MasterChef Australia (2009–…): Season 14, Episode 51 - Episode #14.51 - full transcript

ANNOUNCER: Previously,
on MasterChef Australia...

Please welcome Hugh Allen!

(APPLAUSE)

..Hugh's secret ingredients...

JULIE: Oh, God.

DANIEL: Oh, stop it, Mindy!

MINDY: We are firing up today!

..set the stage...

Today's the day to push.

..for an exciting elimination.

They made some incredible
showstoppers...



JOCK: The feature ingredient
didn't just sing, it serenaded us.

..but in round two...

..Julie played her pin...

My heart is hurting because one
of my friends is gonna go home.

..and it was Aldo
who had to say farewell.

ALDO: I take the best part
of all this competition,

which is the love
and the friendship for life.

Tonight, they'll be tickled pink...

BILLIE: These ingredients are fun.

Like, really fun.

..with a mystery box of wonder.

# 'Cause you're hot,
then you're cold

# You're yes, then you're no

# You're in, then you're out



# You're up, then you're down

# You're wrong when it's right

# It's black and it's white

# We fight, we break up

# We kiss, we make up

# You're hot, then you're cold

# You're yes, then you're no

# You're in, then you're out

# You're up, then you're down. #

MINDY: Here we are.
JULIE: Here we go again.

Here we go.
Morning.

ALVIN: Shall we open the doors?
Yes.

Find out what's on the other side.
Yes.

(ALL EXCLAIM)
Here we are!

Oh, my God.

ANDY: Come on in, guys!
Find a party box!

Get your party box.

Why is it dark?
Party box?

A party box?
It's a disco box.

That's a bit of fun, isn't it?
Hey? It's mystery box day

but not as you guys know it.

Sarah!

Top seven, how does that feel?

It feels incredible.

I walked into the kitchen
at the start of this season

and didn't except to get
to this point, so...

Yeah, I can't believe it.
Pinching myself.

You must be pretty stoked

because you've smashed it out of the
park in terms of beating, you know,

where you were in your last season,
where you got to in your last season.

That's gotta feel great.
Oh, totally.

I think...
I set myself a couple of targets.

First was top 10, then to beat
my spot from last time

and then now, I just wanna get
to finals week. (CHUCKLES)

Julie.
Yes.

You're a party girl, aren't you?

I sure am.
Yeah?

You wanna bust a move?
(LAUGHS)

Nobody wants me to bust a move.
OK, OK.

Fair enough. Any ideas what's gonna
be under the box?

Uh, I'm hoping it's party food.

I love party food.
Party food? That's a good guess.

Mindy. What about you?

I'm all for a party so I can't wait
to see what's under the box.
Yeah, she is.

Got lots of colours going on,
flashing lights.

Feel like I'm at a disco
so let's bring it on.

Well...

..let's actually bring it on.

You can lift your lids...

..now.

(ALL EXCLAIM)

BILLIE: Fruit Loops?

Sprinkles? Wait, are they
sprinkles?!

(LAUGHS) Oh, my god.

Cool.

A little bit of colour
for your Monday.

This is the rainbow box.
(CHUCKLES)

All the ingredients you see before
you have one thing in common -

they're very colourful.

We have...

..some beautiful painted crayfish.

Scampi caviar.

Fruit Loops.

(CHUCKLES) Dragon fruit.

Multicoloured corn.

Fennel, mukhwas.

Flowering pineapple sage.

Rainbow chard

and some turmeric.

Alright, you'll have 60 minutes
to cook us anything you like

but your dish must include
one of these colourful ingredients.

Because it's a mystery box,

the pantry and garden
are obviously closed

but you'll have
the under-bench staples.

Not to rain on your parade

but, today, the makers of the three
least impressive dishes

will go into tomorrow's pressure test
where one of you will go home.

Good luck, everybody.
Your 60 minutes starts...

..now.
(JUDGES CLAP)

MINDY: Oh, all these things
to think about.

(BILLIE LAUGHS)

60 minutes is no time!

Oops. (CHUCKLES)

ALVIN: Oh, God,
I'm SO gonna drop this.

I'm all about the rainbow...
(CHUCKLES)

..but this rainbow
needs to be good to me.

I'm making turmeric noodles
um, with crayfish and chard.

I've worked with crayfish
once or twice in my life.

Chard, I've worked with before.

And obviously, I've worked
with turmeric before so,

yeah, let's see if I can do this.

Oh, my God!

Like, I'm all about colour,
I'm all about rainbows,

but seriously,
these ingredients are mind-bending.

Like, that crayfish
is just screaming out at me

so I'm going to do a turmeric
and pepper crayfish.

Gonna throw it through some noodle
and create a really beautiful dish.

I'm gathering...there'll be
a fair few noodles today.

ANDY: You reckon noodles?
I reckon, like...

If I looked at the ingredients,

maybe make painted cray noodles
with turmeric in the noodles.

Maybe, like, ribbons of the chard

for ribbons of... Into the noodles,
you know?

I don't know, that would be maybe
where I'd go with it.

What would you do?

Today's tough
and I tell you why it's tough

'cause painted crayfishes
are not like a normal cray.

They don't have bags of flavour,

falls apart, but it's still
almost, like, rubbery a little bit.

Mm.
Do you know what I mean?

So you've gotta be really, really
careful when you cook it.

Um, you've got dragon fruit.

It's not known
for being massive in flavour.

No.
You know what I mean?

Chard. It's nice and colourful.
Yeah.

It just tastes
like any other normal green.

Erm, the pineapple sage, pretty cool.
Yeah.

It's a nice fragrant flavour.

The mukhwas.
Yeah, the mukhwas.

That's a flavour-full of jumble sale
going on here.

Coriander, of fennel of, uh...

Rosewater.
Rosewater, date. Sugar.

I dunno, it's tough.
Yeah.

This... It's gonna be hard for 'em.
Yeah.

But! Hey, these are...

Top seven.
..not just some of...

There are top seven.
Seven.

Top seven.
Top seven.

So they are gonna have to bring it
and they should be able to bring it.

Like, we're at the pointy end
right here.

You know, the three least impressive
dishes are going in...
Pressure test.

Yeah, going into a pressure test

so they've got everything
to play for today.

Um, I'm looking forward to some good,
colourful dishes, if nothing else.

Absolutely.
Let's go see what they're up to.

Daniel.
G'day, lads. How are we?

We're great. Sugar?
Yep.

Fruit Loops. You're going sweet?

Yeah, I'm going sweet again, yeah.
Whoo!

I'm doing, um,
like a play on fairy bread.

So I'm gonna do, like,
a boozy mille-feuille.

Wow!
Yeah.
OK.

So, I've got some rough-puff.

I'm gonna do a Fruit Loop
sort of creme pat inside.
Yep.

I'm gonna use the candied fennel
here.

That's gonna be in the caramel
so it's gonna be a spiced caramel.

That's gonna be the body of it.

So it's... Yeah, mad play on...

Wow.
..fairy bread, obviously...

I saw those and...
What made you think of this?!

These.

Never seen 'em before but they look
like hundreds and thousands and...

Like, it's a party... You know?
What's a party without fairy bread?

(ALL LAUGH)

We know you're good at rough-puff.
(CHUCKLES) Yeah.

We know you can do it and in time.

I think the construction of this...
Yes!

Cooling the creme pat down,
making sure...

Yeah, yeah.
..it's not a mud slide.

You know what I mean?
Yeah.

That's the trick.
Good luck.
Thanks, guys, cheers.

Whoo! The boat's getting pushed out
by big Daniel!

(BOTH LAUGH)

Today really is, for me,
a race against the clock.

Like, I think I've got
a great concept,

I know I can do the puff and that,
no worries.

It's about getting both the caramel
and the creme diplomat done

and chilled in time

so that it's cold enough
so that I can assemble.

(EXHALES) OK.

Alrighty. Play on.

So, top seven.

After yesterday's
elimination challenge,

I no longer have a safety net
of an immunity pin.

And I know from memory

that things just tend to get
a little bit harder as we go along.

Mate, 60 minutes for a mystery box
is...hard enough,

but with these ingredients...

Yeah. This is, like, extra added fun.

This is one of the trickier
mystery boxes I think I've ever seen.

There are some
left-of-field ingredients.

Things I've never cooked with before,
things I don't know how to prepare.

Unfamiliar things.

It's a bit bitter to be honest.

So...I'm going to use
the crayfish today.

I just think that's the main hero
ingredient under this box.

And I'm gonna work the turmeric
and the rainbow chard into that.

Today, I'm gonna make
a cold crayfish salad.

The crayfish itself, I'm just gonna
shuck out of its shell

and then, um, saute in turmeric
and ghee.

I didn't know this existed
but it's beautiful to look at!

It's so exotic to look at.

I've absolutely got my work
cut out for me today.

I'm gonna need to get the very best
I can out of each element

that I'm putting on this dish.

Colour our worlds with flavour,
45 minutes to go!

ANDY: Come on!

ALVIN: That's just great, isn't it?

BILLIE: These ingredients are fun.
Like, really fun.

Yeah, I'm pretty excited
about this one, it's pretty cool.

I had a pretty big day yesterday,
in the elimination with Aldo

and it was emotionally draining
and tiring, but...

..today's a new day.

BOTH: Billie!
Hi. Hello.

ANDY: That looks like choux.

It is choux. It is.
I'm doing, um...

..Fruit Loop choux.

So making a cereal milk creme pat...
OK.

..and the choux pastry, I've made the
craquelin with some of those as well,

to get the Fruit Loop flavour in.
Yep.

Um, so yeah, sort of sweet, salty,
um, little choux buns.

Have you made choux pastry
with Fruit Loops before?

No!
No.

Course not.
This is a first?

This IS a first but most mystery
boxes are firsts, I think.

Well, she set a very, very high bar
with choux.

How are these gonna be better
than cookies & cream choux?

I don't know if you can beat that.

That was so good.

Well...

That's the challenge.
That's the challenge.

I think the judges probably have
pretty high expectations

so I feel like I'm gonna have to...

..really amp up the flavour
in this dish to stand out today.

KEYMA: Um, I'm excited.

It's a fun one although I haven't
used many of the ingredients.

Just probably turmeric, that's it.

I love mystery boxes.

I just get to play with
new ingredients.

Many times, these ingredients,
I haven't seen before.

It's scary and exciting
at the same time.

I mean, scary because I don't know
what to do with them

but at the same time, it just
makes me think outside the box

and make awesome stuff -
sometimes, not so awesome.

(LAUGHS)

Keyma.
How are you?

Very good. You?
What's that?
Yeah, good.

This is the craquelin
for my choux buns.

Oh. You're doing choux as well?

Yes. I'm doing choux as well.
Double choux.

We've got a choux-off.
Choux-off.

OK, what's inside your choux?

So I'm gonna make a...
Socks.

(CHUCKLES) ..pineapple sage creme pat
with dragon fruit jam.

OK.

And I have, I don't know
what's this called,

this is the craquelin on top.

The mukhwas.
Mukhwas.

What?!
BOTH: Something.

Mukhwas!
Yeah.

Yeah, whatever.
OK, so you've never used it before.
Nup!

(LAUGHS)

What's in there?

So this is just...
Some of these.

The cookie crumb with some of these.
Yep.

Um...
Mukhwas.

So, it's a mukhwas craqeulin.
Mukhwas craquelin.

A plain-flavoured choux.
Yes.

And then the inside,
you're thinking about doing...

Pineapple sage creme pat.
..pineapple sage creme pat.

And dragon fruit jam.
And dragon fruit jam. OK.

Sounds very interesting.
It sounds like a solid idea.

(LAUGHS) Awesome! Like a solid idea.

I think this will all come down to
the flavour of the creme pat for me.

Yep.

Like, how are you gonna get maximum
flavour and the aroma

of the pineapple sage -
which can be really nice -

without the sort of tannic
astringent...

Yeah.
..ending that pineapple sage has.

Taste. Taste. Taste. Taste.
Thank you.

Today, I have Billie cooking
in front of me

and she's doing choux buns as well.

It makes me feel a bit nervous.

(SIGHS)

I mean, Billie,
she's the queen of pastries.

She does pastry seamlessly.

I'm just, like, "Keyma, you have to
stay focused and not mess it up!"

(LAUGHS)

JULIE: (CHUCKLES) Go, Dan.

(CHUCKLES) Oh.

BILLIE: Alright. So...

..need another thing.

So, after my chat with the judges,
I've realised

there are
some pretty high expectations

after my cookies & cream choux buns.

So I feel like I'm gonna have
to really amp up the flavour

of these choux buns.

I've eaten mukhwas before
but I haven't...

..I haven't cooked with them.

They're sugar-coated fennel seeds

and they look like
hundreds and thousands.

Making a praline paste from
the little fennel seed sprinkles

and then sort of emulsifying that
with some oil

and that will be the little paste
in the bottom of the choux.

They do have a strong flavour
so I think more than ever,

the balance will be key.

So...so, so much pressure today.

KEYMA: So I've piped my choux
pastries and I'm happy with them.

And now I need to put the mukhwas
craquelin on top to finish it off

before I put them in the ovens.

So, yeah, I'm really happy.

I'm just really hoping
to stand up against Billie.

180...

(TIMER BEEPS)

60 minutes for a mystery box
with such complicated ingredients

is...tough.

So, I'm gonna do crayfish two ways.

So, I've blanched the tail...

..I'm gonna use half of that
to do beautiful little medallions

and the other half to do
a Swiss chard-filled leaf.

I'm gonna do a little crayfish oil
to bring it all together on top.

These ingredients, although they look
reasonably familiar,

they are very different in taste
and flavour.

So the corn, I've just tried
and tastes nothing like sweet corn.

I mean, I've cooked crayfish a lot
but not specifically this variety.

My last lobster dish
was the one that I won,

which kind of makes me nervous,
there'll be certain expectations.

I think cooking a crayfish two ways

is a great move
to impress the judges.

And I think at this point
in the competition,

you're up against
really incredible cooks.

Every dish needs to be great.

Wow.

I need to push the boat out
and really put up amazing dishes.

If I can do that each challenge...

..then I'm one step closer
to that grand finale.

Nice. (CHUCKLES)

How you going, Keyma? Having a win?

It's looking good.
I just hope everything...

..is done on time. (CHUCKLES)

Yeah, same.
(LAUGHS)

So, rough-puff is done.

It's in the oven, cooking away.

That should be sweet.

I'm just steeping my spiced fennel
in some cream now

before I make a caramel.

Creme pat's pretty much
mixed together and everting,

it's just on the heat now
to thicken up.

Once that thickens up, strain,
cool down, blitz, fold and...

..should be it.

I think for me,
who I am as a dessert cook is,

like, is filthy desserts.

I don't think I'm gonna be the bloke
who does the plated desserts

with the parfait and the crumb
and that sort of thing.

I don't get ridiculously excited

about things like peanut butter
and bacon ice-cream.

And... (CHUCKLES)
..and a fairy mille-feuille.

Like, it's kiddish, you know,
and I am a big kid, really.

When you're in here, you sort of
draw inspiration from random spots.

Uh, for me, I loved the lights
and everything, lifted it up...

..see the hundreds and thousands

and it just sparks that bloody
kid-like imagination, doesn't it?

Right. About half an hour to go
in the cook,

I've got my noodles,
my egg noodles are resting.

My broth is on the go
with all those shells.

My cray's cooking in the oven.

I just wanna keep developing
the flavours at the moment

and just keep watching that clock.

Uh, feeling good. I'm just...

..doing all the elements

and then I'm going to pull apart
my crayfish in a second.

The crayfish needs to be done
properly because then otherwise,

I won't have a dish.

Hope you've got some bright ideas!

'Cause you've only
got 30 minutes to go.

MEL: Alvin.
Hi.

How are you going with that cray?
Not cray-cray yet. (LAUGHS)

Not cray-cray yet?
Well, that's good.

JULIE: Half an hour to go,
I've blanched my crayfish

and he's chilling.

I've pickled my chard stems and I've
chopped the leaves for the salad.

So the next thing I need to do is
the turmeric-flavoured mayonnaise.

Dried ground turmeric is
one of my favourite things to use.

I think it's beautiful.

It's got a sweetness to it,
it's got an earthiness to it

and it's got
a beautiful vibrant colour.

So I really want it to be the element

that's really driving this dish
today.

It's really gonna be the thing
that brings everything together.

So far, I'm happy
with how this is going

because I think my main
pressure point's gonna be

the cook on the crayfish.

So I just wanna make sure
I've got a nice, clear window of time

where I can really nurture that.

SARAH: So, I've blanched my crayfish

and now I'm creating a crayfish oil.

I'm gonna put a little bit
of the oil in my filling

but I also wanna finish
on the top of my dish.

BOTH: Sarah.
Hi.

ANDY: What's going on? You don't
look like you're loving life.

(LAUGHS) I'm doing, like,
the poo chute just as you walk up.

Ah, lovely. Right on time.
(LAUGHS)

Uh, what's the dish?
So, I'm doing crayfish two ways.

So, I'm gonna do
part of the crayfish medallions

and then a stuffed Swiss chard leaf
with a few flavourings inside.

You're doing two different...
Two different lobster things.

Yeah.
I mean, is that...

That means that you've got
two chances of it being good

or bad.
Raw? (LAUGHS)

No, but I mean...
No, I agree.

You're better off focusing
your energy on one of 'em.

Yep.
You want to stand out today.

You don't wanna be in the bottom
three - obviously.
No.

I am concerned that
if I drop the crayfish two ways,

then the dish might turn out
quite simple

and I'm worried that it won't be
interesting enough.

But on the other hand,

I have really opened myself up
to a lot of scrutiny

if I don't get both elements cooked
perfectly and finished in time. I...

..I just don't know what to do.

Oh, God! Argh!

Yep.
I mean, is that...

That means that you've got two
chances of it being good or bad.

Raw? (LAUGHS)
No, but I mean, you know,

you're better off focusing
your energy on one of them.

You don't wanna be
in the bottom three. Obviously.

No.

Jock's worried that I could be doing
too much with this crayfish.

Oh, God. Argh!

Now that I'm thinking about it,

it's two completely different
preparations of the crayfish

and one is hard enough.

I've seen in this competition
time and time again,

doing too many different elements
can trip you up.

I feel like maybe
I was doing too much

so instead of doing crayfish
two ways, I'm gonna stick to one.

So I'm thinking to just go down that
path of doing only the chard leaves.

OK, concentrate.

I wanna really push this dish

and create something that is
quite unique and an incredible dish.

DANIEL: The pressure point's
the creme pat.

It needs to cool right down to a
point where I can actually pipe it

so there's a bit to get done
in that regard.

I think I should be able to do it.

(EXHALES) I don't wanna be
in the bottom at all.

I wanna keep going. I wanna...

Got no interest in doing
a damn pressure test tomorrow,

that's for sure.

Yeah, I wanna give it a crack.

Whoo!

MEL: Alvin.
Mm-hm?

Um, question - how much do you not
wanna be in the bottom three?

It's a silly question, really,

I don't want to be
in the bottom three.

Do an interpretive dance of how much
you don't wanna be...

Am I covered in turmeric? Do I have,
like, turmeric in my teeth.

(LAUGHS)

Sar, what do you reckon
about this thick?

Or a little bit thinner?

What do you reckon?
Thinner. looks a bit thick.
Yep.

I'm going OK.
I've got lots of my elements done.

Most important thing to this dish
is obviously the flavour.

So, I've finished
with the turmeric mayonnaise

so now it's time
to start pan-frying the crayfish,

which is really the hero of my dish.

So I put the turmeric
onto the crayfish flesh

and a little bit of salt
to season it before I cook it.

When turmeric's cooked in a pan,

it goes the most gorgeous,
golden-brown colour,

so I really want that for this dish.

I cook these in the pan
for a scant minute or two.

I pour the ghee over the top
as it's cooking

so it's sort of cooking all around
evenly

and as soon as I can see
that it's just translucent,

I take it out of the pan.

Yeah, I'm happy with that cook
on the lobster, it's, um...

I am happy with that, yep.

I don't know
if it's 'cause it's top seven

or it's because
of these weird ingredients...

..but there's some tension
in the room today, I can feel it.

And I think it just is the fact
that there are so few of us

and that nearly half of us
are going into the pressure test.

Oh, it's gone missing!

We're all friends
so we all talk about it.

You know, there's nobody acting
as though they got this.

We all feel the pressure and the
weight of the position that we're in.

Hope all those crazy ideas
are starting to come together

'cause you've only got 15 minutes!

How you going, Dan?
Yeah, good.

Just got a lot to do.
Doing alright though. Going alright.

I pull my puff out of the oven...

(WHISTLES)

And I'm really happy with
the colour on it.

I've eaten enough pastry now

to know that I reckon that is going
to offset those other sweet elements

really well.

Yep. Sick.

So while my rough-puff is resting,
I start working on my caramel.

Oh, my goodness,
I'm bloody under the pump.

Oh!

Keep it movin'.

So, my choux buns are in the oven

and the pastry cream
is chilling in the fridge

and I'm working on this
mukhwas praline paste

that will also go inside the choux.

Praline tastes good.

It's got that nice strong
fennel flavour,

um, but also, the flavour
of caramel from the sugar.

I think the Fruit Loop flavour and
the mukhwas will go well together.

It's basically fennel and citrus

and that's, you know,
a great flavour combination.

So I'm feeling confident
with this one.

KEYMA: So, my choux buns
are in the oven

and my dragon fruit jam
is on the go as well.

Now I need to start working
with my creme pat.

Now we've got the creme pat.

So, the pineapple sage is simmering
into the milk for my creme pat,

for 20 minutes or so.

I was hoping for that flowery taste
to infuse into the milk.

But I'm tasting it
and it doesn't taste like anything.

It's...it's been...
I can't feel it at the moment.

I don't.
So I'm gonna add some more and...

(SIGHS)

That pineapple sage is not coming
through at all in my milk.

(MUTTERS)

I need to think about something else
to be able to pump up

some flavour into this.

The time is ticking.

So...the pineapple sage
is simmering into the milk

for my creme pat
for 20 minutes or so.

I was hoping for that flowery taste
to infuse into the milk.

(SIGHS)

But I'm tasting it
and it doesn't taste like anything.

I don't...

I need to think about something else
to be able to pump up some flavour

into this.

So I look into the box

and the only thing that comes to mind
is using the mukhwas again.

I have to be really careful
with the mukhwas.

It's a super strong flavour.

It's beautiful
but if you do it too much, it's...

It just takes over the whole palate.

I just couldn't taste
the pineapple sage

and I didn't have enough time
to continue steeping it

so it's gonna be mukhwas
and dragon fruit choux buns.

Don't paint yourselves into
a corner, five minutes to go!

Like that?
Loved it.

Painted cray.

Yeah, you save your best
for the end.

Oh, I kind of like that.

Uh, the cray is good. (CHUCKLES)

The cray is good.

Just seems like it's tender and juicy
and sweet so I'm quite happy with it.

(TIMER BEEPS)

Five minutes to go
and I am going to cook my pasta,

throw my lobster through
and I'm gonna plate up.

So far, so good.

It is coming together
but down to the wire again.

Thankfully, I've got
all my elements finished.

Need to move quicker.

I've got my crayfish filling,
which has been just roughly chopped.

Got my pickled corn, my,
uh, sauteed rainbow chard stems.

Little bit of the oil, the mustard
and stirring all of this together.

(LAUGHS)

It's tasty.

I'm rolling the filling up
in the leaves, folding in the sides

and trying to make it
as tight as possible

so they don't fall apart...

Oh, my gosh!

..and popping them onto the hibachi.

I just want them on long enough
to get a slight amount of char

because they're quite thin and I
don't want that crayfish to overcook.

Vine leaves are a little bit thinner,
I would say, than a Swiss chard,

but I really like the flavour of this
together, so I'm happy with it.

BILLIE: This one's gone pretty fast.

God, the time is flying in this cook

and I still need to assemble
these little choux buns.

So I'm taking the choux
out of the oven

and there's a...bit of smoke
that gets me in the face

and some of the edge ones
are a little bit burnt.

Argh!

Oh, so close!

But thank goodness,
there's a few in the middle

that have survived the heat so I'm
pretty...pretty relieved about that.

Oh, I left them in
for a little bit too long

but there's a few there
that are great, so I'm very lucky.

(CHUCKLES)

So, the creme pat's tasting good

but there's only a very, very mild
flavour of Fruit Loops

so I don't think I wanna call them
Fruit Loop choux buns anymore.

I think I need to lean
into the mukhwas.

It's more fennel...

Oh! (CHORTLES)

Whoops.

So, I have all my elements ready.

So, I have my choux buns
have cooled down.

I have my creme pat, jam
and I'm starting to build my dish.

The...the... All the flavours,
they do work.

So I pipe the whipping cream on top,
add my little dragon fruit,

a little flower, some dust of mukhwas
on top and it looks beautiful.

I'm so happy with what I've produced.

The choux pastry is really nice!
(CHUCKLES)

Make sure you finish off strong!

One minute to go.

(JUDGES CLAP)

(EXHALES) Goodness.

So, it's time to plate up
my fairy mille-feuille.

The way I want it is I want
three layers of the rough-puff,

the Fruit Loop creme diplomat
piped in

and the mukhwas caramel piped
in between of the diplomat.

On top, I'm dusting it with some of
the grounded mukhwas as well

and I'm throwing on a few of the
little pineapple sage leaves,

just for a bit of garnishing.

Oh, I'm shaking like a bloody leaf!

I am actually really happy
with the way it looks.

It's a little bit uglier
than what I wanted in my head,

but in the time that I had,

I'm actually pretty stoked
with a 60-minute mille-feuille

with the two flavours that I have.

JULIE: As I'm putting my plate
together,

look, I think I've used
these ingredients as best I can.

I've cooked the crayfish
as well as I can,

I've done the rainbow chard
three different ways

and I've used the turmeric
throughout the whole dish.

I hope I've done these ingredients
justice.

I am sure there's gonna be

some absolutely cracking dishes
out there.

Final touches! 10!

JUDGES: 9! 8! 7!

6! 5! 4!

3! 2! 1!

That's it!

Whoo! (LAUGHS)

Well done, everybody!

Today, we gave you a colourful
but challenging mystery box...

..and we are looking
for the bottom three

to go into tomorrow's pressure test.

Let's see how you did.

First up, it's Keyma.

KEYMA: Billie's choux buns
look amazing

so I just hope mine
has what it takes to beat them.

Hello.

Keyma, what's the dish, please?

Today, I made mukhwas
and dragon fruit choux buns.

OK.

Keyma, I was worried about this,

just the mukhwas
is such a strong flavour

and I was thinking,

"Is this gonna taste of anything
other than mukhwas?"

And I need not have worried
'cause it was delicious.

Brilliant choux. It was light,

perfect craquelin you got on there
as well,

the little sable you got on the top.
The jam! Great colour.

There's a little hint of the mukhwas
in there,

which is actually very nice.

Creme pat's smooth, rich, delicious

and a beautifully nice, simple
whipped cream to finish it off.

It's certainly flawless
in its execution. Well done.

Keyma, I can see
the expression on your face,

you're quite pleased with yourself.

And you should be, it was
a really lovely bite of food.

I love the play of the richness
of the creme pat

with the lightness
of the whipped cream.

It really did work to be
a nice vehicle

for the candied fennel flavour
of the mukhwas.

I quite enjoyed the theatre of the
little explosive jam in the centre,

so there's some very nice technique.

Keyma, it is really, really well
done -

technique and flavour, spot on.

You've been toying with trying
to create

this kind of doughnut/choux pastry
for a while in this kitchen now,

I think on a day when you don't
wanna be in the bottom three,

it was a perfect day to do it.

So well done.
Well done, Keyma, thank you.

Whoo!

(EXHALES)

Next up to the tasting table -
Billie!

Whoo!

KEYMA: Good luck, Billie!

BILLIE: Keyma's just had a great
tasting, which makes me nervous.

So I really hope I've nailed
the flavours in mine.

ANNOUNCER: Enjoy another taste of
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Billie, what did you make?

I made mukhwas choux.

Gotcha. Righto.

It looked beautiful.

I liked the, you know,
the crunchy caramel top

with the, you know, the joy of all
those hundreds of thousand-looking
mukhwas on top.

Unfortunately, because mukhwas just
has such an intensity of flavour,

um, a hint of them over the top

to continue on that beautiful
rainbow speckle

might have been enough.

JOCK: Billie.
Mm-hm?

The texture of your cream
is beautiful.

The choux is nice and light.

I think you got stuck between
it being maybe too simple

and then trying to find your way out
of that 20 minutes into the cook.

Am I right?
Yeah. Yep.

It was a tough one, Billie.

Like I too, thought it was just
gonna be boxed off

because you are so good
at choux pastry.

You are so good at editing along the
way and finding yourself perfection

but it just hasn't happened here.

I feel like because there are
a few flaws in the dish,

it maybe ending you up
down the bottom today.

OK. Thank you.
ALL: Thanks, Billie.

Bugger. All good.

Next dish to the tasting table
belongs to Daniel.

I've made a few desserts
in this competition

but I've gone all-out with this one.

Whoo.

And I really hope that
I bring it today

and hopefully, impress the judges.

Daniel, what have you made us, mate?

So it is a fairy mille-feuille.

It has a Fruit Loop creme diplomat,

a mukhwas caramel

and a little bit of
the pineapple leaf flowers on top.

Yes! (LAUGHS JOYFULLY)

Yes! No way.

(CLAPPING CONTINUES)

Mate!
(LAUGHS)

You having me on or what?
No, I'm having myself on -

Fruit Loops and mukhwas
and a rough-puff.

You're so good at rough-puff.

That was as good as most puff
pastries that you would have.

Thank you, mate.

First thing I could taste
was beautiful buttery pastry,

then I could taste Fruit Loops second

and then the mukhwas was just
a very, very light aftertaste.

Mate, that is...stupendous work.

Really? Thank you very much!
(CHUCKLES) That's awesome.

Isn't it cool that at this point
in the competition,

you can shock yourself
in a positive way.

Oh, yeah, bloody oath,
that's for sure.

The pastry is biscuity, buttery
and shatteringly good.

And then in between that,
you have these layers.

Everything, as Jock said,
gets called into line

because of how caramelised those
beautiful layers of rough-puff are.

I thought, "Great idea,
let's see if it actually looks

"and tastes as good
as it is in his mind."

And it actually does.

Very proud of you, mate,
very proud of you.

(CHUCKLES)
Well done, Daniel! Another good one.

Yes! (LAUGHS)

Whoo!

I can't believe that!
Well done, Dan.

I can't believe it.

Next up, it's Alvin.

I made turmeric noodles
with crayfish and rainbow chard.

Alvin, I think you did really well.

From a flavour perspective,
it's a robust plate of noodles.

This was great flavours,
great balance.

Well done.
Thank you very much.

Next up - Mindy.

I cooked for you today
a rainbow cray with egg noodles

and a turmeric butter.

Mindy, loved the presentation,

I thought it was a really cute
Chinese restaurant vibe

in a really good way.

Unfortunately, your flavours
aren't as intense

as maybe I would have hoped
they would be.

Painted crayfish is such a tough one.

What you did do expertly
is make some brilliant noodles

and the butter sauce is fantastic.

The real negative here
is the crayfish itself

and how that's cooked.

Where will that see you today?
I'm not sure yet.

No worries, guys. Thanks.
Thanks, Mindy.

Julie Goodwin!

Wow, so colourful.

Julie, what's the dish, please?

It's a...rainbow crayfish salad.

Julie, I think the biggest problem
with the plate of food here,

it just lacks cohesion.

You know, yeah, there are
all the different elements there

but for me, I'm just struggling
to get the perfect bite.

I think this was a tough box for not
just you but everyone out there

because there's no obvious driver.

And for me, you've gone with
the turmeric, noticing on your apron

and also on the crayfish as well.

And for me, it just hasn't played
that linking card

to all the other components
of the dish.

There are some really good flavours
going on here.

There's some really well-thought-out
pieces of the puzzle.

I like the fresh chard.
I love the pickled stems.

I like elements of the things
together but I'm still struggling

to find the right configuration
for that winning bite of food.

OK.

Do you know what it reminded me of

is that sort of Scandinavian open
sandwich kind of guy.

You know what I mean?

Like, some rye bread would bring all
those things together, for example,

do you know what I mean?
Yeah.

When it's on the plate like that,
naked, it's hard to comprehend

and because it is turmeric-heavy,
it is a struggle.

Texturally, I think it was a win, all
your individual flavours were a win,

there was just that missing link
there for you today.

That missing link could see you
in trouble today.

Alright.
JOCK AND ANDY: Thanks, Julie.

Next up, Sarah!

KEYMA: Go, Sarah.

I'm really happy that I made
just one good dish instead of two.

I just hope that I made
the right decision.

ANDY: Sarah, what are these?

It's crayfish
and rainbow chard cigars.

Oh, gosh. Wow.

Amazing.

I actually think that is
one of the best things

that you can do with a painted cray.

The texture of the crayfish
actually is beautiful.

It doesn't have a huge amount of time
to cook inside the leaf itself,

meaning that it is just
spot-on cooked.

You've got a beautiful bounce
to the painted cray

but then you've got
an amazing starchy bounce

from that sweet corn as well.
It's very, very clever.

And your sauce has got all
the depth of flavour in it as well.

I'm so glad you just...

You did one thing and not, you know,
crayfish two ways.

You got to focus all of your energy

and all of your attention into that
one thing and it was a cracker.

Well done.
Thank you. Thanks.

It was interesting,
it was intelligent.

It made me think about
what I was eating.

All of it's tantamount
to a delicious bite of food.

You're demonstrating a huge
amount of technique there

and a huge amount of restraint,

which I know is very difficult
in here

because you wanna be
all-singing, all-dancing.

Um, but you should be
very pleased with that.

Wow. Thank you.

Sarah Todd knows her way round
a crayfish, doesn't she?

That's two from two

that you've been top of the class
with a crayfish dish.

I think it was a really smart move
to do this whole mix

of interesting goodies.

With the crayfish cubes, the corn
kernels, the pickled corn kernels

and the pickled stems
as well on the rainbow chard,

rolling in the rainbow chard
and then grilling it

just gives that slight bit of smoke

without it overpowering
the delicate flesh of either.

That is an absolute cracker, Sarah.
Amazing. Thank you.

Well done, Sarah.
Nice one, Sarah.

(APPLAUSE)

Wow. Thank you. (CHUCKLES)

Today, we challenged you
to turn colour into flavour.

There was a lot of great dishes
today.

Daniel, your mille-feuille
was sensationally sweet,

and Sarah, your cigars were smoking.

Well done.

Good job.

Unfortunately, though,
for three of you,

your dishes were
a little washed out.

If I call your name, unfortunately,
you're in tomorrow's pressure test.

Billie.
Yep.

Julie.

And Mindy.

Well, guys,
at least we're certain of one thing,

the climb towards the end of this
competition is getting steeper.

Billie, Julie and Mindy,

tomorrow's pressure test could take
you one step closer to the peak.

Just keep putting one foot
in front of the other.

Be brave, be bold, go get some rest
and we'll see you tomorrow.

Well done, guys.
Thanks, guys.

MINDY: It is going to take
every fibre of my being... (LAUGHS)

..to make sure that
I don't go home tomorrow.

I'm cooking against Billie
and I'm cooking against Jules!

They're winners of MasterChef!

I'm gonna have to dig deep
and bring it on.

ANNOUNCER: Tomorrow night
on MasterChef Australia,

it's all about the girl power.

JULIE: We are bringing
the sisterhood.

These three legends
of the MasterChef kitchen...

Good morning,
ladies.

..take on a
pressure test

from the queen
of chocolate...

Inside that black
velvet exterior,

there's gonna be
a world of pain.

..and it will give
you goose bumps.

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