NARRATOR: Previously on MasterChef Australia...
Peter Gilmore! (LAUGHS)
..the Terminator of the Pressure Test returned.
You're not getting the recipe, so you've go to remember it. (LAUGHS)
They needed total recall...
I reckon it's 30 grams. 30?
Don't think think it's 50.
..to reproduce his latest masterpiece.
Far out, mate.
I am chaos in the brain.
DECLAN: You alright, Theo? No.
I'm, like, losing my mind on this thing.
Just take a breath, Theo.
..the results were worthy of the top four.
ANDY: The squid, the pipis, the scallops,
all cooked perfectly.
Overall, the flavours are pretty damn good.
And Declan and Rhiannon
won their spots into the semifinal.
But it was Theo who had to say goodbye.
I've got so much passion and so much drive in me.
What I'm gonna do after this is gonna be something epic.
Whoo!
Tonight, a MasterChef favourite
brings our top three a challenge that's not for the faint-hearted.
BRENT: It is hectic.
RHIANNON: Oh, my God, this is chaos.
(EXPECTANT MUSIC)
(LAUGHS) Oh, how exciting! I know.
Top three, guys. That's it.
Congratulations. This is so cool.
This is, like, ridiculous.
Blowing out. Congratulations. Yeah.
It's a kind of epic feeling. It is!
I'm coming in so excited today.
It's just like, "Yeah, bring it."
JOCK: Here they are! CONTESTANTS: Oh!
DECLAN: This is such a surreal feeling.
Then there were three! Morning.
I am top three of MasterChef 2023.
I can't believe it.
This looks fun. Ooh.
Little masterclass.
Ooh-hoo! Yeah!
There's a bit of a different set-up going on,
and I'm starting to wonder, "What are we gonna be in for today?"
I'm a bit nervous.
Look at you three. (RHIANNON CHUCKLES)
You are our three semifinalists
for MasterChef Australia 2023.
Hooray!
I literally can't bloody believe it.
I'm not kidding. I'm like, "What the hell's going on?"
I'm standing between these awesome boys
and I'm like,"Holy crap! Like, this is amazing!"
Have you rung Deano? What does he think?
He's like, "When are you coming home? Like, I'm starving."
(ALL LAUGH)
(LAUGHS)
Brent...
..surely this was a goal of yours.
Yeah, it was a goal.
Like, obviously, I had a few along the way,
but the big one, obviously,
is to get to the semifinals and grand finale.
Oh, it's been a long journey to get to this point,
and now I'm here...
..it's a good feeling.
This is the gateway to the semifinals,
and we had to make it worth your while.
So today the winning dish will see its maker
with a whopping 30-minute time advantage in the semifinals.
Ooh.
DECLAN: Jeez. Crucial.
This whole season
you're either right on the buzzer
or you're just like, "I just needed another 10 minutes."
So an extra 30 minutes,
massive advantage, seriously.
Everyone will be gunning for that today.
And to get your hands on it, you will need to pick up the pace,
because today you will need to keep up with a world-renowned chef
as he cooks one of his signature dishes.
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)
Please welcome...
..Curtis Stone!
(HEROIC MUSIC)
RHIANNON: Oh, my God, it's Curtis Stone!
(ALL CHEER) We get to see him again!
How cool is that?
Here he is.
Although, I'm instantly like, "This is not gonna be easy."
Welcome back, Curtis. Thanks so much.
The gang's a tad smaller since you were last here.
Just a little. Yeah.
Just the three faces I was expecting to see too.
(CONTESTANTS LAUGH)
Curtis is here to cook for us today.
And you guessed it - you guys are gonna have to keep up with him.
So, today we're gonna make Scotch fillet au poivre...
..beurre rouge...
..pomme puree...
..and roasted bone marrow.
Wow.
What did he just say?
DECLAN: Uh-oh. (LAUGHS)
Don't even ask me to pronounce it. I'm serious.
It's fancy. (LAUGHS)
Today we're doing Scotch fillet au poivre,
beurre rouge,
pureed potatoes and roasted bone marrow!
(LAUGHS)
I don't know if that's pronounced right.
Today in gonna show you something brand-new,
because today we're cooking with carbon-neutral beef.
It's sustainable beef, it's a first in Australia.
Wow.
As a man who loves his beef, this is a very exciting day.
So what we've done
is Coles has partnered with a select group of family-owned farms
that are committed to reducing their carbon footprint
and to produce beef that's carbon neutral.
Wow.
Alright, gang,
you can have however long it takes Curtis to cook his dish
to cook yours as well.
You're gonna have to move fast, though,
because after Curtis finishes,
you'll only have an extra 10 seconds before your time is up as well.
If you want that all-important 30-minute time advantage
in the semifinal,
bring us the dish that looks and tastes the most like Curtis's.
(EXCITING MUSIC)
We're gonna head to the gantry, Curtis. The floor is yours.
You guys, get behind your benches.
Let's go. ANDY: Good luck, mate.
Good luck, you three. CONTESTANTS: Thank you.
Go hard.
I'm super excited that I finally get to compete
in a keeping-up-with-the-chef challenge,
and knowing that I could have an extra half an hour
in my semifinal cook,
it's made me even hungrier to win it.
But on top of keeping up with a professional chef,
I also don't know what the final product is meant to look like,
so it's gonna be a tough one today.
Alright, guys, you ready?
CONTESTANTS: Yeah.
Well, here's the thing.
It's one thing to keep up with someone,
but it's another thing to keep up with someone and do it correctly.
You're playing for a big prize.
So concentrate, relax.
Ready? CONTESTANTS: Yeah.
Alright, well, the first thing we're gonna do
is we're gonna prepare our steak,
so go to your fridge and get your rib eye.
Alright. JOCK: It's a beast.
Yeah. It's a beast!
Look at that.
You should have a boning knife. Make sure it's nice and sharp.
So, the rib eye, or the Scotch fillet,
which is what we have right here,
has a line of bones that run down the back
and maybe some chine bones along the front.
You're gonna remove all of those,
so just with the boning knife
make sure that your blade is firm up against the bone.
If you don't keep your knife flat against that bone,
what'll happen is you're gonna cut into
that really valuable piece of steak, right?
So if you were to leave the bone in, of course,
and cut through the section, you would have a bone-in rib eye.
But we're gonna make a beautiful boneless Scotch fillet.
BRENT: I am blown away by the speed he's going at straightaway.
I sort of must have started in about second gear,
and Curtis is in fifth.
So, like, I need to just start going.
Time to turn it up to 11.
You'll have a little bit of fat cover. That's good.
You don't want to get rid of the fat cover,
but you do want to remove some of the sinew,
so just gently and slowly
run along the length of your Scotch fillet
and then remove any of those sinewy parts,
because that gristle can be a little chewy,
and, of course, that's not what we're looking for.
(INTENSE MUSIC)
But you do want a little bit of that fat
because that's delicious.
MELISSA:
He's just whipped too much off.
Looks thin too.
You're just gonna continue doing that down both sides of your Scotch.
I'm gonna come and look at what you've done.
Nice. BRENT: Thanks, Chef.
Nice work, Rhiannon.
Is it OK? MELISSA: Yeah.
Thank you.
Ooh, that's very lean.
So, you've taken off a little too much of that fat cap, right?
If you see that and you see mine,
see how I've still got that nice little piece of fat,
which is gonna make it a little drier.
I've accidentally taken off too much of this fat cap.
But I don't know how to tell you to put it back on.
No, yeah, of course, alright. (LAUGHS)
and I've probably screwed up the main element of today's dish.
Whoops.
So this is not a good start.
Alright, you now have a Scotch fillet.
And what you're ready to do is cut yourself steaks.
So you're gonna go straight across and cut them into steaks.
Put a couple of fingers over it, like that.
Line it up.
Cut straight on through your rib eye.
Of course, the butchering of your protein
is very, very important.
You want to make sure that you treat it really beautifully
and you don't waste anything.
Have you guys done much butchering before?
DECLAN AND RHIANNON: Nuh. BRENT: Yeah.
I'm pretty familiar with butchering meat.
My dad was in the beef industry for about 40 years,
so if I haven't picked up a thing or two,
then I'm probably a bad son.
Alright, once you have your steak,
get yourself a little rack,
'cause we're gonna temper that steak,
which is bringing it up to that room temperature before we cook it.
The rest you can put back in the fridge.
OK, so what we're gonna do next is make our potato puree,
so first thing we need to do is get a large pot.
Fill it with cold water.
And peel potatoes.
(INTENSE MUSIC)
RHIANNON: Curtis is moving really fast.
And I did expect him to be quick.
Make sure these are beautifully fine.
I don't want to see any skin whatsoever.
But not this quick.
Do you know where the peeler is?
In that bowl.
I'm struggling to keep up.
Is it in this one? Yeah.
Mine's not.
The key to this is not to overcook your potatoes,
so you want to actually make sure
that you've got nice, uniform sizes before they go into that water.
Oh, yes, it is. Far out. Bloody thing.
Far out, I'm already behind.
So it's like, "Hurry up and peel these damn potatoes."
OK, so get those into the cold water.
Make sure you season your water generously,
the way you would cook pasta, so you want it to taste like the ocean.
Potatoes are on the boil
and I'm trying to just take information in
but also keep one ear, like, moving like this,
just in case he says something.
One eye looking up.
It's crazy.
Alright, next what we're gonna do, guys,
is make the garnish for our bone marrow.
So I want you to make a fluid gel.
So you need 250mL of buttermilk and 150mL of cream.
Let's go, Rhiannon. RHIANNON: Yep.
Come on.
So, I'm only halfway through my potatoes.
Curtis has already peeled, chopped his,
got them on boiling water and moved on to the buttermilk.
And I'm going, "Wait, what?"
And then you want 4g of agar,
a vegetable gelatin made from seaweed.
So, of course, the agar's important.
You don't want to over-measure or under-measure it.
4g of agar.
4g. JOCK: 4g.
Come on, Rhiannon.
So, I put the potatoes in and they're quite big.
And I'm thinking, "Wait, were Curtis's smaller?"
I don't know at this point. I'm already frazzled.
CURTIS: Agar goes in.
And you blend it for about 30 seconds.
If you hear mine, I should hear yours.
Keep watching him, Rhiannon, keep watching him.
(TENSE MUSIC)
Get your buttermilk and cream in.
And we're gonna hydrate that agar by bringing it to the boil,
and then we're gonna simmer it for about 60 seconds.
How much was the agar?
4g of agar.
JOCK: Come on, Rhiannon. Catch up, let's go.
So, I've, like, got a pot, and I'm putting milk in.
Go ahead and pour out your buttermilk and cream
into a flat container
and stick it in your blast chiller.
Where... Oh, shit.
I can hear Curtis saying, "Buttermilk."
And I realise, "Ooh, I'm putting milk in."
Keep up, Rhiannon.
Oh, my God, this is chaos.
Come on, Rhiannon.
Catch up, let's go.
OK, is everyone keeping up with me?
RHIANNON: No.
Oh, my God, I'm putting milk in.
Oh, shit, yeah.
It's meant to be buttermilk.
JOCK: Come on, Rhiannon. Catch up, let's go.
Just have to start again.
Keep up, Rhiannon.
Alright, next we're gonna make some sweet-and-sour shallots.
Don't let the screws come off. Keep going.
So, you want about 35g of both brown and white sugar
and then about 180mL of sherry vinegar and white wine vinegar.
Then we're gonna brunoise our shallots
Now, when I say 'brunoise',
I want a really fine, fine dice.
I know that pace that Curtis chops shallots.
(SPIRITED MUSIC)
This is gonna be tough.
Come on, push, push, push.
You've got to catch up.
Remember, you need to finish 10 seconds after Curtis does,
so you've got to match his pace, come on.
How's everyone doing? Great, thank you.
(RHIANNON CHUCKLES) Having a great time up here.
Cut them perfect.
Alright, once you've got that 180g of shallot cut,
get it into a saucepan, because that's gonna be the basis
of our sweet-and-sour shallots.
In the vinegar.
OK, keep all of the trimmings of your shallots,
because we're gonna make a reduction
which is the beginning of our beurre rouge, red wine sauce.
So another element to add.
I'm gonna take all of that trimmed shallot,
get it in 200mL of red wine
and 50mL of red wine vinegar.
Into the shallots?
That's into the trimmed shallots.
So 50mL red wine vinegar, 200mL wine.
the offcuts of our shallots
are going in with this beurre rouge sauce.
I've never really made one before.
so I'm just gonna keep up with Curtis.
We're gonna put some parsley stalks
into that 50mL of red wine vinegar and 200mL of red wine.
Cook faster.
One dried bay leaf.
A nice sprig of fresh thyme.
It's starting to get mayhem now.
So, at this point your potatoes should be coming up to the boil,
you should have your shallots starting to confit,
or slowly cook.
Right now I've got four elements on the go,
none are completed.
You should have your red wine reduction working,
which is gonna make our beurre rouge sauce.
And there's still more getting thrown in.
It's like I'm juggling these balls
and someone else has just thrown more at me.
There you go. Put the pot on the scales.
Now you're on.
The judges up there throwing down their two cents.
It is hectic.
You've portioned your rib eye steak.
You've got your bone marrow standing by
with that rib eye steak.
Get the bone marrow out too, Rhi.
And then we can go back and have a look
and see whether our gel is starting to set.
JOCK: Come on, Rhiannon.
Come on, Deccers.
So once it's set...
Can you see how mine's set?
That's what it should look like.
Then what we're gonna do is dice it.
Take your diced gel,
add it to your food processor.
What we're gonna do is turn it into a liquid.
MELISSA: Come on, Rhi.
Get the xanthan gum and weigh 1.3g.
OK, is everyone keeping up with me?
Yeah. We add that xanthan gum to the blender?
Take your blender. Don't add it yet. OK.
Unless you want me to keep up with you, Declan.
Nuh, true. (BOTH LAUGH)
I'm on a little bit of a high.
I'm feeling good that I'm keeping up with Curtis.
Then once you've started to blend this,
then you slowly add your xanthan to it.
And the fact that today could potentially give me that advantage
to earn my spot in the grand final,
I am hungry for that.
(INTENSE MUSIC)
RHIANNON: Finally!
I'm looking from side to side of the boys
and I'm going, "Alright, I'm not that far behind."
JOCK: Go, go, go. Don't stop, Rhiannon.
You do not have time to stop.
I'm just like, "Whatever you do, keep the hell up with Curtis."
So it should be perfectly smooth.
It should be silky, silky, silky.
MELISSA: Come on, Declan.
(INTENSE MUSIC)
JOCK: Scrape it down. Come on, Rhiannon.
If you're worried about your consistency, if it's too thick,
you can put just a couple of drops of buttermilk in to thin it back out.
Full speed.
DECLAN: Alright.
I'm working on this buttermilk gel,
my potatoes are on, I've got my beurre rouge sauce on
and I've got my vinegars reducing down for my shallot jam.
Declan. Yeah.
Why are your shallots on the bench?
Oh, far out.
Jesus.
I've just realised I'm making my sweet-and-sour shallot jam
without the shallots in there.
The wheels have fallen off the bus.
(INTENSE MUSIC)
I'd be putting more vinegar and sugar in there.
The outcome of this is, if this liquid is reduced too much
and my shallots are only going in now,
they're not gonna cook through in time
and get to that jammy consistency.
Come on, Declan.
I'm so lucky I found out when I did.
JOCK: Come on, Brent.
I've never made a buttermilk puree before.
Just keep looking at the consistency.
So I'm literally just copying exactly what Curtis does.
'Cause that's what you need to mimic, yeah?
I don't have a recipe.
I don't know what it's supposed to look like or taste like.
So, Curtis just added a little bit of buttermilk into his
to get the consistency right, OK?
I think I've run up to Curtis's bench about five times at least.
I think mine's smoother than Curtis's.
Declan: Ooh.
ANDY: What's your consistency? Is yours the same as his?
No.
Yeah, I think you're gonna have to think on your feet here,
'cause I don't reckon your agar activated.
Oh.
This buttermilk gel isn't looking right.
OK.
And I race over to have a look at Curtis's,
and they're looking completely different.
Did you bring it to a boil? Yeah, I did.
Then you simmered it for... 60 seconds.
..60 seconds?
My buttermilk gel, it's way too runny.
I feel like I've done something wrong.
Curtis, do you have a solution for me?
Um, I would start again.
(INTENSE MUSIC)
Ooh.
ANDY: What's your consistency? Is yours the same as his?
No.
This buttermilk gel isn't looking right.
It's way too runny.
I would start again.
Yeah.
Not only do I need to do this again,
but I need to multitask and still keep up with Curtis.
Declan...
..if you move your arse, you might make it on time, right?
But it's real close.
You haven't got a second to waste from here on out.
I think I'm in a bit of trouble here.
Looking at the other two... It's nearly there.
..it's gonna be a tough one to beat.
Close.
They're going forward, I'm going backwards.
This is crazy, but I'm trying not to let it get to me.
Alright, once that's silky smooth, pour it into your squeezy bottle.
Come on, Brent, come on, Rhiannon.
Declan, let's go. Come on.
Push, push, push!
My fluid gel's in the fridge. Yours should be too.
You should have the reduction done for your beurre rouge sauce.
Your sweet-and-sour brunoise shallots should be almost complete.
You're looking for a quite jammy consistency.
Your potatoes should be almost done, and as soon as they are,
we're gonna steam them dry.
Your beef is portioned.
Your bone marrow is ready to go.
As soon as your potato falls off the knife like that, it's ready.
Rhi, just check on your potatoes.
These potatoes are still not cooked.
I'm thinking they're cut too big.
I just have to leave them in for longer.
Oh, man!
So now I'm falling behind again.
OK, we take some butter,
and I throw the butter straight into the moulin,
and then you force the potatoes through the moulin.
JOCK: Come on, Rhiannon. You don't need that much.
Quick. Chop chop, let's go.
Give it a shake, get rid of that large pot.
Then go ahead and get your drum sieve.
And what we're gonna do now is work the potatoes
through the drum sieve.
(INTENSE MUSIC)
MELISSA: Come on, Declan.
I've got so many elements going on right now
because I'm making up for that lost time
with the buttermilk gel and stuffing up my shallots.
But I have managed to get that second batch of buttermilk gel
into the blast chiller.
OK, those buttery potatoes should be going through your drum sieve.
But I'm still one step behind him
and I'm gonna have to catch up.
OK, guys, we are the business end of this. Stop messing around.
JOCK AND BRENT: Yes, Chef.
If you're behind, catch up.
JOCK: Hurry up, guys.
Get your cast-iron skillet. Stick it straight onto your stove.
Make sure it's nice and clean before it goes on.
We're gonna preheat it before we cook our steak.
RHIANNON: Far out.
That's it, Rhiannon.
Don't waste any more time. Let's go.
Taste everything. Taste your shallots right now.
Curtis is not slowing down.
Season your potatoes really carefully, guys.
Very, very important.
He's just gonna keep going.
And we've just got to keep up no matter what.
Then you take your whisk and you whisk.
(INTENSE MUSIC)
Do not let your potatoes catch.
Come on, Rhi, you've nearly caught up.
Keep going, keep going, keep going, push, push, push, push.
I'm adding the milk in stages
and you should be doing the same thing.
BRENT: Curtis is going like a cut snake
on these pommes puree.
It is whisking it, adding milk, whisking it,
getting it on the heat, taking it off the heat.
How's everyone feeling?
Feeling good. Excited? Relaxed?
I wouldn't say relaxed. (CHUCKLES)
I'd say pretty bloody chaotic.
He's looking for a consistency that he knows.
Whisk it hard.
You want no lumps left in your potatoes.
So I'm just pretty much copying what he does.
And then taste it.
The adrenaline is absolutely spiking through me.
I'm sweating, but I'm actually keeping up with him.
OK, it's time to make the steak, a pepper steak.
Into your mortar and pestle
you're gonna take some black peppercorns
and you're gonna crunch them up.
You're just gonna get a decent sprinkle,
pop over a tray like this.
I'm still trying to listen to Curtis.
"OK, where's he up to?"
Take your Scotch fillet, press it straight into that pepper.
Push it down firmly.
Pick it up.
Sit it back on your rack.
And I'm trying to look up and I'm trying to watch
and I'm trying to do what I'm doing.
Bloody hell.
Continue to whisk those potatoes.
The more you whisk them, the smoother they get.
Should be going between that, back and forth, back and forth.
Once your pan is red hot,
pick up your Scotch fillet, drop it right into the centre of the pan.
(PAN SIZZLES)
Everybody's steak should be in the cast iron right now.
(PAN SIZZLES)
Rhiannon, steak in the pan, let's go. Declan, steak in.
Come on.
Whisk those potatoes.
Shake your sauce.
Check your seasonings on everything.
It's the single most important thing in cooking.
I've got so many elements going on right now
and I still don't know what the final product is meant to look like.
So I'm stressing out.
What do we do with our taties?
Sorry? Just keep whisking?
Stop giving them nicknames and whisk 'em, son.
(JOCK LAUGHS)
But I've just got to keep myself going
and keep that joy in my cooking going.
(LAUGHS) "Where'd I put my taties?"
Some people say 'potato', some people say 'potata',
I say 'taties'.
(JOCK CACKLES)
Take your bone marrow,
have your oven set to grill and stick it in.
You're gonna add those two cloves of garlic that we crushed
with a couple of sprigs of thyme.
What you're gonna do is take about 70g of butter
and add it to your pan.
And once it all melts, you baste.
Come on, everyone. Home stretch now!
Continually baste that butter over your steak.
Rhiannon, butter.
We're coming towards the end, and I'm thinking,
"We've only got 10 seconds to finish our dish after Curtis,
"so now is not the time for me to fall behind."
I've got to be basting this steak.
I've put the butter in the pan and it is smoking.
But I'm like,
"I've got to be careful I don't bloody overcook it."
But all I'm thinking about is "Keep up wit Curtis."
Guys, I'm getting real close.
You have to be with me right now or you'll miss out. It is that simple.
DECLAN: Yeah.
I've cooked a lot of steak in my time.
That's right up my alley.
And so I'm feeling pretty confident with this one.
Once it's had about 90 seconds, you're gonna turn that steak
and give it another 90 on the other side.
MELISSA: Brent, watch the heat on that pan.
Watch... The heat is raging.
I can see that my steak is cooking very, very quick.
I'm flipping it over, and it looks a bit overdone.
Oh, my God.
MELISSA: Brent, watch the heat on that pan.
I can see that my steak is cooking very, very quick.
Watch... The heat is raging.
I'm flipping it over, and... Oh, my God.
..it looks a bit overdone.
There's only one thing I can do right now,
and that's get it out of that pan.
That burnt flavour will go straight through that steak.
Brent, don't lose your senses.
You know when a pan is too hot.
I hope that that hot pan was enough
to get it cooked like Curtis's
even though I had to pull it off earlier than his.
Because if not, I could be in a lot of trouble.
Next, take some of your beautiful 30-hour-recipe sourdough bread.
You're gonna slice about four slices of that sourdough
about a centimetre thick.
Take your sourdough, put it under the grill.
I'm trying to do everything right now,
and I think I'm finally bringing everything together.
JOCK: Come on.
Now my second batch of this buttermilk gel
has set perfectly,
and I've got it to a good consistency.
But I'm not cooking at the same time as Curtis right now,
and I'm gonna have to catch up on it.
You guys should be pretty close here.
ANDY: His plates are out.
RHIANNON: I check my potatoes.
I get my toast out of the grill.
I look up, Curtis has his plates out.
I'm like, "Bloody hell."
I've got to get the plates out.
I've got to get this bone marrow finished.
It's like there's things everywhere.
Am I even close? I don't know.
Guys, I'm getting real close.
Take those beautiful little toasts.
Take your bone marrow,
put it on your plate, on that beautiful long plate.
Rhiannon, bone marrow on the plate. Declan, bone marrow on the plate.
Come on, keep up, keep up, keep up.
Whisk that mashed potato.
That mash should be perfectly smooth.
Take some of those sticky shallots.
Spoon them over that beautiful toast.
ANDY: Bone marrow's on the plate.
My marrow's on the plate. My sauce is in the sauce boat.
Sauce in the jug, Rhiannon.
Sauce. Beurre rouge. Your beurre rouge.
MELISSA: The beurre rouge!
I'm about to do my dots and my garnish,
then I'll slice my steak and you'll have 10 seconds, so move, move, move.
Oh, man, here we go.
I'm actually at the same stage as Curtis, and I'm like,
"How did that happen?"
JOCK: Come on, Rhiannon.
So I'm kind of like, "Alright, I'm gonna keep moving on."
Come on. Keep up, keep up, keep up.
Take your fluid gel.
Watch, guys. Watch Curtis.
Your tiny little dots.
(URGENT MUSIC)
So, this is where I really need to crank up the speed,
because, you know, all that hard work during this cook
would be for nothing if I don't get it on the plate
in that 10 seconds.
MELISSA: Go, Brent. Come on.
DECLAN: Tiny little dots.
Then take some little herbs.
You should have some chive tips, you should have some dill,
you might have some tarragon.
I like a mixture. Herb it up.
Place that over the top of your toast.
Put some chive-y.
Come on, now. Keep up.
OK, this is the most important part of the day, guys.
Whew! It all comes down to right now.
Make sure your plates are gorgeous.
Get three little quenelles of that mashed potato.
Three quenelles. Jeez Louise.
(DRAMATIC MUSIC)
RHIANNON: I'm looking at the potato
and it doesn't look anything like Curtis's.
Oh, man!
Mine doesn't kinda look as smooth as his.
Bloody hell.
But I can't fix the texture.
I just have to get it on the plate.
Pick up that perfectly rested steak.
ANDY: He's coming towards the end.
You're gonna slice straight through it,
about a centimetre in thickness.
BRENT: This is it. Like, there's no turning back now.
I cut into the steak...
..and I just pray that it's cooked just like Curtis's
and I didn't ruin it.
(URGENT MUSIC)
ANDY: Come on, Declan. Come on, Rhiannon.
MELISSA: That's it. Come on, slice the steak.
You're gonna pick up these slices of beef,
gorgeous Scotch fillet,
spread it right out around your plate.
A little finishing salt.
ANDY: Seven slices. MELISSA: Fanned out.
JOCK: Come on, guys. Spread 'em.
That is it. I am done.
You've got 10 seconds. Good luck.
JOCK: 10...
JUDGES: 9, 8,
7, 6, 5,
4, 3, 2, 1.
Time. Step back. (JUDGES CLAP)
DECLAN: Good job! Bloody hell.
DECLAN: Good work. RHIANNON: Holy cow.
Oh, buddy.
BRENT: Good work. CURTIS: Well done, mate.
Oh, thank you.
Oh!
We can breathe! Shit.
Oh, mate.
Whoo! (JUDGES CLAP)
ANDY: Well done, you three. That was tough.
DECLAN: That was a hectic cook.
I don't think I've stuffed up so many elements in my life, ever.
Holy shit.
Screwed up the cut on the steak
by accidentally taking off too much fat cap.
But I've done a new buttermilk gel.
I managed to save my onion jam.
I've plated up everything.
And I've left nothing in the tank.
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)
Curtis, that was unbelievable.
You did not let up on those guys for a second.
It was just wall-to-wall action.
They did a good job of... of keeping up.
You can tell that you were really giving it to the contestants,
and you produced an epic dish.
It's gonna be interesting to see how they went with the final result,
but I reckon we crack into this one first.
I think so.
Shall we?
Curtis, do you want to do the honours on the marrow?
Mm-hm.
Alright.
Thank you.
Well, I've never sat down and eaten my own food in this forum,
so I hope I'm not too critical of myself.
(MELISSA LAUGHS) I usually am.
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)
Curtis, beautiful dish.
I think one of my favourite things here
is the balance of the overall dish.
Toast with the sweet-and-sour, jammy shallots
is really brilliant.
But what adds to it is the buttermilk gel
is like the glue that brings that whole toast situation together,
which makes it all the more delicious.
I mean, truly, they're all very simple components,
but for me, what I wanted this dish to be
was a really interesting play of texture -
velvety, silky potatoes and sauce,
but then crunchy from the toast
and richness from the bone marrow.
So I hope that they were able to balance
all of those different textures.
And the cook in the beef, I think, is also important.
For this beef to stand up and be celebrated,
it needs to be on the sort of rare side of medium-rare, right?
Yep, absolutely.
OK, now we know what we're looking for,
now we also need to remind ourselves what they're playing for -
a huge advantage going into the semifinals.
Shall we get the first dish in? Let's do it.
DECLAN: Good luck, Rhi-Rhi. BRENT: Good luck, Rhi-Rhi.
Thanks, guys.
Rhi. G'day.
Hello.
You stoked? Yeah, I am stoked.
That was bloody hard, actually. (LAUGHS)
Seriously, that was chaos.
We saw. (ALL LAUGH)
I think that may have been the most stressful gantry trip
for the three of us in quite some time.
(LAUGHS)
But I am really glad
that you managed to put everything on the board, so well done.
You know what? I'm gonna give this to Deano when I get home.
I'm gonna fancy him up. ANDY: Oh, yeah.
He's not having rissoles anymore. (LAUGHS)
We'll have a bit of a taste now. Yeah, get into it!
Thanks, guys. Thanks, Rhiannon.
Oh, my God.
The magnitude of this has literally just hit me.
The top dish today
wins the biggest advantage at this point in the competition.
Good job.
Ooh! Ooh. Thanks.
And I don't feel like I've done enough.
Oh, that was chaos, mate.
I'm really feeling the nerves right now.
NARRATOR: In the mood to cook?
and try these delicious MasterChef-approved recipes
on 10 play.
(PENSIVE MUSIC)
JOCK: Alright, we're gonna taste it.
That's a very healthy-looking marrow there.
It is, isn't it?
Look at that.
The onion jam was probably a highlight.
I think it was really nicely done.
And then the steak, like, great caramelisation on it.
Thought it was really good.
I thought that the toast was really good.
It's weird
that just a very small amount of the dill fronds and the chives
did bring that sweet-and-sour shallot jam to life,
and I thought the buttermilk had a nice flavour to it.
And then the richness from the bone marrow, which I quite enjoyed.
Rhiannon's cooked that Scotch fillet really quite nicely.
Sadly, the mashed potato is a little grainy...
Yeah. ..for me.
And it's maybe a little under-seasoned.
Yeah. You know?
It feels to me like she probably got a little stressed
with the pace.
I know.
She was so excited to try and keep up with you.
I think the reality of it just overwhelmed her.
And obviously the big let-down here is the mash.
Yeah.
I mean, the potatoes your reprieve
from the richness that is the beef, that is the toast,
that is the bone marrow, that is the sauce, you know what I mean?
And if it's not right, it really makes a difference to the dish.
BRENT: Good luck, Deccy. Good luck, mate.
Looking at my plate, I just hope
that my steak is beautiful and succulent
and I've managed to fix those mistakes that I made.
JUDGES: Declan. Hello.
ANDY: How are you? Yeah, good.
I want to win that advantage so bad.
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)
What about that, mate? Yeah, that was...that was crazy.
But, yeah, I'm really proud that I managed to plate everything up,
'cause, yeah, there was a few times there
where I didn't think I'd be plating up a lot.
Well, it was entertaining watching you trying to keep up with Curtis,
so, um...
It was very stressful. We will taste now, Declan.
Thank you, mate. Alright, thank you.
Thanks, Declan. Thank you.
I'm glad he did the buttermilk gel again.
He pushed on to try and get that done,
so he's done really well there.
The problems that I've got,
the onion jam with the shallots,
he struggled with that.
They're still quite raw, unfortunately.
And then the butchering the steak, he took a lot of that fat cap off.
You really do just miss that beautiful lick of fat
over the Scotch fillet.
But in saying that, you know, the cook and the seasoning
and that crust on the outside is delicious.
It's a good amount of pepper that he's applied to it,
so you feel the heat but it doesn't blow out your palate.
I also think the sauce is really nice.
It's a nice texture to it, it's quite velvety,
and it's bright and acidic.
All great points. Yeah, I agree.
Steak beautifully caramelised and cooked.
I think great work on his... on his sauce.
Great cook on his bone marrow as well.
RHIANNON: Good luck, Brentles. Thank you.
The heart's thumping right now.
I was going so good this whole cook until the steak.
G'day. ANDY: Here he is.
G'day, mate. (JUDGES LAUGH)
It's the star of the show,
so I hope that I got it off the pan quick enough
that it didn't stop me from getting to this advantage.
How are you mate? Was that tough? That was really tough.
High speed. No time to sort of stuff up or stumble.
Anything you're worried about?
Oh, maybe a little bit with the crust of the steak.
Did you have good fun, though? Yeah.
It didn't look like it, 'cause I was just zoned in.
Didn't look like it at all. No, but, like...that was good.
Alright, we're gonna taste it. Yep, alright. Enjoy.
ANDY: Cheers, mate. JOCK AND ANDY: Thanks, Brent.
(DRAMATIC MUSIC)
MELISSA: Thanks, sir.
ANDY: Thank you.
I think, all in all, Brent's done a good job.
The cook on his steak is really accurate.
You know, it's got a nice caramelised crust on the outside.
It's beautiful rested. So you can see it's pink all the way through.
Also, the texture on the potatoes is great.
And also the sauce.
It's a really good, complex dish.
Couldn't agree more, Curtis.
For all intents and purposes, he's done a great job.
The sauce is beautifully emulsified, there's a good flavour in it.
The highlight, obviously, is the steak
and it was cooked absolutely beautifully.
I think the steak is beautifully cooked.
Has a nice perfume of pepper about it, which is really good.
Maybe a little bit of inconsistency in terms of caramelisation
all the way around, but nevertheless, pretty good.
The texture of the potato I thought was really fantastic.
Closest to yours. Mm.
Brent is like a heat-seeking missile.
When he's focused, you can't distract him with anything.
(TENSE MUSIC)
Today you had to keep up with a legend.
Curtis, how do you think these three went today?
Look, I really put the pressure on,
'cause, you know, you guys have made it to pretty much the end of this,
so I really wanted to see what you could do.
And you did a really, really good job.
Should be proud of yourselves. CONTESTANTS: Thank you.
Curtis sets a very high bar,
one that all of you strived to reach today.
Brent, your dish
was the one that resembled Curtis's the most in presentation,
but the resemblance doesn't stop there.
Your potatoes were spot-on,
your steak was cooked really well,
and your sauce was full of flavour.
And it's for those reasons, my friend,
Brent, you have won the advantage.
Whoo! Well done, buddy.
ANDY: Well done, mate.
(LAUGHS) Oh, my God!
I... How good is that?
Well done!
To get the 30 minutes is a massive advantage.
It's one of the, probably, better days of this competition for me.
Congratulations, Brent. Thank you.
You can bank an extra half an hour time in the semifinal, eh?
Oh, that comes, open arms, yeah. I really want that.
As is tradition in this competition,
the semifinal will be the most important service yet.
So right now, all three of you,
you're gonna go home, put your thinking caps on,
and come up with a three-course menu
worthy of a win.
(EXCITING MUSIC)
The two of you that cook the best menus...
..they'll be our grand finalists.
The other,
unfortunately, they'll fall at the final hurdle.
The pressure is well and truly on.
This is your time to shine.
So go home, have a rest,
and we'll see you back for the semifinal.
Well done, you three. Good luck. Yeah! Thank you.
(ALL TALK AT ONCE)
Well done. Thank you, Curtis. Thank you.
NARRATOR: Tomorrow night on MasterChef Australia...
MELISSA: Every challenge, every dish,
has led you to this point.
..it all comes down to three,
and cooking their own three-course menu.
Almost 70 plates of food
on your lonesome.
But with such a massive Service Challenge
to deliver...
You need to push. Come on.
Bloody hell.
..one will fall...
DECLAN: This is an absolute disaster
right now.
..at the final hurdle.
BRENT: It's game over.
Captions by Red Bee Media