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.

Tonight’s episode was all about being a team or staying true to your goal of winning the MasterChef Canada prize.

The Top 11 took it to the construction site where they fought for their right to stay in competition in the first Team Challenge of the season. The home cooks had to prepare and cook fresh chicken for 101 builders who then voted on which team made their favourite dish.

The stars of the last Elimination Challenge, Michael V. and Jonathan, were chosen to be the team captains for the blue and red teams. What a great chance to show your ability to manage people, especially when they all have different ideas! But that was just one of the benefits for the captains. Each also had an option of choosing people or protein first. Michael V. had the right to choose the kind of meat he wanted to cook with: dark or white chicken. Jonathan had the power to choose a teammate first. Which would you choose, meat or chefs?

The countdown began. With two hours to go, teams got together to discuss their menu. The blue team had a lot of inspiration from Middle-East and Mediterranean cuisine while the red team went more Southern by using Beccy’s idea of stuffing the chicken breast with duxelles (finely chopped mushrooms), she was almost a team captain for the red team. The red team cooked stuffed chicken breast with white and sweet potato mash and garlic swiss chard, and the blue team made Moroccan-spiced chicken with Egyptian red rice and spiced roasted cauliflower.

Both teams made some fantastic dishes but the winning team was the red team! Was it because the blue team made raw chicken, or there is another reason? Let me know what you think in the comments section below!

Losing the Team challenge meant a Pressure Test for the blue squad, but Michael V. got the chance to save one of his team members or himself. He saved himself, leaving Michael G., Kaegan, Nadia and Reem to prepare a replication of black forest cake in just 80 minutes. The pressure was on!

Nadia and Michael G. made it through the pressure test, leaving Reem and Kaegan in the bottom two. Though Kaegan’s cake was the most flavourful, it wasn’t enough for chefs Michael, Alvin and Claudio to let him stay on MasterChef Canada. Kaegan went home and Reem headed to the balcony.

MasterChef Canada airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on CTV.

Here we go again! New season, new shocking challenges. Last night, the Top 12 found out what secret was hidden under the box in the newest episode, “How Do You Take Your Mystery Box?” And you won’t believe what they had to cook with.

In the first episode, the 21 home cooks battled for a spot in the Top 12, by bringing one signature ingredient which helped the judges to choose the Top 12. Tonight they had to make an exceptional dish infused with coffee beans. Like, how is this even possible? The chefs were assigned to cook a sweet or savoury dish with the secret ingredient. The absolute star of this challenge was Kaegan, with his coffee-crusted steak and coffee celeriac purée. But what surprised me most was Beccy’s cool head. She didn’t use a recipe for the eclairs with coffee and dark chocolate and made it to the top three of the challenge.

The winner was chosen. Keagan received two huge advantages: he was safe from elimination and he handed out the wallets for the Elimination Challenge. There were two kinds of wallets, luxury (you need to spend at least $50 on groceries) and budget (no more than $10 dollars on groceries). It was a good way to show that you can make a dish worth $1 million when it cost only $10 and screwed up the $50 ingredients.

Jonathan’s pan-seared cod and Michael V.’s elevated version of seafood paella amused the judges the most, which gave them the right to be team captains in the next challenge. Beccy and Melissa were in the bottom. Melissa was eliminated from the show.

What is your idea for a coffee-infused dish? Let me know in the comments below!

MasterChef Canada airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on CTV.