[Music] [Music] the best feeling in the world top five this is where the real competition starts welcome guys making top five is such a big deal to me four people away from the title from The cookbook everything you are the top five home Cooks in America today one of you will leave here with a quarter of a million dollars your very own cookbook deal and most importantly the Master Chef trophy we're about to throw you a mystery box curveball tonight we have some VIP guests that will be putting together the mystery box please welcome our
sons [Applause] the boys are cute I'm not going to lie Gordon sun is adorable he's a perfect little carbon copy of Gordon it's crazy I see three JW standing there it looks like I'm drunk we have the judges 45 years ago this is my 11-year-old son Ethan he's vocal and direct just like me and then miles age 13 he's my eldest son this handsome little dude dude is Conrad he's only two and a half but already has an exceptional pallet and deconstructs his hot dogs with finesse and this is my son jack he's 13 single
and an excellent cook and he loves great [Music] food for tonight's Mystery Box challenge we are giving our kids that mystery box and sending them into the pantry to fill it with 15 items of their choosing with those ingredients and your limited staple Pantry box you'll have just 60 Minutes to create us a restaurant quality delicious dish not a dish for our kids you're cooking for us understood whoever wins this challenge will get a huge advantage in the elimination challenge boys your time in the pantry Starts Now off you go this could be very big
trouble a bunch of kids have been given power over us and now they're going to pick stuff they're going to grab the most random things possible I'm we're all screwed I think anyone for a glass of wine yeah how about some ketchup ketchup looks good I'm thinking they're going to be picking everything from chocolate to vegetable so things just don't go together and PE cuz they want to screw us up and see how we handle it how about they make some coffee yeah coffee seems good where is the bacon they're going to have sweet tooth
peanut butter and hazel nuts bread mini pineapples going to be making desserts probably today yes mini marshmallows I think this is pretty good here we go wow white chips chocolate spread M nice ketchup thank you guys uh peanut butter man peanut butter Jack I felt like a coconut you felt like a coconut okay great oh come on marshmallows I mean honestly baby pineapple passion fruit finally wow some bacon oh oh here we go we gone back down again cheese slices seriously maple syrup bananas blueberries fresh strawberries and puff pastry wow wow wow they want it
to be a gourmet restaurant quality dish and how are we going to do that with rainbow marshmallows and little squares of sliced cheese thank you can't wait let me remind you we want a restaurant quality dish tonight we expect you to show us that you can cook a Master Chef caliber dish with anything remember you're not cooking for these guys you're cooking for us your 60 minutes starts now there's a lot of ingredients in there but I mean this is so exciting to see how good they can become with unfamiliar ingredients it's very very tricky
they're out of their comfort zone we're asked them to perform at a very high level so we should see which ones have the skills to manipulate these raw ingredients tonight has to be about desserts what desserts would you make I would do a stunning white chocolate miloy with some caramelized banana I would go on a tropical route maybe even try to do a pineapple Carpaccio garnish it with some of the passion fruit tough one though I'm doing tropical pancakes I'm going to do a coconut I'm going to do a pineapple and I'm going to do
a blueberry and then have it flared with the passion fruit I definitely like to win another mystery box I feel like I got to show everyone here that I'm still on the game and I'm not going anywhere I'm making um banana cake with peanut butter buttercream and a white chocolate sauce my challenge today is taking this cake to the next [Music] level hi Jessy Jack it's a pleasure to meet you what are you making I'm doing little fruit tartlets I've got a vanilla cream over here and then some of the passion fruits and I'm going
to toast some coconut at the end nice what's the chocolate for I'm going to melt that and just do a little drizzle around the plate just to elevate it do you have a boyfriend I do have a boyfriend [Music] cell luuka what are you cooking I'm making pineapple and white chocolate Napoleon I'm going to try to make a little sauce with the passion fruit like the idea yeah yeah where are you from I live in New York we're neighbors right you have any kids I don't have any kids yet but as soon as I win
the show and I'm going to start making kids good luck thank you guys nice meeting you good luck nice meeting you too James how you doing I'm doing good Chef what are you making I am doing uh white chocolate passion fruit turnovers with a coconut whipped cream so you a big fan of making desserts not particularly I don't really care for sweets that much but I'm going for something that's a little outside of my comfort zone right so I'm going with flavors that I don't use a lot like white chocolate pasture fruit cuz I know
acidity and white chocolate go beautiful together yeah true I don't think I'm going to get an advantage unless I pull something out that's unexpected from me Good Luck James thank you chef and thank you mini chef 15 minutes to go guys so how your pancakes scared Natasha they're going okay but are they a restaurant dish I feel as though these will be absolutely who's going home tonight Chrissy don't you like Chrissy no can't stand her why do you guys ever have those people at your school they bullies yeah that would be her good luck thank
you guys I want to see restaurant quality dishes I don't want to have to put any of your dishes in the trash I'm like anyone wants that either I right now the shiny Styles this evening Jesse sounds amazing she's doing like little miniature blueberry napoleons little snacks that's a good idea James decided to go with a passion fruit Blueberry Lemon popover there's good flavors that's classic right it sounds delicious and Luca's Napoleon Luca seems to be confident I think he has a very good idea on the plating and the aesthetic of this dish I'm just
wondering if he can pull together the flavors and manage the sweetness of it Natasha I was excited but I can understand Crepes threeways but not pancake um yeah sounds really weird last 60 seconds start plating please speed speed speed speed the buttercream starts to melt right away and I'm like seriously this is this is not going to work let's go you got one thing on a plate oh no unbelievable 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 and stop hands in the air I want to see restaurant quality dishes in tonight's Mystery Box
challenge yes manyi marshmallows the judge's sons have picked a unique assortment of items which the five remaining contestants must use to cook their restaurant quality dishes 5 4 3 2 1 and stop hands in the air it's time for us now to have a closer look throughout the Mystery Box challenge the judges taste elements of all the home Cooks dishes as they come together they now take one last look to choose the top three standouts and the winner will receive a major advantage in the elimination test I'm actually really proud of my dish it looks
restaurant quality let's just hope it works for the judges okay let's be honest guys it is way past till bedtime say good night to our home Cooks um I'll see you morning bye good night bye guys bye guys thank you gentlemen see you guys you're welcome good night okay there are three dishes that we want to take a much closer look at one of these three Cooks will be coming to the pantry and receiving a huge advantage in the upcoming Elimination Challenge the first dish we want to bring forward visually it had that W Factor
congratulations Luca yes let's go right Luca that looks beautiful what is it it's a white chocolate pineapple Napoleon nice even distribution to the pastry cream looks beautiful thank you I love the filling inside I thought the pineapple was going to destroy slicing through the milfo but you've managed to get it right I'm surprised because you've never been that confident with desserts and on the back of this performance over the last 60 Minutes you should be great job thank really well done did you think about using the passion fruit or no it was way too sour
it didn't go together with anything I love that you are understanding how to edit your food knowing that I'm not going to put passion frood on it's too acidic I'm just going to leave the pineapple and vanilla super smart great job thank you Chef okay the dish looks beautiful it's the best looking dish of the lot thank you it's actually quite good I think the pineapple is delicious with the cream a topnotch excellent dessert thank you well done wow they all like the dessert a lot and maybe it's the day I win my third Mystery
Box the second dish that we would like to examine further this cook used fruit to elevate their dessert and they still haven't won one please step forward Jesse finally so what exactly is it a vanilla cream puff with fruit saluted and brown butter coconut on top and these are all cream puffs so they're all with like a a Chantell the Chantell creams in the middle that one's a sauteed blueberry with some lemon zest and sugar and then the other one is the pineapple passion fruit it's simple yet refined great flavors great use of the really
bizarre mix of crazy things that our kids picked and you did really good proud of you thank you good job the passion fruit gives it that level of fragrance Chantell is perfect nice blend with the past pastry cook beautifully so it's bloody delicious what's starting to happen is that you're getting out of this comfort zone and it seems like you're now prepared to take a risk it's a really good effort good job well done the third dish we want to look at the elements we tasted made us really want to try the entire dish please
step [Music] forward James finally here you go Joe what's the thought process there I'm not a big dessert person but my favorite dessert are turnovers so I just made a white chocolate passion fruit uh turnover with little H blueberry mint puree underneath and a little whip of cinnamon sugar and coconut very Fofo for the big bearded man I know kind of a weird thing for me to [Music] make the flavors are good the cooker is good that's it's light tasty nice use of a tricky mystery box he starting to take risks more kind of have
to just thinking who are the strongest Bakers left on this competition Chrissy and Natasha guess what none of them made it up here well done thank you the flavor is incredible unbel the filling the mint and the blueberry just lifts it up and just sharpens it I didn't think you had that kind of technical ability to nail it so for me it's a welcome surprise it is absolutely delicious I wish everybody standing behind you could taste it good job wow a good dessert I'm shocked you use pre-made puff pastry congratulations I feel really cheated I'm
actually really annoyed because like you know here I am making something from scratch I don't know as a baker I'm kind of offended I tough on this one mhm tough not only that we got three staring dishes winning a mystery box is super important especially at this stage of the competition I need to win this Mystery Box okay three of you three stunning desserts sadly only one of you can join us right now in the pantry and receive your huge Advantage the person who cooked the best Resturant quality dessert this evening to be in the
top five and have never won a miss mysty box that's like the stupidest thing I've ever heard I have to win this one I doubt I'll go any further if I don't [Music] congratulations so three of you three stunning desserts sadly only one of you can join us right now in the pantry and receive your huge Advantage the person who cooked the best restaurant quality dessert this evening congratulations James well done wow great job I never thought I would win a mystery box with baking that's pretty awesome now are you ready to receive that huge
Advantage yes chef let's go good job J bye guys good job what took you so long the winner of the mystery box is now in control of the elimination test James welcome to the Maria fantry James your first Advantage for winning the Mystery Box challenge is that you will not have to cook you are safe from elimination James congratulations welcome to the final four amazing tonight's theme is so important we're about to give you the greatest dishes that Joe cram and myself have ever eaten the first dish it was served to me in Singapore by
one of the best chefs in the world it is waku gin marinated Boton shrimp with sea urchin custard and the finest osetra caviar in the world jeez it's pretty impressive your next choice for me has so many great warm memories associated with it it's a dish that my grandpa Franny made with me when I was about 12 years old we went out crabbing in the ches bay my grandfather's soft shell crab sandwich this has the most uh important connection with myself the next dish was in fact made by a phenomenal elderly toothless lady Mrs G
High we were on a tiny boat on a floating fish market on the meon delta in the middle of a monsoon in Vietnam this bowl of you to my a stunning delicious slow cooked pork noodle soup this James is the greatest dish I've ever eaten please James step up and come and taste all three dishes where to begin so first you need to try waku G I mean the creaminess MH of of the sea ens M with that amazing saltiness of that oeta caviar it's like a roller coaster now you can try [Music] this the
crap between two slices of bread is just incredible incredible James jump in absolutely the broth is M blowing it's like an assault of flavor right away remember James you're not having dinner you're creating a strategy to win this competition oh I am what an amazing treat for your second Advantage you will now get to choose which one of these three dishes everybody out there will have to replicate who's the biggest target I think out of everybody I think Luca is my Prime candidate which dish are you going to give to all four of your fellow
competitors I [Music] choose that's right everybody not only did James gain immunity he also got the chance to make a critical decision in the pantry we gave James the choice of three incredibly meaningful dishes meaningful because they were the greatest dishes that each one of us have ever eaten the dish that James chose that dish [Music] is my dish the most amazing Vietnamese pork noodle broth it's got the most ingredients it's the most complex the broth is insane layering the flavors is going to be insane I don't think anyone's going to replicate this thing before
you head into that pantry I'd like all four of you to come up here and Sample this incredible broth there you go dive in I'm terrified about a Vietnamese soup and we have to recreate those flavor just tast in the dish Chrissy what do you think of the broth I have no idea you know what these flavors are that I'm tasting I'm in big trouble trying the soup you have to use your palette to the extreme to figure out what spices in there if you forget one thing you could be screwed excited yes chef now
you want to go home I I I don't know how to make this just tasted use your brain good figure it out I'm really nervous okay you will all have 5 minutes in the pantry to gather everything you need to replicate this great great dish if you forget anything as always you can't go back make sure it's good because I've been waiting years to relive that memory don't leave me disappointed there 75 minutes starts now in the pain Tre it's really a very tough moment because you need to go through your head remember it the
flavors that you felt in your mouth and make sure that I can put these flavors together so I'm in the pantry and I noticed that everybody kind of has the same things in their basket so I felt like I cheated on a test in I school or something but I have to I got to keep myself alive nice wow good what could be the most fundamental era of home cook is making now in the beginning of this soup where it becomes so spicy you can't identify the sweetness the soundness and those vegetables and if that
spice kills that pork butt you're in Danger The Secret tonight is how they Infuse that stock how you blend those spices that's why you never season this thing at the beginning it's done through moments the minute you ignore it for 15 minutes you've got a completely different profile looking everywhere in my basket and looking all over and I don't have garlic garlic is extremely crucial for this dish I'm pretty much screwed at this moment I know that Luca has garlic looking behind me but we don't care for each other one bit he's my biggest rival
so Dare I ask him Luka can I use some [Music] garlic [Music] um looka can I use some garlic [Music] um thank you very much Natasha asked me for some garlic why should I not give it to Natasha that's not the way I am this not the way I want to win Tasha forgot garlic it' be really hard to ever come back from that she asked Luca and Luca just handed it over to her you may live to regret that [Music] I know how to make soup I've just never dealt with these flavors before so
I'm going to do my best I'm definitely not giving up someone's going home and in a perfect world Natasha would go home while they're down there cooking away I'm already in the top four so my confest level is going through the roof professionally I'd like to see Luca leave cuz he's the best competitor down there personally I'd like to see Natasha leave if I get rid of one of those two today I consider it a victory right Natasha yes chef how you feeling I'm okay that smells nice what have you got in there um I've
got some ginger some stares some cinnamon some cloves that smells delicious get that in two or three pans start reducing that down so you can gain time rather than lose time okay good luck yes chef luuka what's in this pad cinnamon staran black pepper corns I didn't season it yet because I know they're reducing it why don't you put salt in what's the matter with okay I'm putting the salt then you're going to tell me to Salt it I don't want to much salt I want it to be the right amount salt is like a
magnifying glass for flavor okay you're right you gave her the garlic yes what's the matter with you if I go home tonight it's not going to be because I give her the garlic you sure honestly I don't really care what the other people is going to do I just want to do have the best dish over here save myself go up there and relax good luck Luka thank you right how you doing I'm doing my best chef what have you done with the pork I seared it off and um it is in the pressure cooker
do you think you can nail this try my best here when you come across something that you don't like why turn your nose up something so delicious no I didn't turn my nose up I was afraid of it you're good out your comfort zone stop doubting yourself so adapt you'll surprise yourself okay got it come on want some nice Jesse how are you doing hey Chef doing good does this dish scream Social Circle or what not at all this is your broth right here mhm there not very much of it huh I know there's not
very very much why is it so acidic you already have the lime I just squeezed some lime in there right remember lime is it's just like when you're cooking a piece of fish last second just to brighten it up the more it Cooks starts getting bitter gotcha good luck it smells incredible love that pork stock absolutely smells incredible some good dishes out there good dishes out there I mean Natasha is absolutely nailing it two pans on with the broth one that's a natural broth one that's already a fragrant broth and she producing and add in
all the time almost like a risotto every time a little Ladle mhm Jesse being from Georgia none of these flavors are there but she's always on this boat right she's stewarding it and you're going to run the Caribbean you've got all those spices chili cilantro a lot of those herbs that are in there right Chris's taste nice they got that hearty flavor it's got no garnish in there yet it's got no pork in there but she got nice base to it a good A Time cook knows how to make a great chicken stock if you
just take the Asian version of a chicken stock you can turn the soup into something that's good you understand how to extract flavor it's very difficult to judge though because with so many different stock pots the formula that comes together at the last minute when they serve it to us is the one we it's like a potion James from up there who is looking good right now I think out of everybody uh Luca is looking the best [Music] 90 seconds to go come on start assembling that amazing dish taste that broth before it goes in
the bowl guys 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 One Stop hands in the air wow that was a tough dish to replicate okay first up Natasha let's go [Music] please it looks like it's in well proportioned as far as the vegetable noodle pork maybe a little more pork but I like the color that you got on it you seared it mhm all the way around before putting it in yep all the way around the broth is a little sweet for me everything else is great that pork shoulder the braids all the vegetables
everything's in proportion but that broth that should be the star it's it's kind of like a supporting rooll okay but I think that overall everything in here cooked perfectly the flavors are all there good job pork is delicious it's cooked beautifully did you add any of the pork juicies into your broth I added just a couple tablespoons it's slightly missing on that sourness just to sort of balance that sweetness that camelized sort of stock however you got the right balance of the pork to the noodles vegetables stunning it's good it's very good thank you [Music]
it has good depth of flavor but did you did not have any salt on your station no I did why didn't you put any in here I put salt I just didn't put enough the lack of salt makes it taste sweeter than it even is y I applaud the effort the dish is good but is it good enough to keep you in the competition I'm not ready to leave this competition Natasha's dish looks pretty good I think the judges are like on the fence but at this Point everyone is a great cook and right now
there's a good chance she can go home I applaud the effort the dish is good but is it good enough to keep you in the competition I'm not ready to leave this competition thank you Natasha all right next up please Luca [Music] the color is incredible [Music] think that's perfect that's nice sear on the pork everything's in proportion the flavor overall it's got the heat from the chili the under underlying spice that you've toasted off there um and I love the the EUR gracious notes with basil uh kind of going throughout there it's it's amazing
to see how much you are learning and taking that and gaining confidence along the way thank and you're getting into a rhythm and you're starting to temper it and kind of balance and taste and go and you are in the zone this is really good this is a great dish you should be really really proud good job thank you well see this is so close to that amazing salty sweet spicy delicious broth honestly just takes me back to that boat in Vietnam mind blown the smell is incredible I love the energy that you put into
it you are really seriously hit the M great job thank you seriously honestly [Music] next we'd like to try Jesse please this looks like a beautiful soup thank you the broth itself is beautiful right thickness this has depth in Spades it's very complex it's layered it's really good I did taste the soup that Gordon made and in my opinion this is very damn close to that [Music] soup it's delicious yay it's fragrant it's spicy but it's got that crunch cuz the vegetables are raw if there was one thing that I'd like to kick back on
is the sness the lime should been at the end however it's a bloody good effort I just love the way you fight back every time every challenge you're nailing it thank you thank you well done all right next up please Chrissy I don't particularly enjoy Asian food I've never been so intimidated or nervous in my life I really tried and um I think I did all right W you got everything in there chilies cilantro basil lime carrots bamboo I didn't think you were gonna get all in there so not a big fan of Vietnamese food
or just not exposed to it as much I've never been exposed to [Music] it the flavors are all there the negative would be that it's overspiced I wish that it was a little more concentrated in flavor but I think that overall everything in here is cooked perfectly and everything else is equally balanced and it's a very Valiant effort good job [Music] thanks it has a lot of heat I get like a spice on the outside of my tongue on the front pallet immediately but ultimately it's very complex it's layered it has a lot of flavoring
in the broth itself I think it's a good effort I think it's kind of indicative of your trajectory in your journey here yes you're trying are you hitting it at all levels no but this is a pretty impressive effort [Music] thanks you know too many noodles slightly lighter in color less fragrant I would prefer slightly too spicy but the foundation's there so have you ever thought about the biggest problem in your cooking come here it's you break down the barriers but you're so tense about not for me I'm going to stick to my comfort food
in Philly get out of that and open your mind you'll surprise yourself because you can cook that is a good effort thank you mind blown all of you because I'm struggling to find a lot of fault across all these dishes spectacular performance by all four of you but you just made it more difficult for us therefore we need a minute please damn so difficult decision this it's very tough cuz we are all very good I'm just proud of myself that I got close on the dish yeah that's good we all did I we should all
be proud of ourselves please let Natasha go home it's time Natasha's knife skills in vegetables were great and they look professional but she spent too much time being technical right I'm getting a little nervous because they've liked everyone's dishh the smallest little mistake could send someone packing anyone could go home today yeah tough very very tough especially when it gets down to this [Music] FL I thought it was going to be too sour and it wasn't sour it was absolutely on the butt he made a base and then took that Pok stock that was cooking
down and mixed them all up like an alchemist the longer it sits there the better it got it was so close you not a clear worst you tough very very tough especially when it gets down to this four the judges like everyone's dish and I'm kind of looking around and I'm realizing I'm like I have no idea who could go home from this Jesse Chrissy Luca Natasha please come down to the front Jessie Luca please step [Music] forward both you did an amazing job two very delicious dishes that were millimeters off the mark of what
I experience in Vietnam we have to pick a [Music] winner Luca congratulations thank you on the best dish of the night both you congratulations you're in the top four off we go well done you know as much as I don't get along with Chrissy and there's things that I can't stand about her I feel as though deep down in my heart that we just don't deserve to go home Natasha Chrissy again two strong performances that was an extraordinary challenge you both came up with stunning dishes this is where it's very hard for us but we
have to make a very tough decision Natasha you cook like a dream youve wowed us on so many occasions you have the technical ability to cook like a professional chef Chrissy you've been in all the pressure tests yet you fight back if anyone confirms Foods about an emotional Journey you're the one this is one of the most difficult decisions we've ever had to make [Music] Chrissy you're going upstairs you're safe please join the rest I'm sorry Diego guess word [Music] Natasha tonight was an extraordinary Challenge and all four of you put in an amazing performance
it is so difficult and so unfair because you produced a great dish oh Natasha this is just way too close to [Music] call you are joining every else on the balcony because you do not deserve to go home I am sorry the dish was that good and we cannot split the performance that all of you put in tonight it was that close you that good get upstairs and join the rest of them it's been extremely challenging to put aside my family and focus on something other than them but seeing that Master Chef title and being
so close to it has just put everything in perspective of why I'm really here that's all I want to go home with is that title that is the first time in the history of this competition that we can not decide who put out the weakest dish this evening all of you pulled off a virtual Miracle get some rest because the next time you see us if you thought that was pressure we've just gone up to a different level good night [Applause]
