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Offline apskip

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Master Chef 3
« on: June 07, 2012, 05:44:32 PM »
I don't know how this one slipped by me (it started on Monday and I watched it then but had not anticipated creating a thread for it like I should have), but so be it. I will move on just as some of the contestants did, both out the door and to the next round.

MASTER CHEF 3
This season started with 33,000 applications narrowed down to 100 invited to Los Angeles for this competition. From that group 18 were to receive white aprons on each of the 2 preliminary nights. The returning judges are Gordon Ramsay, Joe Bastianich and Graham Elliott. They will sample each dish presented after the contestant has 1 hour to prep and 5 minutes on camera to finish it. The grand prize is $250,000 plus a cookbook for the winner. 

There were several "characters" on the first episode. This included a college freshman, a single mother, a former pro basketball player and a blind person. It's impossible to say who has the most talent in this group, particularly since about 2/3 of those who advance to the second round were not shown in this telecast. 

Offline apskip

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Re: Master Chef 3
« Reply #1 on: June 10, 2012, 06:16:47 PM »
The second of the preliminary episodes showed a husband and wife competing against each other, with both getting a white apron. There were several others getting their own apron, but none that I elect to mention at this time.

Next week there will be a third group of preliminary competitors and then the first regular round will take most of the telecast. Its goal is to cut the size of the group from 36 to 18.


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Re: Master Chef 3
« Reply #2 on: June 13, 2012, 02:54:55 PM »
MC3, ep.3

The third group of contestants was small. Stacey, Rami and David made it into the first cookoff of 36 to determine which 18 would make it out of the garage and into the MasterChef kitchen. All 36 were given 2 pounds ground beef, all the ingredients they could select from the pantry and 60 minutes to cook. Gordon, Graham and Joe were circulating constantly to keep an eye on what was happening for each cook. they separated the 36 into a group of 12 that did not make it further, a group of 12 that did make it further and a final group of 12 with mixed results. In that group were Stacey, Josh, David, Taryn, Christine and Anna moving ahead while going home from this group included AJ, Bubba, Mannino and Rami.

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Re: Master Chef 3
« Reply #3 on: June 13, 2012, 03:03:01 PM »
MC3, ep. 4

The first half involved the first Mystery Box challenge. This box held bananas, duck breast, maple syrup, rhubarb, kale and sweet potato. The cooks had 45 minutes to transform it into a creative and tasty dish. The judges selected only the worst 3 (selected by constant inspection of what was going on) to taste. Those belonged to Ryan, Samantha and Scott. Samantha was sent home. The winner was Felix, who was given a huge advantage. She did not have to cook the next competition and selected between Italian risotto, New England clam chowder and Beef Wellington for the dish the other 17 must cook. She chose risotto.

The results of this were Dave, Helene and Tali brought up as object lessons. Helene was excused. Tali's berry risotto looked bad to me but the judges rated it better than Dave's gritty morel mushroom risotto. Dave was eliminated. Frank and David were rated as having the best risottos and they will be team captains next episode.
« Last Edit: June 26, 2012, 01:57:37 PM by apskip »

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Re: Master Chef 3
« Reply #4 on: June 21, 2012, 10:41:33 AM »
MC3, ep. 5

201 Marines from Camp Pendleton land in helicopters or march in from unseen vehicles. The teams have to be ready to start serving when they arrive. Frank has chosen an Italian theme of grilled chicken, pasta and slaw. David has chosen an ALL-American menu of pork, BBQ sauce and potatoes. After the Marines have sampled each menu, they voted. David's team won a narrow victory.

That gave Frank's team a pressure test. He had the opportunity to release one member of his team, but after he himself, Scott and one other person turned it down, Stacey accepted it. The Pressure Test was Apple Pie and the judges wanted a perfect classic one, which presented many challenges. At the end the really good pies were by Christine and Frank. The bad ones were by several individuals, with Michael singled out as the very worst and eliminated.   
« Last Edit: June 21, 2012, 10:52:01 AM by apskip »


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Re: Master Chef 3
« Reply #5 on: June 21, 2012, 10:51:04 AM »
MC3, Ep. 6

This episode started with a challenge involving offal. Sheep's head, veal brains, lamb hocks, pork hearts, chicken livers and sweetbreads (thymus glands) were the possible ingredients. 2 of the top dishes used sweetbreads (no surprise), a real delicacy that should never be part of an offal classification. There were by Christine and by Ryan. Becky had a combined sweetbreads/pate dish.

Ryan was the winner. he received a fantastic advantage which started with not having to cook himself. The theme was "fresh versus canned" and he selected crab as the ingredient. Finally, he was able to select 7 colleagues to cook with canned crab and 7 with fresh crab.  He as specifically trying to help his buddy Tali and hurt Christine and Monti, both of whom he wanted out of the competition.

The top dishes were Christine's Ceviche Cocktail and Josh made Thai Crab Trio Curry and Rice with Crab Cake and Salad. They were named team captains for the next episode.  The bottom 4 were Frank, Tali, Mike and Helene. Frank and Mike were sent to the gallery. Tali squeaked by and Helene was eliminated

Offline apskip

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Re: Master Chef 3
« Reply #6 on: June 21, 2012, 12:32:47 PM »
As the song goes from one of my favorite musicals, "1776", John Adams laments "Is anybody there? Does anybody care?" I am feeling that way about this thread since there is no dialogue except that which I put here.

Offline franxaverian

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Re: Master Chef 3
« Reply #7 on: June 23, 2012, 04:19:16 AM »
finally another recap!! yippeee!!! waiting for your timely update, Apskip....see my reasoning in HK thread :D

thanks

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Re: Master Chef 3
« Reply #8 on: June 26, 2012, 02:29:26 PM »
MC3, Ep. 7

The challenge involved serving breakfast from a very limited menu (6 combinations including pancakes, eggs and bacon, omelet, oatmeal, eggs Benedict). The captains were asked to choose their teammates. Here is the initial pass at this:

RED team Christine – Felix, Scott, Tanya, Mike, Stacey, Ryan (she did not want him but the alternative was Ryan)
BLUE team Joshua – Becky, Frank, Anna, Monti, David, Tali

Then the judges played what I regard as a dirty trick on the BLUE team. Christine was given the opportunity to get rid of any one player on her team she did not want (bye, bye Ryan) in exchange for any player on BLUE. Christine chose Becky, Joshua’s strongest player. Joshua named Monti as expeditor, the position that plated the final dishes and put them on the cart for sending them to customers. Christine named Felix.

The challenge was to serve 130 orders between 7am and 830am, which meant it was going to be totally hectic. 

Blue got a good start, as Monti had organized a series of strips of paper showing how much of what was needed for each time period. In the same initial period, Felix was trying to do it all herself and just could not. She also did not communicate well until fairly late in the overall period. Ramsay had warned the RED team that it was running low on Hollandaise sauce. In the middle time frame BLUE had big trouble as they lost all the coordination that had served them well earlier. RED regained its composure and started clicking on all cylinders, except that it did run out of Hollandaise sauce. Felix was starting to communicate and others had stepped up. On BLUE, Monti and Joshua were having conflict over who was in charge (note – this system was set so the expeditor was more important than the team captain). 

Joe Bastianich went to collect the score cards, which were left on doors and colored either RED or BLUE. The final tally showed RED winning 60% of the vote. That made them exempt for the pressure test, which some of the BLUE team had to face. Monti got a pass upstairs for her performance as expeditor, as did Becky, Frank and David. That left Joshua, Anna, Tali and Ryan in the Pressure Test. This was to cook a molten lava cake in a ramekin that looks like a soufflé dish in 45 minutes. The Gospel according to Ramsay is to get one of these into the oven quickly so temperature and time can be judged before having to put others in to win it. Ryan in fact put 3 in the oven with overlapping times and his first 2 failed, leaving him at the mercy of his 3rd one. Anna’s second try was perfect. Joshua’s second one was also perfect, so they both were sent upstairs. Tali had a good effort, but with a few flaws. Ryan’s final attempt failed, so he was screwed. The judges drew out drama that wasn’t there, but finally they had no alternative than ending Tali upstairs and sending Ryan home.

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Re: Master Chef 3
« Reply #9 on: June 27, 2012, 08:07:48 AM »

MC3, Ep. 8
This started with a Mystery Box Challenge. The ingredient were T-Bone Steak, corn, cabbage, peach, cayenne and paprika. 60 minutes were available to cook. The 3 dishes which appeared most likely to succeed by the judges were these:
Frank – T-Bone Steak with corn, cabbage, slaw, deglazed peach
Tanya – Steak w/broiled cabbage and corn puree
Becky - a peach dessert (avoiding the steak and vegetables entirely)

Tanya got the nod for best dish, so she had control of the Elimination Test. She did not have to cook and was given the opportunity to assign groups of 4 chefs to each of:
Tiramisu (difficult, with range of different skills needed) – Tanya chose Felix, Frank, Mike, Anna
Strawberry Shortcake (easy) – Tanya chose Christine, Scott, Tali, Monti
English Trifle (technically complex) – Tanya chose Becky, Stacey, Joshua, David
So Tanya made life difficult for 8 of the chefs and easy for 4 of them. However, each of the 3 desserts as a category still had to have one loser to be considered for elimination. 60 minutes was the cooking time available. 

The loser’s group was Becky (with an uncharacteristic loser dish), Felix (with the same) and Scott (whose prior dishes were undistinguished or marginal). Ramsay saved Becky and Felix and eliminated Scott.


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Re: Master Chef 3
« Reply #10 on: July 11, 2012, 06:34:37 PM »
MasterChef 3, Ep. 9

MasterChef home cooks would work side-by-side with Graham Elliot as he demonstrates professional chef practices in a Mystery Box challenge. The Mystery Box contained rabbit, forbidden rice, ginger, ramps, carrots, mushrooms, Brussels sprouts, gooseberries and several other ingredients.

Frank was selected for one of the 3 best dishes Rabbit Two Ways with Vegetable Medley and Gooseberry Reduction. Gordon Ramsay said it looks and tastes amazing. Mike made Leg of Rabbit with Forbidden Rice and Brussels Sprouts. Graham says Mike cooked the leg well and that’s the cut to do. The final plate was Becky’s with Braised Leg of Rabbit with Carrots, Mushrooms and Ramps.

The judges awarded the winning dish designation to Becky’s, so Becky went to the pantry to decide on the Elimination Test. The theme was “tools of the trade:” a pizza stone, a wok and a deep fryer. Becky got to choose the deep fryer for herself. The other home cooks got the pizza stone.

Mike made Oven-Roasted Lobster with Vegetables and Rice. Graham says it looks dehydrated. Chef Ramsay called it his worst performance. Becky made Shrimp Tempura with Curry sauce and Yucca Chips. Gordon Ramsay said it was delicious. Christine made Indian Flatbread with Chicken and Fried Egg. Graham says it’s well done. Monti made Roasted Carrot Soup with Irish Soda Bread. David made Smoked Lobster with Oven-Roasted Potatoes and Bacon. Joe hated it. Tali made Three Cheese Pizza with Duck Breast and Crème Fraiche Sauce. Gordon Ramsay said it’s a mess. Finally, Tanya is up with Lamb Cutlets with Olive Flatbread and Roasted Garlic Yogurt. Joe spit it out and calls rated it personally offensive.

The judges announced that Monti will be a team captain next week. She is safe. The three worst dishes of the night were Tanya, David and Mike. Mike steps forward and he is finished. Chef Ramsay told Tanya that her time is over and David that he is safe.

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Re: Master Chef 3
« Reply #11 on: July 11, 2012, 06:38:01 PM »
MasterChef 3, Ep. 10
This episode started at Venice Beach CA with a challenge for Regional Cuisine. Stacey was in control of this. She got to pick each of 3 teams. The responsibility for assigning a cuisine to each team color was left to the judges.  The most sales would dictate success. Her assignments were:

Red Team – Stacey, Tali, Frank and Becky. They made up the Red team. They got Mexican food. They served a Red team steak tacos plus guacamole and promoted its dish.

She put Monti, David Martinez, Anna and Tanya on the Yellow team; they would serve American food. The Yellow team decided to go with Texas BBQ burgers. They faced problems getting their food cooked on time and some was way undercooked.
Josh, Christine, Mike and Felix made up the Blue team and served Indian food. Blue team decided on Chicken Tikka Masala. It sold very well, as customers really like the taste.

Totals over I think 90 minutes were above $2000. Red got the largest single cash sales. Blue was next and Yellow was $145 below Blue. Yellow had to face a Pressure Test.

The Yellow team was faced with a Cook 10 Perfect Tortellini w Cheese or Meat Filling in Broth Pressure Test. Anna was up first.  She presented what the judges described as “raw pasta.”  Monti was up next and made an OK Tortellini presentation. The star of the night, though, was David, with a visually perfect Tortellini. Tanya, like Anna, wound up with a messy and ugly pasta shape. The judges deliberated and decided that Anna clearly needed to be eliminated.

Offline apskip

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Re: Master Chef 3
« Reply #12 on: July 11, 2012, 06:40:03 PM »
MasterChef 3, Ep. 11

This episode started with a Mystery Box challenge based on a single sea urchin in the box plus limited use of some additional ingredients. The cooks had 60 minutes to create their best dish using that. The winning dishes were by Felix, Joshua and Stacey:
Felix – uni and pea risotto
Joshua - Homemade Noodles with Rock Shrimp and Uni Cream Sauce
Rock Shrimp Sushi with Uni Aioli

Felix won, which gave her the opportunity to assign 9 fresh fish for cooking in an Elimination Test. Her assignments were strategic and designed to help some cooks and make it really difficult for others. Then each cook could use appropriate other ingredients to get the job done. Here are the dishes actually cooked:
Felix – Poached California Halibut with Bamboo Rice, Asparagus and Lemon Apple Sauce; a poorly executed dish not favored by any of judges; she lost her advantage
Monti – John Dory with Baby Asparagus and Roasted Almond Sauce
David – Deviled Yellowtail with Aioli Potatoes and Red Cabbage Slaw
Joshua - sardines
Becky – Fried Rock Fish with Celery Root Puree and Chardonnay Sauce
Frank – Fried Catfish with Eggplant and Coconut Leek Sauce
Tali – Arctic Char with Green Lentils
Christine – simple and not that tasty dish of white rice with Baked Salmon and Vegetables
Stacey – striped bass

All dishes were sampled. The best dishes were from Frank and Stacey. The 3 worst were from Tali, David and Christine. Tali’s poor showing was left to hang out there there until he was eliminated.

Offline franxaverian

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Re: Master Chef 3
« Reply #13 on: July 12, 2012, 09:59:03 AM »
I have dropped this show.....but reading your recap is like watching the show....so why should I watch? hehehe

Offline apskip

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Re: Master Chef 3
« Reply #14 on: July 24, 2012, 08:35:40 AM »
MC3, Ep. 12

The judges announced that an unprecedented opportunity was about to be offered, a second chance on this third season of Masterchef. He sent the 6 competitors up to the balcony to watch and brought back the most recent 8 eliminees. They were going to face a difficult Challenge followed by a head-to-head cookoff of the 2 left standing. That challenge began with each of the 8 visiting the pantry and selecting one item for the basket. That results in some pretty weird combinations, as those items were:

Pomegranate
Celery
Pork chops
Chocolate drops
Condensed Milk
Portobello Mushrooms
Heavy Cream

The wannabes have 1 hour to make their best possible dish. When they are finished, Ramsay tells them they have all improved on their prior skill level and done an excellent job, however for some it is not quite excellent enough. That would be Anna, Scott, Tali and Tanya. That leaves Stacey, Ryan, Mike and Joshua. It is obvious that each of these had a really outstanding dish, but two cannot make it to the cookoff. Stacey and Mike are excused. It’s Ryan vs. Josh in the showdown. This will be fruit tart, a highly technical and difficult dessert. I would say that knowing that favors Joshua. He is also the chef that the 6 other competitors fear the most. They are asked to blind taste test the 2 tarts as the judging panel for this. There is 90 minutes to cook.

The 90 minutes indicates pluses and minuses to the approaches taken by both Ryan and Joshua. Ryan had a berry tart and Joshua an exotic fruit tart. I think that primary 3 judges are trying to mislead us into thinking that Ryan may be about to win. I stayed with Joshua as my favorite throughout as I watched.

The judging panel tasted and voted 6-0 for one tart, that of Joshua. I am sure he deserved it. He then was elevated with a white apron back into the competition with just 7 chefs left.
« Last Edit: July 27, 2012, 03:56:47 PM by apskip »

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Re: Master Chef 3
« Reply #15 on: July 25, 2012, 02:51:50 PM »
MC3, Ep. 13

There was another Mystery Box Challenge to start this episode. A small aquarium contained perhaps 7 Santa Barbara prawns and there was 45 minutes to turn them into a special dish. The 3 dishes selected by the judges for special attention were:

Becky – Grilled Prawns with Salsa Verde and Saffron Rice
Christine – Spot Prawns with Pineapple Broth
David – Spot Prawn Ceviche

David won and he got the special advantage. In the pantry were beets, corn and bacon. He had to select which one every competitor, including himself, would cook with to make a dessert. David was given access to some special examples of his chosen vegetable (corn) in desserts. He decided to do a rice pudding with corn; however he left the pantry without any rice. Becky had some and offered it to him.

There was 60 minutes to cook these dishes. Here is what each home cook chose:
David – Corn and Rice Pudding with Salted Caramel Sauce
Becky – Popcorn and Panna Cotta
Christine – Corn & Coconut Pudding
Monti –  Corn Souffle
Felix – Corn Profiteroles
Frank – Corn Budino with Chocolate Ganache
Joshua – Corn Crème Brulee with Corn Caramel
« Last Edit: July 27, 2012, 03:54:38 PM by apskip »

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Re: Master Chef 3
« Reply #16 on: August 22, 2012, 07:27:08 PM »
MC3, Ep. 14
Each cook has to select one item for the Mystery Box Challenge. Those choices included: pork chops, chocolate, condensed milk, portobello mushrooms. The dishes of Tali, Tanya, Anna and Scott, Cowboy Mike and Stacey get all of them sent home,
The challenge is a shootout between Josh and Ryan on a fruit tart, which Ryan had never done before and Josh looked none too comfortable with. The judges were the other six cooks (Becky, Frank, Monti, Christine, David, Felix). They decided on a blindfolded test that Josh’s was superior by a score of 6 to 0. Ryan was eliminated and most were pleased to see him go.

 MC3, Ep. 14
The team captains ended up with their own gender:
Becky – Christine and Monti
Frank – David and Josh
The challenge was to cook at the Michelin 1 star Hatfield’s Restaurant for 44 selected guests and Quinn and Karen Hatfield themselves. Ramsay appointed himself as the expeditor.  The result was a close decision for the women, with the Hatfield’s preferring the men but the other diners preferring the women.
Frank was asked who he would save if he had the opportunity to do so. When it was theoretical, he selected Josh but when it became real he chose himself. I think that is fair because Frank has typically outperformed Josh. So that meant the Pressure Test became David versus Josh. Each was given 3 perfect WalMart filet mignon steaks and asked to cook one rare, one medium rare and one well done.
Josh was the clear winner for the rare steak. David was the clear winner for the medium rare steak. They pretty much tied, both far below par, for the well done steak. The judges had to decide. They sent David home, which was quite fair.

David was given a significant parting gift from Graham, the opportunity to select either of Graham’s two Chicago restaurants and work there.

MC3, Ep. 15
This episode started with a Mystery Box Challenge, but it was phony as the boxes were all empty. The remaining 5 chefs were asked to go to the pantry and select 15 ingredients for making their dream dish. When they were ready to start this, Ramsay threw them a big twist by asking each one to give their ingredients to the chef in front of them. So everyone had to make their own new dish based on someone else’s ingredients. The final dishes which were judged in the top 3 were:
Monti - Tom Kha Gai Chicken, Coconut Milk and Lemongrass
Josh - Savory Bread Pudding with Pork, Onion Rings and Mozzarella
Christine - Pan-Seared Chicken with beet and Goat Cheese Salad

The winner was Josh, whose special advantage did not include immunity but was as follows:
1.   He got to pick one of 3 special dishes which had been created by Graham for VIPs.
2.   He received a market full of all ingredients to make the dish he chose.

Those 3 dishes were:
For Oprah Winfrey – wheat/corn bisque and red pepper jam
For Jay Z – Alaskan King crab, vanilla crème fraiche, celery gelee, pomegranates
For Barack Obama – white tuna sashimi,

Josh chose the Obama dish, so all 5 cooks had to make that in 30 minutes. The end results of tastings and observation by the judges were:
Monti – problems with slicing of tuna and total taste
Josh – problems with slicing of tuna, failed to take advantage of his break
Christine – a fine dish
Becky – in trouble with a marginal dish
Frank – a fine dish

So the bottom 3 were Monti, Josh and Becky. Monti was sent home.

Offline apskip

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Re: Master Chef 3
« Reply #17 on: August 29, 2012, 12:43:39 PM »
It's in the home stretch for Master Chef 3. Gordon, Graham and Joe manage to get 3 world culinary superstars to visit Los
Angeles. Ramsay revealed that the guest judges for the next competition were these:
Guy Savoy (8 Michelin stars)
Daniel Boulud (4 Michelin stars)
Alain Ducasse (20 Michelin stars and the only chef I know who has more than Ramsay himself)

It’s a tall order cooking for these culinary giants plus also Gordon Ramsay, Graham Elliot and Joe Bastianich.

Christine won the prior challenge, so she got to pick any of the other 3 cooks for the Red team. She chose Christine. Frank and Joshua were the Blue team. The menus they created and cooked were:

Red App – Thai Seafood Soup with Daikon and Micro Herbs
Blue App – Spring Vegetable Terrine with Spot Prawn Mousse and Pea Puree

Red Main – Duck Breast with Crispy Bamboo Rice, Chinese Broccoli and Daikon
Blue Main – Stuffed Lamb Saddle with Couscous and Roasted Vegetables

Red Dessert – Coconut Verrine with Coconut Cake, Tropical Fruit and Guava Coulis
Blue Dessert - White Chocolate Mousse with Roasted Strawberries and Rhubarb

Serving time was 90 minutes for the appetizer, an additional 30 minutes for the entrée and an additional 30 minutes for dessert. The guest judges rated the Red team winners of the Appetizer course, Blue team winners of the main course and Red team winners of the dessert course. The overall winner was the Red team. That made Becky and Christine exempt while Frank and Joshua fought for the remaining spot left.

The Pressure Test were 3 different souffles in one hour, a major challenge even for very experienced chefs. Frank was rated the winner of the cheese soufflé, Joshua the winner of the raspberry soufflé and finally Joshua the winner of the chocolate soufflé. So it is Frank going home and Joshua surviving.

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Re: Master Chef 3
« Reply #18 on: September 04, 2012, 10:53:18 AM »
The two dominant home cooks throughout this competition have been Christine and Becky. Joshua is likely to be the odd man out tonight. for the finale next week I like Becky even though the publicity value of having a blind person win would be enormous. 

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Re: Master Chef 3
« Reply #19 on: September 05, 2012, 06:46:48 PM »
MC3, Ep. 19

There is only Joshua, Becky and Christine left. This episode started with a Mystery Box challenge, but it was a red herring as its only purpose was to underscore how the winner of Master Chef 3 would have a cookbook with their recipes published.

The challenge was converted into a “go into the pantry, select anything you want and cook anything you want” exercise, but the dishes were supposed to be worthy of being in their own published cookbook. The lack of structure made Becky panicky. She hacked her vertimere fish into pieces too small, then felt forced to convert it to a fish soup. The dishes created and cooked were:

Christine – Vermicelli Stir Fry with Seared Scallops
Becky – Loup de Mer Soup with Sunchoke Puree
Joshua – Curried Cornish Hen with Basmati Rice

The winner of this, in a close call, was Christine. That gave her the ‘huge advantage” for the Elimination Challenge. That proved to be selecting from 3 groups of legs: chicken, lamb, frog. She chose chicken, Joshua as second place finisher picked lamb and Becky was stuck with frog legs. They had 10 minutes to select other ingredients, then 1 hour to cook. As they came back into the MasterChef kitchen they were greeted by all previously eliminated competitors, who would be the live audience from the balcony.

The dishes created and cooked were:
Christine – southern fried chicken with creamed kale
Joshua – lamb caramanolas (a papa rellena and empanada, but made with yucca) with salsa roja (tomato-based), salsa verde (tomatillo-based) and salsa mango
Becky – frog legs with potatoes, mushrooms and bitter greens salad

Joshua was judged the winner and is going to the finale. The deficiencies of Becky (soggy potatoes) and Christine (too much cream on the kale) were significant. Christine beat out Becky for the last spot in the finale. Becky got an offer from Gordon Ramsay to work in any of his kitchens worldwide.


Offline TexasLady

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Re: Master Chef 3
« Reply #20 on: September 05, 2012, 07:02:54 PM »
I was not surprised that Becky was eliminated, her food wasn't as good as Josh's or Christine's in either challenge. I wonder if Christine can win the whole thing. (I am pulling for Josh though.) :)
The choices we make dictate the life we lead.

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Re: Master Chef 3
« Reply #21 on: September 08, 2012, 12:05:31 PM »
I expect that Christine will win over Joshua. The publicity value to Ramsay, Elliott and Bastianich is just too high to pass up. I feel that Christine as the ultimate victor has been preordained since the beginning of Master Chef 3.

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Re: Master Chef 3
« Reply #22 on: September 11, 2012, 03:11:29 AM »
So happy that Christine won Masterchef! :wohoo: Josh's plating was really stunning though. If it weren't for the undercooked lobster, I think he would have won.

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Re: Master Chef 3
« Reply #23 on: September 11, 2012, 09:16:37 AM »

MC3, Ep. 20, Finale

It was Joshua versus Christine for the $250,000 prize, cookbook deal and title of Master Chef. Chirstine is legally blind, which I take to mean that she actually has enough sight to make sure she handles kitchen apparati safely. Before this competition starts, the eliminated competitors took the balcony space. Then the families of Joshua and Christine come to visit and take the balcony. It’s now cooking time in a duel lasting 2 hours.

The menus are:
Joshua – butter filled lobster with grits and sweet potato puree
                Rack of lamb with green curry spice
                Bacon-crusted pecan pie with ? ice cream

Christine – Thai Papaya salad with a touch of crab
                   Braised pork belly over rice, quail egg on top, fried mushrooms
                   Coconut lime sorbet with ginger tuille

During the solemn tasting by the judges, the comments were:
 Joshua took more risks in his menu while Christine stuck to her Asian culinary roots
 Joshua’s lobster was undercooked because he had stopped cooking process by
  plunging it into icewater too soon       
 Disagreement on whether Christine crab amount was sufficient or not
 Rack of lamb and green curry sauce just right
 Braised pork belly showed ability to turn low-value meat into a high-value entrée and was delicious.
 Use of bacon in pie crust questionable; ice cream unbelievable
 Lime part of the sorbet did not come through; not enough acidic taste

The judges stayed in the tasting room to deliberate while the finalists went back to the kitchen to wait. The judges returned with the verdict, Christine as the winner. Congratulations to her and to Joshua. They both cooked their hearts out.


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Re: Master Chef 3
« Reply #24 on: September 11, 2012, 09:41:40 AM »
While liking both of them, I am really happy Christine won.  I was hoping all along
that she would win!!!