After four – yes, you read that correctly – four Instant Restaurant rounds, our contestants have swapped their homes for our headquarters as we enter our Kitchen HQ round. For their first challenge, the contestants are headed for the great outdoors, where they’ll be cooking breakfast on a barbeque for two hundred hungry campers. For some of our city-dwelling teams, this will prove to be a challenge; for others, it’s second nature. But who will come out on top?
Rob and Dave are serving Zucchini and Corn Fritters with Maple Bacon and Tomato Salsa. Camping comes naturally to Rob and Dave, who are expecting to absolutely nail this challenge. Meanwhile, glamour girls Ash and Camilla are serving Chilli Scrambled Eggs with Salmon and Chive Hollandaise, because who says you can’t serve up something gourmet on a camping trip?
Vicky and Celine are preparing Greek Baked Eggs with Dill and Garlic Flatbread, while Jac and Shaz are serving American-Style Pancakes with Caramelised Banana and Coconut Crumb. Our Mt Isa cousins are hoping the camping cohort will include many kids, to whom American-Style Pancakes (or pancakes in general, really) will be an absolute winner. But Victoria’s Jane and Emma are serving Blueberry Ricotta Hotcakes with Berry Compote and Candied Pecans, leading to a bit of a cake-off between themselves and Jac and Shaz.
Annie and Lloyd are a little out of their element in the wild, but they’re hoping their hearty breakfast of Lamb Meatballs with Vegetable Stew and Bubble & Squeak will appeal to the masses. Meanwhile, their frenemies Kat and Andre are serving a Smoked Ham and Gruyere Bake with Tomato Relish, who have turned their barbeque into more of an oven instead.
Drasko and Bianca are cooking Spicy Pork and Egg Tortilla with Avocado Salsa. Bianca’s sole job is preparing the tortilla wraps whilst simultaneously yelling at Drasko to get a move on with the pork filling, who’s having too much fun being a pork ninja at the barbeque.
Rose and Josh are preparing Ricotta Fritters with Tomato Relish, Rocket and Feta. As it is relatively easy to prepare, Rose and Josh are hoping that the quick turnaround on these fritters will mean more guests will be eating their food – which will hopefully lead to more votes. Meanwhile, Sheri and Emilie are serving up Spinach, Feta and Mushroom Gozleme, which are taking much longer to prepare – will this have repercussions on their performance?
As the teams get closer to service, the mass crowd of two hundred begin to queue up – which doesn’t intimidate Josh at all, who begins rallying the crowd and getting them pumped up (as if the mere fact of being hungry wasn’t enough to get them excited for the ludicrous amounts of food on offer) – and suddenly, there’s no more prep time left: the chaos officially begins.
Ash and Camilla’s salmon proves to be a hit amongst the campers, and it seems that their dish is worth the wait. Sheri and Emilie and Vicky and Celine are hoping the campers feel the same way about their dishes, which are also taking a while to serve.
Meanwhile, Jac and Shaz’s pancakes are going like hotcakes (no offence, Jane and Emma) – but unfortunately the same cannot be said for Annie and Lloyd, who are struggling to find an audience for their dish. Rob and Dave have run out of fritters, but tease their crowd with some leftover maple bacon – and who can say no to that?
Josh and Rose’s strategy of having a dish that’s easy to prep is working well for them, as they’re able to match demand with supply with relative ease – something that Drasko and Bianca are struggling with, as their tortillas are taking much longer to make. A bit more strategy comes in to play, as Josh cheekily attempts to lure the crowd away from Drasko and Bianca’s stall – patience need not be a virtue when it comes to their Ricotta Fritters.
But at the end of the day, it’s down to Pete and Colin to determine the two weakest teams. So how have they found each of the meals?
Colin thinks Rob and Dave have played it safe, but they agree that the dish would appeal to the masses. Both judges are very impressed with Ash and Camilla’s salmon, as it has shown a lot of technique – a contrast to Rose and Josh’s dish, which, while pleasant, is very simple. Colin, as a savoury breakfast type, also enjoyed the flavour in Jac and Shaz’s pancakes – and similarly enjoyed Jane and Emma’s hotcakes.
Those at risk include Vicky and Celine, whose baked eggs are not working for our judges. Colin and Pete also aren’t sold on Drasko and Bianca’s tortillas, which aren’t cooked consistently. They also find Kat and Andre’s Smoked Ham and Gruyere bake confusing to the palate. However, it seems that Annie and Lloyd have served up the most disappointing dish – having committed a crime against cooking with their overcooked meatballs.
With service over, it’s now time to determine which team is the People’s Choice, and which teams will be heading to the sudden death elimination. The salmon comes out on top, with Ash and Camilla winning People’s Choice. The sudden death cook-off will be taking place between Annie and Lloyd and Vicky and Celine, who will be fighting for their place in the competition!