The teams arrive in their Sunday Bests at Kitchen HQ, with Colin and Pete explaining that the next challenge will be their catering for a ninety guest wedding. The wedding is garden themed, and the Bride and Groom have requested modern Australian cuisine. Oh yes, and one more tiny detail… the Bride is a Chef.
Each team will prepare thirty plates of either an entrée, main or dessert. The best dish as voted by the guests will win People’s Choice and receive a honeymoon from the next two elimination challenges. The two worst dishes will be chosen by Colin and Pete, and will go straight into a Sudden Death Cook Off.
The teams source their ingredients from the MKR pantry, and then head to the reception venue of Burnham Grove to prepare. They are given ninety minutes prep time, with an additional thirty minutes each for plating before service.
Working on the entrees are Ash and Camilla, Drasko and Bianca and Will and Steve.
Ash and Camilla are preparing Confit of Ocean Trout with Whipped Caviar and Ginger Broth. The trout is almost thrown out when they discover the oven does not go any lower than 100 degrees. Ash explains that this is too hot to confit, and comes up with a brilliant Plan B to confit the trout in an oven tray on the stovetop.
The improvisation pays off, with the Judges and the wedding guests finding the trout to be cooked to perfection. Pete says that when he thinks of wedding food, he thinks of refinement and elegance, and this is exactly what Ash and Camilla have delivered, in a bowl.
Drasko and Bianca are making Duck Breast with Beetroot and Cherry and Chocolate. Drasko makes the decision to sous vide the duck before sealing it off in the pan. With his usual demonstration of his accurate grasp of the concept of ‘teamwork’, Drasko explains that it is the hardest thing HE has ever had to do in the competition, and HE can’t take his ‘I’ off the duck for a moment.
Drasko has major tunnel vision and only works on the duck, leaving Bianca to deal with the other eighty per cent of their dish. He is stuck on the duck, and is exposing himself to be a bit of a goose. Bianca’s calling out for help but Drasko’s not listening. She asks how the beetroot is. ‘Yeah yeah it’s great’, he replies. On checking, Bianca discovers that it is burned. Drasko tries unsuccessfully to convince her that it is not burned, rather it is caramelized. No Drasko, it is burned.
Their fractured communication continues all through service, with them not producing a single plate of food until fifteen minutes into service. The waiters are living up to their etymology, and waiting. Drasko suddenly realizes his shortcomings of the previous ninety minutes, and begins ‘helping’ in a similar fashion to that he provided during the Instant Restaurant. On plating the duck, he manages to dribble excess juice all over the rest of the dishes that Bianca has carefully assembled.
On tasting, The Judges think the flavours of the cherry, beetroot and duck are a good marriage, but the chocolate does not need to be on the plate. The duck is cooked well, but ironically they find the sous vide process was unnecessary.
Will and Steve are making Chicken Liver Parfait with Raisin Puree and Fennel Lavosh. Prep goes relatively uneventfully for them, and the only disaster strikes when Will’s piping techniques do not live up to Steve’s standards. Steve pipes up and confiscates the piping bag from Will, forbidding him to touch any more.
On tasting the Judges think it is a wow dish – the parfait is creamy and smooth, the lavosh crisp - overall a creative and bold dish. It seems to be a polarizing dish for the guests, with some claiming it ordinary, and others with a pate palette claiming it extraordinary.
Moving onto main, and Rob and Dave are creating Butter Poached Eye Fillet with Cauliflower Puree and Mushroom Sauce. Things are going smoothly for them, until the final fifteen minutes of prep time, when they lose the puree to the bench when removing it from the blender. Lucky bench. They are going to save it through a new technique they devise called ‘reverse cooking’, by pureeing the cauliflower raw and then cooking that puree. It seems to work, and they manage to salvage their dish.
On its unveiling to the Judges, Pete hopes it tastes better than it looks. Colin says it looks like a dish that should have been in the pub challenge. They agree that the beef is cooked perfectly, but there is no wow factor, it is a simple dish that is not extra special, and could have been cooked at home on a Wednesday night. Unfortunately the guests agree, and it appears that Rob and Dave’s ‘shake and bake’ catch cry was ‘shake and half-baked’ this challenge.
Kat and Andre are taking a risk preparing Pork Fillet with Orange and Fennel Slaw and Potato Rosti. Kool Kat is concerned because it is a mish mash of different flavours and cuisines that they have created themselves and love, but she is not sure how others will receive it.
On tasting the Judges think the texture and freshness of the flavours are good, the pork is cooked great and overall the dish works well. The chef bride thinks it is yum, and declares it her dish of the day.
Spice Girls Eva A and Debra B are cooking Dukkah Crusted Lamb with Pumpkin Puree and Mint Yoghurt. On tasting, the Judges think the lamb is delicious, the crust is good, all the flavours work, and the pomegranate addition gives it a nice burst of freshness. As this is a wedding, it appears the lamb has provided a ‘ewe’ complete me moment. The guests find it to be superb.
Time for the sweet end of the day, and Rose and Josh are making a dessert of White Chocolate Custard with Mixed Berry Compote and Macadamia Crumb. They run into strife when Rose is serving the custard. She accidentally leaves the pot on the stove while she is ladling, and the remaining custard curdles. She has to whip up another batch and fast. On tasting, the Judges think the custard is a good consistency, and overall it is a great fresh dish. The bride claims it is yummy and pretty.
Emma and Jane are cooking Ricotta Cheesecake with Raspberry and Blood Orange. The Judges think it is lovely and overall a good dessert, but the base is too thick and hard and requires too much effort to break through. The guests agree that the flavours are lovely, but complain about the hard base.
Adam and Carol present a Citrus Celebration consisting of jelly, crumb, meringue and other citrus elements. Peeling citrus as madly as the pealing of the wedding bells, their gamble pays off. The Judges find it refreshing, the elements work well together, it is creative and delicious. The guests agree that it is delicious, their only criticism is that they want more.
Back at Kitchen HQ, Colin and Pete described how stunned they were at the quality of all the dishes during the wedding challenge. In their eyes there were no bad dishes, only less better dishes.
First they announce the People’s Choice, which goes to Rose and Josh for their White Chocolate Custard.
Judging by their critiques, it appears a three-way likelihood between Jane and Emma, Dave and Rob and Drasko and Bianca going into Sudden Death. Colin and Pete give Drasko a lecture on teamwork and tunnel vision, with Pete going so far as to say he needs to leave the ego out of the cooking. How embarrassment.
In the end, they choose Jane and Emma and Rob and Dave for Sudden Death. Pete and Colin explain that at this stage of the competition, the little things are sending people home– Rob and Dave gave them a half dish, and Jane and Emma gave them a hard dish.
Having just survived Sudden Death, ‘shake and bake’ Rob and Dave clearly have the shakes at the thought of having to bake again. Depending on the outcome, they may establish a help group for people who have had to face Sudden Death Cook Offs consecutively.
Tune in next time as Jane and Emma and Dave and Rob walk down the Kitchen HQ aisle and face each other off in the MKR Sudden Death altar.