Tonight’s team challenge was set at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, home to a magnificent Group of Seven collection. As the home cooks were approaching the location they saw seven Canadian masterpieces. What could be more inspiring than that? For me, it was a good opportunity to travel back in time and learn a bit more about Canadian art history.
Nevertheless, let’s talk about Tuesday’s episode of MasterChef Canada. The main goal of this challenge was to be inspired and to inspire others. The Top 7 had to cook a three-course meal for seven extraordinary Canadians, including Marc Kielburger, co-founder of the international youth charity Free The Children and CTV News special correspondent Lloyd Robertson. The theme for the dishes was land, sea and sky. Sound easy? Let me know what your idea of the dish would be in the comments below!
Eugene and Beccy won last week’s Pressure Test, which made them team captains. Eugene had the right to choose first and added Michael G. and Andy to the Red Team. Beccy chose Marissa and Jen for her Blue Team. The only cook left was Nadia. She wanted to join Beccy’s team but judges had other thoughts. Chefs Claudio, Alvin and Michael sent Nadia to the Red Team and revealed a huge secret: one home cook was coming back to the MasterChef Canada! Three home cooks were invited to cook for redemption and the winning cook was … Kaegan!
The Top 8 had 60 minutes to think over the menu and prepare the first dish. After that, there were only 30-minute intervals between the second and the third dishes. The pantry, of course, was full of the best ingredients. Not an easy choice to make. The teams started to prepare their dishes and I was excited to see what ideas the chefs would put on the plates. The Red Team made venison tartare with berry sauce and the Blue Team had a pan-seared venison with celeriac purée. Back in the kitchen, the teams kept pushing hard for the sea-inspired dishes. For the second course, the Red Team had shrimp heads stuffed with caviar and mussels with béchamel sauce. The dish looked bright and very appetizing. The Blue Team made classic French mussels with white wine cream sauce.
The third course was extremely stressful for the Red team. They had deboned quails and with 16 minutes to go, they hadn’t cooked them. Fortunately, they made it and delivered deboned quail with caramelized shallots and pecans. The Blue team prepared warm-spiced duck with roasted beets and braised carrots.
The winner of this challenge was … the Red Team! The Blue team had to face the Pressure Test. Four home cooks had to replicate three unique oyster dishes. But first, as usual, there was a little twist. The home cook who shucked the most oysters was safe from elimination. And it was Marissa, who went back to the balcony.
Beccy, Kaegan and Jen had to cook to survive and had just 35 minutes to master the oysters. Chefs Claudio, Alvin and Michael tried all the dishes and made their decision. Beccy and Kaegan stayed in the show while Jen went home.
Do you think anyone should have been allowed back in the competition? Let me know in the comments below.
MasterChef Canada airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on CTV.
