MKR returns Easter Monday

It’s movie challenge night and the teams have to create a dinner box for 300 families, consisting of a star dish and some sides. So I’m expecting ads for KFC in the breaks, offering a similar product.
Tasia and Gracia look scared when they hear 300, but it’s not like they have to cook 300 actual portions of their food.
Paige is back after her hand surgery and I can’t see a bandage.
paigehand
And in the next scene she’s driving the car to Coles, so that fish fin injury can’t have been too serious, even if they did have a break between filming (although later she does mention she’s having trouble carrying things).
Lauren and Carmine get to sit this one out because they won with the fisherfolks’ hearts with their straightforward salmon dish at the seafood challenge.
Are we missing JP and Snow White? Not on your Nelly. We spend a good minute promoting whatever car brand that is and the show is now called My Car With a Reversing Camera Rules.
Sisters are cooking Korean fried chicken with miso corn and cabbage salad. Yum – winner, winner, chicken dinner.
Jordan and Anna are doing Mama’s homemade pies with mash and peas. Anna is making not one but two pastries. Shortcrust is a quickie but puff is tough – these guys sure do like to challenge themselves. They are a world away from some of the others in the comp.
Mr and Mrs Chops and Zana and Plus One are first ones back to the warehouse, so they’ll have the longest cooking time. Chopses are cooking lamb rogan josh with pilaf rice and chapati.
Zana and Gianni are also doing lamb – always a crowd fave: Lamb souvlaki with lemon potatoes and Greek salad. We know from the ads they struggle with time management, yet they have chosen a dish that has a long cooking time.
Curlies are making katsu chicken bento box with pork dumplings. They’ll be battling the Sisters for title of tastiest fried chicken, but I’m not sure if another meat element is a good idea.
There’s more lamb on the menu, with the Dads doing lamb kofta with quinoa and pomegranate salad and haloumi (aka tastiest fried cheese in the world). It should be quick for them to make and sounds like something the grownups will love – just don’t think the kids will go for it. They could just eat the meat, since it’s on a stick.
Finally the boys arrive and get on to their cola ribs with onion rings and slaw. I hope they have enough time for their ribs to cook properly. It has a similar vibe to the tortilla they did well with at the Rio challenge, so they may live to fight another day.
Tarq and Dad are making chilli con carne with blackened corn and iceberg wedge salad.
Rosie and Paige are making pulled pork burgers with chicken bites and chips. Again, not sure about the two proteins in one dish.

The judges are watching the action and Fass is particularly excited by the thought of Anna and Jordan’s pies.

"I loike poies."

“I loike poies.”

Any Ben and Holly fans out there (if you have young kids you’ll know what I mean). He reminded me of the gnome.
https://youtu.be/99bxsMNviZQ?t=7m34s

Pete is excited by the Sister’s Korean Fried Chicken. They are wisely slashing their drumsticks to help them cook evenly, so there should be no raw chicken disaster tonight. The girls are doing their bickering thing. “Concentrate on your mayo; don’t screw it up,” says Tasia. Or is it Gracia?
Zana is having potato dramas; they’ve stuck to the tray and seem to be swimming in liquid. They do not do well at these away from the kitchen challenges.

"Not happy, Jan."

“Not happy, Jan.”

Fass pops over to spook the Miners and implies to Paige her planned method of cooking chips is rubbish, so you know there is trouble ahead.

The families start to arrive and it looks like it’s going to be a fun night for them. They’ve brought eskies with them, so hopefully there’s some backup food in there for if they get a dud dish.
Service starts and the Sisters’ dish looks delish. Anna and Jordan’s pies aren’t ready and Zana is, as always, not ready to serve. “I feel like I’m cursed with the outdoor kitchens,” she tells Confessional.

Time for the judges to taste …

They love this one, which comes with toasted cheese soldiers for dipping.


This gets the thumbs up and Fass notes a lot of work has gone into it. Good on you, Chopses – you started off shakily but are reaching new heights every challenge.


The Dads get the thumbs down for their bland koftas but the salad is tasty.
Tasia and Gracia are having trouble keeping up with the demand for their chicken, so the Miners kindly let them use their deep fryers. Aw, good on you, boys. You’re still learning to cook but someone sure raised you well.


Pete and Fass tear into the Sisters’ chook and they are loving it. I want a bucket delivered to my house. Fass: “I’m not going to talk; I’m just going to eat.”


Mitch and Laura (aka Curlies) rice is overcooked – which they know – but as a whole the dish is “flavour plus”. They’ still looking solid to make final four.
Oops – there’s no pic of Paige and Rosie’s pork sliders and nuggets, but you’re not missing much. As expected, the chips are no good (soggy) and Pete says the nuggets are all batter. The pulled pork burger is dry. Oh dear – no doubt the girls have had a few sleepless nights since Paige injured herself, and this is the result. They are definitely in danger.


The lamb is a bit dry and underseasoned (the second most often uttered phrase on MKR, after “where’s the soz?”) and the Greek salad doesn’t seem to be dressed. The pita bread is good, at least. These guys need to work on their time management.


The Miners cop a caning for the sweetness of their ribs and their weird honey dressing. “That is a shocker of a dressing,” says Fass.

Pete's not happy, Jan, either.

Pete’s not happy, Jan, either.


We see the judges taste the pies and then just get Pete saying: “I’ve got three teams jockeying for bottom place and we need to pick two.”
Editors, is this meant to make us think the pies are bad? Because it’s obvious they are fabulous. Pete’s bottom three would have to be Paige and Rosie, Zana and the Miners. I think the Dads will be safe because they had other tasty elements.

It’s back to Kitchen HQ for the judging lowdown. We already know most of it. Curlies are stoked to hear Pete describe their tonkatsu sauce as “a revelation”. Zana’s dish was mediocre, and she knows it.
worriedzana
And now to the pie praise: “Mama did well. She knocked it out of the park,” says Fass. They did amazingly well to make the two pastries, chicken and leek filling, peas and cabbage, mash and their own tomato sauce. They have yet to put a foot wrong.

And People’s Choice goes to … no surprise: Tasia and Gracia. They are stunned.
And off to Sudden Death are … Rosie and Paige and Alex and Gareth. Not a surprise – Zana is lucky she makes awesome bread.
Poor Miners, but they absolutely deserved it.

So, sudden death tomorrow and the Wednesday synopsis is: A quintessential family favourite, the Australian Rodeo is the backdrop for today’s challenge. Teams must focus on creating an unforgettable marinade that’s full of flavour for their BBQ based dish.
Sounds an awful lot like a barbie challenge they did for MasterChef last year.



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34 Comments

  1. Lauren won’t be cooking as she got dish of the day in the previous challenge. Damn!

    Would like to see a 4 Ingredients challenge, a vegetarian challenge or maybe a rice challenge or noodle challenge.

    Also read in the TV GUIDE that the contestants will be cooking against 4 former MKR teams.

    • Ah – the stupid salmon! I’d wiped it from my memory. I wonder who the former teams will be? Chloe and Kelly need $$

  2. Speaking of past contestants, today’s Family Feud at 1.00 Adelaide time has all the Ma$terchef judges and past winners etc. Looks like the Three Stooges plus Shannon will lose to Emma Dean , Brent Whatsit et al.

  3. Oh my lord, they are bringing back 20 former contestants. Some were former winners and runner up but many were the so call villians.

  4. The cream always rises and the crap always sinks. Those miners are clueless. I like Rosie and Paige – probably deserved to be in sudden death because of absence though. Zana plus one, incredibly lucky this time. They are still struggling with outdoor locations. IMO, the curry looked awesome. Sorry Windsong, Jordan starting to annoy me with the constant, “we’re going to sudden death” etc. etc.

    • Definitely cheering for the Besties tomorrow night. You’re absolutely right — I adore the miners for being such lovely guys, but they have no idea how to cook. I still think they volunteered to be on a different show, but the casting agent filed their paperwork incorrectly and they wound up on MKR.

      As for Jordan, he was just being sexy. I mean, nervous, he was being nervous.

  5. Recap is up. That curry looked darn tasty – and they didn’t stuff up the rice!
    So top contenders are: Sisters, Anna and Jordan, Curlies and maybe Tarq and Dad.
    Middle: Dads, Zana and Plus One (just because they can’t handle the external cooks)
    Lower Middle: Rosie and Paige (pressure and injury), Chopses (although rising), Lauren and Carmine
    Bottom: Miners
    Have I missed anyone?

  6. Love your recap,Juz.
    I think the prep time is just a fake. Anna couldn’t have make the puff pastry in that short prep time, even with a short cut puff pastry.

    Noticed there were like half a dozen of coke in the trolley. I am sure they don’t need that many!

    It’s time the Miners go home. Surely they must be out of recipes. Let see if we get another chocolate dessert

    • Well, yes. Some of us find it pretty strange that:

      1. every team ends up racing to finish in the last 10 seconds every single time they cook

      2. every team always finishes on time except at outdoor challenges where the crowd are there to see what happens

      3. there’s no relationship between finishing on time at outdoor challenges and standing in that particular challenge or standing in the overall contest

  7. There was more bullshit in the episode than the average movie. All corn and no pop.

    When Gianni gibbered at Zana that she wasn’t a bad driver for a woman, took me right back to 50’s movies. I must have seen a shitload of movies featuring Mama’s pies , too. The faux suspense over the pie outcome was truly cringeworthy. Pork pies about pies.

    Squeeze my kofta , til the juice runs down my leg. Still no flavour in ’em ,fellas. The Dads are duds. Straight up.

    Lot of hands on food last night. Don’t have to look far to see how the mining boom ended.

    Rose and Paige will walk it in tonight , no matter how “close” it’ll be dressed up to be.

    Thanks for the recap, Juz.

    I voted for Tasia , but this “people’s choice ” is a rort.

  8. Jeez that Anna lady can cook. Pies with that much sauce in them that don’t leak or go soggy is really impressive.

    I missed 2 weeks of MKR (thank you for the recaps Juz, I devoured them every morning to keep up)- does lovely Jordan actually do much of the cooking or is it 80% his Mum?

    Agree with everyone, the miners are sweet but way more limited than the rest, so let’s keep Paige and Rosie please.

    Your rankings look pretty spot on to me Juz, except I keep thinking of some of the past crappy contestants who suddenly developed cooking skills out of nowhere in the final weeks. Like that sausage-loving guy who started off with pork stewed in cherry coke but ended up winning. Wouldn’t surprise me if one of the weaker ones turns into a great cook by the end. S’long as it’s not Chops.

    • It’s going to happen. The judges already hinted that those teams you thought will last the distance fall off the perch and surprising some teams who were midiocre at the start did better.

      Don’t tell me those teams are Mr and Mrs Chop and the Miners

      • That’s right, Dan & Steph, their names were eluding me. They must’ve practised hard… Steph could barely make a cake but by the final was making spun sugar like Zumbo.

        Yes, if Mr & Mrs Chops turn into mini Hestons I’ll be bitterly disappointed.

        • The Chops certainly have the right “winning” criteria. Struggling twosome, showing growth blah, blah, blah. I don’t dislike them but I don’t like them either. I was not a fan of sausage king and wife.

    • Bel I was wondering the same thing last night about Jordan, what does he actually do? It seems to be Mumma doing it all and boy can she do it. I think he would be little boy lost without his Mum to carry him through.

      Also time to go miner boys, you have had enough chances, time to go home.
      It gets me how just because they see a line-up they think they have it in the bag, before anyone has even tasted their food, for goodness sakes people…

  9. Even when serving to the public, even when serving in front of the public, they are plating up using their fingers. Keep your fingers out of the food; it is off putting to watch, especially since so many of the contestants were whining recently about how sick and rundown they all were.

    It is possible to arrange food appealingly using utensils. I wouldn’t eat food from any of these contestants’ kitchens.

    Jordan needs to stop kissing his mum so often. In fact, all the hugging, high fiving, butt bumps, and snuggles can stop. Shut up and cook.

  10. It’s starting to get annoying that there are no consequences for not having food ready on time in these challenges. There’s no incentive whatsoever to be ready, they may as well just work calmly and make the dish wonderful. If Rosie and Paige had slowed down and made their dish better, instead of rushing to be ready, they would not have been at the bottom. Anna and Jordan were nowhere near ready but their food was good so that are easily safe.

    Winning people’s choice is so subjective it is not worth worrying about trying to win it. It is just a nice little bonus, but pleasing the judges is much more important.

    Those who aren’t ready to serve on time should be either automatically into the elimination, or should be disqualified from people’s choice, or both. Even if the judge’s would take the time into account, that would be better than nothing.

  11. The image problem with Chops is that he looks like he walked off the set of Ripper Street. Those chops will have to be cropped to fit on the cover of No Idea.

    These deluded grubs are taking “finger food” to a whole new level, as they say on these shows.

    • Changing the subject, BDD. Woolies is ditching homebrand products. You better stock up on your chocolate powder!

      • They’d run out last week, luckily a friend had a spare packet.Thanks, Liberty, I have no other reason to go in there. Not happy ,Jan. Coles’ powder is slightly inferior and 20 cents extra.

  12. NO!!! I love Woollies german cocoa. . . practically as good as dutch cocoa and about 1 zilionth of the price.

    I also want to give Zana a small bouquet for bagging reverse camera with an acerbic “in my day, you just parked” comment. pretty straight to kick the sponsor like that!

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