Tonight on FOX MASTERCHEF JUNIOR continues with a new episode called “Whip It.” On tonight’s show the Junior home cooks test their whipped cream in an unusual way. Did you watch last week’s episode? We did and we recapped it right here for you!
On last week’s episode the Top 12 junior home cooks on MASTERCHEF JUNIOR competed in the season’s first mystery box challenge and had to create an impressive and delicious dish using only the mystery ingredients. Later, the judges – hosted and award-winning chef Gordon Ramsay, restaurateur Joe Bastianich and acclaimed chef Graham Elliot – tasked the kids to each create an elevated, restaurant-quality burger in only 60 minutes. At the end of the episode, 10 kids advanced to the next round of competition and move one step closer to being named America’s first-ever MASTERCHEF JUNIOR and win a $100,000 prize.
On tonight’s show the junior contestants manually whip liquid cream and then test the stiffness of their concoctions by holding the bowls of whipped cream over the judges’ heads. Gordon had this to say about the experience, “That’s the first time ever I’ve had a liter of cream poured over my head.” Later, the chefs cook up beef Wellington.
Don’t forget to join us for our live recap tonight at 8:00pm when MasterChef Junior Season One episode 3 airs on Fox. While you wait for the recap, let us know how your enjoying this season of MasterChef.
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The top 10 stream into the MasterChef junior kitchen! Gordon congratulates them on making it to this stage. Gordon recaps how good the top three burger chefs were and Joe sets those three in a mini-competition – Gavin, Alexander and Kaylen – to see which will get an advantage.
Graham says they will have to go head to head to hand whip cream. Joe says the goal is to whip the cream to a consistency such that when the bowl is turned upside down it won’t fall from the bowl – known as stiff peaks. When each one yells “whipped” the judges will test to see how they did.
The three get to work while the other kids scream excitedly. Gavin is making faces and Alexander says his strategy is to go side to side rather than all around. Sarah is screaming “Gavin – whip like a man! Don’t stop whipping!” She’s insane! The judges join in as well.
Alexander is the first to yell whipped. Gordon brings out three step stools and each judges stands in front of one. The kids are told to hold the bowls over their heads! Gavin gets Joe. Graham gets Alexander and Gordon gets Kaylen. The kids bring the bowls around and stand behind the judges. Kaylen knows here isn’t done well enough.
Alexander stands above Graham and turns his bowl over! Nothing falls out! Graham is safe and Alexander triumphs. They all clap for Alexander. Gavin is next and he holds the bowl over Joe’s head. A thick glop plops down on Joe’s head. Graham and Gordon are laughing hard. Sofia says he looks like Freddy Krueger meets the Michelin man!
Kaylen flips her bowl and it’s like milk! It covers Gordon and he accidentally drops a curse word they have to bleep. He corrects himself quickly and says “sugar.” Alexander drops how bowl onto Graham’s head for fun and he dances a jig. A full-on whipped cream battle breaks out between the three kids and judges.
Joe tries to act serious despite the head full of cream and tells Alexander he’ll get a huge advantage – after the judges clean up! After the judges tidy up, Gordon announces tonight will be their first team challenge. The kids will be in teams of two and the worst team will be sent home!
As winner, Alexander gets to pick his partner. He picks Troy because he says he’s the most feared. Alexander also gets to pick all the other teams as well!
He pairs Roen and Jewels even though Roen wanted Dara because he likes her plating skills. Next he picks Dara and says she’s a big competitor and pairs her with Sarah, one of the youngest. Dara says that Alexander focusing on her will make her work harder. He pairs Jack with Kaylen. Sofia and Gavin are the final team.
Graham tells the kids they are going to be doing a tag team challenge. Jack says he watches wrestling a lot so he has an edge. Joe tells them they’re cooking something not so tough – but then he shocks them when he says it’s Gordon’s signature dish – Beef Wellington!
Gordon tells them it’s a very technical dish that’s hard to master. He also wants mashed potatoes and broccolini. He brings the kids up and lets them taste all the dishes and answers their questions about seasoning and the mustard braise. Everything they need is on their stations – no pantry trip needed. They get 65 minutes to work tag team magic.
The judges watch and marvel at how much of a good start the kids are off to and how well they are communicating. Gordon says that having two people cooking the wellington actually makes it harder than just one person doing it.
Alexander and Troy are debating over when to brush the meat with mustard and can’t agree. Alexander is having regrets about choosing Troy – it seems like he has the timing off on that key ingredient!
Alexander says Troy confused him about when the mustard went on the steak but he went with what Troy said. Graham asks who’s in charge on Roen’s team. He says they’re switching off. Graham says they’re not talking that much.
Countdown to the first swap. The kids swap over. Kaylen and Jack are talking a lot and he lets the potatoes boil over. He dashes off for a moment. Dara is begging Sarah to talk to her and help her. Sarah tells her which way to roll it and Dara ignores her. Sarah thinks she’s a fool for not listening because she’s got skills.
Gordon comes and tells Alexander and Troy they’ve screwed up the mustard. He tells them to get it together and Alexander runs off to try and salvage it to avoid being sent home. Kaylen encourages Jack and tells him he’s doing a good job. Roen is feeling good as well.
Countdown to another switch. Jack is all over Kaylen keeping a close eye on her. Joe comes over and Jack gives him a summary of what they’ve got going on and it sounds good. He’s telling her quick, quick, quick and she’s on it.
Gordon tells Sofia to taste the mash and it’s lumpy with no salt. She is going to season it and he tells her to make it again from scratch since it’s bad.
Countdown to the final switch. Gordon says he’s seeing a lot of lumpy potatoes because the kids are hyperfocused on the wellington. Sarah pulls their wellington out of the oven and drops it when it burns her! It stayed on the pan – yeah!! She adds salt and it looks good. They are on the final switch.
Dara is upset because the Wellington crust is crumbling when she inserts the meat thermometer. Sarah tells her the plating needs finesse and Dara snaps and asks her if she even knows what that means. She snaps back that she does. Sarah begs Dara not to add drippings because they’re supposed to replicate Gordon’s plate but she does it anyway!
On to the tasting! They start with Alexander and Troy. Gordon tells them it looks stunning. Gordon asks what he’ll see when he cuts it and Troy summarizes. Gordon cuts it and Alexader whispers “perfect.” He tastes and says it’s perfect and that he could serve it at the Savoy Grill. He high fives the boys and congratulates them. Graham tastes and says he can’t find fault. He says it’s almost a complete grand slam. Troy says he knows they’re staying and that they set the bar.
Joe calls down Sarah and Dara. Dara admits they struggled. Joe says it looks beautiful. Joe says the crust is nice and he cuts in and it looks perfect. He says it’s a tie with the first team’s result. Sarah admits she dropped it and Joe says he doesn’t tell people things like that – he cites the five second rule and Sarah asks if he knows he’s being filmed. He compliments their broccolini, potatoes and sauce. He uses a word they don’t know and Dara asks about it and Graham says he’s just trying to sound smart.
Gordon compliments them and says although Alexander and Troy raise the bar, they jumped it! He tells them that he knows pro chefs that can’t cook a wellington as good as the 9 and 12 year old did.
Jack and Kaylen are next up. Graham says it looks beautiful. He asks them if they’re worried about anything and Jack says he’s worried the bread at the bottom may be soggy. He cuts and Graham says he’s right – some of the bottom puff pastry is a little gummy. He tells them the broccolini is overcooked but the flavor on the wellington is good. Gordon says he doesn’t see enough mushrooms. He says the beef is slightly overcooked but there are some technical flaws. He thanks them. Jack says he’s nervous.
Sofia and Gavin bring their dish down. Graham tells them it looks good. He cuts in and they smile. He tells them it looks like an A or B+ effort. He tastes it and says it’s incredibly good. He says the puff pastry is a little thick. Gavin admits he rolled it out and Graham says next time to roll it thinner. Gordon compliments the cook on the beef but says the pastry is a small flaw.
Roen and Jewels are called down next. He asks who wrapped the beef and says it looks large. He also thinks there’s not enough mash. He cuts in and it’s bright pink. He asks about the seasoning on the beef – Jewels did it. He says it’s very interesting. He hands her a bite to taste. He tells her it’s so salty that after a bite you don’t want another you want a glass of water. He tells them it’s a shame. Guess we know who’s going home…
Gordon says the prosciutto provides enough seasoning so that you don’t have to be heavy handed with the salt on the beef. Joe says he tastes raw mustard which makes it even saltier. He says the cook is good and mash and broccilini were excellent.
Gordon tells the kids that it’s going to be a tough decision for him. Roen is in tears and Jewels tells him it’s going to be okay. Jack is also freaking out. The judges have a quick chat and come back out with the bad news.
Graham calls all the kids down to the front. He says they were impressed by all the kids. Joe says there were three teams that are definitely safe because they did a better job – Alexande and Troy, Gavin and Sofia, Sarah and Dara.
That leaves Jack and Kaylen and the Jewels and Roen team on the chopping block. Gordon says the team that is safe and will move on to the top eight is… Jack and Kaylen. That means Roen and Jewels are going home. Poor Roen – Jewels salt error cost him his shot at the trophy. The poor guy is crying. Gordon call those two down.
He hugs them and tells them well done. Joe shakes their hands and Graham hugs them too. Gordon tells them to keep their MasterChef aprons and he hopes to see them on grown up MasterChef later. Jewels says she’ll keep cooking and Roen says he’ll hang his apron proudly up in his room and that we haven’t seen the last of him.
THE END!
