Previously on "MasterChef Junior"...
( cheering, laughing )
- Oranges. - Lime.
- Kumquat? - It's citrus!
...the young home cooks faced
a juicy elimination test...
That looks really good, indeed.
- Malia... - Beautiful.
- Thank you. - Well done.
...and Ben found victory to be sweet.
This is a master class in a gorgeous dessert.
- But things went sour... - They're all baked.
- What a shame. - ...for Talulah and Mateo.
Please, keep your head up high.
Tonight...
Are you all ready to get messy?
- ( screaming ) - Go, go, go!
- When the competition... - Switch!
- ...shifts into high gear... - ( all shouting )
You gotta move. Let's go!
...the top 16 face a sticky situation.
No!
Then, it's a Gordon Ramsay master class.
We have to replicate Gordon Ramsay sliders.
This is going to be really hard.
( music playing )
( cheering )
- Let's go. - All right.
Jayden: I started off cooking in my grandma's kitchen
back in San Antonio, Texas,
and now I am in the top 16 of "MasterChef Junior,"
and I am not stopping here.
Gordon, I hope you got that trophy waiting for me.
Welcome back, everyone,
to the greatest kitchen in America.
We're here to find the next MasterChef Junior.
So to do that, we're gonna throw some epic challenges your way,
and that includes this huge one tonight.
- Whoa. - Ooh.
You're gonna be making a dessert that, like Gordon,
has origins in England,
and now it has become popular in America.
It is, of course,
- trifle in all its glory. - Ooh!
- Oh, my God! - Growing up,
trifle was a family tradition for me.
It was served at every holiday,
every Sunday lunch at Mum's house.
A trifle is made with several layers.
There's sponge cake on the bottom,
then creamy pudding,
then there's crunchy graham crackers,
mashed fruit, whipped cream,
and to top it all off, beautiful, fresh fruits.
- Mmm. - And tonight,
it's your next team challenge.
- Yes! - So, for this challenge,
you're gonna be split into three teams of five.
In your teams, you're going to need to master
all five layers of trifle.
And the entire winning team tonight
will get a huge advantage in the next challenge.
Right, are you ready to find out your teams?
All: Yes, Chef!
As delicious as this incredible giant trifle looks,
all of you will have to dig in to this trifle
and pull out a token like this.
- What? - Oh, my gosh.
All right, are you all ready to get messy?
All: Yes, Chef!
- Come on in. - ( all screaming )
I love that this is a team challenge.
Plus, I love to get messy,
so I'm so excited to do this challenge.
- I got one! - I found one!
Reid: I'm excited to be competing in a team challenge
because I'm really good at mashing stuff.
I'm really good at crushing stuff.
I'm really good at whooping stuff.
So, this is actually a pretty good challenge to be in.
Now, if your token is green, you're on the green team.
If your token is yellow, that's right,
- you're in the yellow team. - Yes.
And if you're holding a red token,
then of course, you're on the red team.
There's also one golden token.
Who's the lucky home cook who...
Matthew. That is a VIP token,
which gets you a pass straight up to the balcony!
Whoa! Cool!
Head on up there.
Well done, Matthew.
I'm on the top of the world,
because I'm automatically top 14!
This is the best day of my life!
Now, please take your white aprons off,
go to the area that your color team is,
and put those colored aprons on.
Che: I'm pretty excited that I'm on the green team,
because we have Evie and I.
We were both team captains at the last team challenge
and we're also vocal, so we have a lot of leadership.
And I think that will definitely help us win this challenge.
All right, on the green team we have Reid, Ben, Che,
Evie, and of course, Jaala.
And then on the yellow team we have Aaron, Malia, Kate,
Jayden, and then of course, we have Nayeli.
And on the red team we have Kyle, Brielle,
Sadie, Ivy, and Rhashad.
Please head to your stations.
Christina: Now, your stations have been divided into five zones.
One of the zones is at the end for the expeditor.
When you are the expeditor, you are responsible for quality control.
And as a team, your goal is to make
as many stunning trifles as you can in 20 minutes.
Remember to pay attention to every detail,
'cause only the best will count for your final tally.
This is going to be difficult.
- ( alarm blaring ) - Aah!
This is... The Switch.
Whoa!
When you hear this sound...
( alarm blaring )
...that means that you have to switch zone.
But that's not all.
I'm gonna warn you, at some point,
you're gonna hear this sound...
( alarm buzzing )
After that, it's an absolute free-for-all.
All competitors can abandon stations
and jump in wherever necessary.
Right, your 20 minutes...
starts... now!
- Gordon: Let's go. - Come on, guys!
Get to work. I'll do whipped cream. I'll do whipped cream.
- All right, people. - Just go, go, go, go!
Yeah, you need to get it to whip.
Che, remember to put the powdered sugar in it.
All right, guys, three teams of five
competing in this trifle challenge.
Now, they have to work as a team,
but they don't know when you're gonna pull that switch
and when they're going to need to switch zones.
This is really a testament of finesse and teamwork.
Make sure you don't over-whip it, Kate.
- It's still like cream. - Kate, add some more powdered sugar.
The secret to a great trifle is if you can distinguish all the layers.
- Yep. - One can't be falling into another.
- Yeah. - They have to be very linear
- and very clear. - Christina: Absolutely.
Those cake rounds need to be cut out perfectly
and placed in the bottom.
You guys have to be very delicate with the cakes.
That pudding needs to be piped in with a piping bag...
- a perfect even layer. - Great piping, Evie.
The graham cracker crumbs, crushed by hand.
That beautiful mashed fruit, a different color per team.
Whipped cream that needs to be whipped beautifully,
that nice, medium, firm peak.
Do it the highest it can go, Che.
Whoever's running that expediting zone needs to be loud,
communicative, and really controlling things.
- Sure. - Kyle, don't over-whip it.
Almost like the coxswain at the end of the boat,
where he's steering their ship to success.
Slow and steady wins the race.
Make sure it's quality, not just quantity.
- Let's switch this up a bit, shall we? - Both: Yeah.
- Switch! - ( alarm blaring )
- Switch, switch! - Let's go.
Put more cakes in the things!
Ooh, they're delicate.
Come on, guys! Come on!
Great job, Ben.
Ben: The strategy for the green team
is to communicate,
make sure we get everything done,
and work as a team really well,
so that everybody stays on the same page.
Reid: Evie, try to get as many as you can.
Kyle, smash only the ones
- that are big. - Got it, got it.
Jayden: Kate, smash some graham crackers.
- We got this! - ( alarm blaring )
Switch!
Nayeli, grab it, grab it, grab it.
- I'm doing cake! - Switch?
Reid, even layers, even layers.
Nayeli, we need to get a batch of whipped cream done!
Come on!
The yellow team's strategy
is doing as many as you can as fast as possible,
because we're probably gonna make mistakes.
So might as well just move really quickly.
Whipped cream's almost done, guys. Whipped cream's almost done.
Make sure it's even layers, guys.
- Even layers. - ( alarm blaring )
- Switch! - Ivy, quick! Come on, hurry.
- Ben, take this. - Come on, guys, let's go!
Kyle, try not to get it, like, off the sides.
Got it.
Our strategy is to be slow and easy.
We have to make sure
every layer measure the exact same.
We gotta make the world's perfect trifles ever.
Nayeli, just focus on the graham crackers!
Smush, Evie! Smush, smush, smush!
- Keep going. - ( alarm blaring )
- Switch! Let's go. - Come on, guys.
- ( screams ) - Okay!
More graham crackers. Thank you.
Now, I gotta tell you, the yellow team...
what's impressive to me about them, is that half of their trifle cups are full.
- Speed it up, Malia! - Come on, guys!
But the green team, I mean they're still whipping cream.
- By now you should have the cream whipped, okay? - Absolutely.
They're way behind right now.
Reid, try and hold the mixer, like, straight up.
Now, red team, they're gonna have to speed up.
They're not finishing their trifles.
Rhashad: Do it slow, Kyle.
Slow and steady wins the race.
- ( alarm buzzing ) - It's a free-for-all.
- Both: Free-for-all. - Let's go!
Free-for-all! Free-for-all!
- Free-for-all! - A free-for-all!
Free-for-all! Get... get going!
- Go! - So right now we're in the free-for-all.
Who's gonna step up and guide their team to success?
Assembly line, guys. Assembly line structure.
- Sadie, are you doing pudding? Okay. - I'm doing pudding.
Now, the red team, Kyle is really stepping up.
Don't pipe haphazardly, guys.
- We need it to be taller... - Well, it's fine.
- For goodness sake. - The green team is arguing
- more than they're actually communicating. - Yeah.
Come on, guys! What is this?
Well, I'm doing two jobs at once.
They are not getting it together.
The yellow team is remaining
rather silent, which concerns me.
Yellow team, talk to each other, come on!
Guys, we need whipped cream on these!
Whipped cream coming!
Christina: There you go, yellow team!
Look how many yellow team's been doing.
- Come on, guys! - Gordon: Last two minutes.
- Come on! - Guys, garnish! Garnish!
- Speed it up! - Give me the finished product.
One minute to go. Speed up, guys.
This is the most important minute of your life.
- We just need to get 'em on the plate. - Hurry!
- Finish up! - Do something!
Wait. The garnish, guys! The garnish!
You gotta move, bud! Let's go!
- Gordon: Come on, guys! - Kate, go!
- Judges: Ten, nine, eight... - Hurry, hurry!
...seven, six, five, four,
three, two, one.
- Gordon: And stop! Stop! - Christina: Hands in the air!
( cheering )
- Well done. - ( laughs )
You all did fantastic work.
But now it's time for Gordon, Christina, and myself
to count those beautiful trifles
and figure out which is the winning team.
I feel like yellow and us have the same amount of trifles.
I love the layers of those. Amazing.
It comes down to who has the neatest ones.
Christina: I don't know if there's graham cracker in that one.
- And who's piping there? - Yeah.
Ivy: I think our chances of winning are pretty high.
Jayden: I'm feeling really nervous,
because I'm looking at the other two teams
and we look pretty even.
Look at the piping. It's velvety.
It could be anybody's game right now...
- That's a little paltry right there, my friend. - There's no cream on there.
...but I'm hoping for the best here.
The green team, I think we did really well.
We're pretty consistent with the whipped cream piping.
- Textbook. - Beautiful.
- I'm just worried... - Well, this last one doesn't have garnish.
...that we don't have enough of them,
that maybe we were a little too slow and steady.
Green, yellow, and red team, we have counted all the trifles,
and we have rendered a decision on who is the winner.
Please, everyone, come down to the front.
- Oh! - Oh, no.
I'm nervous. I'm so nervous.
Because if we lose,
we have to compete in the elimination challenge.
All of you climb in, please. Let's go.
- ( screaming ) - Aarón: All right, guys.
If your team gets covered in pudding,
that means that you did not make a sufficient amount
of beautifully constructed trifles.
Who's feeling brave here?
All: Me!
Green team, you hands went up really fast.
So, we're gonna give you the honors
of pulling your green rope.
All right, green team, here we go.
Uno, dos, tres!
( screaming, laughter )
All right, green team, here we go.
Uno, dos, tres!
( screaming, laughter )
( screaming )
There you go.
So, green team,
you did not win the trifle challenge.
You guys made the least amount of perfect trifles with just 27.
Red team, yellow team,
you both made a total of 33 trifles.
However, not all of them were good enough to count.
It's time to find out who had the most exceptional trifles.
Okay, red team, on the count of three.
One, two, three.
( screaming )
Red team, you have won the trifle challenge.
You made 31 perfect trifles.
- Well done. - ( cheering )
Yellow team, I think you know what this means.
On the count of three. One, two, three.
( screaming )
Now, yellow team,
do you know how many perfect trifles you got?
Red team got 31, and you got 30 perfect trifles.
No!
Red team, congratulations.
- ( cheering ) - Enjoy your win.
Clean, fair and square.
Now, I'm not as nice as Christina.
- Yeah! - Oh, my gosh.
Gordon, no!
Gordon!
One, two, three.
( screaming )
All right, guys, listen.
What a mess!
Come on, guys.
How many times I told you to work nice and tidy?
Right. Very carefully, we're gonna step out here.
We'll go through those doors all together.
Let's go.
Let's go get cleaned up. Time to get cleaned up.
I mean, was that fun or what, Aaron?
Aaron: Fun!
( cheering )
You guys have brushed up nice and clean.
- ( cheering ) - Why is it smoky?
I'm not too frustrated to be in my second elimination challenge,
because I get to cook. Whoa!
And I get another chance to prove to the judges
that I'm a really good chef.
Wow! That's more like it.
Y'all cleaned up pretty nice.
Red team, because you made the most
perfect trifles tonight,
you are safe from elimination tonight.
- Congratulations. - Yes!
As a special treat,
I made a bunch of trifles for you to enjoy
while you're up on the safety of the balcony.
- Yay! - Yes!
Head up to the balcony with Matthew.
- Yeah! - Thank you!
I am so happy to be safe in the balcony,
because that means I'm safe from elimination
and I'm not going back to Georgia yet.
And Christina Tosi made us a dessert!
They look good.
That's high in bragging rights.
Now, unfortunately, the bad news.
We'll have to say good-bye to at least two of you this evening.
Tonight, you've all got a very tough challenge ahead of you.
You're going to have to make one of my personal favorites.
But first, I'm gonna demonstrate how to make it.
Now, it's an American classic
and something that I have an entire restaurant dedicated to.
- ( gasping ) - Yay!
- Ooh! - Sliders.
And on this plate, there's an amazing meat slider,
a beautiful seafood slider,
and, of course, our beloved veggie slider.
And tonight, you'll each be making three sliders of your choice.
- Yay! - But the good news is right now,
I'm gonna demonstrate on how to make three different sliders
that I love.
Okay, all of you, please, watch.
I'm gonna do a tuna slider, a beef slider,
and a delicious Portobello mushroom slider.
First things first, piping hot grill. Why?
'Cause you wanna get grill marks.
That's right. No color, no...
All: Flavor!
Season. From there, a little bit of oil,
and the beef goes on, piping hot.
That's the noise you wanna hear, okay?
From there, get your egg wash and brush over the tuna,
so as when we dip it into sesame seed,
we encrust the tuna.
Next, on to your grill.
From there, once the mushroom's been marinated,
get those on the grill.
- And we start cooking. - Evie: Ooh!
- Yay! - Fire!
Just gently lift the burger over.
Same with the tuna.
And then again.
- All: Ooh! - Those look really good.
Now, the cheese.
For the beef slider, we have cheddar cheese.
Manchego goes in-between the mushroom.
My roasted red pepper on top of the mushroom.
From there, off comes the beef slider.
Number one.
Tuna, number two.
And then finally, Portobello mushrooms.
From there, we start to stack.
Beef slider, a little mustard aioli.
From there, tomato, lettuce, crispy bacon.
Caramelized onions on top the beef.
On, and then look.
A little garnish.
- Boom. - That looks so good.
Slider number two.
Slaw first, and then from there, our marinated cucumber.
Tuna goes on, and then our beautiful top.
- Yum. - And then finally for our Portobello,
on the bottom, we got Romanesco sauce.
A little touch of arugula, and then very carefully,
- on goes the mushroom. - Mmm!
- And boom. - It looks so good!
- Christina: Wow. - ( squeals )
And that's how you make a meat slider,
a seafood slider, and a veggie slider
like a true MasterChef.
- Wow. - Gordon: Thank you.
Tonight, your task is to make three of one type of slider.
- Excited? - All: Yes, Chef!
Right. All of you, head to your stations. Let's go!
I love sliders!
I've eaten about 40 billion sliders in my lifetime.
And I'm really excited to make these.
I have a perfect trick up my sleeve.
All right, home cooks, you'll have 45 minutes
to make us three identical sliders.
You'll find every ingredient you could possibly want
to make a gorgeous slider
over there in the equipment room.
To stay in this competition,
your sliders have to be immaculate.
- Everybody ready? - All: Yes, Chef!
Your 45 minutes starts...
- now. Come on! - Go, guys! Let's go!
All right, home cooks, make us three identical sliders.
- Everybody ready? - All: Yes, Chef!
Your 45 minutes starts...
- now. Come on! - Go, guys!
Let's go! You can do this!
- Let's go, guys. - Limes, limes.
Do you guys see turkey? Can I have some ground turkey, please?
- Oh, yum. - I can't reach the chives.
Gordon, I have to say, this has got to be the perfect night for you.
This night is all of your favorite things.
Trifles, sliders,
- the thing you dominate in restaurants. - Yep.
Yeah, you're absolutely right.
I orchestrated this particular challenge
because getting to nail the perfect slider,
they step up a level.
Because following that is the perfect gourmet burger.
I would either do a bean burger or seafood.
Sliders, one, two-bite wonders, but they must pack a punch
and they must look gorgeous.
With a slider, it's a blank canvas.
So many different directions you can take.
But there's also not many places that you can hide from it.
The imperfections will stand out.
Guys, five minutes gone, 40 minutes remaining.
Nice! Juice those limes, girl.
My family loves shrimp.
We were on a trip around the country
and we ate shrimp in, like, every state.
So, I'm making a lime shrimp slider.
I'm gonna marinate my shrimp in some lime vinaigrette,
and then I'm going to make a lime aioli and make a slaw.
I'm making beef sliders
because at home I make a lot of beef hamburgers.
And I think if I convert what I do at home into a slider,
that it'll come out perfectly and the judges will love it
and I will not go back to Georgia today.
Girl: Get your grills piping hot, everybody!
Gordon: All of you speed up.
Just over 25 minutes to go, guys. Come on.
Time goes by so fast.
- Evie. First of all, young lady, - Hi.
- they look beautiful. - Thank you.
Now, how many times do you cook burgers a week?
About once or twice a week,
because my sister really likes burgers
and I'm usually the one who cooks them.
Tell me about the slider. What are you doing?
I am doing a beef burger stuffed with cheddar,
with a spicy Thousand Island dressing and a bacon weave.
If you were to leave tonight, how upsetting would it be?
First of all, I'm not leaving, because I'm pretty confident
because I make these burgers a lot.
- Right. - So I just think it would be pretty easy
to still put them in mini form.
- I guess. - Gotcha.
They smell delicious.
- Thank you. - I love the idea.
- Good luck. - Thank you.
Rhashad: Good job! That grill is hot,
and it's not gonna take that long to cook. Good job!
My eight-year-old from Georgia.
- Yes, ma'am. - You make a lot of sliders?
- Yes, ma'am. - Good Lord! Are...
Those look like burgers, not sliders.
They shrink!
Feel that. How many pounds...
Whoa! What do you got up in there?
- What is that, my friend? - I have bacon
with some soy sauce and Worcestershire.
They're my own recipe, so I call them Southern State Sliders.
- I like that. - All right, Reid, keep you eye on it.
Make sure it's the most delicious slider we've ever had.
- Yeah. - Good luck.
- Che. - Hello.
Tell me about the burger. What kind of burger you making?
- Crab cake burger. - A crab cake burger. That's different.
And a garlic and chive aioli.
- So, why crab cake? - I crab all the time.
I go to the Jersey Shore. I went crabbing with my dad and my brothers.
So I think that that might be one of the reasons
- why I just feel a little familiar with it. - Right. I love the idea.
What's the bait that you use for crab?
We used chicken a couple of times.
- Seriously? - It really works.
Chicken with crab? They take... really?
- Yeah, no, it works the best. - Wow. Good luck.
- Ben. - Hello.
So, 11 years old from New Jersey.
- Yes. - You a big sliders guy?
Yes, I sometimes make sliders for my family.
- So, what do you got? Mom, Dad, and... - Yes.
- And three brothers. - And you make four.
- Yeah. - Wow!
So you're used to this volume.
- Yeah. - But it also gets you prepared
- for your future life in food, I hope. Right? - Yes.
- So what is that food dream? - Ocean Cafe.
- Ooh.
And it's gonna be in France or Florida.
And also I want it to be on the ocean
- since the ocean is my favorite place. - All right, well,
I see a couple of things that leads me to believe
that you are a fan of the ocean.
I am making deep-fried oyster sliders.
And instead of using breadcrumbs,
I'm using potato chips,
- so it's more crunchy. - Christina: Wow!
Now a great fried oyster is heaven,
but a fried oyster that is over-fried,
where the coating's not stuck on,
that is really where your jeopardy is tonight, okay?
- Good luck. - Thank you.
Guys, 18 minutes to go.
- Right, young man, how you feeling? - Good.
- Tell me about the slider. What are you doing? - I am doing a turkey slider...
- Wow. - ...with grilled pineapple and a sweet Thai chili mayo.
- Pineapple turkey burger. - Yeah.
I've had enough pineapples on pizzas,
but pineapple on a turkey burger?
- Really? - Yes.
Where did you see that before?
- Nowhere, I just thought of... - That's why.
Stop there.
- That's why. - ( gasping )
A pineapple turkey burger nightmare,
'cause we don't do it.
- Pineapple turkey burger. - Yeah.
I've had enough pineapples on pizzas,
but pineapple on a turkey burger?
- Yes. - Where did you see that before?
- Nowhere, I just thought of... - That's why.
Stop there.
- That's why. - ( gasping )
A pineapple turkey burger nightmare,
'cause we don't do it.
Every time I go and visit my family in Hawaii,
we love sauces
- and delicious grilled things. - Yes.
And we know pineapple can go really good with turkey,
and so I just wanted to incorporate it
into my slider today.
Now, young man, turkey burger sounds complicated,
but remember, it's very lean, so there's hardly no fat in there.
- Good luck. You can do this. - Thank you, Chef.
Gordon: We still have ten minutes to go.
- Bacon weave is done. - Oh, wow!
- Nayeli, ÿcómo estás? - Bien.
So, nine years old from San Antonio, Texas.
- Are you a fan of sliders, young lady? - Yes.
My mom and I usually cook them together.
So what do you got going on right here?
I'm making ground beef sliders
with caramelized onions
and a cilantro mayonnaise sauce.
So, Nayeli, you have so many different flavors
going on on your station.
- You've got some light brown sugar. - Yes.
- And that's... - That's brie.
That is some intensive brie cheese.
Well, I really want to give it a lot of flavor,
and brie cheese is very good.
I am trying to make a fancy burger that speaks to who I am.
- Wow. - Has to be elegant and finessed, okay?
- Thank you. - All right, get at it, Nayeli.
Oven open.
We're down to five minutes to go.
Start thinking about assembling these.
Let's just say a little prayer that these are at 135.
Oh, I never cut these ones.
- They're at 135! - Christina: Wow.
There are some incredible sliders
in the works out there tonight.
Now, Ben, young man from New Jersey,
is making us a fried oyster slider.
- Wow. - He's crusting oysters
with some potato chips that he's ground down.
- Gordon: Love it. - I mean, I think the idea of Ben's burger is very edgy.
Can he pull it off? We will see.
I gotta take them out and let them, like, chill for a minute.
Evie, she's doing a beef burger
- with cheddar in the center. - Ooh!
This girl knows what she's doing.
Nayeli: They're done.
Christina: We're worried about Nayeli.
She's got these golf balls of ground beef.
She seems a little all over the place,
and I just don't know that Nayeli gets
the composition of a great slider
- from a flavor standpoint. - Gordon: Yeah. No.
- Aarón: Yeah. - It's slider time.
Guys, I'm seriously worried about Jayden.
He's doing a turkey pineapple slider.
But here's the thing,
turkey burgers, one of the most dangerous.
There's no fat in there, very lean.
And he's grilling this pineapple
to do it Hawaiian style.
It's wrong from top to bottom.
- Why not do pork and pineapple? - Yeah, I was about to say.
Turkey and pineapple doesn't quite make sense.
Now I'm just a little worried about Jayden.
I am, too.
- Whoo! Come on! - 60 seconds to go, guys.
- Oh, my gosh! - Gordon: Come on. Speed up, guys.
- Aarón: Let's make sure they look beautiful, guys. - You can do this!
Everything should be on the board.
Guys, get it together! Whoo!
- Aarón: Here we go! - Ten, nine, eight, seven,
six, five, four, three,
two, one, and stop.
- Well done. - Hands in the air!
Girl: Whoo!
Gordon: Well done.
Now, we are looking
for three identical sliders.
It's time for the most important part, to see how they taste.
First up, let's take a look at Ben's, please. Let's go.
I've made oysters once
in a cooking class when I was in Spain.
But I'm a little nervous because I've never made one
that's deep-fried in potato chips.
But if the inside of my burger tastes
as good as the outside looks, then I definitely got this.
They look incredible.
Describe your sliders, please.
For you I have made fried oyster sliders
deep-fried in potato chips, with coleslaw
and a mayonnaise sauce.
You know, any average ten, eleven-year-old would be running
for the hills with an oyster.
- Why oyster? - I really like oyster
and I wanted to do something different
and take a little risk.
And I wanted to do something that I want on my menu
at my restaurant.
You see, here's the fascinating thing about you.
You sound like me.
You cook like me. You look like me.
What's your surname? Ben Ramsay?
- No. - ( chuckles )
Young man, they look incredible.
- How long did you cook the oysters for? - Um, till golden brown.
About, like, two to three minutes.
Mmm.
Ben.
Wow.
It is absolutely phenomenal.
It's got flavor, creativity.
I love the fact you've toasted the bun,
so it's all nice and crispy there.
But the most important thing is you are edgy.
It's restaurant quality.
It's America's MasterChef potential.
- Remember that. Great job. - Thank you.
Well done. Wow.
This tasting couldn't have gone any better.
Gordon Ramsay loves my dish, no bad comments,
and every risk I'm taking is paying off.
This is so amazing.
The next home cook's sliders that we would love to taste,
please come up, Che.
Che: I have never made a crab cake before,
but I'm very proud to present this dish in front of the judges.
It represents family time,
taking trips to the beach, catching crabs,
all of that, and I really hope that that shows in my dish.
Che, what do we have here?
I have a crab cake slider
with an avocado spread and a garlic chive aioli.
For me, crab should be sweet,
it should be succulent,
and it should be front and center.
Do you think that you accomplished that
- with the mix of your crab cake? - I think so.
I put them in the blender and blended it all together,
so it can get all... all mixed in.
Blender? Why would you do that?
I wanted to incorporate everything.
Yeah, but I want to be able to taste crab and see it.
If you pureed it, it could be any fish.
It could be orange roughy. You know what I mean?
I'm just not feeling too confident
about the way that you described the mix, to be very honest.
A crab cake should be plentiful of crab meat.
Okay, let's see.
So, Che,
I'm gonna give it to you straight,
and I'm gonna give it to you real.
Che, I'm gonna give it to you straight,
and I'm gonna give it to you real.
This is really challenging to get through. It's dry.
I can't distinguish what kind of seafood it is.
So it could be fish,
it could be crab, it could be scallop.
I think you had all the components
in order to make it delicious.
I just think by pureeing it,
you did yourself a disservice.
All the other choices
that you made on the slider were awesome.
So, avocado... love it.
The Romaine, well-seasoned.
Just the star of your dish needed a lot of help.
Okay? Good job, young man.
Next up, Nayeli, please. Let's go.
I grill a lot in Texas, so I know how to cook burgers.
But I feel really mad about my sliders,
because my meat looks like a meatball.
Describe your sliders, please.
( sniffling ) I made a beef slider with brie cheese,
caramelized onions, and arugula.
Now you know it was a slider challenge, not a meatball, right?
'Cause they look a little bit like meatballs.
How did you cook these sliders?
I grilled them and then I finished them in the oven.
Mm-hmm. And what sauce did you use?
I did mayonnaise and cilantro.
Mm-hmm. So as you can see,
when they're really white like that inside,
they're a little bit overcooked.
You put them in the oven for how long?
About five minutes.
When you make a slider that's round,
it's very hard to color it.
So over here, unfortunately,
the meat just goes gray,
but they're beautifully seasoned.
They're just, unfortunately, not very well cooked.
However, well done for trying very hard.
- Thank you. - Thank you.
Good job, Nayeli. Stay positive, okay?
Next up is Malia.
I am obsessed with shrimp.
But I've never heard of a shrimp burger,
I've never eaten a shrimp burger,
but I know it's going to be amazing.
What kind of sliders did you make tonight?
I made lime shrimp sliders
with a slaw and a lime aioli.
How did you cook it?
I put it on the grill,
then I finished it in the oven.
The flavor is spot-on.
Your lime aioli with that garlic is coating all of it,
- but they feel a little puny. I want more shrimp. - Yeah.
But, darn, is that shrimp delicious.
- Thank you. - Thank you.
Next up, Mr. Reid.
Reid, describe your burger.
I've made you my Southern State Slider
with my secret sauce and bacon.
Back home in Georgia, me and my dad, we grill a lot,
and I learned how to cook a perfect slider.
Mmm. Here's the deal.
They're kinda of big, they're hefty.
And the burger needs to cook a little bit more,
but the flavor of the burger, wonderful.
And I love the combination, how all-American this burger is.
Cheese, tomato, creamy dressing.
- Great job. - Thank you, Chef.
Next up, please, Aaron.
Let's go.
Right, Aaron, describe the sliders.
The sliders,
they have tomatoes, cheese, and a sauce
which is made from mayonnaise, garlic salt,
and a little bit of lemon.
Wow. What you got right is the seasoning.
Beautiful blend. Great sear on the slider.
Just be careful with the size.
Two out of the three are beautifully done,
one's a little bit awkward,
but the flavor's there.
- Well done. Thank you. - Good job, Aaron.
Next up, please, Jayden.
I feel really good,
because I put myself and my Hawaiian family on a plate.
But my patties look really messy,
so I hope the judges are happy with everything else.
What kind of sliders did you make?
I made turkey sliders with grilled pineapple
and sweet Thai chili mayo.
So, these burgers look like they've been chewed up by a dog.
What happened there?
So I made 'em too big,
and so I had to cut them off.
Right here, you are really bordering the line of what?
- Rawness. - Yeah.
Let me see if I can take a nibble off the side
of one of the rest of these.
Jayden, the things that impress me...
that is a gorgeous toasted bun.
I think that your sweet chili aioli is actually really smart.
Grilled pineapple... like that.
But, unfortunately, the star of the slider
is meant to be that turkey.
And, unfortunately, that is the most underwhelming
part of your sliders.
Turkey is tricky in a slider.
It's super lean, and so it needs
a lot of flavor to help hold it up.
- Thank you, Chef. - Thank you.
Last up, Evie, make your way down. Thank you.
The challenge was to put three sliders on the plate.
I only got two. I'm so worried.
I can only pray the cheese pours out,
and my flavors pull me through.
Okay, Evie.
So, young lady, what happened?
'Cause let's deal with the elephant in the room,
there's a big gap at the end of your paddle.
What happened?
I was trying to put together my last slider.
I was really close to putting the toothpick in and getting it on the plate,
but then I ran out of time and...
Right. Describe the burgers, please.
A cheddar cheese stuffed burger
with caramelized onions, candied bacon,
and grilled tomatoes and some butter lettuce.
Let's get in there, shall we?
- Why cheddar cheese inside the burger? - I love cheddar cheese,
and I don't wanna just put cheese on top of the burger,
'cause, like, that's boring.
I wanna see that cheddar cheese in the middle.
Evie.
Evie, I wanna see that cheddar cheese in the middle.
Oh, dear.
I did it.
What does that scream in there?
- Delicious. - Delicious.
Come on! Evie!
- Really something. - Look at that.
Mmm. Oh, man. They are delicious.
Rich, gooey in the middle with that cheddar cheese.
Onions caramelized.
I mean, really delicious.
I have a burger restaurant.
- But do you know what I'm gonna do next? - Hmm?
I'm gonna take that burger with that cheese in there
and develop something exciting
- based on your creation. - ( gasps )
And if it works, you can have a royalty.
Okay?
- Great job. Delicious. - Thank you.
Good job. You did, like, such a great job, Evie.
Evie: Even though I only had two burgers on my board,
my tasting went so well!
Oh, my God.
Can all of our home cooks on the balcony
please make your way down here
and find a station.
So, this is hard. Um, listen...
Not a lot of 11-year-olds can say that Gordon Ramsay liked their burgers
and would put a version of this on his menu.
My family back in Atlanta would be so proud.
Well done. Tonight we saw some amazing dishes that delivered
beyond "MasterChef Junior" standards.
But the best dish of the night,
congratulations goes to...
- Ben. - Way to go, Ben!
Good job, Ben.
Christina: But, unfortunately,
we have to say good-bye to some of you.
If I say your name, please join us at the front.
Jayden.
Nayeli.
And, finally, Che.
So, Jayden, Nayeli, Che,
all of your sliders did have some positive points in them.
But tonight, your sliders just weren't
quite at MasterChef level.
So, two of you will be leaving us this evening.
That means one of you will be returning to their station.
The young home cook that did just enough
to squeak by is...
Che.
Please head back to your station.
Oh, Nayeli, Jayden, what a journey.
Unfortunately, Jayden, you know,
turkey sliders are one of the most ambitious,
but one of the most difficult to pull off.
You know they were slightly undercooked in the center,
but I admire you tonight, young man, for your tenacity.
Nayeli, you know, I'm hoping you understood the difference
between a meatball and a slider.
And, unfortunately, you know they were way overcooked.
But heads up high.
You are leaving much better chefs.
Remember that, right? Thank you so much.
- Thank you, Chef. - Good night.
Good night, guys. Thank you.
I will miss this kitchen very much.
You did good, Nayeli.
But even though I am eliminated,
I am still happy, because I learned so much
and I still know that my food dream will come true,
and I will go to Paris and have my own bakery
and have them all around the world.
Thank you so much, Jayden. You've been my best friend.
I'm only 12, and I'm finishing
in the top 16 of "MasterChef Junior."
Bye!
I've changed a lot. Bye, guys.
My confidence has really grown.
As soon as I get back to San Antonio,
I'm gonna show my grandma everything I've learned.
- Next time... - ( quacking )
Oh, my goodness!
I think it's some type of bird.
...the top 14...
Ben: Aarón is making it look so easy.
- Oh, my God. - Look at that.
He's just amazing!
...get their ducks in a row.
This is a tough bird to get right.
Where is the breast meat?
- And then... - Wow!
- You're so pretty. - ...it's a challenge...
It tastes as gorgeous as it looks.
...with a fairy tale ending.
Flavor's there. You've nailed it.