Gordon, Graham and Joe in the MasterChef Kitchen

Before we jump into tonight’s show, we need to share the good news that MasterChef has been renewed for another season:

“We’re excited to be back for another season of MASTERCHEF,” said Gordon Ramsay, executive producer and judge on MASTERCHEF. “I am continually amazed by the raw talent, passion and creativity of home cooks across America. The contestants raise the bar every season, and it’s an inspiration and exciting challenge for us.”

We start the evening with our top six cooks standing at their stations, ready for whatever MasterChef has to offer. Before they can settle in they are all asked to step down to the front of the Kitchen because everything they know about MasterChef is going to change forever. Felix says there is always a twist, always a curveball and she is more nervous than excited.

Gordon tells them none of them will be cooking today and to head on up to the safety of the balcony. Joe says today there are some familiar faces in the MasterChef Kitchen. Our home cooks aren’t sure what the heck is going on. Joe informs everyone that the last 8 people eliminated are back as Stacey, Josh, Tali, Tanya, Cowboy Mike, Anna, Scott and Ryan make their way into the Kitchen.

Ramsey explains that even the best Chef can have a bad day, believe him he’s had enough of them and these eight people have been brought back in order to give one of them the opportunity to win back a MasterChef apron. For one of these people, today’s event is a ticket back into the competition.

Ryan pipes up and says it is a chance for the Flavor Elevator to get back to the penthouse which makes me immediately remember why I was so happy to see him leave the first time. He says he’s rested and is ready to come back with a vengeance. Of course he’s rested, he doesn’t do anything.

To kick this thing off, they are going to create an unprecedented second chance Mystery Box Challenge. The two winners of that challenge will compete head-to-head and the winner of that battle will have cooked their way back into the competition. In order to complete the contents of the Mystery Box, each returning cook is sent into the pantry to bring back one ingredient. Then the eight cooks use the eight ingredients plus the ingredients in a staple pantry box to cook a stunning dish that will keep them in contention for coming back into the game and regaining an apron.

The Chefs ask Ryan if he is ready to pick an ingredient and he says yes. Becky, looking down from the balcony is certain he will pick a wacky ingredient that will show he is a nut ball, but he returns from the pantry with a Portobello mushroom. Scott goes next and he brings back a pork chop. Anna heads for the exotic world of vegetables and comes back with celery. Mike brings back a tin of condensed milk. Tanya grabs white wine vinegar. Tali, who we know is going to do something asinine comes back with chocolate buttons. Josh pulls a proverbial rabbit out of his hat and delivers a pomegranate to the mix. Stacey returns smiling and pulls heavy cream from a pocket of her pants.

Gordon, Graham and Joe are perplexed with Graham saying it is the most random assortment of anything you’ll ever see. Joe claims it is as bad as anything he could have ever dreamed and doesn’t think they could have gotten more difficult than what they pulled. To an outsider it looks as if the contestants are trying to outthink their opponents and have buried themselves instead.

The cooks have 60 minutes to create their sensational dishes and the three Chefs walk around in wonder as they try to determine who is going to make what and which cooks have the best chances at success. Cowboy Mike is going down the dessert path, Stacey is making pasta and ricotta with caramelized pork chops and being very aggressive. It is clear she wants to come back. Josh is working on a chocolate mousse. The competition is intense and all over the place.

The clock runs out and the judges call the competitors up one at a time.

Josh is first up and he presents a Chocolate Mousse with pomegranate reduction sauce and candied lemon peel. Gordon says it isn’t beautiful, but tastes amazing. Joe thinks it is great.

Anna’s dish is a pan seared pork chop sautéed with Portobello mushrooms and shaved celery. It also has a pomegranate salad. It looks beautiful, has a great sear on the pork but is slightly over cooked and looks as if it was sliced while it was too hot.

Tali doesn’t really matter because you know he’s going to mess it up. He made a Chocolate Pot de Crème with pomegranate syrup and celery foam. Joe says Josh made perfect mousse where Tali made chocolate mortar that is dense and heavy. Tali hasn’t lost his touch.

Scott cooked stuffed pork chop with pickled celery and pomegranate sauce which was slightly undercooked, but had a nicely flavored sear.

Tanya presented a grilled pork chop with crispy celery and mushroom ragu. The pork and the mushrooms were cooked well and tasted delicious, but the fried celery was a total disconnect for Graham.

Stacey went all out and delivered fresh ricotta, mushroom ravioli with celery cream and a pan-roasted pork chop. She told the judges she was back with a vengeance and wanted an apron. Monti looking on is worried.

Mike presents a chocolate flan with lemon zest and a sugar glass. The Chefs say it is baked beautifully and is a testament to how far he has come since the beginning of this competition. They tell him it is a great job.

Ryan spent his time working on a pan-seared pork chop with mushroom and celery ragu and pomegranate gastrique. Gordon tells him his brashness can be his worst enemy and kick him in the ass when he doesn’t deliver, but in this case he did deliver and the dish is great.

After tasting all eight dishes, the Chefs ask four people to step forward: Tali, Tanya, Anna and Scott. Seeing Tali in the group is all the information I need to know that these four are going home. They are told they are great, but great isn’t good enough this time around and all four are again asked to exit the Kitchen and told to leave their aprons at their stations.

Stacey, Josh, Mike and Ryan are then asked to step forward. Mike and Ryan are asked to take an additional step forward and Ryan is then told he is staying.

Stacey and Josh are left side by side and we are told one of them is staying, but have to wait until after a commercial break to learn that the remaining semi-finalist is Josh.

It is now time for a 50/50 shot at the last white apron. Josh has already beaten Ryan in one face off and is telling us he is ready to whip his ass once again. He says he is going to give him the culinary battle of his life.

Graham tells the two of them that there is one dish that separates them from success or failure; the glorious fruit tart.

As Frank looks down on the two gladiators from the balcony he says he sees instant happiness on Josh’s face and fear in Ryan’s eyes. David says it will be a slaughterhouse of horrors because Ryan got sent home on a dessert challenge against Josh once before.

Graham says this is all about flavor and creativity. It is about their interpretation of a classic dessert, but it isn’t the Chefs they’ll have to impress, it will be some special guest judges; the six cooks up in the balcony. Ryan, once again demonstrates the class that makes us love him when he disses them by calling them the six dopes. The judging will be done on a blind taste test basis which is great for Ryan because the judges won’t be able factor in his attitude.

Graham welcomes them to “Culinary Thunderdome” and tells them that all of the ingredients are available at their stations and other ingredients are available in the limited pantry. They have 90 minutes to create their fruit tart masterpieces.

Ryan has never made a fruit tart. The key is the crust and Josh thinks he can kick Ryan’s butt. Ryan says he isn’t going out on a dessert again. Ryan is working on his crust and pastry cream and the editing makes it look like he is running ahead of Josh. Ryan definitely gets his crust into the fridge to set well before Josh even gets his rolled. Ryan then begins working on his fruit.

Josh is focused on creating an exotic fruit tart using more daring fruit and plans on creating a tastier pastry cream using vanilla and other secret ingredients. The pastry cream has to be thick enough so as to not bleed through and allow the fruit to ruin the pastry. Even so, Josh is being extremely careful in his fruit selection because of the tropical nature of the fruits he is selecting and not wanting any of them to potentially harm his pastry when it comes time to slice the dish.

When the time arrives for the tarts to be in the oven Josh is running way behind. Ryan has done a good job of timing his baking and has his pastry in the oven while Josh is still fighting his dough with the rolling pin and shaping it with his fingers. It keeps splitting and looks quite thick. Ryan pulls his pastry from the oven and it looks amazing while Josh is just putting his in after a long battle of patching it together.

With ten minutes left, both cooks are scrambling to get their pastry cream onto their pastries and to lay down the fruit to complete each tart. Josh is behind because he had to wait for his pastry to cool because he put it into the oven with so little time left on the clock. Josh is the better technical cook, but his timing is really hurting him at this point in the contest. With fractions of a second to spare, both contenders finish their tarts.

Gordon asks Josh and Ryan to carefully bring their tarts to the front table. Josh looks at his and truly believes his dish will bring him one step closer to his dream of getting a cooking school started. Ryan’s dream of opening his own food cart in New York City hinges on winning this challenge because he thinks if he can win this he can win it all.

Gordon tells them to slice their tarts until they have six stunning slices. Joe says Ryan was the underdog coming in, but it doesn’t look that way anymore. After they are sliced and plated, Gordon says the slices will be served to the judges and he asks Josh and Ryan to sit patiently.

The slices are taken into the dining area set up for the taste test and a slice of each tart is placed in front of each judge. The judges evaluate the look, texture, taste, flavor and consistency of the two pieces and then fill out a vote card. Once everyone has turned in their vote cards the Chefs go into the dining area where they ask the judges a couple of questions about the tarts. Next they have Josh enter the room wearing his apron and reveal that he is the winner of the challenge in a stunning 6-0 vote.

So the towering giant is back in the Kitchen and he’s fired up. Do you think he’s here to stay?