ANNOUNCER: Previously on MasterChef Australia... ..the toughest week ever saw Chloe say goodbye. I'm really proud of how far I've come. But for the seven left, the announcement they'd been waiting for. You're going to San Francisco! And for Trent and Elise, an even greater surprise. You'll be flying business class. Tonight, California here they come. Welcome to San Francisco. It's a week they'll never forget. Starting in front of an excited Californian crowd, the top seven will use the most amazing local ingredients... (CHEERING) We've got to bring the A-game today. ..to produce simply sensational food. That's delicious cooking. This is what we're talking about! And one contestant will be rewarded with a massive opportunity. A game-changing advantage. I mean, who doesn't want a shot at that? The grand prize for the winner of the country's biggest cooking competition - a monthly column in Australia's leading premium food magazine Delicious, $250,000 to kick-start their food dream and the title of Australia's next MasterChef. # Burning up # in my heart # like a flame, # like the brightest shooting star. # In our souls, # we all know # our dreams make us who we are. # Burning up # in my heart # like a flame, # like the brightest shooting star. # Able 2017 Good morning. Hi, how are you? Hi, how are you? Where are travelling to today? San Francisco! San Francisco, OK. So, you're travelling in business class today. Oh, wow. (LAUGHS) Trent and I won the challenge a few days ago and the prize was business class tickets to San Francisco with Qantas. The Qantas lounge is so lush. We've been working so hard in this competition and to be able to kick back in business class is a massive advantage. It's such a privilege to have this whole experience. TRENT: I can't even believe I made it to the top seven, let alone flying business class to San Francisco. I'm going to lap it up and just enjoy every moment. San Fran, here we come! HARRY: It's so strange to be here in California because, growing up, you see it in the movies and you see it on TV, but to see it in real life, in front of your eyes... ..it's just so surreal. ELISE: Is that Alcatraz over there? Far out! It's amazing. MATT SINCLAIR: It's an absolutely mint day and such an introduction to this trip. Come on! Let's go! Hurry, hurry! (LAUGHTER) Look at this! This is spectacular. Welcome to California and welcome to San Francisco. And I know, like us, you can't keep your eyes off it, but the Golden Gate Bridge and behind it, San Francisco. ELENA: This is incredible. We are just surrounded by the most beautiful views. It's a pretty iconic and special place to be. California is one of our favourite foodie places on the planet and San Francisco is just the start. We have got a spectacular week of challenges ahead. We go to Napa, we go to Los Angeles, we go to San Diego. (GROUP MURMURS EXCITEDLY) So, if that doesn't excite you, I don't know what will. Far out. And we have to tell you that one of those challenges is very, very special indeed. Win it and you go straight into finals week. Oh. Imagine how that would be. That's what we're all here for, to get into finals week. That's huge to me. San Francisco isn't just about these amazing landmarks. This is one of the great places in the world to eat - not just for the street food, not just for the fine-dining restaurants. This was the birthplace of the concept of farm-to-table dining, something that underpins the way we eat in Australia. We're really at one of the great nexuses of food. You are going to love your time in this city. So, how is today going to work? We're going to kick off the week with a mystery box AND an invention test. But not any old mystery box, yeah? Today, you guys get to pick the ingredients that go in that mystery box. You're going to go out there, discover San Francisco and buy one ingredient each to go into that box, but enough for all of you to cook with. To go shopping in a city like San Francisco, choose one of the best ingredients you can find and make a dish out of that, I mean, that's just every foodie's team. Winner gets a serious advantage going into that invention test, like always, but everything you do from now on must be spectacular, must be detailed, must be delicious, it must be as amazing as that incredible bridge. Right, you guys ready? Yeah. You pumped? Yes! You excited? Yes, George! What are you waiting for? Get out of here! Go, Elise! Go, Elise! (LAUGHTER) BRETT: Elena, Harry and I decide to peel off from the other group. I know there's some good shops down on Haight and Ashbury, so we're going to go and check them out down there. HARRY: When I think of San Francisco, the first thing that comes to my mind is seafood. Must be this one here. Sweet. I'm going to catch up with you. OK. See you soon. We come across the Swan Oyster Depot. There is an incredible array of seafood. There's all this crab, there's prawns, there's shrimp, there's sea urchins, there's 10 million different types of fish. MAN: Help you fellas? We're after some seafood. What can you recommend? I'd recommend everything. OK. Beautiful. You want to try some oysters? Yeah. I'd love to try some crab as well, if that's alright? Yeah, no problem! Nice fresh Dungeness crab. Season's just started. Wow. Started late this year. You got your crab cocktail. Oh, awesome. Your cocktail sauce. Thanks very much. It was just so fresh and it was so moist and succulent. Had Dungeness crab before? No! It's good, huh? Oh, my gosh! It was incredible. And that's fresh, local calamari. Oh, my God. It's come out of Monterey Bay. That recipe is my nonna's recipe. It's over 1,000 years old? Really? OK. You want me to do a few oysters and clams for you? Yeah! Yeah, sure. I think you better. I'm absolutely spoilt for choice here. I could use anything, but I think I know what I want to pick for the mystery box. They're beautiful. So colourful. How good do they look? San Fran is all about paddock to plate. The Ferry Building Farmer's Market is where all the local producers come to sell their fresh organic produce direct to the restaurants, ready to plate up that night. Hi. MAN: How you doing? So, all this stuff's grown locally? Yeah. The farm's located in the Central Valley here in California. It's been in my wife's family for four generations now. Yeah, OK. Nice. Yeah. It's really inspiring talking to Fran and Ted. The fruit that they've got at their stall, you can tell that it has come fresh, straight from the tree. This is definitely the store for me. I'm going to pick one of these citrus fruits that's really versatile and, yeah, I'm happy with these guys. Hi. How are you? Good. How are you? Very well. These are amazing! Golden beets. It's one of our favourites. I'm a huge fan of beets because it's almost like you're getting two vegetables in one. Yeah. I'm going to choose a vegetable. I want something that everyone knows how to cook with and has multiple uses. Wow. Sick. Mimi and I are walking down Valencia in the Mission District and I can see a small-batch chocolate shop. So, this chocolate doesn't taste like normal chocolate. It actually can have more flavour and nuances than wine or coffee. We also have a 100% chocolate, which is actually just ground-up beans. I don't think anyone would really suspect me to take chocolate, but I think I'm going to go with the 100% Ecuadorian chocolate. I've never tasted anything like it. It's bitter and it's so rich. I think it's a great ingredient. 100% chocolate is a bit thicker and harder to work with. Yeah. It's a little more challenging. I think going in with an idea in mind to harness that bitterness, it could be really interesting to use the chocolate in a savoury way. Thanks very much. Thanks very much. Appreciate it. Nice to meet you. Walking down the street, I pop into the Fatted Calf, the most incredible charcuterie. It's just got the most beautiful, dry-ageing meat. Everything on display is just gorgeous. This is the lamb bacon. It's the belly of the lamb seasoned with Chinese five spice. That's...quite amazing. Behind me, I've got a beautiful variety of things I've never seen before. Had a quick look at this guy. The fennel pollen, yeah. It makes an excellent seasoning. I could definitely see a use for it, for sweet or savoury. Yeah. I don't know if want to go with something that's exciting or something that's diverse, that plays to whatever the other ingredients are in there. Hey, guys. We're heading down to Fishermen's Wharf and... Oh, there's the boys. ..as we approach, we can see Golden Gate Bridge behind and a MasterChef kitchen set up right in the middle of the street! (LAUGHS) Come on, guys. This is gonna be interesting. Thank you very much indeed. ELENA: We're gonna cooking in the most incredible location today. It's gonna be hard not to be inspired. Lovely. Look at that! Wow! That is, I reckon, one of the best mystery boxes we've had on the show, so...fantastic. Ready? ALL: Yes. Yeah, OK, let's go. One, two, three... Ooh! Wow! Awesome! Wow. GARY: Cracking. Absolutely cracking. GEORGE: Oh, my gosh, guys. There's so many great combinations here. I mean, have a look at these beautiful short ribs. Who's this? Me. Mimi, incredible stuff. Fennel pollen. Elena, why fennel pollen? I could see savoury and sweet dishes. It just excited me. This beautiful fennel goat's cheese. Brett! (LAUGHTER) Wow! Dungeness crab. Gorgeous stuff. Who was that? Harry. Might have known. What a surprise, eh? 100% Ecuadorian chocolate. Matt, you are nuts. Whoa! This is serious stuff, isn't it? Hardcore. This is hardcore. Tangelos. Yeah. Trent! Elise, lucky last. Golden beets. Yes. You're looking at the whole thing. Look at those leaves on there. Cracking stuff, guys. Well done. We're really proud of you. That's good shopping. Right, off to your benches. MATT SINCLAIR: I think we've all realised, when you get to this stage of the competition, every cook is game day. There's no leeway for a lacklustre cook now. You have 60 minutes to cook us one delicious dish. You've got all the regular staples under your bench and we'll be tasting everybody's dishes. Remember - the winner gets a huge advantage in the next round, and you want this one. Good luck, everybody. Your 60 minutes starts now. Aagh! Eeeeee! So excited for them. Yeah. I mean, this is just phenomenal. I'm actually surprised that Matt picked a really bitter chocolate, especially 100%, 'cause I'm thinking, "What's he got in his head? What's he going to cook?" I want to remind myself how hardcore 100% is. Totally, totally bitter. So good. But it's super savoury. Oh, yeah. SUPER savoury. MATT SINCLAIR: The San Francisco food scene, they're definitely well known for their street-style food. If there's any place in the world to be producing my style of food - food trucks, street food - this is it. Today I want to cook the Korean short ribs with a fennel pollen salt, finished with just a little shaving of the dark chocolate, some roasted beets and a tangelo and beetroot relish. I've decided to make some flatbreads. That's going to be the base of what I serve this with - pick it up with your hands and dig in. Out of the mystery box I'm going to use the tangelos, which I've chosen. I think the chocolate and tangelo will go really well together as a dessert. I'm going to do a smoked chocolate mousse and a tangelo granita and a couple of other little elements as well. The first thing I need to get onto is my chocolate mousse. The smoked chocolate mousse is something I've been wanting to try for a while. I think chocolate really lends itself to savoury as well as sweet, so to have the smoky flavour through it I think will go really well. I've got my cream smoking for the chocolate mousse and then I melt my chocolate over a double boiler. I'mg going to have to use all of the chocolate just to give myself enough. I'm really struggling melting this chocolate. It's really thick. Being 100% chocolate, it doesn't sort of react the same as the chocolate I've used before. It's just really not looking right. Definitely super-worried at this stage. Trent. Hi. Trent's using the chocolate! OK, so, what are you doing? I'm doing a smoked chocolate mousse with it. It's just...struggling a bit. It's not reacting the same as... Yeah, 'cause it's 100%. No, absolutely. Yeah. Well, there's nothing else in it. Just think about this for a minute. 'Cause you've only got a limited amount. Every bit of chocolate I have is in this bowl. The mixture is like concrete. 100% chocolate is very, very different. Yep. The smoked chocolate mousse is crucial to my dish. If I don't get this right, I'm going to have nothing. f I'm trying to make this smoked chocolate mousse, but the 100% chocolate has made it way too thick. I'm really feeling the pressure right now. If I don't get that mousse to work out, it's going to let the whole dish down. I need to add something to the mixture to get the balance right. I don't want to dilute the flavour too much, but I have to get the texture nice and light. I fold the smoked cream through the chocolate and it's spot-on. I'm really liking the textures and it's really rich and deep flavour as well. I get it into a piping bag and into the fridge to set. My mousse is finished, so I can get started on my tangelo granita. Does life get any better than this? 30 minutes down, 30 minutes to go. You're cooking in San Francisco, baby! (CHEERING) No! Aagh! I don't like cooking outside. Today, I'm going to do a chocolate brownie with a golden beet and tangelo sorbet. The first thing I get onto is my sorbet. I peel my golden beets, I place them into a juicer, then I juice some tangelos and combine that together. I then incorporate sugar syrup before putting it into the ice-cream churner. I now need to move on to my chocolate brownie, using some of that beautiful 100% chocolate. Oh, that's really... MIMI: Today, I'm going to cook grilled short ribs, beetroot and a fennel cracker. I've chosen Korean-style short ribs from Olivier's Butchery. I think the marbling looks incredible, so I know they're going to be really nice and juicy. I need to make sure that that's spot-on today. HARRY: I absolutely love seafood, so I'm totally in my element. Today, I'm making the perfect twist on an eggs Benedict - do a crab Benedict. This crab is cooked absolutely perfectly. I'm so happy with it. (CHEERING) Elena, lots of running around. What are you using? What are you doing? I'm using the crab, the beets and the tangelo, so it's a crab and beetroot salad but beetroot a few different ways. Yeah, OK. I think the flavours go really well, all that. Yeah, I'm quite excited about them. That's so important for you, that. Yeah, absolutely. Getting that right, cooking it beautifully so you can pick that meat out and have a beautiful plate of delicious crab. I can't wait to use Dungeness crab. It's so Cali and so San Fran. The crab needs to cook for about 15 minutes, so I can move on to the beetroot for the puree. I simmer the beetroot with milk, water and that fennel pollen. I think that fennel pollen is going to be a really beautiful match with those golden beets. BRETT: Today, I'm making a fennel pollen ravioli. It'll be stuffed with goat's cheese and tangelo zest. The crab meat will be on top. Finals week's next week, so you've got to bring your A-game today. The cheese that I chose really is fantastic. MAN: I want to show you the Purple Haze, which is made just north of here, about 30 miles, up by Petaluma. It's got this really powerful fennel flavour, which I'm a big fan of. I've tasted nothing like this cheese before. I think it's amazing. But it's also quite strong. Strong goat's cheese, delicate crab. So, it's all about balance for me today. (CHEERING) Oh, yes! Yeah! Alright! In a place like San Francisco, the home of food trucks, I've taken it back to street food. The food truck that I've been planning is based on the theory - "Who says good food needs a knife and fork?" Next up, I want to do a tangelo and beetroot relish that's going to be sweet, sticky, sour and it's going to make this dish stand out. ELISE: I've churned my sorbet and it's in the freezer. Now I need to get on to my chocolate brownie. The chocolate's, um... yeah, really, um... ..really dark and really rich. I've made brownies a fair few times before, but I've never worked with 100% before in this recipe. I'm kind of just doing the process that I usually do, but with different chocolate. I'm just hoping that it works. I put my brownie mixture into the silicone moulds. Aagh! That's going to help it cook a whole lot faster. We want you to be warriors, we wanted to be giants! You've got 15 minutes to go! ELISE: Oh! 15! Are you serious? (CHEERING) TRENT: I'm definitely under the pump, but I'm feeling confident. I've got a couple of the elements out of the way and I feel like I'll be able to get everything done. As well as the mousse and the granita, I'm going to make a fennel pollen crumb. That's pretty much just butter, flour, sugar and some of that fennel pollen. ELENA: My crab salad is coming along nicely. The crab is cooked perfectly. I am trying to get as much of that beautiful crab meat out of the shell as possible, 'cause I want those big chunks, I want that generosity. The next thing that I'm doing is preparing beetroot leaves that I'm going to cut into thin strips. The idea is to combine them with the crab, put the puree on the bottom, stack the salad on top of there. I also want to have some beautiful little beetroot discs on top, so I want the flavours of the beets and the crab to be there on different levels. MATT SINCLAIR: Everything's looking good. Now I need to work on the short ribs. Korean short ribs are a really quick cook. I want to make sure that griddle is searing hot, season them with the fennel pollen salt, down on one side, get a really, really dark caramelisation... ..flip it, same again, let them rest. They're looking good, so I get a little microplane and some of the 100% chocolate and I just grate that over the top, just to enhance the flavour and balance out that saltiness. I think salt and chocolate is an incredible combination. Aw! I'm stoked with the flavours. It's definitely my style of food and I just hope that the judges can see that. Final week beckons! Five minutes to go! Five minutes! (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) ELISE: I've had my brownies in the oven for about 12 minutes. I open the oven and... ..it's absolutely terrible. Far out. It looks chocolatey, but... Aagh! ..it doesn't have a chocolatey flavour. I've got to scrap it. I can't use it. I don't have a back-up plan. My mind is just blank. I'm on the verge of crying. I definitely blew it. Definitely blew it. d f My brownie's absolutely terrible and I don't have a back-up plan. (SIGHS) My... It looks like absolute crap. I feel disheartened. I...I lose it. You put so much of your life into this and you put your life on hold and to do so terribly, it's...yeah, you just...you kick yourself. You alright? Yeah, yeah. What's wrong? Just had a crap cook. Why? I don't know. I've just felt, like, discombobulated. I don't know. Don't get overwhelmed. Yep. Refocus now. It's been a long trip here. Yep. You know, the pressure, everything. It's building now. Finals week's... You can see it. So, now's the time where you need to take everything that you've learnt so far and how you've grown, just think about that. Yeah? Yep. Keep going. I can't give up. That's not what this whole competition is about. You're going to have bad days, but you've got to focus and you've got to power on. I've got a sorbet that I'm happy with. I've just got to build a dish around that. So, I'm thinking, what else can I add to this? I'm going to make a fennel pollen citrus crumb. I'm also gonna use some sugar syrup to candy some of the golden beets just to have that positioned all around my plate. I'm just gonna serve the judges a crumb, some candied beets and a sorbet. These are always the time calls you never want to hear. Three minutes to go. (CHEERING) The crab's done. It's beautifully cooked. It's just cooling down. But I'm starting to think how strong the cheese is with the crab, and I'm really worried about balance. But I'm really running out of time now. I've got to make these raviolis. I've got all my elements ready for the crab and beetroot salad, so I can start plating up. I want to use a circular mould. I put the puree on the bottom, stack the salad on top of there, lay out the tangelo so that every mouthful, they're going to get a little bit of everything. I overlap the beet rings on top. I'm pleased with that beautiful, rich colour. It sings on the white plate. I'm really happy with the mousse and the crumb, but I feel like the dish needs another element on the plate, so I decide I've got enough time to make a sponge. Right, guys, two minutes to go! Two more minutes. Come on! (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) All my elements are ready. I've got my charred beet leaves, ribs, the roasted beets and the sweet-and-sour relish, When I approach this plate-up, I don't know how beautiful I can make flatbreads look, but, you know, I just put a nice generous smear of the goat's cheese, follow that with the charred beet leaves, some of the roasted beets, grilled beef rib on top and finish it with a big dollop of beetroot and tangelo relish. It's street food, so it's not a really pretty dish. I don't know if that's going to be enough today, but I've got to believe in it. I need to get this sponge finished, ready to plate up. It's just a really quick microwave sponge, so I combine all the ingredients and then into the microwave for 45 seconds. It's a little bit more dense than I would have liked. It's not quite as light and airy as I'd hoped for. But I'm gonna use it anyway. I feel like the dish needs another texture and needs that element there. Right, guys! Two minutes to go. Two more minutes. Come on! Crumb's at least working. I've got enough of the fennel flavour through there and the zest from the tangelo. I'm feeling a little bit better about myself. I've got my candied beets done, my sorbet's done. I can definitely do it. And I'm going to make it look absolutely beautiful on the plate. GEORGE: 30 seconds! Come on! (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) I lay a little bit of that beautiful crab-claw meat on the side so the diner knows what to expect. This is it, the end of your first challenge in California. Ten seconds! ALL: Nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one... That's it. Your time is up. (APPLAUSE) Cooking has taken us to the other side of the world. It's incredible. This is definitely the craziest part of this competition so far. I think we've all realised it's just kicked everything up another gear. What an absolutely fabulous cook down on the edge of the bay. You know, your first little look at San Francisco. Let's hope that those ideas you had came to fruition. First up, Elena. I'm quite happy with the flavours that I've put forward, and my dish does celebrate California nicely. So, what was the dish? It's a crab and beet salad. If we didn't know who cooked this, we'd know straightaway that it's Elena's, you know? It's you. Multiple layers. The flesh of that crab is just popping out. The fennel pollen. Good. I think you very cleverly, as well, you've matched that puree with Matt's jacket. It's very clean, it's very fresh, and to be honest, the crab's singing. As we're tasting it, I'm hearing the water, and it's just... it's really beautiful. It's a beautiful feeling. I've got no criticism. I love it. Thanks, George. It's a golden beet dish for a Golden Gate city. I love it. I'm just so thrilled that they loved my food today. I'm definitely thinking that winning the advantage is an actual possibility. Next up, Elise. ELISE: I'm looking down at the dish. It's truly beautiful. But I'm really disappointed my brownie didn't work because it would have just tied the whole dish together. Elise, what have you cooked? I cooked a golden beet and tangelo sorbet with a fennel and citrus crumb. If we didn't know the trouble that you went through in the kitchen, we're looking at that and going, "Great!" You know, it's golden, there's texture there. It's OK. Yeah. Thanks, guys. Is it a disaster? No, it isn't, actually. The idea of that sorbet, golden beetroot and tangelo, in itself is a great idea, and I think it delivers in terms of flavour. It's very, very good. (EXHALES) Dust it all off and just get it together, yeah? Get it together 'cause take a deep breath and have a look around. I mean, this is wonderful. Yeah? And you deserve it. Yeah? You earnt your right here. Now show everyone here in America how good you are. You hear me? Yes, George. Come on, Elise. Thank you. I can get over this. I know I have it in me. I know that I've just got to bring my A-game to this invention test. Trent. TRENT: Really, at this point in the competition, you have to nail every single element on the plate. If you have any mistakes, you're not gonna be in with a chance of winning that advantage. Ooh-hoo. What's the dish? So I've got a smoky chocolate mousse, tangelo granita and sponge, fennel pollen crumb and just a bit of whipped goat's cheese. It looks pretty darn good. I love that smoked mousse. I think it's delicious. Yum. Especially with that chocolate, which is so savoury. It's not a sweet mousse and you allow the zest to bring the sweetness, which is fantastic. The problem about the sponge... ..it's kind of bleurgh. For me, without the sponge, that is a dish that would win you the advantage going forward in the invention test. With the sponge, I don't know. You know what I'm concerned about for you? You haven't found your identity yet in this competition. Decide what you want to put on the plate, be bold, make that decision, go with it. Make it Trent-style. It needs to be you. Yep. Yeah? Yeah. No worries. Thank you, guys. You can do it, yeah? Yep, thanks. I'm really gonna take Gary's comments on board and really concentrate on cooking a dish that is me in the invention test. Next up, Mimi. MIMI: I've cooked grilled beef, fennel pollen crackers and roasted beetroots. I think it's tasty. I love the smoky element to the dish. That and these beetroot tops have got this lovely, bitter acidity. Thank you. Next up, Brett. What have you got? Goat's cheese ravioli with a burnt butter sauce with crabmeat. I like the look of it. The ravioli are plump. That looks like a generous, elegant restaurant dish. That goat's cheese with those little chunks of the beetroot - delicious. But totally dominates that crab. Yeah. Next up, Harry! So, I've made a crab eggs Benedict. Can I say, I think it looks fantastic. I think that's an absolutely brilliant idea. I'm so pleased. The crab is beautifully cooked. It's clever, it's fun, a little funky, great. Next up, Matt. Taking my dish up to the judges, I'm definitely a little bit concerned. It's not the refined level that everyone else has been putting up. I've produced street food. I don't know if that's gonna be enough today. You're retired, so these days, everybody travels to you. Maybe you only do school runs. You work from home, so drive mostly on the weekend. At Youi, we tailor your insurance premium to how you use or don't use your car. It could save you lots. Call: d (APPLAUSE) Thank you. Matt, what have you cooked? Uh, I did the grilled beef ribs with a fennel pollen salt and a little bit of the grated chocolate, with a beetroot and tangelo relish and some goat's cheese. Good. How beautiful does that look? Look at the colour on that. That is just spectacular. Yeah, really sensational. I'm loving that. Loving it! It's just a great way to celebrate those beautiful ribs. You get that hit of pollen, soft bread, charred leaves. When I took the first bite, the hairs on the back of my head just went, "Ping!" And I went, "Thumbs up. Yum. Well done." Wow. Who wants? Oh, no. Who wants? Ma'am. One for you? Oh, jeez. You're gonna have to judge it now. Alright. Thanks, Matt! That's alright. (LAUGHS) I've got one thing to say to you - this dish is Californi-yippee-ai-ay tasty tucker! It's got everything you want in the sort of stuff you get from a food truck. You smashed it. Well done. We're enjoying it. Are you guys enjoying it? Is it good? MAN: Nice job, Matt. Thank you. Well done, Matt. (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) To produce the style of food that I want to be doing after this competition, and to get a reaction like that from the judges, it's phenomenal. Today, there was one dish I think that all three of us felt was worthy of us hopping on a plane and flying across the Pacific. The person who wins today's challenge... ..is Matt. Well done, Matt. You win the advantage in today's invention test. Ready to see what you'll be cooking with? Yep. Take a look behind you. Oh! Vegetables from Eatwell Farm and Heirloom Organics. Olive oil from Bariani Olives. Beef from Stemple Creek Ranch. It's amazing seeing these farmers carrying in their fresh produce. They're still wearing their work clothes and you just can kind of connect with them, and really relate to who they are and where this produce comes from. Fish from H&H Fresh Fish. Apples from Hidden Star Orchards. Eggs from Taramasso Ranch. Walnuts from Old Dog Ranch. Dried spices from Happy Quail Farm. Mushrooms from Gourmet Mushrooms. Cheese from Toluma Farm. And citrus from Pleasant Valley Ranch. Far out. This is the best of Californian produce right here for us to cook with in this invention test. And everything just looks in mint condition. We've gathered some of the very best producers from California and we have some unbelievable ingredients for you to play with. So, now, Loren. Yes, sir. Marin County beef. We have some amazing, beautiful rib eyes, some top sirloins and some New Yorks. Angus. Organic. Grass-fed. Delicious. I hope you enjoy it, yep. Now, Hans, you're from H&H Fresh Fish down in Santa Cruz. Yeah. So, what have you brought in for us today? I brought some of... Our most famous of all the soles in the whole this part of the Pacific, is the petrale, and then some really nice... these are raised abalone, the little babies, little red abalone. Whoa. You can't have paddock-to-plate cookery without the paddock and without the waves, so we have to thank all our producers for coming in, for bringing this amazing produce for you to cook with. Guys, thank you so much for coming in. Thank you. ELENA: Thank you. The Californian produce that these farmers have brought to us today, it's just so beautiful. ELISE: Thank you! ELENA: And these guys are so passionate about what they do. Yeah, what an honour to be working with it today. So, Matt, as the winner of the mystery box challenge today, your advantage is to pick any one of these ingredients to be today's hero ingredient in an invention test. Come up and have a look, man. There's some beautiful produce there. These are delicious. Taste one. The walnuts, the cheese, even the mushrooms raw are absolutely amazing. I mean, how powerful the flavour is now, can you imagine when you add a little bit of heat to them? Seafood looks beautiful. Vegetables. So fresh! Just weighing up everything in front of me. But there's one thing that's really standing out to me, and I'm feeling like that's gonna be the one that I want to build my dish around. So, Matt, what's it gonna be? I'm gonna go with the beef. Brilliant. You up for some rules? You've got 60 minutes to give us a beautiful dish heroing beef. You can use as much of anything else on that table as you want, but, remember, beef has to sing on that plate. You've got the usual underbench pantry of ingredients. And here's one last little thing. Cook the best dish today, you get a game-changing advantage. You will be the first contestant into the fast-track-to-finals challenge later this week. Win that and you get a free pass straight to finals week. Worth competing for, right? First spot in the fast-track-to-finals challenge. I mean, who doesn't want a shot at that? Are you ready? Excited? Yeah. We are. So, your 60 minutes starts...now. (CHEERING) Are they carrots? Has anyone got any thyme? Yeah. We've got 60 minutes to put together an inventive dish heroing beef. I have a huge respect for fresh produce. I love these ingredients. I've got these beautiful beets, and the purple from the cabbage is also speaking to me, and I'm thinking it is an invention test and I'm happy to stand out for having something unique. I remember my aunt's beautiful beetroot borscht and her Ukrainian heritage, so I want to make a borscht-inspired sauce today. Borscht is a beetroot soup, so I'm thinking I might be able to somehow get some of those flavours into my dish today. The flavour is developed using beef bones and it's over quite a few hours, so I know I'm not going to be able to pull off the entire perfect borscht today, but maybe get some of those flavours in there. So, it's going to be a flavours of borscht with steak and vegies. I've got some beetroot, I've got some purple cabbage. I want to juice the beetroot, to juice the cabbage, to get that beautiful colour, and I really want to get all of those vegetable juices deglazing all of that beautiful browning meat. I think my approach to this challenge is all about respecting that produce. So, I feel if I want to use that beef, I don't really need to do anything to it. When I saw the beef, the first thought was to do, like, a beef carpaccio. So, just keep that beef rare, get it nice and thin, season it up. The first thing I want to do is get the eye out of the rib eye. The beef is absolutely beautiful. But at the same time, I think the most exciting thing about carpaccio is all of the little bits and pieces that you put with it. That's what really brings that dish together. I need to think of other elements that are going to go with it. Gary told me that I haven't yet found my identity in the competition. I really want to prove to him today that I know who I am, I know what food I like, and I'm really going to cook from the heart. I grew up on a farm, so I'm really comfortable cooking with beef. We grew our own food and had our own livestock, so I'm really excited to be cooking with this produce. This is definitely my style of cooking. I want to show what I can do today. So, today, I'm going to cook a spiced walnut butter sirloin with creamed beet leaves and kale, mushrooms and some roast fennel and parsnips. It's not an elegant sort of fine-dining style dish, I guess. It does look a bit like caveman food, but this is how I would eat a steak. I'm really angry myself this morning with the cook that I did. I need to redeem myself here. We get to use all this amazing Californian produce. I love to do desserts but in this competition, I have to learn to love cooking savoury as well. That's OK. I'm gonna deal with it. I know how to cook beef and I'm gonna do it. How are you? I'm good. You alright now? Yeah, I think I'm alright. Pumped? Not really your thing, beef. We know that. Um, yeah, so... That's OK. Say the dish to us as if it was on a menu. Um, steak with smoked leeks, pickled onions and jus. Done. See, if you focus in on that, and drive as much flavour as you can into it, then it's going to be delicious, right? You can do it, right? Come on. I can do it. Yeah, absolutely. Thank you, guys. Awesome. Thanks. I need to get on to my beetroots first. I do that by placing them in some alfoil, putting in a bit of salt and a bit of oil and chucking them in the oven. The biggest challenge of this dish is going to be making a sauce. I need to think of a way... How can I incorporate a lot of beefy flavour? So, I get this piece of steak that's got a lot of fat on there. I cut them up into little squares, place it into a frypan to start getting a base for my sauce. I've got some leftover leeks and some onions, so I chop that up, add it into the pan and fry it off until that goes golden brown. Yum. Yeah, I'm really happy with the flavours already. I'll just reduce it down a little bit more and, yeah, I'm pretty happy with it. Hey, guys, 15 minutes down already. 45 to go. Let's motor. Come on! Let's go! (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) The first thing I want to do is get prepping this beef. I need to take my time and make sure that it's paper-thin. I slice that rib eye into quarters. I put those pieces in between baking paper and then use a mallet to just tap it out. It might look simple but there's a lot of technique in there to get that beef, like, paper-paper-thin, borderline...you know, it should be see-through. I still need to come up with something else to go with the carpaccio that I'm doing. Having that right combination of flavours and textures to lift that up is so important, because that's where all the flavour will lie. I'm pretty happy with how this borscht-inspired sauce is going. It's thickening beautifully, the flavours are developing. It's a little bit different, but this is an invention test and I wanted to push myself. I'm hoping that the judges have an appreciation for it. Elena. Hi. What's going on? I'm kind of doing a bit of a purple gazpacho with the cabbage, but also mixed with my aunt's borscht flavours. Can I taste that? We can't picture it at all, can we? I can't. A lot of sediment in there. 'Cause I think all you're doing there is just making it mucky and dirty, to be honest. It looks like a witch's, uh... A witch's brew? The judges don't really like my idea of borscht, sort of, inspired sauce. I want that advantage, so I need to fix this as fast as I can. D Can I taste it? GEORGE: It looks like a witch's, uh... A witch's brew? ELENA: The judges don't really like my idea of borscht, sort of, inspired sauce. I want that advantage, so I need to fix this as fast as I can. It looks sludgy, it doesn't look the best, so I'm going to strain off all of the sediment so I can continue working on it. The winner of today's invention test gets an opportunity to battle it out for a fast track into finals week, and I'd definitely like to be in that battle. (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) HARRY: These are really beautiful, beautiful ingredients that I'm not gonna do too much to. I'm just gonna keep it simple and really show off what they are and where they come from. I want to jazz up the standard steak and vegies, so I'm gonna cook this steak in the sous-vide machine and then finish it in the pan so it's got some nice colour. All I have to do is get this steak into a sous-vide bag, get some thyme in there, some butter, a nice sage leaf as well, and get that into the sous-vide machine for about 25 minutes. And I'm also gonna do some charred vegetables and a nice puree to go with it. Today in the invention test, I'm gonna cook a beautiful rib eye steak and I'll make a nice mushroom sauce to go with that, pickled beetroots on the side and a beautiful smoked parsnip puree. The puree's on the go, so it's time to crack on with the mushroom sauce. I chop them up roughly, blitz it all up. (THERMOMIX WHIRRS) Contestants! 30 minutes to go! Boom-boom, shake the room! Come on! (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) ELISE: Yeah, that's great. We're in California, so immediately, the walnuts stand out to me. So, I'm gonna try and have the walnuts as a theme running through my dish. I'm planning on cooking a walnut-crusted rib eye on the bone. I'm gonna slice it up into small pieces before plating it up. And then I'm gonna pair it with a mushroom and walnut butter puree and a walnut pesto. To make the walnut crust on the outside of the rib eye, I'm just gonna put some raw walnuts into a food processor with some salt and some paprika powder... ..put some oil on the rib eye and just crust it on the outside before I brown it off. This is a massive, massive bit of meat. I need to figure out how long I cook it, so I'm gonna brown it off in a pan and then I'm gonna put it into the oven till it's about medium-rare. The most important thing today is to make sure that the timing of this is all perfect. I think we're gonna get some excellent food. I like Matt's straightaway. I love the idea of his dish. He's doing a carpaccio, but it is absolutely paper-thin. It looks amazing. So, it'll be interesting to see how he treats all the other ingredients. Well, what about Trent? Big and tasty - I think that's what we're gonna end up with. And it's three things - steak, mushrooms and creamy kale. Great. What about Mimi's rib eye coated in walnuts? GEORGE: A lot of hard work crusting a big piece of meat for just one little strip. More than that, it's really difficult to control. You know, so, is she gonna get the cuisson right? If you take a beautiful piece of meat like that and then overcook it, it'd be a disaster, wouldn't it? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I've spent quite a bit of time now prepping this beef, because it needs to be so, so thin. Finally, I'm pretty confident the beef is absolutely perfect, so I put that in a fridge till it's cold. The dish is starting to come together. I can see it in my head, I can feel it. To add some crunch and another texture to the beef carpaccio, I want to make some parsnip chips. I begin by peeling off parsnips and then I run it through a mandolin super, super thin, into hot oil, and let them crisp up and caramelise. It seems quite simple, but it is pretty technical, you know, to make sure that you get everything bang-on. There's nowhere to hide. As I'm preparing the parsnip chips, I'm stoked. I think they look great. But I'm racking my brain to think of something else that I can put with this carpaccio. I'm taking on Gary's advice from this morning and I'm cooking something that I know that I would love to eat... ..and I'm really trying to stay true to myself. I don't want to cook this steak straightaway. I want to get started on my mushrooms. They're really fresh and I know that they will go well with the steak. I just want to really cook them out just so they're nice and sweet and, yeah, release all their juices. So, for my creamed beet leaves and kale, I pretty much just cook them down in the pan with some leeks, plenty of cream and butter, and just really let them wilt down and cook down. I want every one of these elements cooked 100% and, yeah, just really make sure everything's perfect. ELISE: For this invention test, I'm cooking steak with some smoked leeks, some pickled onions and some roasted beetroots with a beautiful sauce. My sauce is reducing and I'm really happy with it. It's so beefy. I didn't expect this much flavour. So, I need that to simmer away. I now need to smoke my leeks, but firstly, I need to cook them in a bit of butter, so I place a pan onto the stove top, add a bit of butter and fry off my leeks. Next thing I need to do is place them into a bowl and get the smoking gun and make sure that there's a lot of smoky flavour throughout the leeks. I'm a totally different person this cook. I've got a clear head, I know what I'm cooking, and I'm really happy with how I'm going. You know there's a lot at 'steak' here! 15 minutes to go! (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) The meat's been in the oven for about five minutes and I think it's ready. It's a massive bit of meat, but I'm still really worried that I've left it in there for way too long. I pull my beef out of the oven... ..and just from touching it, I can tell that it's not right. (GROANS) I'm really worried it's overcooked. I'm really worried. I'm a little bit concerned that my beef's overcooked. I haven't cut it open yet, but it doesn't feel like medium-rare. As I'm cutting through the beef, I'm praying that it's medium-rare. If it's not perfect, the advantage is just going away and I know that I just have absolutely no chance of winning this. F MIMI: It's time to cut the beef, and I'm really nervous. I need it to be perfect. It's not medium-rare at all. It's medium. And I'm just sort of dying a little inside. Nah. I can't really do much at this point. I need to pull myself together and make sure that every single other thing on my plate is completely perfect, because otherwise I've got absolutely no chance of winning this. I've got the walnuts as a theme running through my dish, so I'm gonna do a walnut and parsley pesto just to help tie in all my elements. And then I'm gonna make a puree as well with the walnut butter. I can't do anything about this beef, so my walnut elements need to be impressive. Fingers crossed it's enough to get me over the line. I've got my carpaccio in the fridge and I've made the parsnip chips. I need to do more. I'm just seeing a really good and clear combination between the beef and the mushrooms. All of the mushrooms are really delicate, so I want to cook them super quick, just in a little bit of butter, oil and some fresh thyme, get a little bit of caramelisation on them, and then that's it. It's detail. This dish, it needs another element, but I don't know what it is. Time is running out, people! 10 minutes to go. Let's move it! GEORGE: Come on, guys! Yeah! (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) Come on! HARRY: I've taken my sous-vide steak out of the pouch and I've got to get it into the pan to sear. I'm feeling it. It feels nice and tender on the outside. So I'm hoping it's cooked perfectly. BRETT: I've had this griddle pan on for about 20 minutes just to try to get it smoking hot. But it's time to get this steak on now, so I chuck it on. I hear the perfect sizzle sound that you always want to hear. This is gonna be good. ELENA: I've got my borscht-inspired sauce reducing. Ooh-ah! I'm really happy with it. It does have a lot of the complexities that I'm after. I think it tastes delicious, so I hope the judges do too. I've got a nice jus. My pickled onions are done. My roasted beets are in the oven. So, yeah, everything's coming together quite well. The hero of my dish is the steak. It's crucial that I cook this perfectly, because if I don't, then there goes my opportunity of getting this amazing advantage. TRENT: So, for the steak, I'm gonna rub it with this spiced walnut butter, paprika and some olive oil. That's just gonna give it that extra bit of flavour and earthiness and a nuttiness when I cook it. So, I get it straight on the hot griddle... ..and just pretty much let it sit there on that one side just to form a really nice, crisp, sort of almost burnt crust. It's definitely very important to cook it spot-on, so I'm gonna keep an eye on it and hopefully get it 100% right. MATT: Finally, I think I've figured out what this dish needs to make sure that it's absolutely spot-on. I've decided I want to add a smoked yolk to this beef carpaccio, and I have some olive oil on the heat. I put the yolk in really, really gentle for a few minutes, 'cause I don't actually want to cook it, just confit it, then I'll remove it from the oil and smoke it with hickory. I'm taking a bit of a risk, but I'm hoping that the addition of the yolk will sort of bring the whole dish together. I'm super happy with how the steak's cooked. Now I need to slice it up and just get it in the pan with those mushrooms. To serve with the steak, I'm gonna just finish off with a bit of a salsa verde to just give it that nice, fresh hit that it needs. So I'm using some of the fennel fronds, some parsley, some lemon juice and some olive oil. This dish is definitely me on a plate. It's got big, bold flavours, but it's still really nice and simple. I know it's caveman food, but it's something that I know I like to eat, so hopefully that's good enough. Five minutes to go! Come on! (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) ELISE: I've let my steak rest for a few minutes and I'm thinking, "Ooh, are they perfect?" I'm wanting the steak to be cooked well. I want to do it justice. So I start slicing it up, and... ..it's exactly what I wanted - I'm thrilled. I want to present this dish really nicely. I love fine dining, and that's what I want my dish to look like. I start by putting two square pieces of steak onto my plate. I get my beetroots and I slice them in half and I let them sit up and they've come to this beautiful point. They've got so much colour about them. I get my pickled onions, place that on the plate, and it looks amazing. It looks sophisticated, delicate - it's a totally different cook to this morning and a totally different result. Three minutes to go! Three minutes! Come on! (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) MATT: I've got my egg yolk smoking, but now it's time to start plating. The beef is paper-thin and I lay that down on the base of the plate and then just start building it up bit by bit. And I've got some of the pan-fried mushrooms and the parsnip chips. The final element I need to put on the plate is that smoked yolk. TRENT: To plate up, I start with a bed of the creamed beet leaves and kale, place my sliced steak over the top, my roast vegies, mushrooms and a bit of that salsa verde to finish it all off. I'm really happy that I've cooked something true to myself and something that I know I'll love. 30 seconds! (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) ELISE: Arggh! The yolk is really delicate. The last thing I want is for it to break. Ten seconds! Nine... ALL: ..eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one... That's it! Your time's up! (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) ELENA: Oh! How'd you go? TRENT: Yeah, good. Yeah? Nice. Looks good. Thanks, mate. Well done. Wow! Look at that! HARRY: That's a man's plate, mate! It's a steak! (LAUGHS) How'd you go? What a brilliant cook! Absolutely excited about tasting this food. We must be honest, it looks spectacular, and as the sun goes down over the Golden Gate Bridge, we'd better hurry up, hadn't we? First up - Elise. It's a totally different experience taking this dish up to the judges. You know, I'm proud of it. I'm so happy with it. I'm just hoping that the flavours are all there and the judges really like it. Look at that! MATT: Whoa! GEORGE: Wow, wow, wow. It's: Feel better now? After a disastrous mystery box challenge? Yeah, I'm feeling a lot better. Clear head. Had a good idea. Well, let's hope it tastes fantastic. How beautifully cooked is that beef? You really want to get into finals week, don't you? Well, you know what? After tasting that dish, I think your chances have greatly increased. (LAUGHS) I think the sauce is delicious. And some clever little garnishes just to kind of...showcase and champion the beef, and that's what this challenge was all about. What makes this dish so interesting is the richness, the intensity that comes from the sauce with the meat, but every other element brings us lightness and brightness - the sweetness of the beet, the light smoke on the leek. For me, that's delicious cooking. This was a challenge for you, because you always go towards the sweet side, and that's fine, but can I tell you, your savoury side is just as good, if not better. That is delicious cooking. Thank you, George. (LAUGHS) You've thrown down the gauntlet to the other six contestants. Well done. Thank you! I'm so proud of myself. I was in the absolute lowest of the low and then to go on to the highest of the high, and I'm thinking to myself, "Maybe you should start cooking savoury "a little bit more in the competition." (LAUGHS) Thank you, Brett. Next up - Trent. (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) TRENT: The judges asked me to show my identity today, and that's what I've done. I've just watched Elise present this beautiful, intricate dish to the judges, and I'm walking up here with my caveman food, and I know it's me on a plate, but I'm not sure the judges will like it. G (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) TRENT: The judges asked me to show my identity today, and that's what I've done. No doubt it's me on a plate, but whether the judges like it or not, I'm not sure. GEORGE: What have you cooked, Trent? A spiced walnut butter sirloin with four different kinds of mushrooms and creamed beet leaves and kale. I know it's a big, genuine portion, but I just tried to take on your advice, and that's how I would eat it at home. Definitely, that's me on a plate, for sure. Great. GARY: Nicely cooked, too. Really nicely cooked. Ohhh! (GARY CHUCKLES) This is what we're talking about, isn't it?! You know when we get excited about food on MasterChef? This is absolutely the reason why. It's the fact that there's creamy kale underneath that perfectly cooked steak, the mushrooms - just the juiciness of the whole dish. Everything tastes as it should do. All you've done is use heat to improve those ingredients. That is just straightforward great cooking and everything is on point. When you cook from the heart and you cook from a place that is you... Yep. ..it's always gonna be better. It's generosity of spirit, it's delicious, it's Trent... Yeah. ..and I thank you. Yeah, thanks. Thank you. Well done, Trent. Thanks. (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) Oh! I'm really happy with the comments. It sort of reaffirms that I can be myself, put up food that I know I love and be praised for it. Next up - Elena! (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) ELENA: I haven't seen a purple cabbage sauce paired with beef before. I'm just hoping that this sauce, which is quite unique, really intrigues them and piques their interest. Elena, what's the dish? It's steak and vegies and a borscht-inspired sauce. It's certainly interesting with that...that...colour sauce. Let's see if it's GOOD interesting. (LAUGHS) I actually love the sauce. I think it's got bags of flavour. I think it's interesting. But I'm not sure it actually goes with the other elements on the dish. I don't mind it with the beef, but I would prefer that combination with duck, with pork, or a slightly fattier...a slightly fattier meat. OK. Thank you. (APPLAUSE) The judges love the sauce. They weren't thrilled about it being paired with beef. It's definitely something I would like to work on. Ta. Harry? You're up next. HARRY: It's a beautiful sous-vide American cut, and I've got some parsnip and onion soubise, some delicate, really nice mushrooms and some charred leeks. I love it how he does that. He sets it up. Yeah. "Beautiful, delicate"... Everything has to have an adjective! I love it. Yeah. Yeah. (LAUGHS) I love the look of the mushrooms. I like the idea of the grilled leek. Next up - Brett. BRETT: I've got rib eye with some pickled beetroot, smoked parsnip puree and a mushroom sauce. There's a good foundation in terms of flavour. Like, the smoky parsnip puree is, uh, really tasty. It's smooth. There's a delicate smoke on it. Well done, Brett. Mimi! (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) MIMI: I've overcooked the beef. I'm really worried. I just hope they like the walnuts running throughout the dish. What's the dish? So, I've cooked a walnut-crusted rib eye with some mushrooms and some walnuts. I think it looks really good, to be honest. It looks great. It looks fantastic. I like it. I like the textures. I like this little smear of this walnut sauce. And maybe the beef's a little overcooked. I'm not sure. It's interesting, actually, 'cause I thought you'd really overcooked the beef, but I actually don't think it's that bad, and because it's a rib eye, it's a funny thing that... ..if you undercook a rib eye, I think it's much worse than taking it to medium. Actually, by taking it to a proper medium, it really is very tender, so that walnut beef is delicious. You know what I really like about it, I think, is the walnuts run as a kind of like a spine through the whole dish - through the crust, through the pesto and through the puree. Then everything else - the mushrooms add some slipperiness, there's some sweetness from this leek. And that's great cooking. You know what, Mimi? That's why you're in the top seven. Well done. Thank you. Good job. Really. I feel so relieved. The judges actually loved the dish. I think I still have a chance to win this. Right, last - and lucky last, maybe - Matt, up you come. (SIGHS DEEPLY) Walking up to the judges with my dish, I'm definitely nervous. The addition of the yolk is a risk. I just hope it pays off. F MATT: Walking up to the judges with my dish, I'm definitely nervous. The addition of the yolk is a risk. I just hope it pays off. So, you're the man with every advantage, of course. The name of the dish, and what is it? It's a beef carpaccio with mixed mushrooms and smoked egg yolk. There's a certain kind of confidence and maturity about a dish like that, and I reckon that is one of the best-looking dishes today, I really do. Honestly, from the look of that dish, you've hit your straps in a big way. Like, a BIG way. We shall see. Shall I drag that yolk through the thing, or...? Yeah, no, not too much. Not too much? Look, I love it. I think it's very simple. I think it's a really lovely interpretation of a carpaccio that reflects the quality of all those ingredients that we had on show today - you know, the eggs, the mushroom, and especially that beef. I mean, we talked about 'paddock to plate', we talked about the best ingredients right here in California. We gave it to you, and what you did is, with respect, put it on a plate. Um...the egg yolk, for me, it's fine if it's dressing through a tartare, but it's a...I think, a risky call in terms of what you've done here. To a degree, that yolk, if not the smoke, derailed the dish slightly for me. Thanks, Matt. Cheers. It definitely throws you when you get a comment like that from Matt. I'm disappointed. He didn't like the smoked yolk element on the plate. But I still feel like I've done enough. It's been an absolutely massive day. But you know what? When we get food like that, it makes it all worthwhile, and today was all about celebrating Californian produce. And today, can we tell you, you absolutely delivered. Well done, everybody. This is a great time to bring your A game, because the top dish from today goes into the fast-track-to-the-finals challenge, from where one of you will automatically go into finals week. There really was some fantastic cooking today, but two of you brought us absolutely exemplary dishes. Please step forward... ..Elise! (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) Yeah! Yes! (LAUGHS) Elise, you amplified that fillet with the beefiness of your sauce, and then you brought us finesse and technique with the vegetables you surrounded it with. Well done. Thank you. Yes! Oh, I love it. Great. (LAUGHS) The other dish that we absolutely loved... ..belonged to Trent. (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) GEORGE: Yeah! You kind of sat at the alternate ends of the spectrum. One of you - super simple, classic heroing of the ingredients of California. The other - slightly more delicate, slightly more finessed. Trent, Elise, we felt one dish did a better job of heroing both the beef and the rest of that beautiful Californian produce. The dish of the day belongs to... ..Trent! (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) Well done! Thanks. Well deserved! Trent, you know what that means? You're the first contestant going through to the fast-track-to-finals challenge. Congratulations, Trent. Keep that up, man. Thanks. That is brilliant. You can seriously win this competition, yeah? Yeah. Elise, what a turnaround from this morning, huh? Yep. From tears to laughter. That's what it's all about, and that's what this competition's all about. Well done, guys. Massive day. I know you're all exhausted. Go back to the hotel, get some rest. We'll see you tomorrow. Off you go. (SIGHS) Thank you. Really well done. All of you. Good job. TRENT: Definitely rapt. Couldn't have gone better. Couldn't have asked for a better result. It's getting to the pointy end in the competition and every little advantage that you can get helps. (GROANS) Oh! Big day. ELENA: Nice job! ANNOUNCER: Tomorrow night, the California dream continues. Please welcome Dominique Crenn! She's been awarded the best female chef in the world. And today, she's handing her kitchen over to you. In this team challenge... Come on! Let's go! ..they'll have to replicate not one but two... Ohhh! ..of Dominique's designer dishes. This is insane! It will be the most chaotic cook... And I've not started one thing. ..they've ever encountered. What have you got left to do? But for those in the winning team... I would think that my pastry chef did it. ..the chance for a guaranteed place in finals week. I don't think the incentives get any bigger. Captions by Ericsson Access Services Able 2017