by Todd Betzold

 

The final four homecooks on MasterChef will pair up tonight and cook a meal for some of the most well-known chefs in the industry, who are there to judge them along with our regular judges: Chef Ramsay, Graham Elliot and Joe Bastianich. The losing team will face-off in the Pressure Test and the losing homecook will be sent home!

 

The four homecooks come in and find out their next challenge, which will be right in the MasterChef Kitchen and they will be cooking a three-course meal for six people tonight, three of course being the MasterChef judges, and the guest judges are world-known chefs: Chef Guy Savoy, Chef Daniel Boulud and Chef Alain Ducasse. The homecooks will be split into teams of two and since Christine won the challenge last week, she gets to pick her teammate. The losing team tonight will cook in a head-to-head Pressure Test. Christine chooses Becky, so guys (Blue Team) against girls (Red Team) again.

 

The teams have 90 minutes to serve their appetizers and then another 30 minutes to serve their entrée and then another 30 minutes to serve their dessert. The ladies will be doing an Asian-themed menu tonight. Josh has some animosity against frank, due to Frank saving himself for the Pressure Test when he said Josh deserved it. They might not work well together tonight. Graham said if Frank and Josh can pull off the lamb dish, that will be the star tonight. The judges said Christine and Becky have a very well-balanced menu, but the guys have more impressive menu.

 

The VIP judges arrive and big hoo-rah is made for their arrival and they just go straight to the dining room. The teams must put up six plates for each dish they created, so this is some intense stuff. The time runs out on the apps and it is time for the judges to taste them. For the Red Team, they made Thai Seafood Soup with Daikon and Micro Herbs. Chef Boulud said he likes a delicate dish like that. Chef Savoy said it needed seasoning. For the Blue Team, they made Spring Vegetable Terrine with Spot Prawn Mousse and Pea Puree. Chef Ducasse said it is small. Chef Boulud said it was limited in the flavor, but good texture. Chef Savoy said it was too dense. The judges overall thought the Red Team's was better.

 

For the entrees, Becky is rushing to cut all the duck. Josh forgot the yogurt and had to rush to get it finished. Becky was rushing to get the rice cakes on all the plates and ran out of time, so all the plates didn't get a rice cake. For the Red Team, they made Duck Breast with Crispy Bamboo Rice, Chinese Broccoli and Daikon. Chef Savoy said the rice is too crispy and too sweet. Graham Elliot said it was not a good seasoning, but good idea. For the Blue Team, they made Stuffed Lamb Saddle with Couscous and Roasted Vegetables. Chef Savoy said the lamb is perfect. Chef Ramsay said hands-down it was the Blue Team.

 

For the dessert, both teams struggled to get their dishes completed in time. The Blue Team made it look like each plate was different, which may hurt them. For the Red Team, they made Coconut Verrine with Coconut Cake, Tropical Fruit and Guava Coulis. Chef Savoy said he can see all the layers. Chef Ramsay likes the acidity with the desserts. For the Blue Team, they made White Chocolate Mousse with Roasted Strawberries and Rhubarb. They all talked about the differences in the plating. Chef Ducasse does not like the mousse. Joe said it is kind of explosive if you can manage to put it all together in one bite.

 

The judges get a chance to ask the homecooks some questions before deciding on a winner. As they ask questions, they love the Red Team's appetizers and Blue Team's entrée. So, it is down to the dessert. It looks like the Red Team will win, but who knows. Chef Savoy delivers the winning results, which is the Red Team! Christine wins and will be in the final three!!!! That means Josh and Frank will go head-to-head in the Pressure Test.

 

Time for the Pressure Test and the ladies head up to the gallery to watch and they will watch the guys make a White Cheddar Cheese Soufflé. But Joe said that is not enough. He is not in the mood for a cheese soufflé and he wants a Raspberry Soufflé. Graham wants a Chocolate Soufflé, so Josh and Frank have one hour to make three perfect soufflés. They are each given the same ingredients to make them. The judges say Josh may have an upper hand because he has been in the Pressure Test four times now and Frank might not know the pressure of it.

 

Josh has made some great desserts in the past and desserts aren't a specialty for Frank, but who knows. Josh adds some whole raspberries to the soufflé, which is out of the norm and Joe said that could hurt him. Josh is always doing out-of-the-box things, so we shall see. Josh gets his soufflés in late and they could not get done in time and raw, but Frank seems to be taking the pressure of the test very well.

 

They both have all their soufflés in the oven, so now it is just a waiting game. The time runs out and it is time to serve. First up is the cheese soufflé, Chef Ramsay tastes them both and says nothing. They were both happy with their soufflés. Graham tastes the chocolate soufflé and Frank said Josh's chocolate soufflé looks amazing and will come down to the flavor on that one. Joe tastes the Raspberry Soufflé and Josh's looks really good, but no response from Joe. The judges ask some questions and then go back and discuss.

 

The judges come back and said they both presented three stunning soufflés. For the cheese soufflé, the best one goes to Frank. For the raspberry soufflé, the winning soufflé was kind of technically perfect and it belongs to Josh (of course). So, here we are...1 to 1 and it is all down to the chocolate soufflé. For the chocolate soufflé, Graham said one stood out a little bit more than the other and that soufflé belonged to Josh, so Frank is going home (SHOCKED)! I thought Frank was winning the whole thing, that is for sure.

 

MasterChef airs on Tuesdays at 9/8c on FOX.

 

(Image courtesy of FOX)

 

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