NARRATOR: Gordon's back, and he's brought the world's best.
GORDAN RAMSEY: This is "Masterchef Legends."
NARRATOR: All new Wednesdays.
And watch other Fox shows like, "Crime Scene Kitchen."
JOEL MCHALE: Did you make the right dessert?
NARRATOR: "Hell's Kitchen" and "Lego Masters" on Fox.
Gordon: Previously on "MasterChef Legends"...
- Let's go! - ...the competition kicked off.
You are the top 15.
Please welcome the legend, Morimoto!
The patron saint of pastries, Sherry Yard!
I watch you all the time. I just...
Come on! I'll give you a hug.
A very well-executed, thoughtful dish.
- Monkfish cooked perfect. - Gordon: It's delicious.
- Thank you. - Sherry: You've made this rich and decadent.
I would put this on the menu.
And the first home cooks were sent packing.
I don't think I could even qualify that as a taco.
You know what it tastes like?
- Bitter. - Gross.
It was just a recipe for disaster.
The person leaving the MasterChef kitchen is...
Elyce.
Annai.
Tonight...
Please welcome the legend of surf and turf, Michael Mina.
The man himself is here.
It's the first mystery box challenge of the season.
I want to vomit.
The stakes are higher than ever...
- What are we doing? Guys! - I'm screwed.
- Aarón: Let's go! - ...to avoid elimination.
- I don't understand it. - Oh, [bleep].
I would be happy walking into any restaurant and getting this dish.
I'm a little bit in shock.
Please place your apron on your desks.
Have a safe journey home.
I'm so sorry.
Gordon: Say good-bye.
- All right. - Right.
Whoo!
[cheering]
Welcome back to the incredible "MasterChef Legends."
- Man: Oh, mystery box! - I'm walking into the kitchen
and I see all of these boxes.
- Line up, everybody. - It's our first mystery box challenge.
I like a plan and I like to be organized.
I don't like mystery.
Let's get going, but I need to clear something up with all of you first.
Unfortunately, Mary Jayne has fallen ill
and she's no longer able to compete.
The good news is she's gonna be okay.
She sends her best to all of you.
All: Aww.
Now, this means that there are only 12 of you left,
and we are inching closer to the top 10.
Tonight, you're going to be facing another elimination challenge,
and another one of you will be leaving the competition.
Tonight, as you guys can see behind you,
we've got your first mystery box challenge.
But we are gonna keep things mysterious just for a second,
because this is "MasterChef Legends"
and we have another legend to introduce to you.
Tonight's legend actually is a chef
that has revolutionized fine dining in America.
He operates over 40 restaurants worldwide.
Not to mention multiple Michelin stars,
and he's even cooked for not one, not two,
- but three US presidents. - Wow.
All of you, please welcome
San Francisco's Superman of surf and turf,
the legendary Michael Mina.
Alejandro: Michael Mina, baby!
The man himself is here.
I appreciate him so much. We have similar beginnings in our life.
- So good to see you. - He's an immigrant, just like me.
- Hello. - All: Hello!
Can I just say first of all, what an absolute pleasure to have you here.
- Thank you. - First time ever on the set of "MasterChef."
- Thank you for having me. - Amazing. Alejandro?
- Chef? - I have never seen you this excited.
- Come up and shake hands. Come on. - Oh, my God.
- Jeez! - Chef, can I give you a hug?
- There you go. - Thank you so much for coming.
- There you go. - Wow. Oh, my God.
Truly, that's freaking awesome.
Gordon: Now, I thought I had a lot of restaurants,
but how many do you have, currently?
- 42 restaurants. - That's incredible.
You put that glamorous twist on those incredible steak houses.
Um, where did it start for you?
I think like so many chefs, you know,
you're influenced by your family.
I did grow up in a Middle Eastern Egyptian household,
so food is everywhere, food's all over the table.
And I think that's where it all started.
Now, since we're joined by the legend
behind that incredible bourbon steak empire,
for your challenge tonight,
each of you will be tasked with cooking a unique,
MasterChef-worthy beef dish.
But here's the catch.
You won't know what cut you're cooking until you lift your mystery box.
[groaning]
Now, today, we don't want to see something that we've seen a thousand times.
Guys, we're talking beef here. There are so many different ways you can impress us.
- Chef Gordon, Chef Michael? - Yeah?
Maybe this gaggle needs a little inspiration.
- Chef, you up for it? - I'm ready.
- Oh, no way. - Yes!
- Let's do this. - Yes!
Both Chef Gordon and Chef Mina are doing a demo for us today,
which is insane because people would pay, like, a lot of money to see this happen.
And my mind has gone into hyperdrive,
I'm just like, "Soak in all this stuff."
- You ready? - Thank you, Chef.
Excellent. Now, Chef, tell me, what's your dish?
I am doing a wagyu rib-eye, and we're gonna do dukkah,
a really nice Middle Eastern spice,
a little bit of sesame seed, and black pepper.
- Beautiful. So, I'm gonna use a sweetbread, okay? - Oh, yeah.
An amazing offal. It's a sweetbread from the pancreas,
it's not a throat gland, so a lot more delicious.
I'm gonna take a leaf out of your book
as the king and the legend of surf and turf.
I'm gonna do roasted scallops, a little Sauternes jus,
and with some caramelized carrots as well.
- Sounds great. - Now, cast iron pan.
Lay away from you inside there like that
and get that really nice caramelization.
So, when you're cooking offal, haven't got that meaty, robust flavor,
so you've got to work the herbs, the spices, to get that in there.
So now, Chef, I'm just gonna go ahead and flip the beef,
and always find the empty spot in your pan.
Don't flip it back on the same spot
because that's the coldest part of your pan.
So important.
So now I'm just giving the meat a nice butter baste.
So the brown butter and the garlic and the herbs
is gonna give the meat a lot of flavor.
Beautiful. Now, from there, I'm gonna sit that in the oven.
Yeah, that fat's gonna render in there real nice
and we're just gonna let it go low and slow in the oven for a minute.
- And what temperature do you have your oven? - 350.
- Wonderful. So it is lower. - Nice. Take my sweetbread out.
So I've got a little meat sauce.
That will be the base for the crust for the dukkah
- which will give it the nice spiciness. - Gordon: Love that.
So when you come to dress this, imagine the plate,
start to visualize what we're doing in terms of colors.
What is so important is the balance in this dish, right?
I'm coming off of a high from last week's challenge, dude.
Like, I've got a little boost of confidence right now.
I've got three things on here, guys... carrots, scallops, and sweetbread.
The only thing I am not hoping for in this mystery box is the sweetbreads.
Because being from Omaha, Nebraska,
give me a piece of meat, I'll do a million and one things with it.
But we got Omaha steaks, not Omaha sweetbreads.
And there we go.
A beautiful caramelized sweetbreads
with scallops and Sauternes.
And that is how two MasterChef legends
prepare the most extraordinary beef dishes.
Every single demo has been an amazing opportunity
to learn techniques and things like that,
and I just want to show them, "Look, I will take whatever
piece of information that you have for me
because at the end of the day, I am a student."
Now, tonight, we've made dishes with an incredible rib-eye
and one with a sweetbread.
Tonight, you'll be cooking beef dishes of your own.
We're gonna play a little meat roulette.
Joe: You will each have just one hour to cook us a restaurant-quality dish
using whatever cut of beef that you find under your mystery box.
- Wow. - Aarón: Some of these cuts will be familiar,
but they're not all easy to work with.
- Okay. - Now please pick a station.
Are you kidding?
So, it's a mystery box. We don't know what we're gonna get.
I would hate to get like a cow's head or something of that nature.
- I want this one. - So, we know that
there's a bunch of different cuts of meat
that are gonna be under these boxes.
I'm hoping that I don't get something
I've never cooked with before.
Right, on the count of three, lift your boxes.
So nervous right now.
Gordon: One...
two...
three, lift.
Oh, yes! Skirt steak.
- Yes. - Oh, man.
- Yeah! Hanger steak. - Oh, [bleep].
- Interesting. - I got a flank.
I have the rib-eye cap.
Oh, man, I got a top sirloin.
- Abe, what have you got? - Uh, sweetbread.
Oh, boy.
I want to vomit. I have cheek.
I am freaking out right now because I have beef cheek.
Not only have I never made it, I've never eaten it.
So I have no idea how I'm gonna create
a beautiful recipe to impress these judges.
Now, tonight, use those cuts of beef
in a legendary manner out of respect
for tonight's legend, Michael Mina.
Now, listen closely. Only one of you will win a special prize.
You get dinner for two in his Michelin-starred restaurant,
Michael Mina, in San Francisco.
- Whoa! - Yes!
But the home cook who cannot run with the bulls
will be eliminated.
- Right, everybody ready? - All: Yes, Chef.
Your 60 minutes start...
- Now! - Let's go!
Okay, so, polenta. I have milk.
- Parsley, come on. - Sorry.
I need one of those spice rubs.
- I need to see the vinegars back here. - Sorry.
- Thank you. Ah, ah, ah! - Ah! Ah!
Potatoes.
I got the New York strip steak.
I have never cooked a New York strip steak before.
So, yeah, a little bit nervous.
Behind you.
Stock.
Panko, panko! Where's the panko?
Chives? What else we got in here?
I was in the bottom three last week with the dessert challenge,
so it was a sigh of relief to see a filet.
I think it's the best cut of meat,
but it's a lot of pressure
cooking a filet mignon for Michael Mina.
He's obviously an icon, so my filet, it has to be absolutely perfect.
- [muttering] - Whoa!
Here we go.
Miles: I am making a T-bone steak
with a really amazing chimichurri.
There's high expectations, being a Texan, to cook a proper steak.
If I don't nail the steak, Texas might hate me a little bit,
but they're forgiving people.
All right, so, I am making a teriyaki glazed top sirloin
with white rice seasoned with shallots.
Then I'm gonna accompany it with some things
that'll calm the flavors down and bring them up
and it'll all come together at the end.
Behind you.
I am making an herbed banana squash puree
with grilled asparagus and a red wine sauce
with a pan-seared rib-eye cap.
Steak is something I'm familiar with.
Not necessarily this cut, but I'm just gonna treat it
like it's any other steak, medium rare,
and get a nice sear on it.
When I opened up the box and found sweetbreads,
I was a little bit worried.
I haven't cooked sweetbread before,
so I'm not quite sure what I'm doing.
There is definitely an added pressure
because this is by far the piece of meat
that nobody wanted.
I thought, hey, why not fry it?
Because everything tastes so much better when it's fried.
In the previous challenge, I was in the bottom three,
so I really need to step up my game.
I'm gonna try to put my heart out on a plate,
and hopefully it doesn't get butchered.
Oh, [bleep].
Gordon: Just under 50 minutes remaining.
Now, top 12, an amazing challenge
based around Michael's incredible beef empire.
One's going home tonight.
What's great about this competition
is every different cut, you have to cook it differently.
Joe: You covered, with these cuts, basically the whole cow,
and there's certainly ones that are more difficult and ones that are easier.
What do you notice first when someone cooks a steak?
Well, I mean, obviously, is the meat tempered properly?
Is the pan hot enough, if they're searing it?
Have they seasoned sufficiently?
Michael: Have they seasoned it sufficiently?
How are they testing it while they're cooking it?
The basics. So this is really entry-level cooking in a lot of ways.
- Sure. - All the simple stuff that adds up.
- Michael, hardest cut out there tonight? - Yes?
Michael: I mean, you gotta think short ribs,
- just based on the timing. - Aarón: Absolutely. Yup.
I'm making a lemongrass braised short ribs.
I'm going to make sure this piece of short ribs
goes in a pressure cooker in the next 5 to 10 minutes
because it needs to get tender in the pressure
for at least 35 minutes.
So, today I feel like I'm not competing
with other home cooks, but with time.
Gordon: 45 minutes to go.
Anne: I'm making a braised beef cheek with a creamy polenta.
Braised beef cheek takes six hours to make.
I'm doing this in 60 minutes,
so the pressure is definitely on.
I've never made beef cheek in my life.
I just know that I gotta get it going.
That's the most important part to using a stock pot.
If I don't do that, I'm gonna be going home.
Matt, what cut did you get? Aww, fillet.
- Filet. - Filet is the leanest, the simplest,
the cut that everyone in America knows.
Yeah, I'm excited about this filet.
How are you gonna take a filet and distinguish it?
I'm actually just gonna make a dish I make for my wife all the time.
That's good, stick to what you know.
I'm gonna try to kick it up a little bit.
I'm gonna do a porcini vermouth pan sauce,
little shallots on top, garlic mashed potato with chives.
- Okay. - I'm gonna super hard sear,
and get it nice and golden, then put it in a low oven.
- Not a hard sear. - No? No?
You just really kiss it and really massage
and nurture it in the searing process.
It doesn't have any fat, so just nice and easy, okay?
I think a lot's gonna hinge, obviously, in the cook of that beautiful filet
- in how much you respect that product. - Yes.
I definitely feel like my steak has to be absolutely perfect
because some other people who've had, like,
beef cheeks or the sweetbreads,
they may have a little more room for error.
So I need to nail it and make the judges proud.
Gordon: 42 minutes remaining.
- Now, Lexy, how are you feeling? - I'm okay today.
- And you got New York Strip. - I didn't make out too bad.
Lexy has a nice family at home.
Tell Chef how much you spend on food a week.
About $40, give or take.
$40 a week? How large is your family?
Um, it's me, my husband, and my two kids.
How many times have you ever cooked New York Strip?
- None. - Amazing.
- Not once? That's awesome. - I'm so happy.
- That is incredible. - But I'm super excited for the opportunity.
- What's the dish? - I'm gonna make a cabernet jam
and put it underneath, then add some potatoes...
What kind of oil are you gonna use to sear that meat?
I was gonna do olive oil. What would you do?
- Use grapeseed? - Yeah. Little higher smoking point.
- Okay. Thank you. - Good luck.
Lexy: I was in the top three in our last challenge.
That lets me know that I actually do deserve to be here,
and so I'm feeling very confident.
At the same time, I'm just kind of nervous,
wanting to make sure that this steak is perfect.
God.
Where is a whisk? Why isn't there a whisk?
Growing up, every Sunday, you'd always go home,
hit the grill, cook some steaks.
And I'm gonna do a little twist on our family recipe.
So far, up until this point, I have only cooked fish.
I'm here today to prove that I belong in the top 12.
Sharp knife. Sharp behind.
Uh, what am I missing? What am I missing?
Kelsey, now, the cut you got, um...
- I got skirt steak. Yeah. - You got skirt steak.
Ooh, what do you have that in?
Beer and lime juice and a little salt.
- Have you ever tasted that? - I actually have not.
- Why beer? - Um, just, you know,
to get in some of that kind of carbonation in there,
let it kind of break down a little bit.
Smart. Also, that nice hoppy feel to it as well.
And then I'm gonna also do a salsa roja.
Love that. What's the rub on there? That's what I'm dying to know.
Ancho chili. Yeah, a little coffee.
Make sure you get enough spice in it.
- Yes, yeah. Thank you! - Good luck.
Kelsey: Skirt steak is not something
you see very often in a fine dining restaurant.
But I love to experiment with a lot of different flavor profiles
and that's really how I came up with the idea
to use the Mexican flavors.
I'm here to try new things,
and I hope I can pull this off.
Gordon: 35 minutes remaining.
- Seriously? - Whoo.
I am making a seasoned rib-eye,
butter basted with thyme and garlic.
This is the first time I'm cooking any kind of meat in two years.
I'm here on MasterChef. I don't have much of a choice.
So I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna impress the judges,
and I'm just gonna do my thing, make it happen, you know?
- Alejandro? - Sir!
Come on, Alejandro. You talked me up,
- you gotta make me proud, now. - Yes, I am. I am.
- Tell us about the dish. - I'm gonna be making a hanger steak.
What's the garnish? What are you doing?
I'm doing domino potatoes.
A domino potato. They all fall over? What is it?
I cut them up and then I cut them on the mandolin.
- Holy [bleep]. - And I just put 'em all...
- The shape of a domino. - Yes.
Have you ever seen a domino potato?
- I have not. - It's called domino potatoes.
I'm gonna go home and tell every chef they've got to reword their menus.
Abe, what's going on? I love sweetbreads.
Oh, God, that's a high order.
So, how are you gonna cook 'em?
Since I've never really cooked with sweetbread,
I thought, hey, why not fry them?
- Deep fry or pan fry? - Deep fry, deep fry.
Well, here's the deal, if you bread that,
the outside, the coating is gonna cook before the inside cooks,
so you have to accelerate that process.
You can either sear 'em really quickly, put them in the oven,
blanch them in milk, and then bread them.
Yes, yes, yes. Thank you, Chef.
Come on.
Almost forgot to season that.
Wow, there is a lot going on out there.
So, Abe is gonna deep fry the sweetbread.
Let's be honest, nobody wanted the sweetbread.
It's one of the most difficult offals to get right.
He was very unsure about how to do it.
He told him to poach them in milk.
- Smart. - Just very lightly in milk,
and then bread it to accelerate a little bit of the cooking process.
Now, Lexy, she's never cooked a New York strip before.
Never ever.
She's doing, like, a red wine jam.
Caramelized shallots with red wine, or no?
Um, no, I didn't see shallots in there.
- She had some raisins in there. - Yeah, I mean,
the dish sounds a little bit sort of off-piste.
- Yeah. - So, Matt has the Cadillac of all cuts. He has the filet.
I asked him, "How do you want to cook it?" He said, "With a hard sear."
It needs to be just kissed on the pan and nurtured,
- butter-basted, introduce fat to that. - Yeah.
21 minutes remaining.
I overcooked this one. [bleep] me.
All right, check this out. We have Matt.
Joe: I think he's having issues.
Matt: At this point, my steak's overcooked.
Now I only have 20 minutes left.
[sighs]
And now I gotta start over.
Gordon: Damn. Not good.
Gordon: 18 minutes remaining.
I took the filet out and I poked it and temped it and it was over.
So I'm not serving that to the judges,
so I gotta start over.
[bleeping]
Now I have to move quick because now I only have under 20 minutes left.
- How are you feeling? - Uh, a little behind.
So, this needs turning.
- Let it roll round the pan. Let the pan do the work. - Yes, Chef.
Sear in all that flavor there.
A filet has no fat, so it needs lots of fat.
I'm gonna add a little butter and baste it...
- A lot of butter. - ...right at the end.
Matt, don't let those potatoes get cold.
You're making mashed potatoes.
Working on that right now with a little hot butter.
You're right at the edge right now.
Love that. Get that smile on your face.
You got the best cut in America tonight.
- The filet. Okay? - I know. Thank you, Chef.
You've still got 15 minutes to go, okay?
Hot, hot, hot. There we go.
- Right, how are you feeling? - I'm good, Chef.
I sort of parboiled the sweetbreads in milk, garlic, and some thyme.
- So you're gonna dredge these sweetbreads? Good. - Yes.
It sounds amazing. If you can bring this together in the next 12 minutes,
young man, you could be having dinner in Michael's restaurant in San Francisco.
- Thank you, Chef. - Good luck.
Tarragon, thyme.
I don't expect to be in the top three
because I usually don't cook red meat,
so it would be a huge shock for me if I did it, like, perfect.
As long as I'm not in the bottom three, I'm good.
- Hi, there. - Hello.
- So, polenta? Good. - Yes, sir. Creamy polenta.
And I'm gonna make you the best braised beef cheeks you've ever had.
Two beef cheeks. I have my timer on,
so one is gonna be stopped at 35 minutes
and one is gonna be stopped at 40.
My suggestion is push that stock pot as far as you can.
- Okay. Okay. - It will only get better,
meaning the more you cook it. You know what I'm saying?
- Yes, yes, yes. - Do you have a sauce done?
- So, I'm making my sauce out of one of these. - Oh, another thing,
you're putting a huge amount of pressure on yourself...
- I know, I know. - ...because you've got to wait till the last minute
- to open it for the sake of the beef cheek. - [alarm beeping]
But then you've got to just discover what's in there
and pull a sauce out of it. That's, like, without a net.
- Are you ready for that? - I don't have any choice.
No, you really don't have any choice. Good luck.
- Miles? - Yes, Chef.
- That looks incredible. - Thank you.
- What's on top there? - It's breadcrumbs.
We've got, uh, green onions.
- What do you have in the pan? - My "morals" over here.
Morels. Morals are what your parents installed in you, young man.
- Morels. - Right, good luck.
- 10 minutes to go. - Miles: Thank you, guys.
- Doing good, Alex? - You're good.
Look how gorgeous it is.
Flank steak isn't the most
prestige cut of steak to cook with,
but I have a fresh concept and I think I can really
make this flank steak shine in this.
- It smells good over here. - It smells great.
I did a seared flank with a glaze.
Gordon: That looks good. What's the wrap? What's the shell?
- Shiso. So you have the shiso leaves. - Beautiful.
Then you cut against the grain. You'll have a little piece. You put in a leaf.
You have a pickled daikon and a lime pepper dipping sauce all go with it.
Lovely. That is delicious, by the way.
- That is delicious. - I'm glad you guys like it.
That's the glaze. Family recipe.
Okay, young man, eight minutes to go. Get it together.
- I'm gonna put it in here then. - Yeah. Love the pickle bag.
Perfect, perfect, perfect.
All right.
We're down to the last five minutes.
Five minutes. Gotta start plating. Gotta start plating.
Gordon: This is where it counts.
- Focus on that execution. - Oh, gosh.
Looking down at my stock pot, I am freaking out right now.
I'm gonna open one and then open the next
and figure out how to get it on the plate.
But I got no idea how I'm gonna create
a beautiful plate from beef cheek.
So I'm going to make two portions
because it has to be perfect.
I don't even know how to do this.
Oh, okay.
Gordon: Some incredible dishes, by the way.
- Absolutely. - What really caught your eye?
Joseph's, with that shiso leaf?
- Oh, my goodness me. Oh, my God, amazing. - That came out good?
Anne, she's doing a braised beef cheek.
It takes three hours to braise properly.
Can you really braise a beef cheek properly in an hour?
Aarón: In a pressure cooker, yes.
- One plate, Anne, please. - Yes, sir, okay.
- If you waste time doing two plates... - I'm screwed.
...I promise you now, you will not be going to San Francisco for dinner.
- One stunning portion, please. - Aarón: Come on!
- Gordon: Two minutes to go. - Two minutes!
Come on, Matt.
I've told Anne twice to stop doing two plates
- and she's still dressing two plates. - Just in case.
I don't understand it right now, Anne.
- I gotta go. - Last minute, guys, let's go!
- Oh, my gosh. - Come on, come on.
- Keep it going. - All right.
This is where you're thinking of garnishes, tools of refinement.
- 30 seconds remain. Let's go, come on. - Man.
Come on, Abe. Come on, Matt. The Rolls-Royce of cuts.
- Ah! - Prove it.
- Oh, [bleep]. - Gordon: Ten.
Judges: Nine, eight, seven, six,
five, four, three, two, one.
- And stop! - Hands in the air.
Well done.
Wow!
- It does not look like crap. - That's not cooked, so...
- You don't think so? - No, this one's way over. That one's way under.
I feel like I have a good chance of being in the top three.
I definitely know for sure I'm not going home on this dish.
- Wow, I love that glaze, bro. - Thanks, man.
Forgot the damn green onions!
I should've paid more attention to just plating one and I...
because I plated two, this is not...
I mean, it's not a beautiful... it doesn't look as pretty as it's gonna taste.
All of you, well done.
Not an easy task.
Now we'd like to take a much deeper look at everything you've done.
- Gentlemen, shall we? - Joe: Yes.
Joseph, I see there's a certain sparseness to your presentation.
I just wanted to have everything on this plate matter.
Abe, so, you got an interesting lot with the sweetbreads.
- Yes, Chef. - You happy with the dish?
Um, I am. I'm quite surprised how the sweetbread turned out.
Thank you.
How do you feel that your dish came out?
I feel really good. I feel like I executed the T-bone well.
Miles: When the judges come through
and critique each component, I find that invaluable.
- Your crust had a lot of flavor. - Yes, Chef.
But it's also really intense
watching the critiques of the other competitors.
- Did you slice that rib cap and taste it? - I did not.
It's stressful to see when someone messes up.
- First time ever cooking a New York strip? - Yes.
- Did you get a chance to taste it? - I did, yeah.
Joe: How come the potatoes aren't brown?
There was 10 minutes left and I put it all the way up to broil,
but they didn't get the right...
Should've put them in a pan.
Aarón: I love skirt steak.
- So you went a little Mexican route. - I did.
Gordon: Very hard to make that thing look delicious,
but it's all in the flavor, right?
- Yes. - Fingers crossed.
This is season of legends, and we have Michael Mina here
who is a meat legend,
so the nerves are definitely real.
- You had the short rib. - Short ribs, yes.
Do you feel that you actually got to braise the meat in the time you had?
- Yes, Chef. - Okay.
- How did you feel it went? - I'm a little disappointed.
I feel like I got thrown a softball here and I missed.
- Michael, you had the rib-eye. - Yes, I did.
All right, how did we do?
I have not cooked meat in over two years,
but I believe my components came together.
You got the... obviously, the beef cheek.
- How'd it go? - Um, I'm super emotional right now.
- Oh, gosh, I can't. - Don't worry. Take your time.
I'm so sorry. I hate crying.
Take a deep breath. Hey, um, tonight you were dealt a dysfunctional card.
To get anything done in 60 minutes is a tall order.
Do you think that dish is sending you home tonight?
No, I think this dish should send me up front.
- Gordon: Good. Thank you. - Yes, sir.
Here's the exciting part for me.
When you and I, Chef, did that demo earlier,
- nobody's copied. - Yeah.
Gordon: So I like that individuality.
Some of the more problematic dishes,
I think that you can see the regret.
- It's gonna be tough. - Yeah.
- Shall we? Excellent. - All right.
Tonight, we have to say good-bye to one of you,
but first we would like to highlight the top three dishes.
Remember what's at stake,
an amazing dinner in Chef Michael's restaurant.
The first dish we want to take a much closer look at
is from a young individual that has wowed us.
This person enters the top three for the first time.
Please step forward, Abe.
- Go, Abe! - Whoo!
Abe: I am ecstatic.
I took something that nobody wanted
and still made it stand out.
Gordon: Abe, describe the dish, please.
Here we have a deep fried sweetbread
with a butternut squash puree
and a coleslaw with raisins.
Let's agree, one thing right off the bat,
it's definitely restaurant-quality. It looks beautiful.
Thank you, Chef.
Shall we? Why the butternut squash puree?
Um, well, I wanted a little bit of sweetness,
and I thought it'd be a nice sort of complement
with the crunchiness
and also just the flavor profile with the sweetbread.
I thought it was very good. I like the acidity.
I think it did come together nice.
- Thank you, Chef. - The sweetbreads are cooked perfectly.
The one thing I don't... doesn't fit here is the raisins.
You have enough sweetness from the butternut squash,
- you don't need it. - Thank you.
It's crunchy, sweet. I love the acidity.
- I think it's good. - Thank you, Joe.
Abe, the sweetbreads are delicious.
Let's be honest, nobody wanted the sweetbreads tonight,
and you've made it look easy. Well done.
- Thank you, Chef. Thank you. - Good job. Please.
- Whoo! - Good job, Abe!
Woman: Good job, Abe!
The next dish we want to taste
was made by a cook who kept things very simple.
Please come forward...
Joseph.
- Good job, Joseph! - Yeah, Big J.!
Being in the top three is this surreal feeling.
I'm just so happy my twist on our family recipe
could elevate this medium cut of meat to the top three.
- Describe the dish, please. - So, this is a flank steak served with shiso leaves
and pickled radishes with a salt and pepper lime sauce.
It looks elegant.
You're a big thinker when it comes to food,
and it means a lot, I can see.
I'm excited to try it.
Joe: All right, how should it be cooked?
Medium rare, a little bit medium.
- All right, see what we got. - That'll work.
Joe: It's super bright, super clean.
Conceptually, the kind of dish I love to eat.
There's no getting around how perfectly cooked that steak...
the fact that you were able to impart so much flavor
in such an abbreviated period of time is really a stroke of genius.
Yeah, the sauce that you had in the pan, that was delicious.
Just maybe a touch more of that on the meat.
That is delicious.
Joseph, I think it's one of the best things you've cooked so far in this competition.
- Wow. - Good job.
- Thank you. - Well done.
- Good job, Joseph! - Nice job, Joseph!
The final dish of the top three,
and one of the most beautifully presented dishes of the night,
please come forward...
- Kelsey. - Woman: Whoo!
Kelsey: I came to "MasterChef" to challenge myself
to step outside of my comfort zone.
I thought it was a great time
to explore some Mexican flavor profiles.
And when I tasted it, I knew that I had nailed it.
Aarón: Can you please describe your dish, Kelsey?
So, it's a dry rubbed and seared skirt steak
on a base, there's a salsa roja
and some elote style corn with some avocado crema.
Visually, it's beautiful. It's got finesse.
This just screams, "Eat me."
You do have a lot of components going on,
and to be able to bring them together
and make them look like this is great.
Thank you.
Dig in.
Joe: Have you made this dish before
- or did you just come up with it today? - No, absolutely not.
When I saw skirt steak, you always think
simple chimichurris and stuff like that.
I wanted to kind of step outside of that realm
and try something new.
- Kelsey, the steak's delicious. - Thank you.
I mean, it's just melt in your mouth.
The toast on the corn is just stunning.
The only thing I would change, I would get some charred lime,
and, bang, just a little touch of salt.
And that is it. But it's a really good dish.
Thank you.
The fact that you were able to season it aggressively
and let that cook through, I think is fantastic.
It looked great, it tasted better.
- Really good. - Thank you so much.
Marinating the meat in the beer and lime,
that was so unique, and it really added a nice twist.
But great job. I love it.
- Gordon: Well done. - Thank you, thank you.
- Good job. - Good job, Kels.
Gordon: Please give us a minute.
I'll take it.
- Three exceptional dishes. - Yeah.
Gordon: Abe had the most difficult task tonight.
- Joe: For sure. - Michael: One thing about Kelsey's dish,
I did not expect it to come together that well.
Aarón: You can't take away from Joseph
getting that much flavor in such a short period of time.
- All right. - Yeah. Happy?
- Let's do it. - Tough one.
Abe, Joseph, Kelsey,
just one of you will score dinner
at the flagship Michael Mina restaurant in San Francisco.
Congratulations goes to...
Abe, Joseph, Kelsey,
just one of you will score dinner
at the flagship Michael Mina restaurant in San Francisco.
Congratulations goes to...
- Abe. - [bleep]
Oh, [bleep]. Okay.
- All right. - Good job.
- [bleep] - Gordon: Really well done.
The good news is that all three of you are safe
from tonight's elimination.
Please head up to the balcony. Well done.
- Thank you. - Amazing. Good job.
Abe: Oh, my God, this is amazing.
Bottom three to the top three now,
and then wining the challenge?
Wow, this is so cool.
You three, well done. Amazing.
Now, tonight, somebody will be leaving the MasterChef kitchen.
But first we have to take a much closer look
at the bottom three.
The first home cook has previously been in the top three.
Tonight was not their night,
and they did not handle this cut of beef correctly.
Please step down...
Anne.
Anne: I'm super nervous right now.
Looking down at my dish,
I'm worried that it's not gonna be enough.
And I'm hoping that being how difficult
this meat was, that'll help.
I could be going home, and that means
my dream ends today.
Gordon: Describe the dish, please.
I made you a braised beef cheek with a creamy polenta,
roasted root vegetables, and beef stock a jus.
So, visually, you know, it looks uncompleted.
I've seen what you've done in this competition,
and this thing looks lacklust.
Shall we?
How long did you braise them for, please, Anne?
45 minutes.
And what did you braise them in?
I did beef stock, chicken stock, white wine,
tons of aromatics, carrots, and onions.
Anne, um, unfortunately tonight, panic set in with five minutes to go.
Pressure cooker, it put more pressure on you than it did in the pan.
I wish that you had cut the cheeks up that size
at the beginning, so they'll cook two thirds earlier.
So, Anne, I think the sauce is really nice,
a good spice to it, and I think you need it with the fattiness of that meat.
But I do agree that this dish needs to come together.
- Yes, Chef. - Yeah, this is frustrating
because it has all the ingredients for a successful dish,
it just needs to be realized better.
This is a great example of someone who does not know how to braise.
And as we head towards the top 10 of "MasterChef Legends,"
we expect you guys to have mastery
of some of these basic cooking techniques, braising being one of them.
- You didn't have the technique. - Thank you, Chef.
Aarón: The next dish that we would like to taste
comes from a home cook that embraces rustic plating,
but they overcomplicated a very simple steak.
Please come forward...
- Lexy. - Okay.
Lexy: This competition is super intense.
Last challenge, I'm in the top.
This challenge, I'm in the bottom.
So I'm a little nervous because I came here
to give a better life to my kids,
and so if I go home right now,
I won't be able to do that.
Please describe your dish.
You have a New York strip steak
with roasted potatoes, sautéed mushrooms and onions,
and a cabernet jam.
Lexy, we're getting down to the top 10.
That's what's just around the corner.
And quite frankly, it doesn't scream a top 10 dish.
I'm just hoping it tastes better than it looks.
- Shall we? - All right, so, how did you want to cook it?
It should be a good medium, medium rare.
- Medium rare, all right. - It should be pink.
- All right. Got that. - Nice.
Tell me about this jam. What are you calling it?
- It's a cabernet jam. - So it's a jam made out of wine.
- Yes. - What else is in there?
Raisins, cranberries,
and some daikons pureed together.
The steak was cooked... a little overcooked for me, but that's my taste.
And don't give me white potatoes,
because it just kind of, like... it makes me angry.
I have to say, the mushrooms and the sear on the steak are great,
but the potatoes are undercooked.
Aesthetically, you didn't hit the mark.
There are some great flavors here, but it's dry.
You need a sauce on this dish.
Okay.
Potatoes could be way better. Sort of bland.
Um, it's not that difficult to do a great potato.
- Thank you. - Thank you.
The last dish we would like to taste
mishandled several elements of the dish.
Please come forward...
The last dish we would like to taste
mishandled several elements of the dish.
Please come forward...
Matt.
Matt: I'm definitely nervous.
I was in the bottom three last week
with the dessert challenge,
but I feel like this is my redemption dish.
I got a really good cut of meat and I needed to nail this,
so I'm really disappointed in the way I'm going right now.
Today, I made a pan-seared filet mignon
with a porcini vermouth reduction sauce,
roasted Brussels sprouts, and roasted garlic mashed potatoes.
Matt, it looks like you struggled.
I'm a little bit in shock.
Unfortunately, there's a big difference
between searing and scorching.
Joe: How should it be cooked?
It should be medium rare.
So it's gray on the outside and pink in the middle.
- Yeah. - All right, let's give it a try.
So, I'm gonna say something maybe a little bit harsh.
This is a dish you would get in a restaurant
with anonymous cooks where it doesn't really matter
what you're eating or who's cooking it for you.
I think the promising news is that the onions, they're cooked well.
The potatoes have a good consistency.
But I agree, this is a perfect example
of something that is so misleading.
Because you see the pink on the inside and you think,
"Oh, it's cooked all right," but it's actually hammered.
Yeah, Matt, when you take something
like the filet and potatoes and Brussels sprouts,
and you're just really looking for just simple perfection, right?
We didn't hit any of the components.
Matt, let's make one thing clear to everybody in here.
It may be the most expensive cut in the country tonight,
but it's also one of the hardest things to get right.
The high point for me is that the seasoning's on point,
so there is something to salvage from there.
- Thank you, Matt. - Thank you.
- It's all right. - Gordon: Anne, Lexy, Matt,
please give us a minute. Thank you.
Wow.
So, Anne lacked that incredible flavor.
All the goodness was in that pan, right?
- Mm-hmm. - Damn.
Lexy's garnish on top of that steak was tasty.
Yeah, but how do you mess up a potato?
[groans]
With Matt, you have to have that spark,
that ambition to do something more.
He's not putting it on the plate.
- Mistakes, all around. - Yeah.
- Joe: Shall we? - Gordon: Yeah.
Oh, God.
Anne, Lexy, Matt,
the dish that we thought lacked the finesse
and the passion to continue in this competition,
that dish belongs to...
Matt.
Lexy, Anne, say good-bye to Matt, please.
Head back to your stations. Thank you.
Matt, you know, when you get presented
one of the most delicious cuts anywhere on the planet,
then you need to do it justice.
You certainly can't overcook it.
And that, unfortunately, is why you've cooked for the last time.
Please place your apron on your desk. Have a safe journey home.
Matt: This whole journey has been kind of crazy.
I was definitely hoping that there would be
a small chance that I would stay,
but I just didn't execute what I had in front of me today.
I knew it wasn't up to their standards.
- I have a lot to learn... - Bye, Matt.
...but I think my kids are gonna be
incredibly proud of me for making it this far,
and I'm just gonna keep cooking
and keep trying to hone my skills and move forward.
Now, all of you, top 10 is around the corner.
Just 11 of you remaining.
We know that you may be all feeling the pressure,
but trust me, things are about to reach a boil.
Good night.
Gordon: Next time on "MasterChef Legends"...
One of the most influential voices in Italian cuisine.
To me, she's family.
Gordon: The legendary Nancy Silverton.
The most crucial elimination challenge yet...
- You guys ready to make some fresh pasta? - Fire it up.
...to decide which home cooks are worthy of a spot in the top 10.
I wouldn't get rid of anything on the plate.
- It looks stunning. - It's not a pasta dish. It's kind of gross.
Gordon: We're down to the last 10 minutes.
Sadly, for one of you,
your last inside the MasterChef kitchen.
It's "MasterChef Legends," not "MasterChef Junior."
"MasterChef" is back with the season of legends.
Wednesdays on Fox.