Last episode of Masterchef 2012 had Michael Chen heading home.
The Contestants
Stacey Amagrande
Monti Carlo
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 Mystery Box Challenge
The mystery box challenge had the secret ingredients of offal: lamb head, cow tongue, testicles, brains, hearts, kidneys, livers and more. While these are cheap cuts of meat, they can be the most delicious if properly prepared. The judges said it was the hardest mystery box in the history of Masterchef. Monti Carlo chose the testicles and Joe asked her why she was butchering them so roughly. Monti answered that she was imagining her ex-husband. Watch out for our interview with her to get the scoop on why she imagines cutting his testicles off.
The top three dishes were Becky Reams, with chicken liver pate and sweetbreads in three tastings. Ryan Umane was also on the top with sweetbreads. Christine was the last top dish with simple deep fried sweetbreads. Ryan was the winner and would receive an advantage in the next round.
The Elimination Test
Ryan’s advantage was threefold: he would choose which food of three options the contestants would work with, he would choose which half got the fresh version, and finally he was safe from elimination. The theme of the elimination test was convenience food vs fresh food. Ryan chose to have the group work with crab, but the other options were tuna or ham. The crab was served either fresh and alive, or canned.
Ryan made sure that his friends had fresh dungeness crab, but this backfired with Tali Clavijo. Tali had an overly complicated dish that the judges could not eat, but he thought it was genius. Another competitor who received fresh crab was Christine. Ryan thought that she would have such a difficult time with it that she would be eliminated. Monti was given canned crab, with Ryan trying to get her eliminated. He was upset with her for being offended when he asked her to “show her nipples.” Honestly I can understand why Monti finds him hard to work with! Monti made a beautiful scotch egg and the judges loved it.
The Results
Christine was named as the top dish. She continues to impress and I think she is just amazing. Helene Leeds was let go for not sticking to her guns.
So are you all on team Ryan or team Monti? I’m Monti all the way!
