Original subtitles

Let's go.

- Amazing. - Whoa!

Amazing. Come on!

Welcome back.

Wow. Thank you very much. Welcome, everybody.

This is the "MasterChef: Dynamic Duos" Grand Finale!

Now this season, for the first time in "MasterChef" history,

we sought out America's best culinary duos

from home cooks across the nation.

And let me tell you something, it's been quite the ride.

Let's take a look.

This year on "MasterChef," we made history...

This is "MasterChef: Dynamic Duos."

as home cooks from all over America competed in pairs.

Husbands and wives.

- I love you. - I love you, too.

Mothers and daughters. Siblings.

Nothing like cooking bringing us together, right?

Best friends. Even a divorced couple.

Relax. You're starting to be very bossy.

To see if two cooks really were better than one.

- It's gonna require that teamwork. - Zest, zest, zest, zest.

- Two tablespoon of sugar, babe? - Yes.

Everything, y'all double check with each other.

- Yes. Yes. - Absolutely.

You know, like a true team.

- Yes. - We have a plan A to win, Chef.

- Game on. - Challenges were twice as tough.

- We want to see a three course meal. - No!

Get it. Where is it?

This was harder than giving birth.

And relationships were tested like never before.

- Jessica? Two piece asparagus. - What?

- I can't hear you! - They're on two different islands right now.

- Leave me alone. - I'm not sure you actually communicated.

Duck into the oven. Put him in. Just put him in, Tina.

But when the pressure of the kitchen proved too much...

- I want to get off the fried. - It's called the pressure test for a reason.

- Let me talk. Let me talk. - You stop now!

- Who cooked the scallops? - I did, Chef.

- Oh, boy. - We're a team. All the way to the end, yeah?

The power of their partnerships pulled them through.

- This is beautiful. - Thank you, Chef.

What you did have was a great synergy.

You are definitely in sync.

I don't like cooking without you.

Now just three dynamic duos remain.

Will it be Rachel and Julio,

Tina and Aivan, or Jesse and Jessica?

Only one duo will win it all on the first ever

"MasterChef: Dynamic Duos" grand finale.

Now let's meet our incredible MasterChef duo finalists.

Right, first up, an aunt and a niece from Fountain Valley, California,

and Fairplay, Colorado. Give it up for Tina and Aivan!

Come on!

I cannot believe it!

We're in the finale.

Cooking in the MasterChef kitchen

in the finale is beyond my wildest dreams.

It's so crazy.

I made it!

Oh, they're so cute!

Tina and Aivan, let's have a look at this extraordinary journey.

Tasting this dish is like coming to your house for dinner.

- Welcome to my home. - Our family comes from Vietnam,

And in 1975, my grandma, aunt, uncle,

and my mom immigrated to the United States.

So growing up, we all kind of lived under the same roof.

And we're always in the kitchen,

always cooking, always making food.

My mother passed down her cooking skill to me,

and now we passed down to Aivan.

And we came here to share our Vietnamese flavors

with the world.

It's authentic with profound flavor and impact.

We made my grandma's steamed bass.

We've made a barbecue short rib.

I love the beef. This is delicious.

- Thank you, Tiffany. - Aah!

"MasterChef" has brought us so close together

and has strengthened our relationship more than I've ever imagined.

- Thank you, baby! - Tina, you ready?

We get ready to "pew!"

We come from a family of resilient people,

so tonight we're gonna fight, and we're gonna put it all out there.

- Put the meat in now. Go! - Okay, I'm going! Whoo!

Look at that. Both at the same time.

Three dishes stand between us and winning "MasterChef,"

and I feel like if we trust our instincts, I think we got it.

I want that trophy. I can taste it.

We gonna make you proud.

Tina, Aivan, here to cheer you on tonight,

we have Aivan's father Hoang and Aivan's mother Christina,

who is also Tina's sister.

We also have Jessica, who's Tina's daughter.

All right, so, Christina, we have heard so much about grandma, your mom.

- Do you think that they have made her proud? - Very proud.

My mom unfortunately can't be here because she's in a nursing home,

but she's very, very proud.

And to carry on her tradition, her recipe, it's amazing.

- She she would jump for joy. - Don't make me cry.

All right, next we have a husband

and wife duo from Naples, Florida.

Please welcome Rachel and Julio!

We're in the finale of "MasterChef." It feels amazing.

We went through so much to be here,

and we're so proud of our journey.

Good job, guys!

Rachel Julio, let's take a look back

at what you've been through in this competition.

Lookit. Up there. Winner season 15? That's us.

We've been married for two years, and since the moment we met,

food was the huge connection.

- Yes! - Let's go!

We want to be in the culinary industry.

And when "MasterChef" opened its doors,

we saw an opportunity to change our lives.

- Let's go! - My goodness! This is a delicious plate of food.

You've got the marriage right here.

A bit like you two. Well done!

We are known as the fiery Latino couple.

We immigrated from Brazil and Cuba

and we brought the knowledge

of so many cultures to our dishes.

Tonight's winning duo, Rachel and Julio!

We have been one of the best duos in the competition.

- Feeling confident? - Yes.

Chicken, lovely.

All the flavors are great.

The cooking techniques are great.

The winner is Rachel and Julio.

Yes! Let's go!

We've been so resilient. We persevered through every challenge.

My arms are gonna fall off.

We've had our ups and downs.

The rice is undercooked. Come on.

You got a blast that rice now. Let's go.

But just like in our marriage,

supporting each other made us stronger to climb back up.

Wow. Perfect risotto, which is no small feat.

Thank you, Joe. Come on, mi amor. We got this.

Our lives before "MasterChef" was just work to pay the bills.

- Move, move, move, move, move. - And when there is a chance that we get to do something

that we feel passionate about...

We're gonna fight to make sure that our dream becomes a reality.

'Ey, 'ey, 'ey!

Okay, Rachel and Julio, here to support you tonight,

we have Rachel's brother Michel and Julio's brother Renan.

Tell us what Julio was like as a little boy.

Was he always a passionate foodie?

Yes. He born for this time.

This time is yours, and I'm proud of you, my brother.

I... I didn't want to cry,

but, damn, it's... it's...

And finally, a couple from Boston, Massachusetts,

Jessica and Jesse!

Cannot believe we're in the finale.

It's unbelievable.

Go, Jess! Go, Jesse!

We got this. We got this.

- Whoo! - Jessica and Jesse,

let's see how you got here tonight. Take a look.

- The double J, Jessica and Jesse. - We're doing it, baby.

- We're doing it. - We're doing this.

Jesse and I met eight years ago

bartending together, and food has been our bond.

One of these duos just edged out the others. Zach and Michelle.

But we didn't get an apron to start and it hurt us.

Let's go!

And then we got our second chance to get a white apron.

- And we've clawed our way back. - Get the lamb on there. Gorgeous, baby.

- Jessica and Jesse. - Yeah! Yes!

And we knew ever since then that we're gonna prove

that we are the best duo in this competition.

- We do not want to let these aprons go. - We do not want to let go

- of these aprons. - We just got them.

We weren't gonna allow ourselves to get this far

only to go back home empty-handed.

- Do hard things. - Do hard things.

You took this challenge together as a duo. So good.

- Thank you, Chef. - Thank you, Chef.

This competition has strengthened our relationship.

We at times have been full of self-doubt,

and we found confidence in each other.

We're both strong cooks in our own right.

But together I feel like we've proven we're unstoppable.

- Pork is cooked beautifully. - So good.

- Thank you, Chef. - Next duo entering into the finale,

- Jessica and Jesse! - Oh, my God!

Winning the MasterChef title would be that validation

that me and Jessica are meant to be

in this whole culinary world together.

And I just know that we're gonna win the trophy,

we're gonna win the $250,000,

and win the title of MasterChef.

- Thank you. Love you. - Love you, too.

Jesse and Jessica, here to support you tonight,

we have Jessica's parents Richard and Laurie. Welcome.

Now, Dad, what do you think it means for both them tonight

to be standing here in the finale?

They've worked for this so hard. They're dedicated, talented.

They've got everything going for them.

I just wish them the best of luck tonight.

Lovely.

Now, it's time to lock in. Listen carefully.

Tonight, out of you three dynamic duos,

just one of you will win the grand prize,

that incredible MasterChef trophy,

a quarter of a million dollars,

and the title of America's MasterChefs.

Whoo!

Tonight, if you want to win that prize,

you need to make us an outstanding three course meal...

an appetizer, an entrée, and a dessert.

Your food tonight should be the best food you've served us

- in this entire competition. - Yes, Chef.

Tina and Aivan, you first.

Give us an insight into the themes behind your menus tonight.

Our menu is an ode to my grandma.

So we're gonna highlight Vietnamese heritage,

- specifically seafood. - Love that.

Rachel, Julio?

Our menu's called "Immigration."

We're gonna talk about the story of our families that immigrated

from Italy to Brazil, from Spain to Cuba,

and our story as immigrants from our countries to America.

Love that. Jesse and Jessica?

Our menu is a culinary love letter to New England.

It's where we both grew up,

it's where we met and fell in love,

and it's a true reflection of the both of us.

Wow. Those sound great.

First up, you'll have your delicious appetizers.

- You guys ready? - Yes, Chef.

The very best of luck to all six of you

because your 60 minutes start now!

Let's go!

Come on, come on, come on, come on.

Get in there. Get in there.

- The pork belly. - The basket.

- Rach, make sure to grab the pork. - Grab the prawns.

- Scallops. - Grab the pork, Rachel. I got the flour.

This finale is gonna be tough.

Julio and Rachel have the advantage in this finale

because they're the most unified in the kitchen.

- Apple. - Yes, grab for the salad. I got the apples.

They are a very close and strong duo.

- You got the onions? - So we have the pork.

They move in this harmony.

That's why I'm cheering for them.

Let's go, Tina. Let's go. Let's go!

Let's go, go, go, go! Come on! Go, go, go!

Come on, baby!

Let's go! Come on!

I think Jess and Jesse have the advantage tonight.

They just don't make critical mistakes,

and I think they have the best finesse of anybody in the competition.

Their passion has just shown through in everything that they do,

so our money is on Jess and Jesse.

Get that sugar real fine, okay, baby?

- Yep. - We picked Aivan and Tina to win.

Everything they've cooked so far in this competition

is something that I'd order over and over again.

They've got massive flavors that probably will put them over the top.

There's our Tina.

There's gonna be a lot of fish sauce. Don't you worry.

Let's go, baby.

Babe, just get the corn going. Okay?

- You got it, baby. - This is it.

The beginning of the finale. How exciting is this?

What an amazing triple duo in the ring tonight.

The level of competition this year is at an all-time high.

Yeah, it's added pressure tonight for sure.

We're gonna see which of these culinary duos is the best in America.

There is so much riding on these three courses,

and I want to see who's gonna prevail.

- Yeah, absolutely. - If you have leeks, I'll take them over here.

- Heard? Heard? - Heard.

Right? Every time... we got to talk to each other.

Okay? "Heard, heard, heard."

- Heard, heard, heard. - We're excited to be here,

but we have some tough competition here

- so we can't make mistakes. - Here. Do you need leeks?

You can put them right there. Right there.

We need to make sure that everything that we put on the dish

just beats them outright.

We are going into this finale full force.

That is how we started, and that is how we ended up here,

and that's how we're gonna end this competition.

It's like a battle like no other tonight. Come on, let's go!

15 minutes gone.

45 minutes to cook us your amazing appetizers.

Come on.

Whoo!

- How you doing, babycakes? - Doing good.

Make sure there's plenty of stock in that corn.

Yep, it's ripping.

Go. Let's go. You can do it.

- Thank you. - Thank you!

Hot behind.

Come on!

- All right. - Let's go!

Beautiful, Rachel!

20 minutes down! 40 minutes to go!

Whoo! Yeah!

- Rachel! - Hey, Chef.

- Julio! - Yes, Chef.

All right, tell me what we're making.

So today we're making a saffron empanada filled with...

that is going to be smoked a little bit.

And then we're gonna do a beautiful apple and fennel salad

- in a creamy cilantro sauce. - So why this dish?

This is a representation of my culture.

You're gonna taste some Cuban flavors with the pork and empanada.

- Okay. - And so it's gonna be beautiful and super flavorful.

Are you going to bake it or are you going to fry it?

- Fry it. - Deep fry it, Chef.

And then this dough, is this like butter? Lard?

- Lard. - Ah! All right. Well, make sure it's crispy

and cooked all the way through, okay?

- Yes, Chef. - Good luck, y'all.

- Chef. - Come on!

- Come on, Julio! - Whoo! It's hot.

Hot?

- Okay, here we go. - You got it! Whoo!

- Right, you two. - Hello, Chef.

This is it. How are we feeling?

- Feeling great, Chef. - Tell me, what we doing?

So we are doing a seared scallop with a pork belly.

- Nice. - With a corn purée, an apple cider gastrique,

and some crispy Brussels sprouts.

Where did this idea come from?

Corn is a huge part of our New England culture

at the end of summer, beginning of fall, so...

Yeah, it's a nostalgic combination for us both.

A sort of love letter from Massachusetts, right?

- Yeah. Yes. - It sure is.

Pork belly, how do you cook that within an hour?

- Where we going with that one? - So we're gonna

pressure cook it and then flash fry it

in the fryolator, get it nice and crispy.

Then we have a little maple glaze that's gonna go on top of it.

Love that. And that corn purée,

are we getting a fine corn purée?

- Yeah, it's gonna be super silky smooth. - Wow.

You guys are working super fast.

- It's not a race, so pace yourselves. - Yeah.

- Yep, absolutely. - Okay. Yes, Chef.

- Good luck, good luck. - Thank you.

- Teamwork, baby! Teamwork! - Let's go, let's go!

We are 30 minutes gone, 30 minutes remaining.

- Halfway, guys! Come on. - Thank you, Chef.

Okay, Tina and Aivan, please tell us the dish that you're making.

Yeah, we're making a goi tom,

which is a Vietnamese prawn salad.

This is one of the recipes that at every get-together,

we would always have some sort of variation.

- And I see this division of labor. - Yes.

- Tina's on the vegetables. - Yeah.

This is all the vegetable that I chopped for the salad.

- And what's in here? - That's our vinaigrette.

I need to refine the flavor, but it's supposed to be garlicky, spicy.

- Right now, it's very sweet. Did you taste this? - Yes.

Yeah, it's a little on the sweet side.

I need to refine the flavors in it.

And the prawns are gonna be pan-seared?

- Yes, butter pan-seared. - You don't want them overcooked because those overcooked

would be... immediately, it'd be a disaster.

- Yes. - All right, ladies. Good luck.

- Thank you. - Whoo!

Hot behind you. Hot behind you.

Hey-oh!

How's the sauce coming?

You want to taste this?

- Is it spicy enough? - A little more, please.

- How are you doing, mi amor? - I'm gonna take the pork out, cut it.

Let's do that, because I'm gonna be ready to cut this in a minute.

Wow. Incredible dishes, honestly.

I mean, Jesse and Jessica, they're doing a pan-seared scallop

with some roasted pork belly, corn purée, a little gastrique.

There's a lot going on there. And that corn purée, it needs to be smooth.

Pull it off, it could be a showstopper.

It's boiling. Want to try the corn for me?

- It's good. - Put it in the... yes.

So, Rachel and Julio are doing an empanada.

- Wow. - But, I mean, I think there's a lot of jeopardy here,

from the pork being cooked properly to the dough being right.

The dough has to be cooked all the way through.

So there's also the technique of how you pinch it,

how you form it, how you structure it.

The worst thing we could do is cut into an empanada,

- and the dough is raw. - Yeah, or there's not enough filling, you know?

- That's right. - Balance.

Let's go, Tina.

Beautiful cutting. Beautiful cutting.

Tina chops, chops, chops, and chops.

She hasn't stopped chopping.

So Tina and Aivan are making a Vietnamese prawn salad.

And the prawns themselves are pan-seared in butter.

There seems to be a lot of knife work with Tina and Aivan.

Incredible amount of knife work.

But is that a little bit too basic?

Just a salad for an appetizer in the finale?

Everyone's got so much jeopardy across the other two duos.

If the flavor is right and it sings like it should sing,

- then I'm not questioning. - Sure.

But I definitely want to see some skill

with all of the other elements that they have on the plate.

- I know, I know, I know. - Just a little quicker.

- I'm gonna grab the dough and start opening 'em. - Yeah.

There we are.

We are down to our final ten minutes to go.

Oh, look.

Jesse and Jessica, that pork belly

is now coming out of that pressure cooker.

- Okay. - And now into the fryer.

- Okay, it's going. - Meanwhile, Tina's still cutting vegetables.

That is a lot of chopping for one salad.

- Are you almost done with the salad? - Yeah, I'm done with the salad.

What are you doing with the carrot?

- Oh. - What are you doing with the carrot, Tina?

- No, no, no, no, no. - You need rice paper, green onions.

- Okay. - What are you doing?

- Ooh! Oh, my. - Julio's empanadas.

Um, first of all, they're not even cooked yet.

He only has nine minutes left to fry and let them settle.

- I don't know. I'd be nervous. - So they're very behind.

- Ooh, yeah, there are. - Ugh, I can't watch this.

- Julio, there's no water in there. - I did put water, mi amor.

The empanadas are not closing properly. I put water in it.

I tried to press it down, but I guess there's too much flour

and they're not sticking together.

Come on. Let's go.

Julio, Rachel, hurry up and get those in.

- Just be gentle with it. - Yep.

- Get those in, guys. - The empanada is the star.

And if this is not ready, it's gonna be awful.

Come on. Come on. It needs to go in.

- Hurry, Julio. - Oh, boy.

Okay, let me go in there. Let me go.

Julio, Rachel, hurry up and get those in, yeah?

- You've got to get them in. - You got it, Rach?

- Yep. - Let's go, mi amor.

Six minutes to go, guys.

- Come on, let's go! - Let's go. Let's go!

- Don't overcook them, okay? - Okay, baby.

- These ones are done. - Okay, okay.

Put them in the oven. Don't forget about them.

- Baby, I know. - Take a breath.

- Keep grinding, guys. - Keep calm, cool. You got it. You got it.

Here we go. Jesse's getting the pan ready for the scallops.

- And they need to be perfect. - Okay, those look good.

- Here you go, baby. - Okay, let's go.

Three minutes to go, guys. Start plating. Let's go!

- Brussels in the oven? - Yes.

- Yes, yes, yes. - What temp? What temp? What temp?

- Watch out, watch out. Excuse me, excuse me. - Sorry.

Brutally burnt.

- Jesse! - It brutally burnt.

Damn, look at that.

Jesse's burnt his Brussels sprouts.

Has he got time to start again?

Plate. Start plating. Start plating. Go.

Go, go, go, go, go. Go, go, go, go, go.

And I'm gonna need 30 more seconds here on empanada, yeah?

- Okay. - Julio and Rachel's empanadas,

- they're still in the fryer. - Why are we not plating?

- Put this one in. Okay. - No, Tina, don't lift things

- while I'm doing things. - Okay?

Go, go. You got this. You got this. You got this.

- Breath. Take a breath. - Okay. Okay, okay, okay.

- There you go. All right. - Yes!

- Go, Julio! - 60 seconds to go.

Last minute. Come on!

- Watch out. Watch out. - Come on, baby. Come on.

Let's go, let's go. You can do this!

- Remember, bigger dots. - Come on, Julio!

- You got this! You got this. - Brussels, get them on.

What? Babe, no. Brussels, get them on.

- Ten, nine, eight... - Be careful, yeah.

- Nice, nice, nice. - Six, five, four,

- three, two, one. - Stop!

- I love you. - Mm!

- Oh, baby! - Looks beautiful.

Elevated empanada, yeah?

It got down to the wire. I thought we were in control.

And then the Brussels sprouts went up in flames.

But we pivoted real quick

and threw a couple more leaves at the end,

and we got some on the plate, so it looks great.

Well done, well done.

Cooking in front of my family is a blessing.

I'm so happy that we bring our flavor,

our culture to the world.

Now it's time to taste those delicious appetizers.

Please, all of you, make your way around to the front.

Thank you.

- Let's go, guys. Looks great. - Come on!

Right, please step forward, Tina and Aivan.

Whoo! Let's go, guys!

- Ladies first. - Thank you.

- Please describe your dish. - So we made a goi tom,

which is a Vietnamese prawn salad

with crispy leeks and a chili garlic vinaigrette.

Visually, it looks beautiful.

I love the colors.

The cook on the prawns looks lovely.

- Thank you, Chef. - Shall we?

Salad's delicious. It's light, it's hot, it's spicy.

However, on a night like tonight,

I was expecting something a little bit more complicated.

But the cook on the shrimp is beautiful. Who cooked the shrimp?

- Tina. - I did.

Well done. Thank you.

Thank you, Chef.

I think the salad is very refreshing.

You have some height on the plate,

and the leeks are nicely crispy, not too dark.

- Good job. - Thank you.

Yeah, I agree with a lot of the comments of my colleagues.

The shrimp were delicious. The plating was beautiful.

I'd love to have more acid on the plate,

but overall the whole thing really kind of presented like a real restaurant dish.

- Good job. - Thank you.

I don't see a full 60 minutes times two on here.

It's a very simple beginning.

Please come forward, Jessica and Jesse.

We're hoping that we nailed most of our techniques,

and the judges are gonna see that we put out a huge effort

for our first appetizer.

We have for you a pan-seared

scallop with pork belly,

with a corn purée, pickled jalapeño,

an apple gastrique, and some crispy Brussels sprout leaves.

I think the plate is beautiful with the colors that you have

from the scallops to the corn

to the beautiful crispiness of the pork.

- Very nice. - Thank you, Chef.

The sear on the scallops is beautiful,

and the scallops are also well-seasoned

in a very delicate way.

Overall, a really solid effort.

Very, very complex. Good dish.

- Thank you, Joe. - I love the fact that

you went again and refried the Brussels sprouts.

You did not stop with, you know, the ones that burned.

And I feel like it's needed on this dish.

It gives it a little bit of crispiness as a whole.

But your corn purée is too thick, though.

- Okay. - It's a little bit of, um...

- Pudding. - Yeah. You see?

But honestly, I think this is a really nice dish.

With a couple little tweaks, and it's a great dish.

Thank you, Chef.

It's delicious. The combinations are exquisite.

Pork belly and scallops, cooked beautifully.

- You came out the gate strong. Well done, both of you. - Thank you, Chef.

Great job, guys.

All right. Please come forward, Julio and Rachel.

We're nervous because it was down to the wire.

We didn't have any extra second to taste the empanada.

So we are praying and hoping that it's cooked through.

If the empanada is not crispy and cooked enough,

it's gonna be a real problem for us.

Ooh. Fancy, huh?

All right, Julio and Rachel, please describe your dish.

We've made a saffron empanada filled with braised mojo pork.

We have apple fennel salad, garlic, and paprika aioli

in a creamy cilantro sauce.

I mean, that has to be one of the poshest empanadas

I've ever seen. It looks spectacular.

I mean, taking something from the sort of street food phenomenon, elevating it.

Yeah, I mean, if there was ever a time to do it in this competition,

tonight's the bloody night. Well done. It looks beautiful.

- Thank you, Chef. - Please enjoy it.

Hmm. It's a little light on the filling.

Yeah. You can see,

- I've got so much pastry, but hardly any filling. - Yeah.

I think the dough texture is great.

I love the flakiness, the crispiness of it.

The pork inside is highly seasoned. It is juicy.

And the aioli and the sauces on top,

I like the brightness of the flavor.

- Very nice. - Thank you, Chef.

The fennel salad is delicious. It's seasoned properly.

It's bright. It's crunchy.

And the dough, it's flaking and crispy

like it's supposed to do, so good job with that.

Thank you.

It tastes good. There's no two ways about this.

However, these things should be 90% full,

and I've got one here that is literally 50% full.

But the pastry is delicious.

Smart move with the salad to cut the richness.

- I just want to say well done. - Thank you, Chef.

I feel like more time needed to be done on the filling.

Right, it's time to move on to the entrée.

The entrée you serve us tonight,

it's gonna carry a lot of weight.

Because if you really shine in this round,

you can become the front-runner going into the dessert.

- And that's where you want to be. - Yes, Chef.

Tina and Aivan, please let us know

what you're making for the entrée round.

Which is crispy skin salmon with a lemongrass chili sauce.

We're making it with garlic rice and bok choy.

Very nice. Rachel and Julio?

The second dish is gonna tell my story,

my Italian heritage with my Brazilian culture.

It's gonna be a squid ink tortellini

filled with lobster mascarpone, lobster medallions,

moqueca sauce, and cilantro oil.

Wow. Jessica and Jesse.

We started in fall in New England,

and now we're gonna take you into the winter.

We're gonna be making you a braised beef short rib

with cacio e pepe gnocchi, sautéed mushrooms,

and veal demi-glace.

- Love that. - Wow.

Right, the very best of luck to you all.

Your 60 minutes starts now!

Grab a basket first. I got you. I got you.

All right, we need some double-oh zero flour, right?

- Right here. - Let's get the lobster. Come here.

- Tina, grab the salmon. - Okay, okay.

- We need to grab the short rib, babe. - Get the short rib.

Coming out of the appetizer round, we feel pretty good.

We felt like we might have had an edge on the other two duos.

What short rib do you want? This one? Those ones are a little big.

- But everybody is locked in. - Yep.

And they're not messing around. They're not here to play,

they're here to win, just like us.

- We need cheese. - Come on. Let's go. Let's go.

- Pecorino. Parmesan. Go! - Let's go!

The biggest difficulty of our entrée is

are we gonna get that short rib cooked in time?

This is something that takes two to three hours at home.

The first five minutes

of this cook are super important.

We need to get those short ribs seared

and into the pressure cooker,

so then we have 50 minutes remaining

- to get those short ribs tender. - Here we go.

- The entrée, it's got to be a showstopper. - I think this is where

you sort of separate yourself, right?

Everyone could have had a pretty good appetizer,

- but your entrée has to blow us out the water... - Exactly.

So that you get yourself ready for the dessert.

Salt needs to be on the middle. Salt and pepper needs to go in the middle.

So does the oil. We need the oil in the middle.

- Here you go. - Thank you.

- Start on that lemongrass. - Okay. I get them ready.

- Remember this? - Yes. Comfort food from home.

- I miss Mommy doing this. - Represent her.

- You need some salt in the water? - Yes.

- You got this, yeah? - Mm-hmm.

I'm working on that right now.

Okay. That's good. I got it. I got it. I got it.

- Jessica and Jesse are moving at the speed of light. - Yeah.

They've got to get that short rib in the pressure cooker quickly.

I... That was stupid.

Those short ribs need to get in.

That's stressing me out a little bit.

- He looks stressed. - It's stressing him out, too.

Watch out, watch out, watch out, watch out.

I can smell the beef.

- Looking good, J Squared. - Got it. Go.

Jesse and Jessica, right on time.

Five minutes into the cook,

and they've got the short ribs in the pressure cooker already.

Man, the speed of Jesse and Jessica is extraordinary.

Why is it not going? What's wrong?

It's just not pressurizing yet.

Oh, no! Is he having issues?

Why the is that not pressurized?

I am so stressed out.

We may have filled up the pressure cooker

with too much stock, because it's not coming to temp.

What the? It's not pressurizing.

And all I can think of is we're not gonna get this cooked in time.

- Did you put hot liquid into it? - Yes, Jess.

- Oh, my God. - I'm getting frantic.

If these short ribs aren't tender,

then we don't have a dish.

All we have is gnocchi, some vegetables, and a sauce.

That's not gonna be enough for us to win the trophy.

Everything's riding on that pressure cooker.

- Oh, God. - Come on.

- All right, it's coming up. It's coming up. - It's coming up?

It's coming up, it's coming up, it's coming up.

I might need maybe a little

three minutes more on the dough.

One minute on the lobster before I take it out.

- Fantastic. Yeah. - I get the fish ready.

- You want to taste this? - Okay.

- Tell me what you think. - Beautiful.

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.

We're 15 minutes down.

Just under 45 minutes to go, guys, yes?

Right. How we feeling?

- Feeling good, Chef. - This dish is tricky.

We've got that tortellini going on. We've got the lobster.

- Who's doing what here? - I'm working on the tortellini, Chef.

I'm working on the filling. Rachel is working on the lobster.

- How we cooking this lobster? - So I blanched it a little bit, just under.

- Good. - And then I'm gonna baste it with some butter,

- lemon zest, lemon juice, and... - Nice. Delicious.

How are we shaping these tortellinis? Because they're very finicky.

You going round with your little finger? Index finger?

- Where you going? - Right here. Right in between.

- I read your book. You know, go around. - Love that.

Nice. Tell me about the sauce, because it smells delicious.

- What's the sauce? - It's a moqueca sauce, Chef.

That's a tropical Brazilian sauce that we have.

- We make it either as a fish stew or a seafood stew. - Yes.

- Love that. - You know, I want to make these people here proud.

They are definitely proud.

- Come on. Good luck. Let's go, let's go. - Let's go, Chef.

Come on.

Come on, Julio! Come on, Rachel!

- Remember to cut those thin. - Okay. Yes, boss!

All right, just over 35 minutes left.

Whoo!

- Hi, Tina, Aivan. - Hi, Tiffany!

So how we looking? Is everything coming along right now?

Everything's coming along.

We've got our garlic and shallots ready for our rice.

Okay, so this is your marinade. Marinade's done.

- Yes. - And what are we looking for in temp for cooking the salmon?

- We're gonna do medium rare. - Okay. Where is the tradition

and then where are you guys kind of adding on?

The marinade on the fish is exactly as my grandma would do it.

And we're modernizing it by just using salmon,

because it's gonna really help elevate the dish.

What would you have normally used instead of salmon?

So my grandma would use, like, small white fish.

Marinate them, freeze them, and then we would fry them together.

- Ah, fried, okay. Nice. - Yes, yes.

Don't have the pan too hot when you're cooking the salmon, right?

You don't want that skin to brown too quickly.

We have a lot of sugar in our marinade as well, so we don't want that to burn.

- Okay, but you didn't put it on the top, though, right? - No.

- Okay, good. - Every part of the dish is important, right?

- Yes. - Taste, taste, taste.

- Yes. - All right? Good luck, y'all.

- How's that pasta looking? - Yeah, it's looking beautiful.

It looks good.

Come on, cool off. Yep.

Whoo!

Okay, just under 25 minutes.

All right, guys, so you have the beef short ribs in the braiser.

- Yep. - And the gnocchi's meant to be eaten with the sauce

- of the beef braise, right? - Yes.

Are you putting any cheese on top to finish it?

We're gonna do a frico.

So frico is traditionally a cheese tuile

that comes exactly from where I'm from in Italy.

- Awesome, yeah. We're gonna bring... - So these mushrooms are

- gonna be plated with the sauce? - Yes.

The mushrooms are actually gonna be mixed in with the gnocchi.

- Jesse, Jesse. Slow down. Slow down. - I know.

Can you tell him to slow down for one minute? Just take a brief...

I've tried so many times, Joe. He just doesn't listen to me.

Jesse, you're in the finale of "MasterChef."

You're celebrating New England, the beautiful seasons.

It's all good in here, right? It's all good.

- It certainly is. - Enjoy the moment.

- You're doing great. Enjoy. Good luck. - Thank you so much.

So we have the filling. We have the oil.

We have the sauce cooking now.

Rachel and Julio, they really work very clean.

- Very good-looking pasta. - So, Rachel and Julio.

This is the first time that they have cooked lobster in this competition.

So they're taking a big risk in the finale cooking lobster.

As we know, it's not an easy thing to do.

No. With 30 seconds under, we don't get the true flavor of that lobster.

30 seconds over, there's no going back.

They get rubbery very quickly.

I don't want to put my lobster in until, like, the last seven minutes.

- It's okay. We can wait on that. - And then that tortellini?

You know how difficult is, that squid ink in there.

So the squid ink is not always just about color,

- because squid ink actually has a flavor. Mm-hmm.

It's very bitter and zinc-y,

which is gonna be an interesting contrast next to the lobster.

Here, taste.

- Ah. Yes. - Julio and Rachel doing this moqueca,

normally it is a sauce that takes time.

- Six, eight, ten hours, right? - My goodness.

- Slow and steady. - And here it's what?

Gonna end up being probably 30 to 40 minutes total.

Jessica, you want to come and try for Mommy?

I wish. You're making me hungry.

So, Tina and Aivan's dish,

there are roots from their grandmother,

but it is definitely modernized.

- Did you put lemon in there? - Last thing.

- Okay. - Traditionally,

their grandmother would take and fry white fish

and let it marinate with the chili garlic.

- But salmon has a lot of oil, right? Mm-hmm.

And it doesn't take as well as some other fish would.

But I think the fact that they're using

that same flavor profile to make the sauce,

- you will get a lot of that flavor on the plate. - Sure.

But again, that salmon needs to be cooked beautifully.

If you're gonna present a salmon for your entrée,

then it needs to be crispy on the top

- and nice and pink in the center, right? - She said medium rare.

Medium rare. There we go.

This is an interesting way of doing gnocchi.

Jesse and Jessica are making braised beef short ribs

with gnocchi, with sautéed mushrooms, roasted carrots.

I mean, it's like everything. They have so many components, so many cooking techniques.

And you can see it from their bench.

Is this gonna be okay for your gnocchi

- or you want a bigger one? - Yeah, I want that one.

This pan is hot. This pan is hot. Handle's hot.

The big jeopardy there with Jesse and Jessica is the short ribs.

When they turn that pressure cooker off,

they need to be melting in your mouth.

- Gnocchi going in. - Gnocchi going in.

- That's hot. - Whoo!

Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, no.

He doesn't want the flame. The pan's too hot.

We are down to 15 minutes, ladies and gentlemen. Come on!

Move this.

How come our fish has scales on it?

- What you say, honey? - I said our fish have scales on it.

- I know. - Yeah, it still looks like

there's a lot of scales on Tina and Aivan's salmon.

And it's taking Aivan a long time to get those scales off.

She's got a lot of fish to cook.

Tina started off seasoning the salmon,

making sure it was all perfect and pretty.

But she didn't tell me that it had scales.

- Did you see that it had scales? - I did.

- Okay, and you didn't say anything? - I thought...

At this point, they need to start cooking the salmon.

Yeah, but we don't want scales.

Time is running out, and if those salmon

are not cooked to perfection, we might as well pack our bags

- now and head back home. - Let's go!

That's not very much time.

Next time, it's the "MasterChef: Dynamic Duos" finale.

- Come on, Aivan. Get that fish in. - I will.

My big worry right now is Julio and Rachel.

Make sure they're really nice and close.

- Let me concentrate here, yeah? - I really hope when

they hit the water, those tortellini don't explode.

Jesse and Jessica are about to open that pressure cooker.

Nothing else matters if the short ribs are not tender.

- Knife, please. - How's that knife going through?

- Smooth? - Mm.

It's time for your final course.

- Go, go, go, go! - There's no precedent

to a dessert like this that I've ever seen.

That usually takes me two to three days at home.

- There's a lot of risk here. - It is a lot of risk, Chef.

- Aivan's got liquid nitrogen. - This is a very unconventional technique.

We like to push our limits, and this is the finale.

It looks stunning. You're cooking like pros.

Kind of nervous for everybody else right now.

- This is delicious. - Top three! Yeah!

Only one duo will win the title

of America's first MasterChefs.

Winning "MasterChef" would be life-changing.

All we want is to take that trophy home.

We're one judgment away from changing the rest of our lives.

Congratulations goes to...