MasterChef – Mon, June 27 – Heston ice block challenge

For one day only, Melbourne’s iconic Brighton Beach bathing boxes become ice cream stands selling Heston-inspired ice creams and ice blocks. The least impressive team will face elimination.
Poor kids, rocking up expecting a delicious treat and copping a scoop of fennel and beetroot parfait …

Poor Trent and Heather – the “losers” paraded in front of the other contestants in their elimination blacks.
The other contestants have to make ice cream for 500 people and laugh nervously when they hear they have to do savoury ice cream. And not only do they have to be savoury, they have to trigger nostalgia.
The team pick is done by a zoopa dupa lucky dip into George’s Esky, which is literally cool.
The teams are: IM and Harry, Elena and Theresa, Mimi and Elise, Brett and Chloe. They have 4.5 hours to make one flavour of icy poles, two flavours of ice creams and waffle cones.
IM and Harry are going nuts with their flavour combos, doing prawn cocktail and Vegemite and butter ice cream and a gazpacho icy pole.
George and Heston (or let’s just call him “H” from now on, as his buddy George does) are worried about Chloe’s smoked beetroot, goat’s cheese and dill ice cream. They reckon the strong cheese will coat the roof of the mouth. Last time Chloe ignored a chef’s advice (in the Curtis Stone challenge) she and teammate Nicolette ended up in elimination. But it’s okay – Chloe has done it before and it’s awesome. What do George and H know?
Theresa is having waffle cone dramas and H tells her it’s because she needs more sugar in her batter.
Mimi is making cucumber, ginger and mint ice blocks and her mix is a lovely green colour, while Chloe and Brett are creating carrot and ginger icy poles with soda water and edible flowers (bleagh) – will the bubbles affect the freezing process?

Theresa has finally mastered her waffle cones but has yet to start her mustard ice cream with bacon and hot chips. She knows it will take forever to crack all the eggs for it so she decides to use an eggless recipe she half remembmers from seeing on TV. Oh dear. And if she fails she’ll take Elena down with her.
Mimi and Elise give a cucumber ice block to H to try and he says it’s too sweet. So they add vinegar. At least they’re ahead with their waffle cone making. Harry hasn’t started his but decides he’ll do waffle cups instead, which will be quicker than cones.
Mimi’s second ice cream is pea and ham ice cream but they are rushing it and don’t properly cook their peas and chuck a whole bunch of half cooked pureed bacon in it. Ick.
The boys’ Vegemite ice cream looks good (they’re serving it with a toast crumb topping – hope it tastes better than Cadbury’s Vegemite chocolate), and Theresa’s eggless ice cream seems to have worked. Whereas Chloe’s beetroot ice cream looks weirdly dry because of the overload of goat’s cheese. And that’s why you always listen to the chef. Her second ice cream is rosemary mascarpone and her ice blocks are ready but the soda has separated.


Uh oh – here comes the crowd, including a bunch of sprinting kid who are going to be sooo disappointed there’s nothing chocolate on offer. IM looks deliriously happy to be there – he’s still on his hot streak.

The judges taste


IM and Harry’s Vegemite and panko crumb ice cream: They like the texture and the crumb but H thinks there’s too much Vegemite.
Gazpacho icy pole: The judges love it. “That’s a cracker,” says H.
Prawn cocktail ice cream: George loves the look. Matt says it equals other savoury ice creams he’s had elsewhere. They like the concept.


Mimi and Elise’s pea and ham ice cream: The cones look great but Matt pulls a face when he tries the scoop. “I don’t like that at all… they’ve made me feel a bit queasy.”
Ginger, cucumber and mint ice block: H says it’s still too sweet.
Sour cream and chives: They redeem themselves; H says it’s delicious. The texture is great. So, one out of three.


Elena and Theresa’s mustard, bacon and french fries ice cream: H says he likes chips on the beach. “I reckon this ones the best one so far,” says Gaz. H says he could eat a tub of it. [Sorry I doubted you, Theresa.]
Lemon, pine nut and rosemary ice cream: It’s not right, the judges say. It’s bland and a bit medicinal.
Chilli, lime and coriander icy pole: They love it . “It’s like a frozen bowl of Thai dipping sauce,” says Matt.


Brett and Chloe’s beetroot and goat’s cheese ice cream: “Oh God,” says George, and not in a bang the spoon on the table way. “It’s got that curdled consistency in your mouth.”
Mascarpone, rosemary and bacon ice cream: The cone looks good and they like the bacon crumb. “That’s pretty tasty,” says Matt.
Ginger and carrot icy pole: “Oh dear.” “Oh god.” “There’s no flavour of carrot here.” Brett must have thought he was on a winner when he was teamed up with Chloe at the start of the challenge. Now he’s in real danger of being eliminated this week.

The judges decide

The two teams who stood out were Theresa and Elena and (Theresa gets dish of the day for her mustard and chips ice cream) and Matt and Harry (the prawn cocktail wasn’t perfect but, with tweaking, could become a signature dish).
Chloe and Brett are going into elimination with Trent and Heather, who have suddenly appeared again on the sidelines to stare at Heston, unable to touch him because they’re dead to him now.

Tomorrow night

An underground carpark is the scene for a pop-up chocolate-themed restaurant. We see the teams are Elise and Theresa, Mimi and Harry and Elena and IM. So I’m barracking for Elena and IM. Does Elena need an abbreviation now, too? She’s always so radiant and glowing – GE?



Facebooktwitterredditmail

41 Comments

  1. Okay. I am ready but not happy.
    The producers have given in and they are going to devote the entire show to ice-cream …. because otherwise one of their favourites might be up for elimination?
    But what’s the bet that to stand out the amatas will use obscure ingredients that should never be paired with ice-cream.
    I have the feeling that this episode is going to be predictable.

    • Well you got that right. They did serve up ingredients that should never be put in ice cream. It made me feel quite sick watching it.

  2. Much as I hate to say it, carrot and ginger ice-block sounds good. And lime and chilli. I could go for either of those. The rest sound gross.

  3. Is Masterchef single-handedly responsible for the egg shortage?

    We noticed that they commenced running with their Zooper Doopers but miraculously when they reach the shed no trace of them. Wonder how many takes?

    Looks like Elena & Teresa are in trouble.

  4. Savoury ice cream – two words that should never go together. Ever.
    MC is rubbish at the moment. I am really finding it tough to watch the remainder of the season and sort of don’t care about who eventually wins.

    Pea and ham soup ice cream. Are you kidding me?
    Seriously

    • I haven’t started watching yet. House Rules first, then will watch recorded MC. Please tell me you made up pea and ham soup ice cream ?

      • There are some vile concoctions. Prawn cocktail icecream – Ewwww. Don’t think I’d go near any of them.

      • Same. House rules is way more enticing!
        And I am only half interested to watch the recorded mc. Thanks Juz for taking one for the team and providing the superb recap. I just can’t get interested in these weird food combos and wanky stories. Nothing about prawn cocktail or even the winning hot chips one sounded like I could get it down without gagging. Conversely I could easily gag when I heard Brookie boy describe Panko crumbs as “beautiful”. Panko! They are just bread crumbs, you plagiarising moron.

        But wonderful news that Chloe will be paraded as a blackened loser. And moreover (joy oh joy), a loser that is not even permitted to speak. We might even be able to watch tomorrow!

        I’m definitely team IM and GE. And anticipating they will do well together.

    • I know, as someone who hates peas it sounds revolting. And it tasted revolting too. She didn’t cook the peas first. I knew that would probably bite her on the arse.

  5. I just googled “savoury ice cream” – got as far as typing savoury and ice cream popped up as a suggestion – or should that be pooped up ?

    Definitely some bizarre flavours out there – none worse than a Japanese offering – Basashi Ice which features raw horse meat …..

    • Sorry she s dragged Brett down with her. When they say two teams excelled Chloe perks up expectantly, waiting to be named😁

    • I think that is two spinach leaves tattooed on Chloe’s right forearm. Or is it kale? She was rock solid about the goat’s cheese, even with the dramatic fanning thrown in ..

      My doctor tells me that apple and cheese is a good combination. Yeah? I’m a cheese addict, says I should substitute a slice of apple for the cheese.

      Most of the combinations “thrown up” tonight made me sick.

      • Slices of apple with bits of cheese on top are surprisingly nice to eat. It’s one way to get an apple down.

  6. And Brett’s ice-cream was liked by the judges. So if we follow past episodes, Chloe will be safe and Brett will be eliminated. She is Teflon.

  7. Is Chloe going for the Pollyanna look: pink bow in hair, voice gone up an octave?
    Never mind, she was bossing Brett around like a leather-clad dominatrix.
    I definitely enjoyed some schadenfreude at her failure.

    Is George trying to be Heston? He’s even dressing exactly like Heston and is calling him ‘Haitch’ (not ‘aitch’), as though they’re bosom buddies.
    Will his next restaurant be called The Fat Greek?

    So we’ve had space dishes for pods and savoury ice creams ..
    Is there any remote chance of normal, skilful cooking?

  8. “… Trent and Heather, who have suddenly appeared again on the sidelines to stare at Heston, unable to touch him because they’re dead to him now.” Priceless Juz! 😂

    Really excited for tomorrow night as GE and IM are in the same team so there will (hopefully) be great cooking and little drama.. but also a bit anxious that they might screw up and go into elimination! If they do, my 3 favourites (+Trent) will battle it out on Thursday and I don’t like the chances..

    As usual I watched tonight’s show with my son (he’s 4!) and being a vegemite lover he reckons he’d love IM + Harry’s vegemite ice cream 😬

    ,

  9. What a load of rubbish tonight’s show was. Four and a half hours to come up with ideas for frozen dishes, prep, and freeze portions for 500 people. Did they have only one waffle iron each team for the cones and one blast chiller? Come on, be realistic, MC.

    Golden child is so bossy and, although it might be due to editing, whoever her partner is seems to kowtow to whatever she says. Hers are the only head shots shown yapping on about the dish. Did Brett become the invisible man as soon as he was paired with her? And again, she goes with her gut and ignores advice, this time from Heston Blumenthal. He couldn’t possibly be more knowledgeable than she, could he. Again, her gut puts her and her partner in elimination. No doubt she will be safe, but I can be hopeful for a few days that she will be gone and we no longer have to look at her smug face, nodding head, and twisting body. I am becoming fixated on my dislike for Chloe and don’t know if I can watch any more episodes which she is in.

    I thought of eating the ice cream inventions of tonight. Nothing appealed, a couple sounded like something I would try, mainly the gazpacho icy pole. Overall, a silly challenge, and I am embarrassed for Heston for being part of this trash.

    I think MC has lost me after this season.

    • I figured Brett just accepted Chloe has a lot more experience with ice cream than him, so let her run with it. It must be hard to disagree with your eam-mate after you’ve been living locked in a house with them for five weeks.

  10. Please stop trying to turn sweet dishes into savoury.

    A couple of seasons ago I was complaining that there wasn’t enough dessert/baking on MC. I repent! This season has been overloaded, and this dessert lover has had enough.

  11. Theresa got a lot of airtime. Is she the new favorite among the producers and judges?
    Chloe goes to elimination 🙂 but I doubt she will be eliminated. 🙁 She should have listened to the judges but Chloe knows best.
    Ice cream combinations: YUCK! I wonder how much of the ice cream was trashed.

  12. I think George is very much in awe of Heston, hanging on to every word and agreeing with him. A bit of brown nosing there. And they all seem to have caught the Marco disease – yes George, yes Gary, and repeating things three times – push, push, push. Sad really. Just wish now that Chloe will be booted out before too long.

  13. Thanks for the great recap Juz.
    Oh my God, how pissed off would I be to line up for ages & then see what flavour ice creams there are. The only one that sounded even slightly palatable was the vegemite one. They all sounded revolting.
    Prawns should NEVER be put in ice cream. I think it would have been a good thing not being able to taste the carrot in that one.
    And fucking beetroot. AGAIN. Another thing that should never be in ice cream, parfait, mousse or any dessert.
    Thank God Chloe is in elimination.
    If I was Trent & Heather I would have had a swim.

  14. Don’t know what’s more vomit inducing…
    1. some of the savoury ice-creams on offer
    2. Chloe going with her gut (AKA her ego)…
    3. Miss Canada thinking she is now super cook.

    As Heston rightly pointed out, you need sugar to make the texture of an icecream as it does inhibit the crytal growth. I guess if the contestants who have made countless parfaits, icecreams this season should know by now is that perhaps using something like dextrose powder may have helped as it’s less sweet than sugar and like sugar would give the texture needed.

    Gutsy with the prawn cocktail icecream, the vegemite was smart…

    Me would have infused popcorn in the cream as the base of my icecream… and either used that for a salted popcorn icecream or a nachos icecream (avocado, tomato and cheese with the infused popcorn cream…).. and maybe a toasted cheese sanger icecream… the lack of seeing the teams actually attempt to infuse flavour into their cream showed the weakness of the contestants of this series… at least no one botching up the tempering of chocolate.

    Hoped someone would do a Kale Cleanse icepop… would’ve given top $ to see the judges sprinting to the loo with the runs.

    Was a great full moon last night!!! Judges got angry when Chloe ignored their advice again and she’s off to elimination. Poor Quagmire…. thought he’d throw her into the icecream machine at one stage… especially when the genius that she is didn’t know how to fix her icecream…

  15. I have just been watching the recording of MC with lots of ff. I was going yuk to this and yuk to that when I suddenly realized I had made my morning juice with carrot, beetroot leaves, pineapple, apple, banana and oats and I nearly forgot, some berries. It was delish and really not much different to some of those concoctions.

    • LOL.
      For me, the stomach-turning part is mixing those ingredients with sweet milk and cream. Curdled milk is one of the things that creates instant nausea – hangover from chucking so much milk with morning sickness.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *