MasterChef 2019 – Finals Week Two

MasterChef presenters Gregg Wallace and John Torode have come together yet again to find the Uk’s finest culinary dining skills.

In the penultimate show, the final 4 contestants face an incredible challenge – cooking alongside an internationally renowned two Michelin starred chef. Tonight they will be mentored by chef Raymond Blanc and Executive chef Gary Jones in the MasterChef kitchen.

The four amateur cooks will gain unique insight into Raymond‘s cuisine as they learn directly from his and his Executive chef. Each cook has 4 hours to recreate an iconic classic dish from Raymond‘s Menu at Belmont Le Manoir Aux Quat’Saisons. Once they have prepared their complex praise dishes, they must serve them to Raymond and judges John and Gregg.

Lets see how the chefs got on..

Irini is taking charge of the starter.

Signature Dish: A courgette flower filled with a ginger crab and scallop soufflé mousse, with crab claw, spring vegetables, a crab bisque and foam gel and a garden herb jus.

Gregg was very impressed with the ‘elegant looking dish‘.

Raymond was happy Irini managed to ‘bring all the freshness of a garden onto the plate, with the spiciness of the soufflé within the courgette flower‘, was ‘very proud‘ of how well she had executed the dish.

John loved the ‘light mousse within the flower, subtleness of the scallop and richness of the crab‘.

Delia will be showcasing the main.

Signature Dish: Poached quail egg in spinach ravioli, topped with truffle and served with pickled mushrooms, spinach, a parsley and chervil oil and finished with a turkey jus.

John ‘admired‘ all the work that gone into the dish, and couldn’t praise the dish enough.

Raymond found it ‘quite incredible of how much work Delia had done’.

Gregg loved that the dish was ‘light on texture but massive in flavour‘.

Geoff will be recreating a dessert.

Signature Dish: Apple and calvados soufflé, caramelised apple balls, apple batons, apple sorbet and an apple crisp.

Raymond described the textures and flavours that ‘technically was very very good‘.

Gregg loved the ‘explosion of apple‘.

John thought the dish was ‘wonderful‘ and ‘remarkable‘ what Geoff had achieved.

Jilly is making Raymonds Cafe Creme.

Signature Dish: A dark chocolate cup and saucer filled with coffee sponge, coffee parfait topped with caramel and coffee extract served with cubed chocolate ganache.

Gregg enjoyed the ‘light and delicate chocolate work’ and ‘loved it’.

John said that Jilly had ‘done a great job, technically‘.

Raymond was ‘extremely happy with the flavours and really impressed‘.

Finally, the four cooks are tasked with creating one exceptional dish for John and Gregg that will showcase their growing cooking talent. Only three can make it through to the finals and take one step closer to becoming the MasterChef Champion 2019.

Lets see how the chefs got on…

Delia

Signature Dish: Cherry and white chocolate delice, with an almond and ginger base, marzipan crumble, ginger cream, almond tuille, and a cherry sauce.

Gregg found Delia’s dessert ‘absolutely stunningly delicious‘, saying it was ‘light yet bursting with ginger‘.

John was very impressed with the balance of flavours, saying it was ‘very well made and beautifully presented‘.

Irini

Signature Dish: Chocolate tart with a shortbread and biscuit base, filled with chocolate ganache, quince cooked in spiced red wine, tempered chocolate discs, a red wine gel and caramelised hazelnuts.

John loved Irini’s dessert, saying ‘technically it’s without fault, but Gregg would probably like some whipped cream‘.

Gregg thought it tasted delicious, his only issue was that the ‘quince didn’t give much juice, and would loved a bit of wetness‘.

Jilly

Signature Dish: A herb crusted lamb loin, lamb  croquette filled with minted shoulder, sun dried tomato gnocchi, a ratatouille of stewed peppers, aubergines and courgettes, black olives and a lamb jus.

John was very impressed with Jilly’s presentation, as well as the rest of her dish which was ‘elegant and sophisticated‘.

Gregg enjoyed the cooking and the flavours of the lamb and thought it was ‘genius work‘.

Geoff

Signature Dish: Marshmallow domes, meringue chards, chestnut ganache, honeycomb, chocolate soil, candied chestnuts and whipped cream.

Gregg loved the flavours coming from the dish, unfortunately wished for more ‘wetness’.

John was very impressed with Geoff’s work technically but ‘as a plate of food it needed something to make it moist‘.

Gregg, and John both agreed that the 3 chefs going through to the next stage would be; Irini, Jilly & Delia.
Unfortunately saying bye and good luck for the future to Geoff.