient.

Finally, it’s Reynold. He’s serving Shiitake Mashrooms with Date Purée and Brown Butter Potato Foam. For his dessert, Reynold is serving Chocolate Brownie with Madeira Gelato and Madeira Veil.

Jock is disappointed that Reynold didn’t end up using quail in his savoury dish, because he was looking forward to it, but Reynold said he overcooked the quail. He felt it wouldn’t have particularly helped the dish any by having quail.

Mel called the dish rich and delicious, but couldn’t have helped but feel a bit of quail would have been nice. They all agree that some quail would have added to the dish and he shouldn’t have overcooked it.

It’s dessert time, and it is very Madeira, which the judges are very happy about. The contrast of flavours is wonderful and pretty well perfect. The veil was amazing and reinforced the flavour.

But who’s dish will reign supreme?

---

Mel recaps what they just did and the stakes of the cook.

Andy kicks off some feedback, knocking Poh out of the running.
He tells Reynold that it was great but needed quail. He tells Laura that it was great, but couldn’t taste the vanilla.

It’s Reynold! He’s the first into the top five, and safe from Sunday elimination.

Jock tells them to be nice and make a cup of tea, and sends them on their way.

---

As usual, this recap was written as I watched the episode, so there will be spelling and grammar mistakes.

You can read last years recaps here, catch up on this season here, and watch this season over here, at shvideos.net.

If you have a Hot Tip or want to suggest a show for recaps, tweet me, leave a comment, let me know what’s good on Facebook, or head over to my contact page and send me a message. Alternatively, find a blade of grass that looks trust worthy. Get to know it. Is it trust worthy? Tell a trustworthy blade of grass the tip, and I’ll include it in the next recap.

Enjoy my recaps? It may surprise you, seeing as I sprinkle in some ads, and I have my own URL, but I don’t get paid to do any of my writing and I’ve never made any money from writing.
If you’d like to support me, consider buying me a coffee and I’ll love you forever, and give you a shout out in my next recap, if you’d like.