salmon

I got a little behind on my Masterchef Junior episodes, and before I recap the finale, here is a recap of episode six:

Everyone is excited about being in the top four. Abby says that they have to be careful, because even the tiniest mistake could send you home. Adaiah wants a girl to win, because a boy won last year.

Photo credit: FOX

Joe says that if they excel at the challenges that are thrown at them, any one of the kids has a chance to be the biggest fish in the culinary pond. Naturally, this is a segue into what the kids will be working with: fish. They all head back to the pantry and each grab a fish, which happens to be a very large Alaskan salmon. The kids are sweet, and Samuel offers to help Abby with her fish, which is pretty big for an eight year old. He helps her put it at her station. She sighs with relief.

Gordon quickly demonstrates how to filet a salmon effectively, and how many filets they should be expecting to get when they are done. He buzzes through it quickly and warns them to pay attention because he’s only going to show them how to do it once. All of the kids look a little wide-eyed and intimidated.

For their next challenge, they have 30 minutes to filet their salmon like Gordon showed them. Whoever has the most filets at the end of the challenge has a big advantage in the next round and possibly a spot in the finale.

Already you can see that Abby is at a disadvantage because she might not be strong enough. She seems to be having problems cutting her fish. Samuel seems to be doing fine. Adaiah as well. It looks like Logan didn’t cut his salmon close enough to the bone and it looks like there was a lot of fish wasted.

Adaiah wins the challenge as her filets are perfect. Already it is clear that Adaiah and Samuel did the best, while Abby and Logan struggled in this challenge. Maybe age really does matter?

In the next challenge, each of them have 45 minutes to cook a filet using the ingredients that is given to them, but there is a catch: they don’t know what those ingredients will be. In the pantry, there are four refrigerators. One with 100 ingredients, one with 50, 25 and five. Adaiah’s advantage is that she gets to choose who has what ingredients.

Surprisingly, she gives the 100 ingredients to Abby and takes the 50 for herself. The 25 she gives to Samuel because she knows he likes to cook with upscale ingredients and there isn’t that much to choose from in that refrigerator. Poor Logan gets stuck with the five ingredients.

The judges comment that they really don’t need a lot of ingredients to make a fantastic dish. Abby, surprisingly, says the same exact thing when she mentions that she doesn’t need 100 ingredients. She can’t seem to figure out what she needs for her dish, and keeps running back into the pantry.

Logan is first to present his dish which is an olive oil poached salmon with potato rosette and broccoli rabe. Gordon says that poaching the salmon was a very bold move and not something that you see very often at their level, but he is impressed because the salmon is cooked perfectly. His broccoli rabe is not really cooked, though.

Photo Credit: FOX.

Abby is next and admits that having the 100 ingredients was actually hard for her. She made a mango and orange glazed salmon with carrot puree. Abby’s salmon is a little dry, but Gordan says that the carrot puree tastes delicious. Gordon tells her that it wasn’t her best salmon dish. But they offer a lot of encouragement too, and Joe says that if she turns out as great of a chef as she is a young lady, then she is going to make some amazing dishes. How sweet!

Samuel made pan-seared salmon with tomato confit and cilantro shallot gremolata. Graham says that he has some great flavors but that the flesh of the salmon is slightly over-cooked. Gordon says that it tastes fantastic but the filet is too small.

Adaiah makes Asian-style salmon with garlic broccoli and green bean stir-fry. Joe says that the salmon is cooked perfectly, but that she burnt the garlic on the broccoli. But when it comes down to it, it is the little details that make all the difference, and Adaiah and Abby are sent home.

This leaves two boys in the finale: Logan and Samuel. Not who I thought would be the top two in the finale, but we will see how it goes. It is difficult to see the two girls sent home; especially Abby who cries. Samuel says that he is happy he is in the finale, but he doesn’t like to see the friends that he has made go home. The judges remind them that this is just the beginning and they will accomplish so much more in the years to come.

Especially Abby, who is so sweet and so talented. She even makes Joe cry. She also gets a kiss on the cheek from Gordon Ramsay. Now, how many Masterchef junior’s can claim that? I think it was a difficult goodbye for everyone, but they managed to get through it with some watery smiles.

I wanted to see a girl in the finale as well, but it looks like a tough competition in the next episode when Logan and Samuel go head to head and we see who will be the next Masterchef junior!

Tomorrow night premieres a new episode of Masterchef Junior, so how about a quick recap of last week’s episode?

Credit: Greg Gayne/Fox

Right from the beginning the kids are asked what they would do if they won the $100,000 and the Masterchef junior trophy. Adaiah said she would buy guitars, a piano, and a dirt bike. Oona would go to Vegas, and Abby would buy a bunch of horse posters. Gordon says she could buy her own horse, but Abby replies she doesn’t have enough room in her back yard. (Tehehe).

The first challenge: to make a perfect sunny-side up egg. No brown edges, no over-cooked yoke. Poor Oona and Abby seem to struggle. Sean, of course, has the most eggs. He wins the challenge with ten perfect eggs. Abby has the less, with just two eggs.

But there is a twist to the next challenge. They can only use the same amount of ingredients in their next dish as how many eggs they managed to cook. Looks like Abby is going to have to step it up some! Gordon gives her a hug and says that she can do it. (So adorable).

The kids are asked about their dreams of having their own restaurants. They are all so very creative. Abby wants to have a vet clinic/restaurant which specializes in healthy food. She said she’s going to name it “Horses and Courses.” Oh, we love you Abby! Logan wants an underwater bistro. And as Samuel is talking about his french restaurant which is (not surprising) called “Le Samuel,” he tucks the plans to his establishment back into a briefcase. Seriously? Where did they find this kid?!

For their next dish, the kids have one hour to create the signature dish that they would want in their restaurant. We also learn in this bit that Graham was most inspired by Gordon Ramsay in his career. We also learn that Sean wants a restaurant called “The Drunken Cow,” because he specializes in cooking with meat and likes to cook with wine a lot. Wait a minute, this kid is like…twelve.

Abby, who had only two ingredients, makes salmon with asparagus five ways and the judges are impressed because the salmon is perfectly cooked. Sean is next with the most ingredients at ten, he made a rib eye steak with paprika crema and potatoes. His steak is slightly overcooked, but graham likes the sauce. Levi makes a pan-seared salmon with a mustard maple glaze and broccoli done two ways. His salmon is also over-cooked. C’mon guys!

Adaiah is next with her yogurt-crusted lamb chop which she made with sweet potatoes and orange sauce. Graham likes the flavor of the orange and how everything comes together. Oona only had four ingredients as well, and she makes scallops two ways with ginger oil and cauliflower puree. Her dish is the most presentable, but half of her scallops are over-cooked.

Logan makes flat iron steak marinated in soy sauce and ginger with bamboo rice. The steak is perfectly cooked and well-seasoned, according to Joe, but the rice is over-cooked and missing salt. Gordon says that they are a little bit underwhelmed by his dish, poor fellow. I guess the days of sugar-coated niceties are over. He still gets a hug from Ramsay. What is even more touching is the other kids that get emotional in reaction to Logan’s disappointment. Even though it is a competition, its so sweet that these kids are also friends.

Josh is next to present his dish and he made curried duck a l’orange with cilantro rice. The duck is slightly over-cooked and Graham says that the cilantro wasn’t needed, that he should have used another ingredient instead to perfect the dish.

Samuel is last to present his dish, and already the judges aren’t impressed. He had his choice of eight ingredients and Gordan says it looks like he has only three ingredients on the plate. He made a five-spice seared duck with pesto cucumber and zucchini puree. But the earlier critiques are only to add to the drama, because Gordan says that the duck is cooked perfectly. Finally! Someone who didn’t over-cook their protein!

This makes me wonder yet again if last season’s kids were a fluke? Was it staged? Because so many of the contestants seemed to have mistakes tonight.

The two that had astounding dishes: Abby and Samuel. Samuel says that it is time to buy into the Le Samuel stock because it’s going to be an up day in the stock market. Okay, even as arrogant as that sounds…it is still amusing.

Sean, Oona, Levi and Josh are in the bottom four. Sadly, at the end of the night, Josh and Levi get sent home. This is unfair, I think, because Levi overall has had more successful dishes than many of them, but Oona is their entertainer, so of course she can’t go home yet!

Looks like a restaurant take-over in the next episode! Here’s a sneak peak:

A. J. Morse

Some fiction, some poetry, and a lot of writer's block.

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