Graham, Gordon and Joe of the MasterChef Finale

We started with 100, whittled that down to 18 and kept cutting until finally we had 2 cooks left looking for the title of MasterChef and, along with it, $250,000 in prize money, a personal cook book and a special trophy with the MasterChef logo emblazoned upon it. Tonight we find out which of our two remaining home cooks, Josh, a 24 year old Army Contract Specialist from Jackson, Mississippi or Christine, a 32 year old creative writing student from Houston, Texas nabs the prize.

One, a seven foot basketball playing giant who powers through the Kitchen with spices and flair and the other, a petit, blind Asian dynamo whose subtle palette sneaks up on the unsuspecting diner will use their personal technique to nab the prize. Read More

Gordon, Graham and Joe of MasterChef Top 3 Legs Episode

It has come down to Becky, Josh and Christine, the three best home cooks in America, who must now face their final Mystery Box Challenge. When commanded to lift the tops off their boxes, instead of some heinous cooking challenge, they find cookbook mock ups with their own faces on the covers. Becky and Josh laugh while poor Christine wonders what is going on until the surprise is explained to her.

Gordon asks Christine who she would dedicate her cookbook to and she says her mom who died when she was 14 without leaving her any recipes; she’s been trying to recreated them ever since. Becky would dedicate her cookbook to her parents because they inspired her to follow her dreams even when other people did not think she could do it. Josh has no doubts that his dedication is going to his mom who is amazingly strong and his biggest fan. Read More

Christine, Frank, Becky and Josh on MasterChef

We’re getting down to the wire now and things are really lopsided because we have more judges than we have contestants.  The final four – Christine, Becky, Josh and Frank – are going to be judged by six people tonight, our three MasterChefs – Gordon, Graham and Joe – and three guests flying in just to judge the elimination competition which is where we begin tonight’s episode.

Gordon introduced Chef Guy Savoy, the first of our special VIP guest judges, whose restaurant in Cesars Palace in Las Vegas has been recognized as one of the top restaurants in the United States for the past five years. Guy also owns restaurants in Paris and Singapore, has 8 Michelin Stars and was Gordon Ramsey’s culinary mentor. Read More

MasterChef's Gordon Ramsey, Graham Elliot and Joe Bastianich

It’s time for MasterChef which means it’s time for another Mystery Box challenge. The five remaining cooks are ready to jump through the latest hoop and, on command, lift the lids to their boxes to find NOTHING under them. As the other four begin laughing, poor Christine feels around and can’t find anything. Joe finally tells Christine there is nothing in there. It turns out the Chefs did not create this week’s Mystery box; they are going to leave that up to the cooks.

The Chefs tell the cooks to turn their box tops over and then go into the pantry to pick a maximum of fifteen ingredients to create the a dish that says them on a plate. Graham says they are the top five and it is time for them to produce a dish that lets the Chefs know who they really are. Read More

Gordon, Graham and Joe with Karen and Quinn in Hatfield's Kitchen

The six remaining home cooks are summoned to Hatfield’s, one of Los Angeles’ top fine dining restaurants, for a team challenge that will test their culinary skills and talents more than ever before.

Becky says Hatfield’s is gorgeous and that she sees it in dining magazines all the time.

Gordon says it is one of the cities most talked about restaurants and it has a Michelin Star. Joe tells them tonight they won’t be sitting in the dining room; they’ll be running the kitchen.

Monti points out that none of them are real Chefs, they are just really good home cooks. Now they are expected to take over one of the fanciest kitchens in the country. No pressure. Read More

Gordon Ramsey, Graham Elliot and Joe Bastianich of MasterChef

Josh is back in the Kitchen and it’s time for a new Mystery Box Challenge which will give the winner a huge advantage in the next challenge. Gordon Ramsey tells everyone to be very, very careful in opening their Mystery boxes because it’s alive. Poor Christina says it’s a great disadvantage to work with something that is alive and David doesn’t look real happy and he can see.

The cooks lift their boxes to find a tank of vibrant Santa Barbara spot prawns. Monti doesn’t like anything that is living and can look at her and can plead for its life with big brown eyes. Joe lets everyone know that prawns play a big role as a luxury ingredient in many dishes around the world. Graham says you can do a prawn cocktail or a sexy twist on a jambalaya; there are so many uses for a prawn. In addition to the box the cooks will have access to an amazing limited pantry of ingredients that can make the wonderful prawn shine. The cooks will have 45 minutes. Read More

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. Read More

Gordon Ramsey, Paula Deen, Graham Elliot and Joe Bastianich on MasterChef

Tonight’s show opened with the largest mystery box ever seen in the Master Chef kitchen. Our seven remaining cooks entered the Kitchen and were soon trying to guess what could be hidden under such a large container. Becky remarked that the box was larger than a small New York City apartment.

The three MasterChefs soon appeared and welcomed our home cooks. Graham Elliot said he couldn’t handle the suspense any longer and asked to please lift the lid off of the giant mystery box. As it slowly began to rise, a pair of really sparkly shoes slowly begins to be revealed. Everyone knows it’s a person, but who could it be. In a few moments the answer is revealed as Paula Deen slides into view. Everyone is quite excited, even Chef Ramsey has a huge grin on his face. Read More

MasterChef Cowboys Gordon Ramsey, Joe Bastianich and Graham Elliot

Last week we finally said good bye to Tali and were left with two home cooks who had placed first and second in the Fish Elimination Test. Tonight we find our intrepid contenders sixty miles east of the MasterChef Kitchen in Norco, California, also known as Horsetown USA. Within minutes we see Gordon Ramsey and Joe Bastianich ride up on horses in full cowboy regalia. Not to be outdone, Graham Elliot soon rolls up in a horse drawn wagon. Read More

Gordon, Graham and Joe Stand behind tonight's elimination table

Tonight’s Mystery Box challenge is definitely out of the ordinary for any amateur cook. It isn’t every day that a Michelin-star chef gets a chance to cook a sea urchin, let alone someone who cooks at home with the dream of making it onto a cooking show with the hopes of winning $250,000, a trophy and the title of MasterChef. Unless, of course, your name is Tali, because then you totally belong here as Tali informed us five minutes into the show.

The interesting thing about tonight’s mystery box challenge is that our cooks didn’t really need to do much of anything to it to have it qualify as food given that in many parts of the world it is considered a delicacy just the way it came out of the box. What Gordon and company didn’t explain is that uni; the part of the urchin that was used in the challenge is actually the gonad of the multi lobed little beast that they cut open on the show. Read More