MasterChef: 5 Chefs Compete

Only five remain

First a mystery challenge

Then they cook Bambi

Five chefs remain in the race to be the next MasterChef: Susie, Adrien, Jennifer, Ben Starr, and Christian. They are brought to the MasterChef kitchen where they are all given a mystery box. Chef Ramsey asks what they want for Christmas to cook with. "Some kind of meat," says Jennifer. "Some fish!" exclaims Christian. "Some flour, butter and baking powder!" wishes Ben Starr. Turns out that they got ground meats and some veggies which is the mystery box equivalent to getting coal in your stocking. Ben is excited because he thinks he can make a glamorous Shepard's pie.

None of these shepherds.

Susie also decides to make a Shepard's pie, Christian is making chili, Jennifer is making a meatloaf, and Adrien is making a trio of meatballs. Commercial break - did you know MasterChef's all steel pans are non stick because they use thermalon? No. I didn't either. Oh, and that wasn't a commercial break. Graham explains the pans' amazingness and Adrien doesn't seem to care in the least bit.

Chef Ramsay points out that he's grown up eating Shepard's pie - so it better be good. The judges seem most excited about Adrien's dish. Since the judges will only try three out of the five, each chef takes extra care to make their dish presentable. Adrien's looks amazing in my opinion:

Susie thought it looked like vomit on a plate. She needs glasses.

The three they decide to try are:

• Jennifer's meatloaf with roasted corn and homemade ketchup
• Adrien's trio of meatballs
• Ben Starr's Shepard's pie

Susie and Christian are steaming that their dishes were not chosen. Jennifer's dish is lauded as wonderful; Adrien's "salty balls" do not live up to the hype; and Ben Starr's glamorous Shepard's pie makes Chef Ramsay happy - all the jugdes get giggly. It's cute.

Find out who wins the mystery box challenge and what the pressure test is after the JUMP!
Ben Starr wins! He erupts in cheers and incredibly everyone is happy for him. 

Winner!

Ben's advantage is that he gets to choose one dish out of three for the chefs to cook. Turns out they are Gordon Ramsay's signature dishes. Gordon runs around the table with a giant smile and "introduces" himself to Ben. It's very adorable. Something about Ben Starr makes everyone around him happy. Awww.

Ben chooses a venison tenderloin for all the chefs to cook. He gets to ask three questions about the dish. He learns that the dish has red cabbage that is easily mistaken for beets, a cream finished parsnip puree, and a super special secret way to cook the venison.

The remaining chefs do not get to ask questions, but do get to taste the dish and guess what is in it. During Jennifer's confessional I notice that her hair looks extra voluminous today. Must be the MasterChef line of hair care products.

Each chef is confident (in front of Chef Ramsay) that they have the best dish. I notice each have begun to whisper. It's like they are cooking in a library.

On to judging:

• Susie's dish looks just like the original. Everything works - the sauce is too buttery, but that sounds great to me. Ramsay says she did a great job.
• Christian's plate looks decent - just not quite right. His parsnip puree split! Whatever that means. Ramsay says there is too much pepper in his dish.
• Ben is disappointed with his dish, as are the judges. He squandered his advantage! I love that he used the word squandered. I blame his struggle in this challenge on his missing hat.
• Jennifer's dish looks absolutely nothing like the original dish. Her cabbage is under cooked while her venison is overcooked. 
• Adrien is embarrassed to walk up with his dish. "Holy crap!" Gordon exclaims. Graham uses the worst pun ever, "Oh, deer!" At least he didn't tie in a plug for the MasterChef knives. Poor Adrien. He's ready to go home.

Observations from the judging: Chef Ramsay is wearing tight pants - but not as tight as Joe's, this dish costs EIGHTY SEVEN dollars in his restaurant, Joe reminds me that venison is deer -therefore is Bambi (Bambi was an orphan btw), and Christian is terrible.

After their huddle, they chefs decide that Susie is the winner. Great. One more week of her ego and talking about how great she is. Blerg. I should be nice - this moment is her "dream come true."

The remaining four are brought down to the front of the kitchen to face the judges. Jennifer and Christian both had bad dishes, but are not the bottom two. Christian is just so awful. His comments about his greatness are nearly too much for me. I am sad he's still around.

Ben and Adrien are the bottom two. I like both these guys as do the judges, but unfortunately Ben Starr is sent home. Everyone's eyes are filled with tears. Ben was really a bright spot in this competition from the judges', contestants' and viewers' points of view. Ben even gets a kiss from Chef Ramsay! Double awww.

He is asked who is going to win MasterChef and announces that Adrien will win. I kind of hope so too.

So, since Ben Starr ruined a venison dish, Rick Perry immediately creates emergency legislation to kick Ben Starr out of the state of Texas as Ben predicted earlier. Adios, Mofo!

Are you sad Ben Starr was sent home? Who do you think will win MasterChef?

Follow @haikutv