Masterchef 2012 Episode 5 Recap: Michael Chen Has A Cheesey Pie Flop

Last episode of Masterchef 2012 had Samantha de Silva and David Mack heading home.

The Contestants

Stacey Amagrande
Monti Carlo
Michael Chen
Tali Clavijo
Felix Fang
Christine Ha
Mike Hill
Helene Leeds
Scott Little
Josh Marks
David Martinez
Frank Mirando
Tanya Noble
Becky Reams
Anna Rossi
Ryan Umane

The Cooking Challenge

Their first catering challenge was to feed 201 marines. Each marine would eat one tray from each team and then line up in front of their preferred team to determine the winner.

Team Red with David Martinez had the group members of: Becky Reams, Josh Marks, Mike Hill, Helene Leeds, Ryan Umane, Anna Rossi, and Monti Carlo. They went with an all American pork menu. David had some problems leading the group and Becky stepped up to the challenge. Gordon Ramsay caught a mistake just in the nick of time- the pork was raw! The meat went back on the grill but they quickly ran out of everything except their coleslaw. Unfortunately, some undercooked pork did manage to sneak its way out to the marines.

Team Blue with Frank Mirando had the group members of: Felix Fang, Scott Little, Stacey Amagrande, Tali Clavijo, Tanya Noble, Michael Chen, and Christine Ha. They went for a modern Italian menu. Michael started the challenge off on the wrong food by not seasoning the grilled vegetables. He was quickly pulled and replaced by Talli. Frank served the pasta dish and was giving the marines double portions. They briefly ran out but of the pasta but the team had his back and quickly fixed the problem.

When it came to judging, Ryan told Monti to flash the marines to get more votes. She called him out and told him to have some respect. The Red team won by only 16 votes.

The Pressure Test

Frank was allowed to choose any one of his team to be safe. Initially he chose Felix, but she refused. He then chose Scott, who refused also. Stacey accepted and went upstairs. The competitors had to bake the perfect apple pie. This was particularly difficult for Christine as she cannot see the pie as it is baking. Tanya had trouble and the judges said it was her worst dish yet. Michael covered his pie with cheese and it was not appreciated by the judges. Scott messed the dough up twice but his apples were delicious. Christine actually head one of the best pies even though she could not see it.

 

The Results

Michael was asked to head home. He was so young but he should be proud of how great he was on the show.