Previously on MasterChef Australia...
Please welcome Matt Sinclair... Oh, yes!
...and Sashi Cheliah!
Two favourites returned...
Oh!
Literally MasterChef royalty.
...to guide our home cooks through their first Service Challenge.
We now have 30 plates to put together.
It is chaos in the kitchen.
It was a steep learning curve.
Having Sashi in the kitchen today is amazing.
I'm learning so much.
But the combined forces of the blue team...
I'm in my element here and I'm loving it.
...had the winning combination.
It doesn't get any better than that.
Robbie, Declan, that fish...
It was perfect!
Talk about a dream team.
You've the challenge. Well done!
Tonight, they cook for immunity.
I'm so happy to be in today's Immunity Challenge.
Come on, let's go!
Not only from Sunday's elimination
but also to beat the chef for a pin.
Immunity Challenge.
We're all gonna smash it.
Double chance at immunity today.
The pin's up for grabs as well. The pin's up for grabs as well?
I reckon. No way!
Today is our chance to play for immunity,
so I'm pumped.
I can't wait to win both. It's gonna be great.
Fighting words from Theo.
Shoot for the stars. Let's do it.
Yay! There you are, people.
Thank you.
Ooh, we got a little rotisserie.
I'm not sure what the challenge is
but the humble roast chook,
it's a crowd-pleaser.
Good morning, everybody.
Good morning.
Nothing beats the smell of crispy roast chicken.
But we'll get to those in a moment.
There is so much to smile about today.
Not least because Shannon Bennett is back in the kitchen.
There he is!
Shannon being back in the kitchen
means that immunity from Sunday's elimination is up for grabs.
One of you will be up against a bona fide legend in round 2
for a chance to win...
This guy!
To get your hands on that shiny immunity pin,
you'll need to beat the chef.
I really want to be the first to beat the chef
and win an immunity pin.
Adi, how good's that? Yeah.
It changes the game entirely if you can get your hands on it.
So gonna give it my best shot today.
Yep. So close.
So close.
Well, this week, you've been lucky enough
to learn from some of the best contestants
that MasterChef has ever produced
and today is no exception.
This guy took out the competition...
...and then hit the ground running
to become the first-ever MasterChef contestant
to win a Chef's Hat.
He has an insight into this competition like no other.
Of course, I'm talking about the one, the only...
...Andy Allen, ladies and gentlemen.
Well, thanks for that, but let's get back to these guys, hey?
Roast chook is something that everyone's familiar with.
When I was young, we'd pick up that bag from the supermarket
with a steaming hot roast chook inside,
we'd get home, we'd pull it to pieces over the dinner table,
but then it was, like, what do you do with the leftovers?
It's so versatile, it's so familiar
and is the basis of our challenge today.
And that challenge is take my humble roast chicken
and turn it into something out of this world.
You'll have a total of 45 minutes to bring us an absolute banger.
Pantry, garden fully open.
And the best dish will win immunity from Sunday's elimination
but also a chance to cook against a professional chef
in round 2.
This is gonna be good. The chook's already cooked.
So it'll be a very quick dish to make today.
Everyone pumped? Yes!
Everyone ready? Yes!
Time starts now.
Coriander and cumin.
I'm a massive roast chook kind of guy.
That would be, like, your Sunday lunch.
You'd get charcoal chicken
from the charcoal chicken shop with your mates,
all sit there with one chicken each.
Make chicken rolls, just hoeing into it.
Come on, Theo! Nice, Theo.
Go, Theo! Let's go, mate!
Let's go.
The challenge plays into my strengths,
repurposing this chicken in a delicious way.
Definitely doing flatbread.
Of course I'm gonna do bread, you know?
It always goes with roast chicken, always.
I'm making lahmacun.
It's a Turkish-style flatbread
with onions, red peppers and tomatoes,
and then topping it with the chicken with some tzatziki sauce on top.
Lahmacun is normally made with lamb,
but I think these flavours are really gonna pimp up the chicken.
I'm feeling pretty confident actually.
You know, who doesn't wanna eat bread and chicken?
Delicious.
Oh, yum, Dec. Juicy.
Keep the juice. Nice legs.
Well, I bought the chooks. What's everyone cooking?
I'm gonna go chicken biryani.
Give me a good amount of time
to, like, concentrate on the rice and get that right.
And then because the chicken has been perfectly cooked by an expert,
it can go in towards the end.
Do you know what I mean? Then I can get the biryani just perfect.
Anything you do's just gotta complement that perfect chicken
that you've given them,
so you actually don't need to do a lot.
Nah. What are you doing?
I'd love to do a really beautiful soft butty roll, with...
Yeah, right.
...like a remoulade of celeriac and apple and...
Oh. Chicken butty.
And I think that's great 'cause I think everyone,
their first memory probably of bringing home a barbecue chook
was some sort of sandwich, let's face it.
Charcoal chicken sandwich. Nice.
Go, Adi!
Thanks, guys. Thank you.
I have definitely picked up the bachelorette's handbag.
Roast chook after a busy day at work.
You can do it. We can do it.
And my brain immediately goes, like, butter chicken.
Coriander, cumin, cardamom.
Butter chicken is made from leftover tandoori chicken.
So I'm thinking I could put my own spin on it,
using a rotisserie chicken.
Hi, guys. Adi.
How you going? I'm good, guys.
Tell us. What you got?
Um, butter chicken.
Phwoar! Wow!
Look, as the chicken's cooked.
It's a simple curry paste. Yeah.
You just check all the good stuff in. OK.
So butter chicken vibe. Oh, my God!
We froth on butter chicken.
Yeah, I mean... We all love it.
Who doesn't? We all love it.
If this is the best butter chicken we've ever had...
Shoo-in. ...round 2, let's go.
Yeah. Easy. Thank you.
I kind of played around with my own recipe in recent times
where I go really heavy on that deep, rich tomato flavour
and ease up on the cream.
Whoop. That's a little bit much but that is OK.
If I pull this off, I'll have a real good shot at immunity.
When I see the chicken, the first thing I thought of was home.
I thought about something that I would make for my wife
on a hot day and watching the sunset go down.
So this dish is very special to me.
I'm making a Malaysian salad
and chicken with vermicelli,
with some pickled veggies.
Should be a nice dish. My wife would be very proud of me today.
I hope.
Who doesn't love a roast chook? 30 minutes to go.
Come on!
I'm making a chicken pie
'cause that just reminds me of family.
Just be smart. Just take your time.
Don't worry. Let's go, Ralphie.
It's very ambitious to try and get this done in 45 minutes
but we're giving it our best shot.
I'm attempting to make a death dish today - a risotto.
I don't know if it's brave or stupid. We'll find out.
Go, Malissa.
Let's go, let's go!
Usually, with a leftover chicken,
I would probably, you know,
make some kind of yummy sandwich or a salad.
So, my dish is a chicken sandwich with coleslaw mayo,
bacon, tomato, pickles, with some crispy chips.
Yeah. Make some chips as well.
There is a lot of elements,
because if you're gonna serve a sandwich in the MasterChef kitchen,
it has to be a very good sandwich.
Hey, Malissa. Hello. Hello.
Chicken sanger? Yeah, and I'm gonna make a mayo now.
Wow. Nice slaw. Refreshing slaw.
Just a slaw. I'm gonna do some chippies.
You've gotta make sure you prepare your chicken. You got the bread.
I've got a few things on the go here.
So I'm gonna keep it very simple today.
Mate, I reckon you're on the other side of simple.
Yeah.
Yeah, I'm really keeping it simple, guys.
No. No. No. Yeah, really, really simple.
No, you're not, unfortunately. 'Bye.
I'm just hoping that I can pull off each one perfectly,
but we'll see how we go.
Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.
It's the best idea you've had so far.
It's looking good, Dec.
Thanks, bro.
I'm so happy to be in today's Immunity Challenge.
I'm not wearing a black apron.
I just sort of want to do something delicious, like Mexican.
Do you think I should do it with melted cheese?
I like to fold it with cheese but it's...
Yeah. Yeah, I think it's preference.
Mexican's a good festive food.
I feel like it could be a winner.
Come on. Let's go!
Declan. Declan.
Hello. Good morning. How are we? What's cracking, mate?
Um, mate, I'm doing a Mexican-inspired...
Yes.
I'm not quite sure or familiar with the pronunciation.
OK. 'Quesadilo'.
Quesadilla. Yeah.
OK, break it down for us.
I've got my Mexican spices done.
Chicken.
I've got my corn 'tortila' dough resting.
Tortilla. Tortilla.
Yep. Tortilla.
I think I need to amp up my vocabulary a bit.
It's no good. No bueno.
Just make it tasty.
As you were... amigo.
I've eaten a lot of Mexican food.
I know the flavours there.
Here we go.
I'm lucky they don't judge my pronunciations.
Otherwise it might be a bit of a "Hasta la vista, baby."
Ooh!
I'm making butter chicken with jeera rice,
which is basmati rice with cumin seeds.
It's very traditional in India.
I'm just gonna let that steam itself to perfection
so I don't have to worry about it for the rest of my cook.
I need to focus on this curry
'cause is it needs to be perfect.
It is, like, the main part of my dish.
Adi, how you going?
Hi, guys. I'm good.
The unmistakable smell of butter chicken.
You're absolutely right.
Mm. It's one of my favourites.
It's everyone's favourite. Who doesn't love it?
Mm. What a great idea.
Thank you.
You got perfectly cooked chicken. Right.
The only thing that's missing is that sort of fire flavour.
- Yeah. - How are you gonna overcome that?
'Cause that's like a bit of a hallmark...
Butter chicken, yeah. But... ...of butter chicken, isn't it?
OK. Yeah. I'm gonna leave that with you.
I'm excited to try this, though, once it's finished.
OK. Thank you. Good luck.
Normally, you make the chicken in a tandoor,
which gives it a smoky flavour.
I don't have that here.
Now I'm freaking out.
I thought I had this cook in the bag
and now I need to infuse smoky flavour.
How am I gonna do that?
Now I'm freaking out.
Jock's pointed out that butter chicken normally has a smoky flavour
'cause it's cooked in the tandoor.
How am I gonna do that?
Come on, Adi. You got this.
I really, really wanted to win today.
I don't want to be cooking in the next elimination,
and I want the shot at an immunity pin,
so I need to get this right.
Oh, finally.
Let's go, let's go!
I'm gonna try and replicate the way that we normally would
with say, like, a biryani.
You put a piece of coal in a bowl in the middle
and cover it with ghee, it'll smoke, infuse...
...and get that smoky flavour.
I'm hoping that it'll make a lot of smoke and smoke the whole dish.
I think if I can pull this off, it's gonna be really good.
Theo, how do you say it? 'Lahmanoosh'?
Lahmacun.
I've got 20 minutes left.
My tzatziki is done and my bread is proofing.
I've just gotta make my paste to go on top of my bread
and then we're all good.
Ugh. It's so hot.
I want my paste to be punchy and really vibrant
to complement that charcoal chicken.
Right now I'm feeling good, I'm chill.
Everything's going according to plan.
I feel like I'm in a really good spot.
Yeah, it's good.
Nice.
Ralph, in the oven. Yum, Ralph. That looks good.
I'm pretty focused on making the dressing
for the Malaysian salad.
I made it the way I make it for my wife.
If it's sweet, she doesn't like it.
Hopefully, I can get that balance correct
because it makes the whole dish come together.
Robbie. How you going there, people?
We are good. Fantastic.
I'm just working on the dressing
but at the moment, this is a fish sauce...
Yum! Yum.
...rice wine, and sugar, ginger and stuff.
So nice and fresh. Fresh.
Kind of cooling, refreshing... Refreshing.
...but delicious, punchy.
I was looking for raw pawpaw, you know,
'cause I love doing it with pawpaw and mango but we didn't have any.
There's some green mango in there. Is there? I didn't see it.
I'll take a look. Thanks very much.
This dish reminds me of my wife, so I want my salad to be perfect for her.
Go, Dec. Come on, old boy. Get a move on!
I'm making a Mexican chicken quesadilla.
So I've done my 'tortila' dough over there and that's just resting.
I've done my Mexican spice.
It's looking good, Dec.
Thanks, bro. I just keep working it.
Are you gonna use a tortilla press?
I've never used one before, but is it pretty simple?
Yeah. Let's give it a crack, then.
I'm used to rolling out my dough to make my tortillas.
Let's give it a go.
Put this on top.
But I'm here. I'm in the MasterChef kitchen.
So let's try and get a bit experimental.
Alrighty.
There you go, Dec. Look at that. The perfect circle.
That's good, that's good. Yep.
Learning lots today - the lingo, how to use the tortilla press.
I love it and hopefully the judges do too.
Yummy.
Winner, winner, chicken dinner. 10 minutes to go!
Come on, guys! Let's go, let's go!
Just a little bit. Another minute, another minute will do.
Did Adi smoke that?
Oh. That's interesting. Yeah.
I'm trying to infuse smoke into my butter chicken,
but I'm running out of time.
I don't know if I can pull off the flavours, but hopefully.
Uh... green mango.
This will do.
Presents.
Oh, bit late now.
Next time I know they're here, brother.
Thanks, brother. Appreciate that.
Hey, Andy. Andy. No, it's OK.
It's all good. I'll take my mangoes. Thanks, brother.
Really appreciate it. Yeah. Anytime.
Anyone else?
Come on, gang. Five minutes to go! MELISSA: Yeah!
Come on, guys!
Come on. Big push.
Oh! Like silk. Like silk. That looks so good.
Have you made bread before?
You guys.
I need to get my lahmacun in the oven.
How long have I got? Five minutes?
Five minutes.
Alright. Andy, stop freaking me out.
No, I'm... Hey, I'm good. I'm...
You're freaking me out.
This takes five minutes to cook.
So it's coming down to the wire.
That apron's wigging me out as well.
I go to put my flat bread in the oven and...
What's going on?
...something's not right.
It doesn't seem like it's hot enough. What's going on there?
Do you have it on broil?
I don't know what's happening.
If this lahmacun doesn't cook,
I'm gonna look like an idiot.
Should you get a plan B happening? Yeah.
I have cooked flatbread on the stove before.
So I just need to move quickly now.
Good idea. Nice work. Can you load it up while it's in there?
I'm topping this thing while it's cooking.
By hook or by chook, I'm gonna get this done.
Just watching my...
I'm hoping it browns on top, so I'm checking the clock.
I'll have to pull them out last minute.
So I gotta keep an eye on 'em.
A lot of ambitious dishes but you've only got three minutes to go.
Come on, guys! Let's go.
I'm trying to infuse smoky flavour into my butter chicken,
but I can't wait any longer.
I just need to plate up.
Ooh. That was really dumb.
I've been so laser-focused on getting this smoky flavour...
...I haven't checked the rice the whole cook.
The rice looks really bad.
That is a crappy-looking bowl of rice.
I've got my sandwich on there.
Still need to put everything together.
Thank you.
Tried to jazz it up a little bit today for the judges,
so I hope that they like it.
How we looking, Ralph?
Come on, Ralph.
Oh, God. It needs to brown.
30 seconds!
Just torch it, if not. Yeah.
Come on, guys. Looking good.
Come on, Ralph. Come on. Keep pushing. Nearly there, nearly there.
Some garnish.
Don't do this!
It's just a garnish, it's OK.
10, 9, 8, 7,
6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
That's it.
MasterChef's Andy Allen gave you the chook.
We asked you to bring us a delicious dish,
the best of which goes into round 2
and the first dish we'd like to taste belongs to Theo.
Walking my dish up to the judges,
I'm worried about the bread being cooked properly.
I'll be super disappointed if this flat bread doesn't hit the mark.
Theo, what did you make us?
I made my version of a lahmacun.
Are you happy? The flavours are epic.
It's just whether or not the bread is up to my standards.
That apron's a work of art.
It looks like I murdered the chicken.
It was already cooked, bro. I know. I don't know what happened.
Let's taste it.
Theo... Yeah?
Amazing.
That's like a bit of a deluxe sandwich.
Yeah. Bread's are great texture.
It's a really good vehicle
for getting the chicken in your face,
quite frankly.
That's exactly what I wanted to convey.
I really enjoyed it, mate. Well done.
Theo, I loved it.
I love lahmacun and I love dishes
that really have such a gorgeous combination of flavours.
It reminded you of the barbecue chook.
That's it. And it reminds you of what this challenge is.
And I think that you have taken the chook and elevated it
and that's what we asked for today.
Um, I think you smashed it.
It was really tasty, really enjoyed it.
You got the passion. Yeah.
And you've got the skill. I can see it in the apron.
Thanks, guys.
Thank you. Good job, mate.
They loved my dish.
Oh, happy days.
Thanks, brother.
Next up is Declan.
Here we go. Thanks.
What's the dish?
So I've got my Mexican-inspired quesadillas.
So it's Mexican spiced chicken,
gooey cheese and a flavoured sour cream.
You've never made tortillas before.
I have but not the proper way to make them...
Sure. ...I've since learned.
So, um...
Pass 'em up the line.
Thank you.
Declan, a quesadilla is one of my favourite things to make.
The spice blend is really what brings this all together
and I think that you did very, very good work
in terms of taking what you knew
and interpreting the dish in your own accent,
which was really, really fun.
Declan, I'm no expert in Mexican cookery,
but I really loved it.
There's some smarts in it, so well done.
Nice one, mate. Thank you.
Well done. Thanks, bro.
Thanks. Well done, brother.
Pretty stocked with that.
Next up, Robbie.
What did you make us?
Malaysian warm salad.
Awesome.
The idea was cracking.
The dressing was epic.
All of the little bits and pieces were really lovely in there.
Really solid plate of food.
Robbie, an excellent concept for a dish.
It's really Cooling and refreshing.
This feels like you are transporting us to being on country with you
when you would make something like this
and I really love that about you and your cooking.
Nice one, Robbie! Thank you. Thank you.
Next up, it's Malissa.
I've made a chicken sandwich with some chippies.
If you're gonna have a sandwich, you've gotta elevate it,
and I think there's a lot of skill in you.
You've knocked it out of the park.
Well done.
Thank you.
Righto, Ralph. Let's have it, mate.
I've made a chicken pie today.
Wrong decision, bro. That's all that happened here.
You were never going to be able to get that done in the time frame
even if I gave you the... all of it.
It was tough. Yep.
Next up, Jess.
I know this is notoriously known as the death dish.
I've made a mushroom and chicken risotto.
Bones need to be roasted
in order for you to really get a rich, beautiful, quality stock.
You are a really super-clever cook
but what you can't do is bend time in this kitchen.
Thank you. Thank you.
Death dish, hey? Yeah, well, I got my death.
Next up, Adi.
Go! Thanks, matey.
The judges, first and foremost, want tasty food.
So I'm hoping that my curry's enough to overlook my undercooked rice.
Hello, guys. Hi.
Sorry about the rice.
What did you do? What's happened to the rice?
It's just kind of...
OK, what are we about to eat?
I've made you butter chicken with jeera rice.
Adi, great flavour depth in the sauce.
The smokiness, that comes through.
Chicken pieces are nice and moist.
Rice is undercooked unfortunately.
Undercooked rice aside, that's delicious.
Like, it's really, really, really tasty.
The butter chicken part
is probably the tastiest flavours that we've had today,
'cause you do have these really solid basics under your belt.
So you're definitely on the right track.
Thank you. Thanks, guys. Thanks so much.
Thanks.
I really want to get immunity,
but no matter how much they liked my curry,
me stuffing up this bloody rice,
I can see my chances slipping away.
So Andy gave you the chicken.
All we wanted you to do was to bring us a finished dish.
All of you were pretty ambitious, which we like.
Struggles with execution was the story here today.
But there was one dish that nailed both things.
The person who has won immunity from Sunday night's elimination is...
...Theo.
Ohh!
Good one, Theo!
Good one, brother. Good on you.
Thank you. Thank you. Good job.
Everybody else, you can head up to the gantry.
Good work. Thank you. Can I get a new apron?
Imagine what that thing's gonna look like after this?
Oh, no.
Jesus.
It feels so good to be safe from Sunday's elimination...
...but now the reality sets in.
I don't know how I'm gonna beat a pro chef.
To get your hands on that shiny immunity pin,
you will need to beat the chef.
He trained in a Michelin-star restaurant in the UK
before bringing his talents to Australia.
He was the head chef at Tetsuya's in Sydney,
which not only held three hats,
at the time, was ranked fifth best restaurant in the world.
You ready? Nah.
Chef, author and co-owner of the Three Blue Ducks with Andy Allen,
please welcome Darren Robertson, everybody.
Yeah!
Hello, mate. How you going, brother? You alright?
Now I'm really shaking in my boots.
Got Three Blue Ducks over there and one little duck over here.
How are you, mate? Finally.
I thought you were gonna like... Hello.
How are you? Hey, mate.
How are you? I'm very well. You?
How are you, mate?
Daz, mate. Good to see ya. Welcome to my other home.
This is what you do, is it? You know this.
Mate, we met 11 years ago on season 4
when Daz came in to do beat the chef
and now look what happened.
It's been true love ever since. This is a stitch-up.
I'm in a tough spot because I've gotta be fully impartial
when I judge these two dishes.
How's this gonna work? Good thing is it's a blind tasting.
So we shouldn't know which dish is which,
unless one comes in looking like your apron.
What's Theo gonna have to do to beat you?
I suppose, you know, not let the pressure get to him,
breathe, and cook from the heart, mate.
Are you feeling a bit nervous?
I always do. Like...
Mm. Yeah, OK. Yeah, he saw you and he was just...
Went to water. He saw... he saw all that.
He saw all this and he went... Yeah.
Theo, I know you're probably bringing it right now,
but in this kitchen, it's the ultimate leveller.
Anything can happen.
Behind us are three pantries.
The good news is for you,
not only will you get to pick your pantry,
you'll get to pick the one that Daz cooks with as well.
There's the advantage. Use it wisely, I would say.
What can't he cook?
Bad food?
Hopefully there's some bad food under there somewhere.
Ready to see your choices? Yes.
OK, Theo.
First up, a 90-minute cook with only five ingredients.
Your next choice of pantry is...
...60 minutes and 10 ingredients.
And your third choice is...
...30 minutes and 20 ingredients.
Plus you've got your underbench pantry...
Underbench pantry, OK. ...for any of these choices.
OK.
Because this is a blind tasting,
we won't get to see which pantry you choose.
So, Shannon, we'll leave them in your very capable hands.
Thanks, Mel. Good luck, guys.
Thanks, guys.
Oh, what is he... Aww!
Hey! Hey!
Hey!
Good luck, fellas. Thanks.
Come on.
Alright, Theo, what are you thinking?
Phwoar! This is hard.
I do like some of the ingredients on the 60-minute.
Apples and lemons. I could do something sweet.
But then 90 minutes is nice to have up your sleeve as well.
Well, then be able to bake that bread
you've always wanted to be able to bake.
Yeah. You've got 90 minutes.
I might go with the 60-minute. OK.
Deal done. Theo has the 60-minute pantry.
Now, what are you gonna choose for Daz?
Do you give him the time or give him the ingredients?
I think, like, the 90-minute cook,
there's not that much in terms of things to play with.
I dunno. I mean, he's a world-class chef.
He will find a way to cook something beautiful.
Yeah, I know. You think 30 minutes is a long time for you?
30 minutes is not a long time, eh? Alright.
We'll go with the 30-minute. OK.
Alright. Done.
It's a good call, mate. Good call.
Good choice, brother. I'd have done the same.
Alright, cool.
So, Theo. Yep.
You have the 60-minute pantry and 10 ingredients.
Yep.
Darren, you've got the 30-minute pantry and 20 ingredients.
OK, Theo, your 60 minutes start now.
Come on, son.
Not sure if I'll use it all but... I'll take it.
It's all yours.
Let's go, let's go. Come on!
Immunity pin is up for grabs, which I want badly,
but I've gotta beat Darren.
He's an absolute legend.
This is gonna be tough.
Look at him. You're writing your prep list.
What are you doing? Apple... apple tart.
And then a cream... Apple tart.
Yeah. OK, you've made one before?
I have. I've made many before. Great.
Right, so you've got a confidence in your pastry?
Make sure that's beautiful and thin, crisp.
And then your apple has gotta be absolutely simple and perfect.
You've got a lot to do. I'll leave you to it.
Oh, gotta get moving.
The first thing I need to do is make that pastry to the tart.
It needs to be rich but at the same time crumbly,
so when you bite into it, it sort of breaks apart.
Simple things done perfectly
will win you that little shiny pin.
I think 60's better than 45 that we had in the first round
and Darren's only got 30 minutes.
So I hope that he gets a bit frazzled.
There's a pressure on him big-time.
Have a look, he's getting scared. I can see him over there.
I mean, 30 minutes, you know, he's gonna struggle big-time.
You know, that's what I think anyway.
We'll see. We'll see what he does.
He's a good dude.
Yeah. What's he doing?
He's doing an apple tart. Great.
He's confident in making tarts. Yeah, great.
I think there's a tiny advantage with Theo,
with his experience and familiarity with the MasterChef kitchen.
But typically I'd get 30 minutes to cook for the kids
when I come home from work, so it's not an unusual time constraint.
In terms of ingredients on the 30-minute table,
what are you thinking?
Honestly, it's a coin toss. Like, I love quail.
Obviously prawns. I'm actually thinking barramundi, though.
Yeah.
Daz.
What's it like working with Andy? He's always yelling at me.
No, he's amazing.
He's... He's not scared of hard work, that's for sure.
I've got a lot of respect for Andy.
We go back many years, so there's obviously a lot riding on this one.
Not just the Ducks.
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't slightly nervous.
Don't wanna let the side down.
Right, Theo. You've got it, mate. OK. Alright. Thanks, mate.
Time goes really fast in this kitchen.
Nice. Chill it down. Good work, Theo. Let's go, mate.
Now that my dough's resting,
I really need to get on my filling for my tart.
Look at that me go. Who would have thought?
It looks very ap-peel-ing.
Get out of here.
This is the compote? Yeah, this is gonna be the compote.
Get them down. Cut 'em... cut 'em small and...
Cut 'em small, yep. Yep. You gotta push.
30 minutes are nearly gone, mate.
So push. Yep.
How it is possible that half an hour is already gone?
It's taking forever to cut up my apples.
But I still need to start on my custard
and now I'm starting to feel the pressure.
Alright, Daz. Your 30 minutes starts now.
Hey!
Here we go.
I've only got half an hour to cook.
There's no room for error.
So the strategy really is not to waste any time.
Good luck, mate.
Here we go.
There you go, mate. Good luck, geezer.
Thanks, mate.
I'm gonna do barramundi, whole-roasted,
uh, with mango chilli vinegar,
pickled cabbage and flatbreads.
Mate, it's looking yum.
First things first, I need to make a simple marinade
and sort of big, bold, lots of spice.
The emphasis is always on flavour.
Like, it has to be delicious.
Like, 'lick the bowl clean' tasty.
A barramundi this size should take 20 minutes,
which will give me enough time to crack on with the other components.
Give Daz some encouragement too. Come on! Get him pumping.
You clapping for him?
Thanks, guys.
Time is getting away from me.
I'm stressed out. The compote for my apple tart is cooking away.
But I'm running out of time and I've got three tarts to do.
I haven't even thought about that lemon custard yet.
I need to get my tart shells in the oven asap.
This is chewing up a lot of time,
but I need to get 'em thin and uniform.
Come on, mate, you gotta get 'em in.
Keep your composure. This is your bread and butter, so to speak.
Excuse the pun, OK? Yeah.
What are you doing right now? And we're running out of time.
OK. We are running out of time.
In the mood to cook?
Grab your aprons
and try these delicious MasterChef-approved recipes
on 10 play.
I'm starting to panic a little bit now.
These tart shells need to go into the oven asap.
Go for it, mate. Come on.
Get the energy back in here. Come on!
Come on, Theo!
Awesome!
Let's get this going. How long are they gonna be in the oven?
20 minutes. 20 minutes?
Yep. Wow. OK.
Hoo!
I finally got my tart shells in the oven.
I'm gonna start on my custard. I've gotta motor.
Instinct now. OK.
You can do this, so nail it.
Thanks, mate. Yeah. Thank you. Yeah? OK.
OK. Come on. Thanks.
You're all over it, mate. Yeah, you're doing good, Theo.
Right, I've taken off my apples. OK. Did you taste it?
Yeah, I tasted 'em, yeah. You did?
You tell me. Balance? Tartness?
I think it's quite... a little bit sweet, actually.
OK.
The apple is important because that's the main element.
Probably a bit too much sugar.
Yep. OK.
It tastes good, but I'm facing a pro chef.
I really need to take it to another level.
Normally, we have cinnamon,
but I don't have a pantry and then I think maybe pepper will work.
Hmm.
Ooh, that's good. Yeah, pepper is your friend.
The pepper in the compote
takes it from just an apple tart
to an immunity-pin-winning apple tart.
Theo's pretty clever. He's looking pretty good.
Yeah. Doing something different.
Good job.
I can hear him chopping over there.
Great knife skills, Daren.
Thank you very much.
So, tell me, what do we got here?
Fish is in. Uh, so I've got a mango chilli vinegar.
Mm.
Um, a little bit of quick pickle cabbage.
The flatbreads, I'm gonna roll out and make them now.
Ooh, do you wanna compete against our bread boy with flatbread?
Of course.
So, Daz, you're putting that chilli stuff in there, eh?
To give that a little bit of flavour.
So, to be honest, I find it hard not to put chilli in everything.
Yeah. Yum.
It's down to the wire now. There is only five minutes to go.
Bring it home!
You got this, Theo!
How are those shells doing? I'm gonna take them out now.
OK, good, good. Alright. They look good.
My hands are shaking.
The clock is ticking. I'm stressed out.
Fill 'em. Let's go. Fill 'em. Let's go.
I've gotta fill these tarts with that compote.
I have to finish my apple circles and my custard.
I'm working so fast now.
Be generous with that apple. Fill it right up.
You're doing amazing. Keep it up. Yeah, it looks great.
Go on, mate. That's it. Let's go, let's go. Come on.
Come on, Theo.
I'll grab your plate for you, OK? Thanks, mate.
Thank God Shannon is here.
How long have I got? OK, plenty of time left.
Two minutes. Come on.
Come on, mate. Let's go, last push. Come on, Theo. Let's go!
Theo, come on, mate.
Went quick, didn't it?
Two minutes to go. Really time to organise myself now.
The barramundi's looking good but...
...to the touch, it's not quite there.
That's... You kind of want it to be under.
And it will just... it will cook on.
Quick. Come on. Finish. Do the apple. Do the apple.
Come on, Theo.
OK, guys. It's come down to this.
Come on. That's it. Couple more discs, mate. You're nearly there.
10 seconds to go.
9, 8, 7, 6,
5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Step away.
Thanks for the help. Cheers, mate.
How'd you go? Bloody hell. Thanks, mate.
Honestly, man, that was...
Oh, wow. Looks great. Awesome, man.
I was under some pressure there, tell you what.
It's really good. Mate, well done. How'd you go, mate?
Let me see what you did. Terrible.
Banquet for 12 people.
Ohhh!
Come on. Jeez!
What the...
I'm pretty sure that he had his team
from Three Blue Ducks helping him out.
How did he get all that done in 30 minutes?
Foof!
Yeah, it was a bit of a push actually,
but it come out right, yeah.
There's a lot at stake. If I win, it'll be a massive relief.
If I don't... I'm hiding.
I stressed you out then, didn't I?
Yes.
This is gonna be a very interesting tasting
for a couple of reasons - I'm keen to see what they've cooked,
but can't wait to see if Theo can take the pin home.
I'm excited to see what happened.
Which pantry did he choose,
which pantry did he make Daz cook from as well?
Ready for this one, eh? Yeah, let's do it.
Oh.
Mmm!
Ooh, a cream gun.
Apple tart with lemon custard.
Thank you. Thanks, Lizzy.
Thank you.
What do we think?
So the thing is Daz loves to make this kind of stuff.
Really? He loves classic baking.
So it may be Daz. Alright, let's try it.
Yeah.
I think there's a lot of intelligence
that has gone into, you know, this little tart.
Flavour's fantastic and you get a little bit of everything.
The stewed apples was the absolute highlight for me.
The balance on that with a little bit of lemon zest,
a little bit of salt, little bit of pepper in there.
I thought it was absolutely spot-on.
The tart shell itself, the bake on it is beautiful.
I couldn't agree more. I really enjoyed it.
The stewed apples, great flavour, great texture.
I like the nice crunchy layer of neatly cut-out apples on top.
Bit of a textural play.
Also love the flavour of the tart case.
Really, really crunchy, delicious and tasty.
Execution-wise, tart shell was too thick.
Should we score? Yep.
I can see a big old platter. Ooh.
Wow.
Whole barramundi, pickled cabbage, flatbread, and mango chilli vinegar.
Amazing. Thank you. Thank you.
Hmm.
Look at this feast.
It is a feast, isn't it?
It's pretty gorgeous. Looks pretty good.
It looks fun. Smells delicious. It does. Does smell great.
Whose flatbreads could these be - Daz's or...
That's the only thing where I'm, like...
I mean...
If that wasn't there, I'd just go Daz straightaway,
but because there's a flatbread there, it could be Theo.
Mmm.
Righto.
What?
Oh, no.
Is she cooked?
That looks good.
Smells amazing. Mm.
It's pretty moreish.
It's delicious.
The devil really is in the details.
Every single element,
from how beautifully seasoned and perfumed the bread is
to beautiful savoury quality of the fish,
that doesn't happen by accident.
This does have 'Darren Robertson' written all over it, doesn't it?
The brightness and the acidity of everything going on
has just made that little salsa number absolutely sick.
And then the fish was cooked really, really nicely.
It really is a tasty, tasty feast, isn't it?
We spent most of last season talking about, you know,
layer the flavours, layer the flavours.
This is like a complete lesson to whoever did it.
Theo's... Like, he can bring the flavour.
That's why I'm looking at it going, "Could Theo do this? Possibly."
Should we score it?
Wow! Theo.
It's not every day you get to go toe to toe with someone like Darren.
Shannon, what was the atmosphere like out here?
60 minutes just sometimes isn't enough,
but, um, we had fun.
I am dying to know who cooked what.
Theo? I made the apple tart.
Well, nothing left to do but to see if it got you across the line.
Theo, the contents of your tart were delicious.
I gave you a score of 8 out of 10.
Mate, your flavours, absolutely on point.
I scored your dish 8 out of 10.
Hey, you smashed it.
Theo, brilliant flavours in there.
But the execution needed work.
I gave you...
...7 out of 10.
Thank you.
That gives you a combined score of 23 out of 30.
Well done, mate. Well done, Theo.
Thank you.
Darren. Go on.
It's really hard to cook barramundi in that space of time.
But you did it really well, mate.
8 out of 10.
Game on, hey?
Ooh, I never thought this... We can end it there.
...would be happening.
That little mango salsa guy, mate, that was fire.
You've still got it.
I gave you 8 out of 10.
Look at the worry on Daz's face.
Christ! He's like...
Darren, somehow in 30 minutes,
you created a feast for the eyes and for the spirit.
I scored you...
...a 9 out of 10.
Mate.
Close. Bloody hell. You did alright there, mate.
I tell you, that was really good. Thank you.
Which means that, sorry, Theo, Darren is the winner today.
Breathe out, big fella.
Darren, it's been an honour, mate.
You really are a credit to your craft.
Cheers, brother. Appreciate it.
It's been awesome to be here. Thanks for having me.
Theo, it was a close one. Yeah!
You might not have got yourself a pin today, but not to worry.
You've won immunity from Sunday night's elimination,
So, well done, mate. Thank you.
Thanks, mate. Thank you.
Mate, it's amazing having you in the kitchen.
Look forward to next week already. Mate, thank you.
Thank you, mate. Thank you.
For the rest, if you don't wanna be heading home this Sunday,
make sure the next time you walk in this kitchen, you come in to win.
Go home, make yourselves a cup of tea,
put your feet up, be kind to each other and we'll see you next time.
See you, guys. 'Bye.
Mate, well done, brother. Thank you.
You smashed it, man. That was really good.
Well done, Darren. See ya.
Good job! Yay!
Sunday night on MasterChef Australia...
Julie Goodwin, everybody!
...we cap off Secrets to Success week with the OG.
It's Julie-bloody-Goodwin and it's like, "Yeah!"
But... on elimination day...
We have to come clean.
...why stop at just one surprise?
Now she's back for redemption.
I'm not done with MasterChef yet.
I'm fighting for my position
back into this competition,
so I absolutely have to bring it.
Captions by Red Bee Media