Original subtitles

Previously on "MasterChef"...

- Dodger Stadium, baby! - Here we go!

Welcome to one of baseball's crown jewels-- Dodger Stadium.

- This is Freddie Freeman, first baseman for the Dodgers.

- Wow. - Today, you'll be cooking lunch

for over 100 kids from the Dodgers Foundation.

- Whoo! - If Grant's cooking burgers now,

congratulations, you've lost.

Dry, it's just dry.

Guys, the chicken's over.

The winning team is the red team!

- Can't beat burgers with kids. - Burgers.

The person going home is Kendal.

Tonight, the MasterChef kitchen welcomes a big guest--

veteran, and presidential chef Andre Rush.

Have you seen his biceps? Whew!

Tonight, we turn this competition on its head.

- The regional alliances are no more. - It's heating up.

Tonight, you'll be cooking with military field rations.

- Oh, my God. -It is your job to elevate them.

You want your plate to pop and shine.

That is how two master chefs cook a gourmet meal

using Army rations.

- Are you ready? - Hell, no.

They gotta make the rations the star.

- Ugh. - You gotta start cooking.

- Just don't know what to do. - Does that look appetizing to you?

I feel very confident about it.

- That does not taste good. - Ooh, terrible.

This looks like something I'd find in my kid's undershorts.

- I'm in big trouble.

Here we are.

Things are changing.

- Talk about a wrinkle. - New rules.

Tonight, we turn this competition on its head.

- Let's go!

All right!

Welcome back, guys. Let's go!

Oh, it's a mystery box!

- Got a mystery box. - Whoo, mercy!

These are my least favorite challenges because I am a planner.

But also, coming in today, I'm kinda down.

My team lost the last team challenge,

and as the captain, I was in the bottom three

and it is not somewhere I want to be ever again.

Welcome back, everybody.

Top 13. Come on, look at you all.

- Yeah! - Whoo!

Now, all of you, listen up.

The competition's starting to shift gears.

Now, you spent the first half of this competition working with your regions.

But, like I said on day one, this is an individual competition.

Starting right now, no more hiding behind the best cook in your region.

- Wow. - Ooh. All right.

You'll no longer be cooking in regional groups.

That means any dish could be named one of the top three

- or the bottom three. - Oh, dang.

Now, tonight, we have a traditional mystery box challenge.

So, on the count of three, lift your boxes.

One, two, three, lift.

- What? - Oh.

- Oh, my God. - This is some Army stuff.

- Oh.

Now, in that package, you have real military field rations.

Also known as Meals Ready to Eat,

- or MREs. - Oh, yeah. Okay.

I'm pretty familiar with Army rations. I camp, I hunt.

I have some emergency supplies at home. I'm not a prepper.

But I've eaten them plenty of times,

and I know they taste like crap.

- In that package, you'll find lentil stew... - Wow.

au gratin potatoes, hash browns with bacon and peppers, peanuts,

apple sauce, a lemon and lime sports drink mix...

- What? - ...peas and tomatoes,

crackers, strawberry jam,

and for dessert, an oatmeal cookie.

Oh, my gosh.

Now, those are what our brave servicemen and women eat

when proper meals are not available.

Tonight, you'll be turning those humble ingredients

into gourmet dishes.

Now, here to provide some inspiration tonight,

we have a very special guest.

He's an award-winning chef, a decorated Army veteran.

- He's earned over 150 medals and trophies... - Wow.

- Whoa. - ...and has cooked at the White House

- for four presidents. - Wow.

- Dang. - He the man.

All of you, please welcome

the amazing Chef Andre Rush.

- Whoo! - All right!

Yes! Oh, my God.

I'm hot right now.

I mean, have you seen his biceps? Whew!

I wanted to, like, poke at it.

Chef Rush, thank you for being here.

Pleasure being here.

- M. D., I've never seen you this excited. - I'm a big fan.

Thank you, Chef, for what you do for the community.

- It's the giving back that I think is just... - Absolutely.

- Thank you for that. - Stop hitting that,

- because you've just ruined... - Oh, sorry.

- He makes me nervous!

What an inspiration.

Now, take us back to the beginning

when this incredible career started.

It started with my mother.

My father taught me how to work my butt off,

my mother taught me how to love and appreciate cooking.

And cooking became a passion of mine,

and then I just stuck with it going into the military

and to the White House, everywhere.

And this is what I do today and I love it.

Now, you've been instrumental

behind the development for these rations.

Give us an insight behind them.

They were designed for nutrients.

They were not designed to taste good.

They are full of sodium, so taste your food.

Now, those rations you have right there,

10 years later, you can still eat them.

It is your job to elevate them,

which I have many times before.

Now, just to give you an idea

of what can be accomplished with the ingredients,

Chef Rush and I have a very special demonstration for you all.

- All right! - Yes.

This is what I've been waiting for,

to watch Gordon Ramsay cook

alongside Chef Andre Rush?

I mean, this is an incredible experience.

Now, tonight we're gonna be making a delicious peanut-crusted salmon

with stewed lentils, with a really nice potato cake.

And I'm gonna do a lemon-lime burre blanc. Imagine that.

Now, in order to make these plates restaurant quality,

it's gotta have color, texture.

Now, for the salmon, a nice little brush of Dijon mustard.

That's gonna help glue those peanuts from the rations to the salmon.

You get that really nice crust on there, okay?

And then literally lay that down into the pan. Leave it caramelizing.

So, lentils, how are we gonna elevate the lentils? Chef?

We're gonna do the lentils with some carrots, some celery, some onions, garlic.

We're gonna make a ragu. These MREs, sometimes they have a lot more sodium in them

because they have to last for a very long time.

So be careful with sodium in everything that you add,

then finish it off with some nice, crisp, vibrant spinach.

-Love that. - Nice little toss,

because, again, you want it to be vibrant.

You want your plate to pop and shine.

Now, this is the hash brown. Take all the potatoes out.

And with this, I'm gonna turn it into a really nice potato cake.

- Oh, wow. - And then take the crackers.

- Look at this thing. - Oh, wow.

- James, does that look appetizing to you? - Hell, no.

There you go. So crush those crackers, okay?

And that's gonna be my breading for this beautiful potato cake.

Okay, into the egg, and then into the cracker.

And, look, two minutes ago it was that ration pack.

Now we've elevated it, seasoned it.

Into the pan, we'll get this thing really nice and crispy.

- Amazing. - Now, the sports drink.

- This is my pre-workout. - Yeah!

- You work out? - No, I don't, Chef.

So, this is lemon-lime electrolytes.

And we're gonna do a lemon-lime burre blanc with this,

which is gonna be absolutely amazing.

And then we're just gonna add in our cold butter for it.

Let it go in, then we're gonna put some nice, fresh parsley inside.

It is such an incredible experience

to watch Chef Gordon and Chef Andre

create something out of literal rations...

- Ready to plate? - Ready to plate.

...and do it so effortlessly.

- I'm blown away. - Chef, do the honors

with the beautiful burre blanc, please.

- Aarón: Oh, ho, ho, ho. -Oh.

That is how two master chefs cook a gourmet meal

using Army rations. Good job.

- Amazing. Awesome, guys. - That's was amazing!

- Yes! -I'm freaking out

about this challenge a little bit.

I like to think that I'm really creative in the kitchen

and I can make, you know, something out of nothing,

but I just want to make sure I don't mess it up.

I don't want to end up

on the wrong side of those biceps.

- Right, all of you feeling inspired? -Yeah!

- Yes, Chef. - Good. Glad to hear it.

Now, Gordon and Chef Rush used five

of the MRE ingredients when making their dish.

You must use at least three.

Plus, you will have access to the full pantry.

Well, at least some of you do.

- Ooh. - Oh!

- Oh, my God.

We're also rationing out our proteins.

That's right. There are 13 of you left in this competition.

And there are just 13 unique proteins in the pantry tonight.

Lizzie, James, M. D.,

Grant, Charles, Wayne, and Brynn,

you were on that winning team

across that amazing field challenge,

so you get to go to that pantry and get first pick.

- Yes. - Awesome.

Sav, Kolby, Jennifer,

Reagan, Nina, and Kennedy, you're all on the losing team,

so you six have pick of protein basically from what's left.

- Yep. - Whoever cooks the best dish tonight

will win the immunity pin

and earn a huge advantage across the next challenge.

But whoever cooks the worst dish, sadly, will be eliminated.

All right, so you'll have one hour to cook a dish

utilizing those MRE ingredients.

- Are you ready? - Yes, Chef!

- Your time starts... - Now!

- Let's go! Good luck. - Go, go, go, go!

- Let's get it!

- Losing team, stand by. - Come on.

- Yippee! - My halibut.

Okay, what have we got? Oh, rack of lamb.

- Salmon. - Fillet.

I hope they don't take all the good stuff.

- I know. - I'm gonna get my tuna.

- Let's see. -I'm so happy that I got the fillet.

When I am camping in Alaska, I take steaks out with me,

I take our dehydrated meals, and I put them together,

so I know I can do this today.

Okay, do I have it all?

It is very important to be creative with these MREs,

but I have no one to hide behind from my region tonight,

and that is scary.

- All right. - There they go.

- Dadgum. - This is brutal.

- All right.

- I know. - Okay, the winning team is back.

- You guys may go. Let's go! - Aarón: Let's go.

Good luck. Let's go.

Oh, (bleep), we gotta get...

- Pork loin. - Hanger steak, let's get it.

- Gonna do chicken. - Ugh. Not the last one.

- Okay. - Oh, my God.

- Start with some couscous. - Oh, Kolby's out.

- Okay. - He's got the pork.

Oh, ground pork. I love that.

Some people say this one's the hardest.

- Aarón: Yep. - Okay.

That's a lot of spices.

Guys, 10 minutes gone, 50 minutes to go.

Speed up, let's go.

- Okay. - Okay, I got my tzatziki.

- Okay. - Aarón: Taste the MREs, guys.

Understand where you're at with seasoning.

- Why not? Let's add that bad boy.

All right, I feel like that needs a little help. Where's that harissa?

- The rations, they're full of sodium, full of salt. - Oh, that change everything.

These contestants might need to adjust their seasoning accordingly,

- otherwise they're gonna be in trouble. - Make it spicy, baby.

But also I think they're void of texture,

- 'cause they're all kind of mushy. - Ooh, not you.

So you have to have something crunchy

- to keep your palate engaged. - Yeah.

I think that's one of the intimidation factors for them,

- that mush factor. - Yeah.

Uh, that is definitely different.

- Can I confess something, Chef?

- Yes. - I've never tasted a ration.

I'm afraid to taste what a ration tastes like.

Oh, well, you're gonna try today.

This is gonna be my first experience.

I actually, to this very day, still eat them.

I still keep them in my house just in case.

Wow.

Go, go, go, baby. I'm swinging pretty big today.

I'm really happy I had the benefit of first choice of proteins

because I really wanted lamb.

So I'm making a Moroccan-spiced and herb-crusted rack of lamb.

I've got these potato cakes and I've got some tzatziki sauce.

I'm using nine out of ten of these MREs if everything goes right,

so I've got to cook the lamb perfectly

'cause I know Gordon has a high standard when it comes to lamb.

I am cooking. Super cooking right now.

I'm using the chicken protein

because chicken goes really well with Indian food.

The MREs are sort of flavorless,

so I feel like I can really jazz that up

with some Indian spices, and I'm hoping that will work.

- All right, let's go! - All right, next, crackers.

What am I trying to do?

The last choice was the ground pork.

How am I gonna elevate such a humble ingredient?

I just don't know what to do. Oh, my gosh.

45 minutes to go. Get those proteins on, please.

- Relax. - The clock moves so much faster

- when you don't know what you're doing. - Speed it up.

The pressure is building so heavily.

Oh, my God. What am I trying to do here?

And the task here is to elevate,

so I'm not sure what can happen here.

Guys, 15 minutes gone, 45 minutes to go.

- Guys, come on. - Whoop. That's your station.

- Okay. - Wow, this is exciting. Really exciting, indeed.

A very creative, imaginative challenge,

to get these Army rations up to MasterChef quality.

- It's gonna be spicy. - We've asked them to use, minimum, three rations,

but you could go further than that and not look like a ration, right?

Like, not. That's the key.

- Wow. - Aarón: So an undercurrent of this whole mystery box

is the fact that the regional alliances are no more.

Now it's every home cook for themselves,

so this is their opportunity to stand by themselves

and express their culinary point of view.

Mm-kay.

All right, James, let's see what you gonna do, boy.

We're down to 40 minutes remaining.

- Speed up. Let's go. - Let's go, let's go, let's go.

I've gotta get this together.

- Kolby, you've got the ground pork. - What's going on?

Yes, sir. I'm not a big pork person,

but the thing about "MasterChef" is coming in, being uncomfortable,

and creating things that you wouldn't normally create.

- What's the dish? - I'ma do a meatball. I'ma do a tomato sauce.

That's what I'm working on now. I'm making the mirepoix for the tomato sauce.

- You gotta start cooking, get more pans out. - Yes, sir, I got you.

All right, so what MREs are you gonna utilize?

So I'm using the crackers, I'm using the tomatoes

and the peas, and I'm also gonna use the applesauce.

Nice. Now work that really good,

make sure it's seasoned properly.

- Definitely. - Good luck.

Thank you, sir. Thank you, Joe.

Man, he definitely got me moving.

- Okay. - Beautiful.

- All right. Aloha, Chefs. -Right, M. D.

- How's it going? - Hello, how are you?

I'm great, Chef. How are you?

So what are you doing over here? What's your protein?

I'm using ahi. I'm from Hawai'i, so--

- So are you happy with this? - Yes, for sure.

It's something that I'm very familiar with.

- Psst. It's burning. - Oh, (bleep). Sorry.

I know you got a bit gooey-eyed in front of Chef, but...

- Sorry, Chef. - I was admiring them muscles.

-As soon as I saw-- - Focus on that. That's gone.

If you win tonight, get immunity pin,

I'll let Chef pin it on you. But right now...

- Yes, Chef, sorry, sorry, sorry. - What's the dish?

I'm making a seared ahi with a couscous salad

with the peas and tomato, with au gratin potatoes,

and then a strawberry hot sauce.

I love the fact you're playing to your strengths with the tuna.

- Do it justice, okay? - Yes, Chef. Yes, Chef.

- Yes? Good luck. - Thank you so much.

Thank you, Chefs. Appreciate you.

I got a little flustered here, apparently.

Chutney, let's make some chutney.

All right, let's go, let's go.

Bada-boom, bada-bing.

- You got over there, Kennedy? - Yeah, I'm good, baby. How are you?

I'm good. I'm surprised. Pleasantly surprised.

- Kennedy, what protein did you get? - How are ya?

I'm gonna make a Mediterranean herb rib-eye with a tomato stew underneath.

And then I'm gonna do a mint and lemon-lime drink pesto on top.

Nice, I like that. Very zippy.

- How many of the MREs will you be using then? - I'm gonna be using five.

I definitely have worked with these before.

Me and my girlfriend actually have a bunch in our bus.

Have you ever embellished them, like we're doing tonight?

No, I haven't. We eat them more, like, when we're drunk

and late at night in the bus drinking beers

- and just trying out new flavors and stuff. - That sounds like a party.

- Good luck! - Thank you, guys. 100% Thank you.

Sounds good.

- Let's go, baby. - Come on.

You got this, Grant.

- Right, Grant. - Chef Ramsay, how are ya?

- Protein, what did we grab? - Protein, I have Amberjack.

- Great. - I'm making a cracker and herb-encrusted Amberjack,

and then I am gonna use the hash brown here,

- I'm gonna make a gnocchi out of it. - Um...

So I'm gonna have the gnocchi along with these lentils,

with lemon-lime vinaigrette to dress some greens on top of that Amberjack.

- Remember, that lemon-lime, it's very powerful. - Very tiny amount. Absolutely.

If it doesn't taste good, I'm not gonna put it on the plate.

- Gnocchi, how does that sound? - That sounds amazing if he can pull it off.

Yeah, and so the gnocchi, you gonna pan fry them, not blanch them?

I'm gonna boil them, then I am gonna pan fry them as well,

bring some more texture to that.

- The potato's already cooked. - Sure, sure, sure.

So they may disintegrate in that boiling water.

- Okay. Thank you. - Good luck.

I'm gonna go pan fry. I think I have to. Okay.

- In here. - Whoo!

- Let's get it. How's it going, Chef? - Charles, how are you?

- Good, how are you? - What's going on? What's your protein?

So, I'm doing a Thai style curry halibut.

I feel very confident about it because it's flavors

- from my region and my culture. - Okay, how many rations?

I'm using three MREs-- the lentil, the strawberry jam,

and I'm using the crushed peanuts.

- Have you tasted that? - Mm. Taste that.

-Man. - What do you taste?

- A little bit salty. - I said it 10 times. You gotta watch that.

- Okay. - Okay?

That does not taste good. What spice did you put in there?

- Thai chili. - That's way too spicy.

I love spice, but I want to make it to where you guys

- enjoy it as well. - But it's spicy and salty, so it's hard to pull this back.

- Start small and then add to. - You just put everything in at one time.

You know it's individual, and we have no safety net of the region,

and it's all down to you and you only.

Young man, 29 minutes to go. Get a grip, please?

- Thank you. - I'm worried about you. Really worried.

Right now, I'm screwing it up. I'm freaking out.

I am so worried.

My sauce is too spicy and too salty.

I need to get my head out of my ass

and get this fixed and fast.

Why do I end up always coming back here?

Because it could potentially bring me to the bottom three.

Guys, 25 minutes to go.

- Oh, God. - Whoo!

The spirit of tonight's challenge

is to highlight those rations

and really help them stand out.

They gotta make the rations the star.

- I need some more tomato. - I'ma do this.

Here's one we're seriously worried about-- Charles.

He did this Thai style curry

- which was so salty and so spicy. - Oh, no.

- It was inedible. - The worst of both worlds.

- Salty and spicy.

- Not good at all. - No.

Guys, 20 minutes to go. Come on, guys.

- Let's go. - Oh, my God.

- Right, Lizzie. - Yes, Chef?

- What did you grab protein-wise? - I grabbed the fillet.

I'm going to just pan-sear it and then I'm gonna do

and then I'm gonna do a chimichurri on it with the lemon-lime.

- Love the idea of the chimichurri. - Can you taste it?

- Yeah. - It tastes-- it's really-- I don't like it.

Mm-hmm, yeah. So that needs freshness.

Get some fresh herbs in there. Add a little bit of olive oil in there.

Always remember, you can add to, but you can't take away from.

- Yes, yes. Thank you, Chef. - Why the fillet on a night like tonight?

This was the last meal I cooked for my dad before I came here.

I made him a fillet, I made him a chimichurri.

My dad was in the Air Force, so this is for him tonight.

- Good. - How long did your dad serve for?

He served for four years,

but my grandfather was in the Navy,

and then my brother-in-law is also in the Air Force,

- so it's been in the family. - So entire military family.

- Yes. - I love that.

- Amazing. Good luck. - Thank you, Chef.

- We good. - That's closer.

- A little bit of lemon juice. - Awesome.

Not getting done. This is not getting done.

- You got this.

My gravy was really spicy and too salty,

so right now I'm just trying to reduce the spice,

so I just added some more coconut milk,

then adding a little bit more sugar for the taste.

I'm gonna do some lemon juice in there.

- Hello! - Brynn.

- How are you doing? - You got scallops.

I am really excited about it!

- Aarón: So, how many MREs are you using? -Six!

- Wow, okay. - When I saw all these MREs,

my brain went to Spanish, Mediterranean flavors.

So I've done scallops, and I'm gonna use those lentils

to make like a faux paella.

- Taste that for me? - No good? Tell me what's wrong.

It might be a seasoning issue. What's that taste?

I just did garlic, saffron, and, um, parsley, that's it.

It's the saffron that I taste, okay.

Saffron makes things taste sometimes metallic.

- It's a very particular spice to use. - Got it.

- Be careful. - Thank you.

Guys, 10 minutes remaining.

Oh, shoot.

- Ooh, terrible. - Make it more smooth.

- Hi. - Hi, Nina, how are ya?

- Eh. - What are we doing? Where are you at?

- Whoo, I am-- - And how do you feel?

I'm doing okay.

I'm making a chicken tikka masala.

I'm gonna do a quick pickle using the strawberry jam,

cilantro chutney using the lemon-lime,

and a lentil dahl.

I think it's coming together okay.

Mm-hmm. Why's it so acidic? What have you put in there?

I put a little lemon juice to deglaze the pan.

A chicken tikka masala is not traditionally finished

with a glazed lemon juice. It's just way too acidic.

A touch of cream would dilute it a touch,

- but no more citrus than that. - Yep. I know.

Nowhere near a chicken tikka masala. Please be careful, yes?

- All right, I'll try and fix it. - Good luck.

There it is. Good enough for me.

- It's coming together. - Come on, baby.

- Hey, Wayne. What protein did you get? - Rack of lamb.

It's in the oven. I gotta crank it. It's gonna be close.

- But I gotta pull it soon 'cause it's gotta rest. - Gotta rest it.

- It's gotta rest. - You feel like you have enough elevation going on here?

Yeah, I do. I've got, I think, nine out of ten components.

Like, seven or eight for sure, but I'm gonna leave off

the oatmeal cookie and the au gratins.

- Don't use everything to bring your dish down. - No, where it makes sense.

- Right, no. - You're not gonna get extra points.

There's some people who are using three or four.

Make sure the dish is great

and the protein is perfectly cooked.

- Got it. - Good luck, Wayne.

- Thank you. - All right.

Au gratin potatoes, strawberry jam.

Guys, I'm really worried about Nina's chicken tikka masala.

Ooh, boy.

It's too acidic and it's really bitter.

- Oh, man. -Really too bitter. Just full of acid.

And Wayne looked a little frazzled as well.

He's being way ambitious by utilizing nine MREs.

It's just too much.

Doing good, doing good, doing good.

Two minutes, guys.

Two minutes, let's go! Start dressing.

Aarón: All right, let's start putting

all the elements down, everyone, let's go.

- That's good, that's good. - Come on, Lizzie, please!

- James, let's go!

Wayne, don't get caught up. Hurry!

- 60 seconds remaining. - Let's go!

For one of you, sadly, your last 60 seconds of the competition.

Make sure it's not you. Let's go!

Wayne just sliced that lamb. Look at that lamb.

That lamb is way undercooked. Wow.

Thirty seconds to go! Let's go!

- So close. - Come on, Grant! Speed up. Let's go.

You see Kennedy using the tweezers? She's very precise.

- Oh, they done and perfect. -Make sure there's enough

- sauce on that plate, Kolby. - Whew!

-M. D., let's go! -Ten, nine, eight...

- All right. - Oh, God.

- ...six, five, four... - Oh, my God.

- ...three, two... - Whoo!

- ...one, and stop. - Hands in the air.

-Well done. - Whoo! Good job.

- I don't know if I like my dish. -It looks good.

Yeah, it looks better than mine.

That was insane, dude, come on.

That was definitely the most "Aah!"

that I've felt so far.

Everything was going great until I sliced into that rack of lamb.

There's no way the judges are gonna let me by with an undercooked protein.

Oh, man.

I was really excited that we were no longer

cooking under regions, but now I'm thinking,

"Uh, I wish I had the Midwest team to save me."

All of you, well done.

Now it's time to take a much closer look

at your elevated rations dishes.

Brynn, how many rations did you use?

- I used six. Yes. - Six.

- Thank you. - Thank you.

We're top 13. At this point,

you can't just do the minimum anymore.

- Charles, how many rations did you use? - Three.

- Three. Yes. - Three was the minimum.

- Are you happy with it? Thank you. - Yes, Chef.

Some dishes look amazing.

I used four of the rations.

Some dishes aren't looking so good.

- How many rations did you use? - Seven.

- Seven? Which ones did you omit? - Yes.

The cookie, the lentil stew, and the au gratin potatoes.

Are you happy with the cook on the lamb?

It could have gone a little bit longer.

- A little? - Oh, man.

Oh, definitely in the bottom three, for sure.

Grant, what rations are in these gnocchi?

- That is the hash browns. -Thank you.

So, this is a chicken tikka masala.

- As close as I could get to it. - Are you happy with the dish?

- I wish I had been able to get to the samosas. - Are you happy with your dish?

- Mm. 80% happy. -Mm.

I like that.

Kolby, meatballs, huh?

Yes, sir. I used five rations.

- Were they all necessary? - Yes, they were all necessary.

Thank you.

Right, all of you, well done.

Now, there were three dishes tonight

that really smartly incorporated those rations.

The first dish we want to taste

was plated with Michelin star finesse.

Please step forward, Grant.

Good job, Grant.

I made a cracker and herb-encrusted Amberjack

with a lentil puree and pan fried gnocchi.

I used four rations in this dish--

cracker mixed with some herbs on top of that Amberjack there,

base of lentil puree with blanched spinach,

the energy drink, it's a little bit of a vinaigrette, if you will,

that arugula salad on top,

and chopped up those hash browns as fine as I could

to make a beautiful gnocchi.

Visually, breathtaking, let me tell you.

Adding that spinach in that lentil puree

just took it to the next level.

Uh, stunning. Shall we?

Um, the puree, delicious.

You've actually elevated the rations beyond the protein.

- I think it's your strongest dish so far. Great job. - Thank you very much, Chef.

The fish is nice, it's flaky and smooth,

and that gnocchi is out of this world.

Thank you very much. Appreciate that.

For me, I didn't even taste any of the rations.

It tastes like a dish cooked with an open pantry,

and that's the biggest compliment I could pay you.

- Good job. - Appreciate it.

- Good job, Grant. - Good job, Grant.

- Whoo! - All right, so the next dish

is from someone that turned in some really bold flavors.

Please come forward, Kolby.

I'm just super surprised because I started off

with a protein that I didn't want.

But I did exactly what master chefs are supposed to do.

You work with what you have

and you make it the best it can be.

I made meatballs with tomato and basil ragu,

and I topped it with an herb salad

with fresh peanuts and an applesauce vinaigrette.

I used five rations.

I started with the pea and tomatoes

into my tomato sauce,

and I used crackers in my meatballs.

With the dressing, I used the applesauce

as well as the lemon-lime drink,

and I used the peanuts to add some texture to my arugula salad.

Kolby, some have called me a meatball maven.

And these are as good as any I've seen.

Thank you. That means a lot.

- Shall we? - Sure.

Look, you did a great job of integrating these rations

into a dish that's seamless.

It tastes delicate, it's light,

it has its own flavor. It's just delicious.

Thank you, Joe.

It tastes like it's been cooked for hours

instead of 60 minutes,

which is so hard to do with meatballs.

- Thank you, Chef. - Having the ground pork,

which is not a solid protein, and elevating the way you did,

- you should be proud of yourself. - Thank you.

I mean, they are delicious. Nice and moist and juicy inside.

I'm telling you, that sauce you have is just on point.

- I love it. - Thank you so much, Chef.

- Really good job. Well done. - Thank you so much.

- Thank you, guys. - Thank you, Kolby.

- Good job, Kolby. - Good job, Kolby!

Okay, the final top dish we want to taste

featured sauce that really helped tie the dish together.

Please come forward...

- Brynn. - Good job, Brynn.

Good job, Brynn.

I made it to the top three

on the first challenge

that we opened up to individual judging.

No longer in our regions,

this is about who's best in the room.

And to be one of the top three tonight is huge for me.

I made scallops with a paella-inspired saffron lentil,

mini potato croquettes, and a romesco sauce.

I used six rations. There's the lentils as a base for my paella.

And then I used both the tomato and pea

and the peanut in the romesco-style sauce.

For the pickle and herb salad garnish,

I used the lemon-lime powder.

And in those croquettes,

we have both the hash browns and the crackers.

The idea of a romesco and going to sort of

Northern Africa, Southern Spain, and having that confidence,

and then you actually cooked and finished those scallops

in that little ragu, I mean, come on.

- That's smart cooking right there. - Thank you so much.

Croquette first.

Phenomenal cook on the scallops.

Romesco with the peanut, hard to do,

but it's got that nice red pepper flavor.

95% of this dish is unrecognizable in terms of rations.

- Thank you so much. - Those scallops, nice and juicy.

- The lentils-- everything's vibrant. - Thank you.

Yeah, I have to give you super big-ups.

With six rations, and they're all utilized

in a very clever and smart way that resulted to flavor?

If I had to take to you task, too much saffron in the sauce.

- Okay, yeah. Thank you so much. - Great job, Brynn.

- Thank you. - Thank you.

- Good job, Brynn. - Good job, Brynn!

- Great job. - Let's go.

So, it's a tough one. Three outstanding dishes.

The Amberjack, what'd you think?

Oh, God, Amberjack was amazing.

For me, scallop and romesco dish didn't taste anything like

- it had anything to do with rations. - Yeah, true.

But the meatballs were like perfect simplicity.

Was that as skillful as the croquettes and the gnocchi?

It's a very difficult decision to make.

- All in agreeance? Yeah? - Yep. Yeah.

Grant, Kolby, Brynn, you three cooked

outstanding dishes in tonight's challenge.

But the best dish of the night,

all four judges felt that this dish really embodied

Chef Andre's challenge.

This one ticked all the boxes.

The immunity pin goes to...

The immunity pin goes to...

- Grant.

- Good job, Grant. - Good job, Grant.

Come up here and get your immunity pin.

- Holy crap. I got it, baby. - I mean, absolutely delicious.

- Well done. - To win a challenge for the first time

- is incredible. - Head up to the safety of the balcony.

- Thank you. - Good job, Grant!

This is one of my biggest goals coming into this competition,

- and I did it. - What a time to shine. Really good job.

Now, there are three dishes tonight

that really disappointed all four judges.

The first dish is from a home cook

who unfortunately is making a return to the bottom.

Please step forward, Charles.

I'm disappointed in myself. I do not want to go home

by making a dish that is close to my culture.

I don't want to let anyone down.

I made a Thai curry halibut

with a peanut crust on the fish

and a vermicelli noodle salad.

I used three rations-- the crushed peanuts for the halibut,

the lentil for the Thai curry,

and then the strawberry jam vinaigrette

for the vermicelli noodle salad.

First off, Charles, I'm sorry,

but it doesn't look like elevated rations.

But the big scary thing for me tonight

is the strawberry jam noodles.

What were you thinking?

I had to incorporate something citrusy?

Shall we?

The actual heat in the curry is decent,

but I don't get the strawberry jam.

And the noodles are undercooked,

and so they're sort of a little bit crunchy.

It's a bit strange.

It's falling short of MasterChef quality.

Your lentils, they taste okay.

Your fish, very dry.

Yes, sir.

You got rice and noodles, man.

Choose one, and do them great.

Don't feel the need to just keep stacking things on top of it.

- Agree. Thank you. - Thank you, Charles.

Okay, the second dish we need to examine further

was from a cook who attempted to incorporate

some powerful ethnic flavors.

Please come forward...

Nina.

I felt like in the beginning I got a lot of praise.

But now that I'm in the bottom again, I want to rise back up.

I don't want to feel like I'm just this star at the beginning

that just, you know, fell towards the end.

I made a chicken tikka masala using the tomatoes and peas,

a lentil dahl with basmati rice.

I quick-pickled some red onions using the strawberry jam,

and used the lemon-lime powder for the cilantro salsa.

Yeah, I mean, what can I say?

You've seen the standard of the dishes

that came out on top.

This is really got a bit of a mess hall

aesthetic to it, sorry to say.

Shall we?

That chicken tikka masala is that sort of creamy orange texture,

and the chicken's been marinating in yogurt.

But this is too acidic for me.

And strawberry jam should go nowhere near a chicken tikka masala.

A bit like Charles's noodles.

So it's just not a good use of the rations.

Mm-hmm. Understood.

I love chicken tikka masala. This is not it.

Everything tastes the same.

There's just one note of the same flavor.

And then with your quick pickling,

you gotta cut them thinner, right,

if you're gonna do that in an hour's time.

Understood.

I think that using tikka masala

as a catch-all for the rations backfired on you

because that's really what it tastes like.

It tastes like a bunch of ingredients and MREs thrown into a bin,

- and not the kind of bin you want to eat from. - Okay.

- Thanks, Nina. - Yep.

So, the final dish that we must taste further

demonstrated a real lack of execution with their protein.

Please come forward...

Wayne.

I'm not surprised. I mean, there's no way

they were gonna let me by with an undercooked protein.

I know I deserve to be in the bottom three today,

but I don't believe my dish is the worst in the room.

So what do we have here, Wayne?

I made a Moroccan-spiced rack of lamb

with a cracker and peanut crust.

I've got three purees on the plate.

One is with the beans. One is using the lemon-lime. It's a tzatziki.

And the other is a fresh tomato chutney

with applesauce and strawberry jam.

And in the center, a beautiful hash brown and bacon cake.

Wayne, I appreciate the effort here

as far as understanding that the rations

needed to be a big role in your dish,

but this looks like something I'd find

- in my kid's undershorts. - Yes, Chef.

How the hell does that look appetizing?

It doesn't, Chef.

It looks a lot like a turd emoji.

Worse than that, this lamb is severely undercooked.

I cannot tell you how upset I am with the cook on the lamb.

Wayne, I cannot tell you how upset I am

with the cook on the lamb.

Maybe if we can cut into that end cut

and it happens to be a medium rare,

we could actually taste the dish and value it for what it is.

Shall we?

- This piece is-- it's good enough. - That's pink.

We could try it. At least we could eat it.

I tasted the end piece of the lamb. You're lucky.

It was okay. I know you said you have something to prove.

The only person you should be proving something to is yourself.

You can be your best ally or your worst.

And right now, you're your worst.

- So slow down and pay attention. - Got it.

This dish has a lot of ambition.

You used seven MREs, maybe the most

of any of the other contestants tonight.

And they're integrated properly in the sauces.

But we have to call out a lamb that is completely undercooked.

- Agreed. - And it's really unfortunate

because the other components of the dish are very well done.

This dish has got the makings of a fine dining main entree.

Lentils, delicious. Crust, spot-on.

Tonight is not a challenge around proteins.

But, come on. You've tripped up with your lamb.

- Thank you, Wayne. - Thanks.

Excuse us.

- Um, Charles. - Aarón: The fish was a little dry.

That noodle salad had no business being there.

No, no, no, no. So, Nina's?

She really tried to use these iconic Indian dishes to hide rations.

And that? I don't like that.

She was 100% aware of how her dish looked.

- Yeah, of course. - She was not surprised whatsoever.

- Wayne. Seven rations? - It's a lot.

- You said it. Slow down. - Yeah, slow down.

But he also utilized them and all the other components

of the dish in a smart way that equaled flavor.

He just made an egregious error in the cooking of the lamb.

That is true. That's true.

Charles, Nina, and Wayne,

unfortunately, tonight you cooked the worst dishes.

This has been a very tough decision,

but we've all come to an agreement,

and the home cook that will be leaving "MasterChef" tonight is...

Nina.

What?

Charles and Wayne, say good-bye to Nina, please,

and head back to your stations.

-Thank you. - Great job.

Thank you.

Nina, unfortunately, tonight was all about rations,

and those were not highlighted tonight.

But you've got to keep your head up high,

because you've brought some magic to this kitchen.

Never ever underestimate that.

- Promise. - Good.

What's next for Nina?

Oh, I'm just gonna stay weird.

Love that.

Come and say good-bye, please.

- Miss venison dumpling. - Bye, Nina!

Come on, now, get that head up high.

- Thank you. - Love you, Nina.

It's frustrating when what you have in your head

doesn't make it onto the plate.

- Love you, Nina! - Yeah, Nina!

I know that I'm a better cook than this.

Of course, like, I'm bummed to be going home,

but my husband and my son are going to be very proud of what I have accomplished

but very happy that I have come home.

Oh, my daughter, too. She's in there, too.

All right, Nina. We love you, girl!

So I'm only the 13th best home cook in the country. Darn!

I'll take it! That is no small feat.

Keep it strong, rock star!

Next time, it's a MasterChef classic...

- The tag team challenge. - Whoo!

You have to cook dishes you could find

in some of the world's best restaurants.

- Grant, for winning last time,

you get to pick the teams. What's your strategy?

I'm too nice for my own good. Nice guy's gone.

Let's go, Charles! We've gotta do this.

- Switch! - Let's go!

No, no! Put that down!

No, it's an ice cream scoop!

You can't just say, "I got you." You gotta talk to me.

- I got you. - Switch!

- Mix it, mix it! - Oh, my God, we burned this.

- M. D., Jennifer!

- Don't cheat. - Oh, my Lord.

- It's DisasterChef. - It's so terrible.

Let's just hope someone did worse than us.