Tuesday’s newest “Fast and Epicure-ious†episode of MasterChef Canada was all about being close to the fans, people who love cooking and simple food. In this week’s Mystery Box Challenge the Top 10 …  got one more box! But what was hidden in there was like a magician’s hat full of fresh ingredients instead of bunnies. The boxes from Chefs Plate were absolutely stunning, containing a wide variety of delicious products. But is too much of a good thing always a bad thing?
The home cooks had to make a MasterChef Canada quality dish in under 30 minutes. There was a diversity of flavours from Asian-inspired food to Pakistani food. The judges selected three chefs to compete for the best Mystery Box dish. The first call was for Nadia, who made beef kofta and leek saag with chili potato and raita to praise her Pakistani roots. The flavour game was on point for Nadia, but was it enough? The second home cook who impressed the judges was Michael V. His Asian-inspired pork taco with tortillas from scratch left Claudio, Alvin and Michael speechless. Finally, the third home cook was chosen. The stuffed pork with crisp potatoes, brussels sprouts and mixed green salad cooked by Michael G. was terrific not only by the look, but by the taste as well.
That combination made Michael G. a winner of Tuesday’s challenge. This victory gave him some huge advantages: his recipe will be featured in the Chefs Plate menu, so millions of Canadians can recreate his recipe at home.
It also meant Michael G. was free from the Elimination Challenge and his next advantage was hidden in the tiniest mystery box. The hidden ingredient was presented in one of three ways: fresh, dried and canned. Michael G. had to assign which of his competitors would cook with each type with just one hour to cook the star of the dish. The chefs rushed to the pantry to find out what the secret ingredient was … and the pantry was full of MUSHROOMS. Canned, fresh and dried. Did you have any idea that the mystery box contained mushrooms? Let me know in the comments below!
The Elimination Challenge began. The home cooks took some unexpected twists to show the judges that they were worthy of making it to the Top 9 on MasterChef Canada. Michael G. was looking at the competitors with a great interest from the balcony, calculating his next moves in the show.
Eugene had the best dish of the night with a vegetarian “bone marrow†of potato confit and mushroom paste on a bed of crisp vegetables that looked just like a real forest. That dish was a pure brilliance. Andy had the second-best dish. He decided not to go with a protein and made the smoked oyster mushroom the absolute star of the dish. The third winner of the night was Marissa’s mushrooms and pistachio pork tenderloin with mushroom parsnip purée, which amazed the judges. The winners of Elimination Challenge would make those home cooks the team captains in the next team challenge.
Three dishes were in the bottom. Nadia, Reem and Jonathan all disappointed the judges with their dishes. Jonathan and Nadia received a second chance while Reem went home.
MasterChef Canada airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on CTV.
Image courtesy of Bell Media.
I was very puzzled at how this episode seemed to avoid showing Beccy! In the first challenge, we basically just know she made a vegetarian dish but barely see the plate, and almost don’t see her cook. In the second challenge, she wasn’t even called to the judges! Any idea what happened?
Not clear on rationale of minimizing or quite frankly ignoring Beccy on last episode. She appeared to be the only one of the 9 that was not called to the judges;she was not approached by any judge about her dish during the prep … there was only one brief moment where she said she was making a vegetarian dish. It was not even shown once completed. What is the purpose of excluding her?