MasterChef aired two episodes last night and David Williams survived the cut on both episodes of the popular cooking reality series. In the first episode, David Williams impressed Chef Gordon Ramsay with two standout dishes: Tandoori Black Cod with Red Quinoa and Chickpea Puree and Salmon Risotto with Asparagus, Peas, Fresh Tarragon, and Creme Fraiche. Williams survived the cut to advance to the Elite 8 home cooks. On the second episode, Williams passed a skills challenge and cooked an excellent batch of French Fries, which automatically got him into the final seven. Yes, only six other contestants stand in David Williams' way of becoming the next Master Chef!
After a hiatus during the Olympics, MasterChef returned with two episodes this week. David Williams survived the cut on both episode #12 Five Star Food and episode #13 Hot Patoto and he secured himself a spot among the final seven. Nine home cooks were alive at the start of this week's double episode and David Williams was not in a very good head space and his confidence was down. He was both disappointed with his recent performance and bummed out that he didn't get a chance to demonstrate the full spectrum of his abilities to the judges. The producers of MasterChef were really teasing this week's episode as a make or break moment for David Williams.
Episode #12: Five Star Food
David Williams kicked off the episode with a sound bite essentially saying that he was ready to step up and show off his abilities.
Chef Kevin Sbraga was the guest judge this week. The Top Chef champ cooked alongside the final 9 and showed off by whipping up not one, but three beautiful dishes utilizing the Mystery Box ingredients.
This week's Mystery Box Challenge featured fine dining ingredients like vintage red wine and proteins including black cod, lamb belly, and octopus. The final nine home cook had 60 minutes to finish their dishes.
David Williams was feeling down in the dumps about his last performance, and Gordon had to five him a pep talk. I started to wonder if DW was playing possum here and bluffing his mood in order to play heads games against his opponents. As the rest of the episode progressed, we saw that DW was skating on thin ice...emotionally speaking. He was bummed out that he's been unable to show off his array of culinary skills to the judges in previous episodes. He really wanted to show hosts Gordon Ramsay and Christina Tosi that he belonged in the Elite 8 and he channeled all of his frustrations into his Mystery Box.
The judges picked their top three Mystery Box dishes: Brandi the school teacher from Kentucky, David Williams the poker pro, and Shaun the DJ.
David Williams was selected for his dish – Tandoori Black Cod with Red Quinoa and Chickpea Puree – because it looked colorful and beautiful. Chef Ramsay thought the moodier David was, the better he cooked. All three judges enjoyed his cod dish and the praise really brought him to tears.
Shaun, aka DW's rival from Vegas, cooked Lamb Belly and Black Cod with Balsamic Reduction and Tomatoes. The judges dug his dish, which demonstrated why he's one of the home cooks to beat. Meanwhile, Brandi cooked seared Tandoori Black Cod with Octopus and Stuffed Squash Blossoms, plus she made fresh hummus. Chef Ramsay thought it was "bloody good." She was thrilled to be a simple country girl who got included with the two city slickers from Vegas, who get to sample high-end dining on a more frequent basis.
In the end, the judges picked Shaun the DJ as the winner of the high-end Mystery Box Challenge. Shaun narrowly edged out David Williams., but even though DW essentially came in second, the sincere accolades from the judges definitely brightened his spirits and gave him a much-needed ego boost going into the elimination challenge.
As the Mystery Box Challenge winner, Shaun automatically advanced to the final 8, plus he got a "game changing" advantage for the elimination test. The protein this week was salmon and they had to work with the best and worst of salmon including fresh salmon and canned salmon.
Shaun also got to select what the remaining eight cooks got to use. He used a bit of advanced strategy and assigned the whole salmon to the weakest opponents because they'd have a difficult time butchering it down. He also gave the best remaining cooks the canned salmon, in order to challenge them to create a tasty and refined dish from a protien that originally came from a can.
- Whole Salmon: Nathan, Eric, Katie, Brandi
- Canned Salmon: Dan, Tanorria, Terry, David Williams
Shaun said he knew it would challenge David Williams to work with a harder protein and stuck him the canned salmon. DW was fired up for the can challenge. DW decided to cook risotto with the canned salmon, but he opeted for a pressure cooker in order to expedite time and focus on the other parts of the dish. Chef Kevin noted that it was a big gamble.
"I know I'm taking a big risk, but that's why I'm here!"
Big twist! Half-way through the salmon elimination test, Chef Ramsay said that Shaun got a chance to save one of the remaining cooks and advance to the Final 8 with him. Shaun opted to save Eric the Fireman, because he didn't see him as a threat. Shaun specifically said he wanted to go after the big dogs: Terry, David Williams, Tanorria, and Brandi. They all had targets on their backs. In the end, two of them got sidetracked.
The judges decided on their favorite dishes and they picked David Williams and Brandi. Brandi cooked a masterful Seared Salmon with Apricot Balsamic Glaze, Spinach Puree, and Peach Slaw. Chef Ramsay particularly liked Brandi's dish.
David Williams surprised the judges with his Salmon Risotto with Asparagus, Peas, Fresh Tarragon, and Creme Fraiche. As he stated, "Big risk for big rewards." I've watched a lot of different cooking reality shows, especially Top Chef, and even the best of the best chefs were eliminated for failing to properly cook risotto. It's a dish with a high degree of difficulty, which was why DW's choice to use a pressure cooker was seen as a tremendous gamble. Chef Ramsay thought DW was crazy for cooking risotto in a pressure cooker, but he impressed he somehow made it work and said it "tastes good." DW looked pumped that he rose to the challenge and overcame the canned salmon obstacle that Shaun tossed in his way.
On the bad side, the judges singled out Tanorria and Terry for the two worst dishes. Terry made Salmon Cakes With Dill Aioli and Baked Salmon Crostini. Ramsay called it "dreadful hockey pucks" because of the extra thyme. It was probably his worst performance of the show because Terry completely misinterpreted the dish.
Tanorria went outside her box with a dish consisting of Salmon Croquette With Salmon Quenelle, Crispy Potato, and Lemon Dijon Sauce. Chef Ramsay thought she had a poorly-plated dish and it as poorly executed as well.
One of the two strongest players were going to bust. Shaun targeted the best home cooks left in the field and one of them was going home: Terry or Tanorria. In the end, Tanorria got a second chance, which meant Terry busted out. Talk about a major upset. Terry was the one of the favorites to win and it looked as though MasterChef was going to come down to either Terry or Shaun. However, with Tery's elimination...Shaun is now the odds-on-favorite to win.
However, David Williams advanced to the final eight and he went into the next episode on a positive note since both his dishes this episode were noted for their excellence. He almost won the Mystery Box Challenge and he was singled out for having one of the best canned salmon dishes. David Williams headed into the Elite 8 on an upswing.
Episode #13: Hot Potato
The final 8 home cooks returned for a triple threat pressure test. It would also dub as a skills test challenge using a common ingredient... the potato.
The way the triple threat worked... out of the final 8, only the top 4 were saved after the first round and the bottom four had to go onto the next round. Those four battled it out and the top two were saved in the second round, but the bottom two went onto the third and final round. That's where the two fought to the death in a heads-up elimination challenge where the winner would get saved and the loser would go home.
ROUND 1: FRENCH FRIES
French Fries were the first challenge. Which four would cook the best fries? They only got 20 minutes to whip up a batch of fries. It came down to knife skills and who had the most consistent-sized fries.
David Williams soared through this challenge and mentioned he cooked fries for his five-year old daughter in the past. Chef Ramsay thought his fries had "good color, fluffy in center, and nicely seasoned." Chef Ramsay said if things went wrong with DW's poker career in poker and the "chips are down, you know how to perfect a fry."
- Top 4 Fries: DW, Brandi, Shaun, Nathan
- Bottom 4 Fries: Eric, Katie, Dan, and Tanorria
David Williams, Brandi, Shaun, and Nathan automatically advanced to the final 7. Chef Ramsay thought Brandi did "textbook master class in fries." She was the first home cooks to advance to the final seven. DW was the second one picked and he safely avoided an elimination for this week. Rounding out the top 4 were Shaun and Nathan. What...really...Nathan? Yes, Nathan the son of a preacher man could actually cook a decent plate of fries!
On the losing end... Eric displayed poor knife skills, Katie's fries were raw, Dan's were overcooked and overseasoned with pepper, and Tanorria was inconsistent with her fries. The bottom four in the fries challenge went onto the second round.
ROUND 2: MASHED POTATOES
Two winners would be declared in this round, whereas the two losers continued to cook. Eric, Katie, Dan, and Tanorria lost the opening round and had to slug it out for a second potato dish. Their task: mashed potatoes. No one made a clear cut winning mashed potato, so it came down to who had the worst of the worst.
- Top 2 Mashed: Tanorria, Dan
- Bottom 2 Mashed: Katie, Eric
Tanorria moved on despite her dish not being smooth enough. Dan barely made the cut with his chunky potatoes. Dan and Tanorria joined the other four up on the balcony and advanced to the final 7.Katie and Eric lost round two. They headed into the final elimination round.
ROUND 3: GNOCCHI
Katie or Eric. One would bust and the other would advance to the final 7. The final round came down to which of the two could cook the best gnocchi.
Katie had raw sage with her dish, but the overall the gnocchi was pretty decent. Eric is from an Italian family in NYC and appeared to have the edge because his grandma made gnocchi for Sunday family dinners. However, Eric's dish was slightly undercooked even though his brown butter sage sauce looked and tasted good.
In the end, Katie served the better gnocchi dish and she advanced to the final seven. Alas, Eric the fireman from NYC lost the heads-up gnocchi challenge and he was dunzo.
David Williams easily advanced to the final seven after easily navigating a French Fries challenge. At the start of the previous episode, it appeared as though DW was on the verge of collapsing, but he pulled it together and impressed the judges on both episodes this week.
Only six more home cooks stand in David Williams' way of becoming the next champion on MasterChef.
MasterChef aired two episodes last night and David Williams survived the cut on both episodes of the popular cooking reality series. In the first episode, David Williams impressed Chef Gordon Ramsay with two standout dishes: Tandoori Black Cod with Red Quinoa and Chickpea Puree and Salmon Risotto with Asparagus, Peas, Fresh Tarragon, and Creme Fraiche. Williams survived the cut to advance to the Elite 8 home cooks. On the second episode, Williams passed a skills challenge and cooked an excellent batch of French Fries, which automatically got him into the final seven. Yes, only six other contestants stand in David Williams' way of becoming the next Master Chef!
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David Williams advances to the final 7 on MasterChef!
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