Tonight on FOX Masterchef returns with an all new Wednesday, September 20, Season 8 episode 20 & 21 called, “The Finale, Pt. 1/The Finale, Pt. 2,” and we’ve got your MasterChef recap down below! On tonight’s MasterChef Season 8 episode 20 & 21 as per the FOX synopsis, “After countless mystery box, team and skills challenges, it all comes down to this. The final three home cooks will each prepare a three-course meal with ingredients of their choosing. After evaluating the final dishes, the judges will reveal America’s next MASTERCHEF, who will walk away with a MASTERCHEF trophy and a check for $250,000.”
So make sure to tune in between 8 PM – 10 PM for our MasterChef recap. While you wait for our recap make sure to check out all our Masterchef spoilers, news, videos, pics & more, right here!
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Tonight was MasterChef’s Season Finale. Therefore, the remaining chefs weren’t just competing to stay on in the competition. They now were competing for the Grand Prize. The Grand Prize was a title, a trophy, and the $250,000 cash prize. But there was tough competition for that Grand Prize because each of the home cooks had a skill as well as a weakness. There was one of them that took too much of a risk while another that got too caught up in his own head however each chef had abundance of support there tonight supporting them.
Not only was everyone’s family there in the audience, but some of the eliminated home cooks had also come out to cheer on their personal favorites and there had also been additional surprise of a guest judge. Tonight’s guest judge was someone they all knew and deeply respected – restaurateur Joe Bastianich! Joe was one of the first judges for the show and his opinion has proven more than once to be on point. So Joe was someone that made the home cooks giddy and at the same he sort of made them question what they were going to make.
The chefs had only been given a short amount of time in the pantry. However, they each had to cook at least three dishes – an appetizer, a main dish, and a desert – from their selection and each dish had to be unique. The judges weren’t asking for dishes from a fast food restaurant, they wanted high-end restaurant. So each contestant came up with an idea for an appetizer and had announced it to the judges with all the confidence in the world though backing up said confidence turned out to be a whole other issue.
Jason had said that he could make custard. Which was a little out there except Joe had tasted great custard before and he told Joe not to make a mess out of it or he’d be the first one eliminated. So Jason had said that he got it and he probably wanted to believe that he did have it until there was a problem with his custard. His custard had to be solid and Jason’s custard was just too much like liquid. The judges had come by his station a second time and even they thought that his custard looked like soup.
Joe thought that the moment Jason put the seafood on the “custard” that it would sink to the bottom because it was too soupy. Yet, that’s not what happened. The seafood didn’t sink to the bottom and instead lied neatly on top. So Joe said that while Jason may have gotten lucky, it could just be the top layer that was holding everything together meanwhile the custard was soup on the bottom, but eventually time ran out and it came time to judge. And the first dish that was up was Jason’s Uni Custard with Prawns, Clams, and Miso Vinaigrette.
Jason’s dish looked pleasing to the eye and there was definitely a lot of presentation what with all the colors he used. So Chef Ramsay, who was the first person to taste it, had broken the bad news. He told Jason that the bottom of the dish had broken and that meant that the dish had been a little on the soupy side even if it didn’t take away from the flavor. The judges had all loved the flavors and so they merely found problems with the technical side. The custard wasn’t firm enough and one judge had found fault with everything that had been on top.
All in all, it hadn’t been that bad for Jason. He still got a lot of cred for what he did and he wants to redeem himself which should be good for his main dish. But Eboni’s dish had also been beautiful and the judges like that too despite all finding mistakes. Eboni cooked Pan Seared Scallops with Charred Romanesco, Rainbow Chard, and Pea Puree and unfortunately she hadn’t cooked the scallops fully through. So each judge had a problem with that otherwise it would have been a great dish because they all loved her seasoning and unique take.
Dino was also unique with his dish and that had some doubting him before they had gotten a chance to taste it. He had cooked Squid Ink Capellini with Calamari, Clams, and Cherry Tomatoes and the judges all loved it. They said it all came together so well and so the one minor thing he got called out for was the squid that Chef Ramsay thought he could have cooked a little longer. So, by far, Dino, had gotten the best judgement of the night. He had taken a risk and it had paid off because Joe Bastianich had been willing to offer a job to Dino right then and there.
However, that concluded the appetizer portion. So the next part was main dish and two of the chefs had a lot to make up for. They both had appetizers in which there was something wrong with their main ingredient and so they both tried to stick closer to what they were used to. Eboni had decided to cook duck because that was something she had made at home for her family and so she did her best to elevate that with little touches. She threw in some champagne for flavor and had proved to the judges that she was elevating her dish.
Jason on the other hand had said that he was picking something easy and it turns out it was only easy to him. He was cooking tofu wrapped cod and that seemed extremely difficult to the judges. So Jason was worrying everyone and so was Dino. Dino was cooking lamb belly and if it he didn’t get it just right that would destroy the rest of his dish. And so everyone on the edge of their seat when suddenly Jason had decided to start plating with barely a minute left. He had to cook up the presentation and get everything in order. Except he could have been a tad faster
Jason had managed to finish plating when time was called and, luckily, he didn’t have any doubts when he introduced his dish. He cooked Tofu Skin Wrapped Black Cod with Bay Scallops, Maitake Mushrooms, and Cucumber-Pea Tendril Sauce. Yet, Jason’s dish wasn’t well received by everyone. Three out of four judges loved it and the fact that Jason was willing to take a risk, but Chef Ramsay was the odd man out. He had hated the soup Jason left the cod in and he had also hated all the layers of the tofu. He said it was too much and so he clearly didn’t enjoy the dish.
Next was Dino. Dino cooked Rack of Lamb with Lamb Belly-Sunchoke Caponata and Balsamic Glaze and all anyone wanted to know was if the lamb was cooked perfectly. So Chef Sanchez cut open and it was beautiful shade of pink indicating a perfect medium rare. That’s what he was aiming for and he thankfully did well on that. It was just the other things that needed work. The judges all found it too sweet because they said that it needed more acidity to it and Chef Ramsay had been the most upset because he said that Dino served the lamb with the wrong sort of textures.
Ramsay told Dino that if he had only gone with a puree that his dish would be a lot better. But Dino’s mistake wasn’t a simple one to Ramsay. Especially as Ramsay had expected more from Dino and had been disappointed in the end. So Dino knew he had to come back from that and, in the meantime, it was Eboni’s turn. Eboni had cooked Honey Glazed Duck Breast with Sweet Potato Mash, Collard Greens, and Crispy Heirloom Carrots and her duck had sadly been all over the place.
Some judges had gotten raw duck and others had gotten overcooked duck.
So no one’s duck was perfect even if everything else was. The judges loved the rest of her dish and the flavors so the one problem they had was the duck. Her duck along with everyone’s else mistakes meant no one had had a perfect main dish. There was always a judge that found something wrong with this or that and so each contestant knew they had to prove they were good at what they did by going into Part 3 with an amazing desert. Deserts should be sweet if not too sweet and they should also be different.
The judges didn’t want something they could order easily for themselves. They wanted something that was different yet tasted delicious and was well-cooked. However, Dino decided to go more out of the box than ever before with his desert. Dino was cooking tiramisu and he was adding espresso caviar to it. So everyone was worried about Dino. Dino has been cooking tradition Italian dishes with a modern twist and so that was his thing yet the espresso caviar was something they all couldn’t get over. The judges thought that would ruin dish and so they couldn’t wait to taste it.
Dino’s dish was the first one that was served to the judges and he introduced it as a Pistachio Tiramisu with Orange Mascarpone Cream, Espresso Caviar, and Pistachio Tuile. So the judges tasted it and they found interesting. They thought that it tasted more like carrot cake and had enjoyed with the only fault being its execution. They didn’t think the tiramisu wasn’t executed well and Christina for one didn’t like the espresso caviar. She thought that could have been better executed as well.
Yet, Eboni’s dish was something they were also worried about. She had taken the longest to plate and so she introduced her dish after Dino. She cooked Chocolate Orbit Cake with Macadamia Crumble and Passion Fruit Coulis. So the judges tasted it and they loved it. They thought the cake was delicious for no flour cake and so the one thing they would change about it would be the syrup. Sanchez thought the syrup took away from the cake and so that was the only fault he truly found with it, but he enjoyed the cake and the judges went on to enjoy Jason’s desert as well.
Jason cooked Black Sesame Japonaise with Chocolate Yuzu Mousse and Berry Shiso Coulis and the judges loved this dish that they had never heard of before. So Jason cooked what they wanted and so it all came down to whether that was enough to save in the competition. The judges all loved and were in agreement on at least one dish from each contestant. And so that left the judging part truly difficult because there was no one that had a perfect run of the night.
The contestants all tried out something new and took risks however the judges believed that there was one contestant that stood out amongst the rest and so they named DINO as the next MasterChef Winner!!!
THE END!
