Last week's show was packed full of fun and surprises. And, the Top 8 Mini Chefs were on fire, but a fire fuelled by enthusiasm and positive energy.
The Mystery Box Challenge was presented via a dry ice Intro enveloping a banana. Yes. A banana. Apparently, bananas have been on earth longer than humans. Who knew? Well. Chef Gordon Ramsay did.
Therefore, it stood to reason that this Challenge involved cooking a banana infused dish. I am a banana freak so I was very interested to see the recipes created by these young cooks.
Riley decided to create Banana Scallops. Nathan made Banana Macaroons filled with a Banana Caramel. Yum. I am in love.
Jenna made a Smoked Coconut Shrimp with Coconut Banana Sauce and Banana/ Mango/ Pineapple Salad. Ryan Kate – Carribbean Spice Pork with Sweet Potato hash and a Spicy Banana Sauce.
These dishes all looked incredible. The first dish that impressed the judges was created by 12-year-old Jenna. Chef Ramsay loved the combination of ingredients – the sweet complimenting the spicy. Ditto for Chef Graham Elliott, although he said the plating needed improvement. Joe Bastianich loved it as well.
The second dish impressing the judges was created by Nathan. No surprise there! French Macaroons are so tricky and he came up with such a great recipe. Graham Elliott said the macaroons looked phenomenal and they were. He said it was like eating a banana flavoured cloud. Chef Ramsay said there are a thousand pastry chefs out there who would struggle making these macaroons.
The third dish was created by Ryan Kate – Carribbean Spiced Pork with Sweet Potato Hash and a Spicy Banana Sauce. Both Chefs Bastianich and Ramsay raved about this dish and the latter said this was one of the best dishes she cooked in this competition. She should be pleased.
The winning dish was Nathan's Macaroon Dish. And a well deserved win, I must say! With this win, he earned a huge advantage.
Which was?
Well, first of all, they were introduced to Graham Ramsay's 12-year-old daughter, Matilda Ramsay, who is an excellent cook in her own right. Oh my, she is adorable.
#tillyramsay introduced Salmon En Croute with Hollandaise Sauce which the Top 8 was challenged to recreate to a "T". This is Gordon Ramsay's Signature Dish and Marilda's favorite dish.
Nathan did not have to cook because he won the last challenge. He had the opportunity to sit and watch while dining on Gordon Ramsay's Salmon En Croute.
At the end of this challenge, two of the home cooks would be leaving the competition .
This particular challenge intimidated the young cooks because it had to be identical to Gordon's creation – even the plating!
Andrew seemed confident right off the bat but then Gordon tried to set him up with his daughter and the result was hysterical. She said: "As if I am going to marry a chef"!
Jimmy's salmon looked great when he removed it from the oven. Little Riley was hanging in there. What a trooper!
But, Jenna, of all people, broke her Hollandaise Sauce. What a surprise!! Poor thing. She was at her wit's end But Andrew, her white knight, came to the rescue. What a sweetheart he is!! Got to love kids!
In the end, Jenna's dish turned out extremely well and the judges loved it. Kudos to Andrew for helping her salvage this recipe. She was so grateful to Andrew and had wonderful things to say about him.
Further to this, Andrew was given huge kudos by Gordon. He said that Andrew has a big heart and, on top of that, he said his dish was stunning. Joe said it was perfection. This kid is so, so talented. It was a huge might for him!
Kayla's salmon dish was overwhelmed with pastry. And the inside of the pastry was raw. Yikes! And the salmon was overcooked because it was too white and bright. However, her seasoning was good, so some positive feedback for Kayla.
Ayla's sauce was too hot, but the salmon was excellent.
Ryan Kate's Salmon En Croute was visually excellent, but the salmon was overcooked because it was too white. Her Hollandaise and her potatoes were excellent.
Little Riley had some technical issues with the dish. The salmon was pretty good but the rest of the components on the dish fell apart.
Jimmy's presentation was excellent. Gordon said it was delicious and perfect. He said he has one foot in the door of the Top 6 of this competition.
After all was said and done, the standout dishes were Jimmy's and Andrew's. No surprise there!
However, after deliberation by the three judges, Riley and Ryan Kate were eliminated. I will miss their sweet little faces but they have such a wonderful future ahead of them. Good and yummy things do come in small packages. Good luck Riley and Ryan Kate.
This week, they are headed to a real restaurant and pandemonium ensues. This should be a nail biter of a show.
MasterChef airs on Tuesday, February 10th at 8:00 PM on Fox.
Also, if anyone wants to lend a pen in hand in providing a culinary analysis of this show on a weekly basis, please let me know. I am a pretty good cook but certainly not the best by any stretch of the imagination so a culinary expert would be most welcome on the MasterClassLady.Com Community.
Finally, as I mentioned last week, the extremely gifted and resourceful Logan Guleff, who won the MasterChef Junior crown in Season 2, has been busy as a beaver on social media. If you want to stay in touch with "all things Logan" you can follow him on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and OrderUpWithLogan.
Here is the trailer for Tuesday, February 10th's show. Drama ensues and it is directed at Andrew. Oh dear!!
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