Last night on MasterChef, we enjoyed the first of many team challenges. This one pitted two teams against each other as they prepared lunch for 201 US Marines, on a grill, in the field.
David and Frank were the two team captains, since they had the best dishes in the last challenge last week, and they got to choose their teams. David chose Becky, Josh, Mike, Helene, Ryan, Anna, and Monti for the Red Team. For his Blue Team, Frank chose Felix, Scott, Stacey, Tali, Tania, and Michael.
Frank’s team prepared chicken and pasta while David’s team prepared pork chops with a side of potato salad. Once the Marines finished, they would line up in front of the grill who’s food they enjoyed the most. The losing team will face the dreaded “Pressure Test”, and the losing chef of that will turn in their apron and go home.
Both teams have their major struggles throughout the competition. For the Blue Team, Michael grills unwashed, unprepared mushrooms, making them chewy and leathery. For the Red Team, David gives out undercooked pork chops. Back on the Blue Team, Frank starts to run out of pasta, and has to quickly make more.
Ultimately, the Marines choose the barbecued pork chops over the Italian chicken and pasta and the Blue Team is forced to return to the MasterChef kitchen for the Pressure Test.
In this challenge, they must go against each other. This challenge: bake the perfect apple pie. They could use any ingredients in the kitchen to set their pie apart from the others. It was to be judged on crust, filling, and technique.
Frank is called down to the judge’s table first. He is told that he has redeemed himself. All three judges are very happy with him.
Tanya put caramel in her pie, and it’s underseasoned and overcooked. Ramsey calls it a soggy mess.
Tali’s apple pie is a bit short on apples.
Michael’s apple pie is covered in a strange, dry cheese crust and has no discernable bottom to it. Joe is not pleased with him at all. Especially when he pours about an ounce of water out of the pie onto the plate.
Felix’s pie looks like it came from a bakery, but Graham is disappointed that it’s not as sweet as it looks.
Scott’s crust was a disaster, with two failed attempts. But the judges think his filling is very good.
Last up is Christine, who is blind and lacks any confidence whatsoever. She’s never baked a pie, and can’t taste what she’s baking, unlike when she’s cooking and can taste as she goes. Ramsey tells her that the crust is perfect, and scrapes a knife across the top for her to hear how flaky it sounds. He tells her the taste is amazing. This reduces her, and everyone else in the room to tears. There is no doubt that she has moved on to the next round.
Along with Christine, Frank, Tali, and Felix have also moved on to the next round. This leaves Scott, Michael, and Tanya to stand in front of the three judges for them to decide who to send home.
After some deliberation and discussion, they finally send 19 year old Michael home.
