"(Male announcer) This is the Masterchef kitchen, where, for one home cook, dreams will become a reality." "[Cheers]" "After searching across the entire country for America's finest home chefs, we've narrowed it down to 18." "I'm a food photographer." "I'm a graduate student." "I'm a stockbroker." "This is the opportunity of a lifetime for me." "(Announcer) But to earn the title of Masterchef, they must impress three of the biggest names in the culinary world..." "Joe Bastianich..." "The hallmarks of a Masterchef are elegance, sophistication, and finesse." " (Announcer) Graham Elliot..." " To me, a Masterchef is constantly innovating." "(Announcer) And Gordon Ramsay." "A true Masterchef puts perfection on every plate." "(Announcer) Tonight, the competition officially begins." "We're looking for one stunning dish." "(Announcer) And with that comes twists..." "What the heck is gonna happen now?" "(Announcer) Turns..." "Fire." "Fire." "(Announcer) And tears." "The search for America's next Masterchef begins now." "Thousands of cooks have already been eliminated, and only 18 remain in the search for America's next Masterchef." "Now it's time for these top home cooks to take their place in the Masterchef kitchen." "(Michael) Walking into the Masterchef kitchenforthefirsttime  is incredible." "It's such a beautiful kitchen, you know." "It's the kitchen that I've always dreamed of." "(Josh) The Masterchef kitchen even has its own bar and restaurant." "Man, this is crazy." "It's freakin' awesome." "I have never seen so many glorious bottles of wine." "The work stations are so spacious, and they're beautiful, they're glistening, they're just calling us to come cook." "(Anna) There is this huge lounge." "Like, every cookbook I could ever hope to own." "It's just a dream." "Come up here and join us." "(Becky) It's amazing." "It's gorgeous." "Like, if you take every culinary equipment and throw it all together and cover it in gold and then dip it in chocolate and then put it on a pedestal, that's the Masterchef kitchen." "You have arrived." "This kitchen is your culinary theater of dreams." "Because, for one of you, this is where you're gonna lose the label of a home cook and be given a brand-new title." "One of you will be crowned" "America's next Masterchef." "Now there's only one way to find out who that is." "Please make your way to your stations." "You will not find a more state-of-the-art kitchen anywhere in the world than this, let me tell you!" "(Graham) Each of you has a brand-new set of Masterchef three-piece knives, made by Global." "It's time to start finding out which of you home cooks really have the potential to earn the title of America's next Masterchef." "The best way to do that is with your very first mystery box challenge." "Each of you will have to prepare, cook, and present one awesome dish, using only the ingredients hidden under those boxes." "The person with the best dish today will have a huge advantage for the next stage of this competition." "Cook every dish like your life depends on it." "On the count of three, you'll lift those boxes." "The mystery box challenge, it's exactly like when I open up the fridge, and there's a couple of this, a couple of that, which happens to me every single night." "One, two, three." "Lift." "Wow." "I'm trying to figure out, like, what is that?" "I have no idea what to do with it." "I see this beautiful duck breast." "My heart lifts, because I know how it tastes." "I've worked with it before." "You've all got the most amazing duck breasts, kale, rhubarb, dark rum, sweet potato, five spice, fresh bananas, and some maple syrup." "Prove to us that you truly belong here in this kitchen." "People, when they lift that mystery box, they can see exactly what's underneath there." "I have to listen to what the judges say when they list the ingredients, and try to commit that to my memory." "Your 60 minutes starts from..." "Now." "Good luck." "Very, very exciting challenge." "Absolutely." "So many possibilities." "I think, at this point, with so many contestants, it's really about strategy, right?" "Yeah." "I think the banana is the devil in the box." "It's really the only thing that you couldn't put with the duck breast." "I'll tell you what I want to keep, okay?" "So Christine has an aide, but..." "Under no circumstances can her aide interfere with the dish." "I want to keep the kale," "I want to keep the sweet potato," "I want to keep the duck." "I think she's at a bit of a disadvantage, till they learn how to work together." "With the 18 now, this is your first chance to really scare and intimidate people too and be like," ""this is what I'm all about."" " What would you do?" " I would start off by rendering that duck fat off the duck breast." "I would blanch the kale and then sweat that off in duck fat, bake the sweet potato, and do a really nice caramelized rhubarb with aged balsamic vinegar sauce." "I am gonna pan-sear a duck breast with a sweet potato puree and sauteed kale in the duck fat, but the fact that there's no elimination on the end of this does help me feel a little more relaxed." "(Gordon) Take full advantage of your 60 minutes." "One stunning dish." "At first, I saw that duck breast, and it was stunning, and I was really excited, but then I started thinking that I have a great dish that I thought" "I kind of want to hold onto and bring that out later in the competition." "So I'm thinking right now" "I just do what I know I can handle, which is a rhubarb little tartlet." "It's kind of like a crostada." "I'm confident, because there's a few people who I think might be a little wet behind the ears, who might be trying to put too much on their plate." "Yes, sir." "Scott, what are you cooking?" " A profiterole." " What?" "A larger profiterole with yams and a little bit of duck in there." "This is, like, a serious competition." "I'm being very serious about this." "A duck profiterole doesn't sound serious to me." "Right, Samantha, what are you doing?" "A five-spice pan-seared duck breast of a sweet potato-rhubarb puree." "Sweet potato and rhubarb, they go together?" " I think so." " Have you tasted before?" "No, but I know what they taste like individually, so..." " Okay, well, don't we all?" " Good luck." "Come on." "Get creative." "Cold pan." "Cold pan." "Felix, what's going on?" "Are you gonna try to pan-roast this and get the fat rendered?" "Yeah." "It works better when the pan's on." "(Joe) You might run out of time." "I think that's good." " Interesting." " Yeah." " Definitely." " Very interesting indeed." "Becky, I mean, she's going for dessert." "A rhubarb tart." "So, look, working with both hands at the same time." " I love the way she's multitasking." " Absolutely." "I'm really concerned about Samantha." "Would you put sweet potato with rhubarb?" "Ugh." "That sounds disgusting." "So Felix says she's gonna bring her, you know, restaurant experience." "But her duck, I put my whole hand in the pan." "It's not even on." "It could be good if done right." "So, Scott, I don't know what zone he's going into." "He's doing a profiterole with sweet potato and duck breast." "Profiteroles are a dessert, and they remain dessert." "And they shouldn't be tampered with." "Absolutely." "Now, you should be working on your finesse and making sure everything you put on the plate has a reason." "Okay, five minutes left, guys." "Five minutes." "Right, Tali, how you feeling?" "(Helene) Fire." "Fire." "[Bleep]." "We got a fire." "Stand back." "Just stand back." "[Bleep]." "I got it." "I've got it." "(Helene) Fire." "Fire." "[Bleep]." "We've got a fire." "Stand back." "Just stand back. [Bleep]." "So it doesn't..." "I've got it." "I've got it." "[Bleep]." "[Bleep]." "I yell fire, and chef Ramsay comes over so valiantly." "[Bleep]." "Yeah, no, I just burned my hand when I had the clock there." "It's fine." "Like a knight in shining armor." " Everything's fine." " Yeah." "Yeah." "Brilliant." " Very brave." "Thank you." " Okay." "You set the place on fire." " No, it's not funny." " You're right, you're right." "Trust me, you've got your neck in a noose." "Be careful." "(Gordon) That's crazy." "I think that's just the lack of experience." "You're seeing a lot of people who didn't know what to do trying to do a little bit of everything." "Yeah." "Here we go." "60 seconds to go." "Finishing touches to those plates, clean those plates beautifully." "Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, and stop." "Whoo!" "[Applause]" "Well done." "(Announcer) After observing and tasting throughout the challenge, the judges now take one final look to identify three standout dishes." "[Indistinct muttering]" "We've now chosen three dishes that stood out." "Really stood out." "The first person we'd like to invite down is..." "You know that you want to call my name." "Please, please, call my name." "Ryan." "Let's go." "[Applause]" "I'm really not surprised that my plate is one of the top dishes." "These other cooks are gonna have to step up their game if they're gonna want to compete with me." "The next person we'd like to invite down is..." " Samantha." " Let's go, Samantha." "I was one of the only people that decided to do something truly new." "I think a lot of people are gonna be jealous of me." "The third person..." "Please come down..." " Scott." " Let's go." "My mind is just racing." "I know that I wasn't 100% proud of this dish." "It was not executed properly." "Congratulations." "I mean, your three dishes" " stood out." " Thank you, chef." "Thank you." "You managed to cook what we think are the worst three dishes of this mystery box challenge." "Listen carefully." "This season, we've rewritten the rule books, so none of you should ever get too comfortable in this kitchen, because we could ask you to leave at any time, starting now." "What?" "(Becky) We're all gobsmacked." "We just can't believe it." "It's crazy to me." "And I'm just like, what the heck is gonna happen now?" "Okay, we'll taste all three dishes." "Whoever we decide has plated the absolute worst dish will be handing back their apron." "Ryan, bring your dish up to the station, please." "Let's go." "(Ryan) I made a balsamic, rum-glazed duck breast with some caramelized bananas." "Are you proud of this?" "It's rendered to the point of being dry." "Yeah, you may have some crisp on the skin, but bananas?" "I mean, it's like, is this a joke?" "It looks like you plated it and then stepped on it." "Sadly, the cook on the banana is better than the cook on the duck." "Bananas with duck..." "You've gone bananas!" "That's what's happened." "You've gone [Bleep] bananas." "The hero of the dish, in my mind, should have been the duck." "You have managed to cook the duck." "Everything else around that is dreadful." "Samantha, the dish please." "Thank you." "(Graham) What is it?" "(Samantha) Um, it's pan-seared duck breast of a sweet potato-rhubarb puree, served with a eggplant Napoleon." "You know that that's not cooked." " Right?" " I do, sir." "And you put it on a plate." "Raw duck and, like, the leaning tower of dryness." "This is not what we're looking for." "This is bad on so many levels, it's kind of hard to explain." "(Gordon) Scott, let's go." "Um, what is that?" "It's a profitol... profiterole with a mashed-up sweet potato and a slice of the duck." "Two whole duck breasts equates to three miniature slices of duck." " Where's the rest of it?" " I honestly got scared." "It's embarrassing, Scott." "Well, at least after the raw duck, we have a duck that has actually seen the frying pan." "You thought it would impress us that you could put a slice of duck breast" " in a profiterole?" " A little over-creative." "Over-creative?" "Delusional." "Three embarrassing dishes." "I'm scared." "If they call my name and they send me home," "I'm gonna be the first person out of 18 gone." "It would be devastating." "Scott, one step forward, please." "Yes, chef." "We're disappointed." "Luckily for you, there were two dishes worse than yours." "Back on your station, please." "Yes, chef." "Ryan, Samantha, one of you has just cooked their last dish in this competition." "My dish looks ten times better than his dish." "How is this even possible?" "Even though my dish might have been uglier in presentation, it was still edible." "The person leaving the competition that cooked the worst dish..." "I just wanted to say that I am definitely not ready to go home yet, and you were right." "The hero of this dish was the duck, and, out of the two of us," "I would say that the duck was better executed by me." "I don't care." "And you guys can't eat raw duck." "No begging." "You're in this competition competing, not judging." "Let's get that right." "Have some respect for your fellow contestants." "The person leaving the competition that cooked the worst dish in our first mystery box challenge belongs to..." "(Announcer) The judges have already singled out the two worst dishes." "Out of the two of us," "I would say that the duck was better executed by me." "No begging." "(Announcer) And now, for the first time, someone will be stripped from their apron, and sent home from a mistery box challenge." "The person leaving the competition that cooked the worst dish belongs to..." "Samantha." "Please take your apron off and place it on your station." "You're leaving the competition." "I'm definitely sad to leave the Masterchef kitchen this early." "I didn't think my dish was the star of the challenge, but I didn't think it was the loser of the challenge." "It was definitely a learning process." "It has given me more zeal for my passion, and is not gonna stop me." "I don't mean to be a hater, but, man, come on," "Ryan, for him to throw Samantha under the bus like that, was a [Bleep] bitch move." "Ryan, back on your station." "(Becky) You can never feel safe here, and I think that that's exactly what they were trying to tell us, so you better be bringing your a-game every single day." "(Gordon) Winning every challenge, every pressure test, results to so many advantages in this competition." "And today, the glory does belong to somebody, because their dish stood out above their competition." "That dish belongs to..." "Felix." "Congratulations." "Great job." "Bring your dish down please, darling." "(Felix) It's a huge validation." "This is definitely one of the proudest moments that I've had in my life." "(Gordon) Come and stand over here." "I'm trying to just be humble and, like, you know, keep my composure, but I don't think that Felix deserved to win." "Which sucks." "I'm so bummed." "Great job." "Really good job indeed." "(Felix) I did a Chinese five-spice seared duck breast, and I did a sauce for it, and eggplant and sweet potato chips." "Phenomenal execution." "Very nice." "The sauce and everything on the plate really worked." "(Joe) We recognized it immediately as being restaurant-quality, and the flavor is fantastic." "(Felix) Thank you so much." "(Gordon) Felix is now a frontrunner." "The competition is on." "So, Felix, for winning today's mystery box challenge, you're coming with us to find out your huge advantage in the next challenge." "Let's go." "Well done." "(Announcer) As the winner of the mystery box challenge," "Felix is now the first home cook to enter the Masterchef pantry." "Here, Felix is in control of the first elimination test." "Each elimination test will see at least one person leave the competition." "(Felix) I'm surrounded by the most amazing fresh produce." "It was the most beautiful pantry I had ever seen in my life." "(Announcer) Felix now gets to choose the style of food or the dish that everyone must cook." "However, the one thing she cannot control is the theme of the challenge." "That is in the hands of the judges." "Today, you'll be cooking one of our three most intimidating dishes." "I'm down." "Even though I was practically raised on it, it's a dish that intimidates me because it's so difficult to execute." "And it's a dish that takes me back to my grandmother's kitchen and my mother's kitchen." "It is Italian risotto." "And risotto refers not only to rice, but the technique involved in making it." "Because, as opposed to steaming it or boiling it, we saute it." "There is one dish that always gives me the chills, because you can't hide behind adding different little touches and ingredients and garnishes." "Classic New England clam chowder." "Five ingredients..." "Potatoes, cream, onion, pork, clams." "All of those things at the end of the day, they sound easy, and that's what makes it a hard dish." "To me, the most intimidating dish is the one I'm well-known for." "It's like a work of art." "You seriously have to follow every step religiously." "Any idea?" "Your notorious beef Wellington?" "It's exactly that." "It scares the hell out of me." "It's so intimidating, it takes years of practice." "Felix, out of Joe, Graham, and my dish, what dish are you gonna choose?" "I choose..." "The theme of today's elimination test is our most intimidating dishes." "We gave Felix the choice of one of those three dishes that give us the most anxiety." "The dish that Felix chose was..." "A stunning risotto." "All right." "My whole stomach sinks, and I feel a little nauseous, because I've only made risotto once in my life, and it was not very good." "Risotto's not intimidating to me because I've made it before, and I'm comfortable doing it in a short period of time." " Felix." " Yes." "For winning the mystery box challenge," " you don't have to cook it." " Yeah!" "(Gordon) You're safe." "Go enjoy your safety up in our gallery." "[Applause]" "Thank you." "What an amazing position to be in." "At least one of you will be eliminated on the back of this risotto, so make sure it's not you." "All of you have got 45 minutes to make a stunning risotto." "Your 45 minutes starts from..." "Now." "Off you go." "(Announcer) As Felix enjoys the safety of the Masterchef lounge, the remaining home cooks must now choose the necessary ingredients to make one stunning risotto dish." "Butter." "I need butter." "(Announcer) At the end of the challenge, at least one more person will be sent home." "Is there butter in here?" "My eyes lit up." "There was molecular powders," "Xanthan gum, tapioca maltodextrin, sodium alginate..." "Pretty much everything you need to make awesome risotto." "(Scott) Risotto, it doesn't have to be fancy." "You can't really use cayenne and a blast of this or a blast of that, you know, to really mask some of the subtle errors that you might be making." "Some kind of shellfish." "Either clams or scallops or mussels or shrimp." "Everyone else can see what's in the pantry." "I can only really cook with ingredients I know about." "Innovation is going to be a big challenge for me." "Wow." "Some half-full baskets." "Some full baskets." "If you were out there right now, what kind of risotto would you be doing?" "Something super simple." "One ingredient." "You have to season all the way through, you have to season the onions when they go in." "You have to toast the rice, add the wine, burn the alcohol out, more salt, make sure your stock is seasoned." "I mean, there's a lot of balance here." "Mm-hmm." "You cannot rush a risotto." "Okay, Frank, how's your rice coming?" "So far, so good." "What would your family think if you get sent home on a risotto?" "My dad would definitely break my balls." "Dave Mack." "Yes, sir." "Flavor." "What are you doing?" "I got some white wine, butter." "I got the morels." "I know those have a nice flavor to 'em." " Good luck." " Thank you, sir." "Felix, how you feel up there?" "Good." "Hi." "It feels really nice to just be able to watch from above what everyone's cooking style is." "It looks like Tali's never made risotto before." "It looks like Dave Mack has never made risotto before, as well as Scott." "He's not using a classic technique, and there's reasons why techniques are developed." "I'm gonna make a poblano risotto for them today." "I'm gonna add a little scallop on top and see where we go from there." "Hello, Helene." "What do you think?" "Um, I think it's actually done." "The texture is telling me that it's really close." " Did you taste that rice?" " Yes." "That taste cooked to you?" "Well, it's getting there." " Monti." " Yes, sir, chef." "One, two, three, four pans going." "What are you doing?" "I am gonna make risotto with green and yellow beans, white asparagus, and sun-dried tomato." "Not keeping things simple?" "I'm gonna see how things turn out, and I'm gonna go from there." "(Gordon) Last 15 minutes." "Here we go." "So, with 15 minutes left, we should certainly be adding the first consommes to our final risotto." "The rice should be toasted, the onions should be wilted." "You're starting to see the rice swell a little bit, gaining volume... working it, working it, working it." "Who do you think's gonna be doing something delicious?" "I think that Frank'll do a good risotto, because I think he's eaten it before." " Dave Mack?" " He's got a pot like this, where it's literally, like, just making this porridge." " Right." " I think Tali is kind of really out of his comfort zone." "His technique is off." "He put cranberries in there." "I mean, there's certain things that never go in a bloody risotto." "Cranberry's one of them." "He doesn't know when to stop." "He doesn't know when to stop." "I mean, I'm seriously concerned." "He is in hot water." "(Gordon) Five minutes to go." "Use the time wisely." "(Announcer) In this risotto elimination challenge, many are struggling." "Oh, my God." "(Announcer) At the end of tonight, another one of these 17 home cooks will be leaving the Masterchef kitchen." "(Gordon) Taste." "Start thinking about the execution." "Everything." "60 seconds to go." "Come on." "Check the plate." "Let the risotto relax." "Seasoning." "Butter in." "Cheese in." "You want rich lava." "Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, and stop." "Everybody." "[Cheers and applause]" "Well done." "And the sad news." "Tonight, somebody will be leaving the Masterchef kitchen." "(Announcer) The judges will taste each risotto dish." "Then the three worst dishes will be singled out, and one of those home cooks will leave the competition." "Okay, let's start off back row." "Monti." "I'm a little freaked out right now." "But I'm not going home." "I came here to cook, and I came here to win this." "This is risotto made with white wine and chicken stock with a pancetta, pine nuts, sundried tomato, and white asparagus." "It does not look like a risotto, does it?" "Uh..." "They don't look like that ever." "So there's the risotto down there." "I've got to dig for this one." "The pancetta is crispy." "That's the nice thing about it." "Unfortunately, your garnish tastes better than the actual body of the risotto." "Have you ever eaten risotto before?" " No." " That's bizarre." "That I've never eaten risotto?" "How are you holding up?" "I'm doing all right." "The thing is, as whoever you're cooking it for is getting the bite, they should get a tiny, little piece of asparagus, a little pancetta, all those things, not huge long pieces that don't really fit" "on the fork and are just garnished on the top." "(Gordon) Thank you, Monti." "The judges, they expect us to be at a certain level, and I was far below that level." "[Sniffles]" "Frank, let's go, please." "Everybody's looking at me to make the quintessential Italian dish, so, yeah, I'm feeling the pressure." "I'm feeling that I need to bring it." "What have you got for us?" "Clam, artichoke, and blood orange." "Pancetta, basil, toasted fennel seeds, and guajillo pepper." "I knew you guys were gonna be looking at me 'cause I'm Italian, so I wanted to do something different and hopefully impress you." "Well, it worked." " Bravo." "Good job." " Thank you so much." "Look at the texture in that." "That's what I loven risotto, you know, being able to stir and find all the little goodies" " hiddenn there." " Yes." "Um, Frank, you ain't playing around, dude." "That's pretty good." " Thanks, guys." " Frankie!" "[Applause]" "Frank, the light bulb's on." "Right?" " That's it, baby." " Here we go." "All right, David, please." "I need to start making a name for myself in this kitchen, or else I'm gonna go by the wayside, and I can't have that happen." "In the veal stock risotto, I put portobellos and some oyster mushrooms, gooseberry-roasted poblano, and some scallops." "Making risotto and using veal stock at the same time is a very dangerous game." "You nailed it." "Thank you." "Really good job." "This is one of the best things that I've tasted in a long time." " Oh." "Oh, my gosh." " It's delicious." "The poblano, the cook on the rice is perfect." "The layering of flavors." " Well done." " Oh, my God." "Helene." "Wow." "Um, what is that?" "That is saffron risotto, topped with scallops that are crusted in a red peppercorn-smoked sea salt wrapped in burdock root." "So, visually, when you can still see the center of that bright grain of rice, what does that mean?" "That it's perhaps undercooked?" ""Perhaps." That's not perhaps." "It's definitely undercooked." "The basket..." "What the [Bleep] is that?" "A basket." "[Bleep]." "Uhh!" "God, I could scream." "The scallops are still raw." "I'm looking at that, and I'm looking at the Masterchef trophy, I'm thinking, "nah."" "All right, guys." "You guys understand the spirit of this competition?" "What we're looking for here?" "Scallop basket..." "Go in the garbage basket." "[Scoffs] We're not fooling around here." "We're looking for specific things, it's not a game, and you're not here to waste our time." " You understand?" " Yes." "The rice is undercooked, and the scallops are a joke." "You guys understand the spirit of this competition?" "What we're looking for here?" "Scallop basket..." "Go in the garbage basket." "[Scoffs]" "The rice is undercooked, and the scallops are a joke." "They really seemed offended by these creations that I made, but at least I went to the edge of my comfort zone." "I tried something new." "I didn't nail it." "I screwed it up." "Christine, let's go, please." "(Christine) I sauteed some onions with scallops and chicken stock that I had infused with smashed garlic and chili peppers." "You were almost frazzled by this dish." "You have a extraordinary palate, but I think that one is subpar." "Next up, Ryan." "We have portobello, dried shiitake, and morel mushrooms." "I made a duxelle out of the three of them so that I can incorporate the mushrooms in every bite." "The consistency of the risotto itself was spot on." "Good technique on the rice." " Good job." " Thank you very much." " All right, Scott." " Good luck, Scotty." "Let's do this." "This elimination challenge is definitely a chance for me to redeem myself with the judges." "It means everything to show them that I can not only just bounce back, but actually really shine." "You think this has it?" "Is this gonna be good?" "I went back to where I normally cook." "I went as simple and core as I could to let the risotto speak for itself." "Seven ingredients in this entire dish." " The texture's nice." " Thank you, chef." "Huge improvement over the last dish that we saw." "A spirited effort, and, uh, welcome back to the contest." "Thank you, Joe." "(Joe) So the next risotto we want to taste is from Tali." "Joe is definitely the scariest judge." "He's the judge to win over, and, if I can do that, then the Masterchef title is definitely mine." "I made a pistachio, cranberry, cherry, and gooseberry risotto." "What's this?" "What is this baby powder-looking stuff?" "That's hazelnut and walnuts." "Next to it, some tapioca maltodextrin." "I wanted to give it a little bit of..." "You know what it is, it's garbage is what it is." "What you did on that dish is inappropriate and ultimately kind of disgusting." "Congratulations." "The cranberries, the nuts, the gooseberries, already just unheard of in a risotto." "That is a disaster." "[Whispers] Oh, dear." "Damn." "Serve us your best." "Anybody." "[Whispers] Damn it." "(Graham) Last but not least," "Dave Mack." "I'm looking at my dish, the plating and everything was fantastic." "My dish came out exactly how I wanted, and I feel very confident." "What we have here is some morel mushrooms, some portobello mushrooms." "Used some veal stock, a sauvignon blanc." "Did you wash the mushrooms?" "I didn't wash them out completely." "If they're not rinsed super well, especially the morels, it's like a dirt sponge, and you taste that, and it's just gritty." "It's just really bad." "Don't grab a morel." "Why do you tell me what to avoid?" "I'm here to eat the dish or should I eat selectively?" "As you wish." "[Utensils clatter]" "A little too sandy for me." "Big mistake." "Guys, some basic stuff like feeding us sand and things like that, not good." "I screwed up." "But I hope that they're able to see through that and still see my culinary greatness." "We tasted some fantastic risottos and, sadly, some disastrous risottos." "We now need to come up with a decision." "(Announcer) The judges must now decide which home cooks are the bottom three." "From these, one more person will be sent home tonight." " Good job, Christine." " Oh, thanks." "(Gordon) Monti?" "It just shows the inexperience." " Helene?" " Helene is a disaster." "Helene was shocking." "According to them, it was, like, way undercooked." "You're not the worst." "She is." "And Tali." "I mean..." "Disaster." "I don't know what Tali was up to." " No." " Dave?" "The sand, you know, big, big technical error." "I didn't wash the mushrooms, and I think I started too late." "Any freakin' dish but risotto, man." "Like, seriously." "Ryan and Tali are the two people that I want to see go home." "They're just total idiots." "And, if they don't stay on their toes," "I'm gonna be the one to take 'em out." "Clearly we have to take him out." "You took the words right out of my mouth." "I'm gonna have to throw someone under the bus." "Once one of 'em's gone, the other one's..." "Remember, you're the best." " How do you feel?" " Good." "All right, guys." "(Gordon) Back to your stations, please." "Thank you." "There were two standout risottos." "The first one belongs to..." "Frank." "Great job." "However, there was one that stood out head and shoulders above its competition." "That dish belongs to..." "David Martinez." "Both of you will become team captains in the next stage of this competition." "But you know this elimination challenge comes with a departure." "There were three dishes that stood out all for the wrong reasons." "And at least one of those three have cooked their last dish in this competition." "The first dish that was out of character, bland, subpar, and on the verge of an embarrassment, that dish belongs to..." "Dave Mack." "Come down here, please." "Please stand over there." "Thank you." "(Joe) This next dish had very bizarre flavors and techniques." "Helene." "The third of the worst dishes had a mix of ingredients that made no sense, didn't even seem to know what a risotto was supposed to be." "That dish belongs to..." "I was trying to not lose my grip on my countertop, because I know I'm gonna be in the bottom three." "I know it." "The third of the worst dishes had a mix of ingredients that made no sense, didn't even seem to know what a risotto was supposed to be." "That dish..." "Belongs to Tali." "(Gordon) Those three risottos were embarrassing." "Who will be sent home?" "I did what the challenge asked for, you know, so I feel safe." "I screwed up." "My risotto was undercooked." "I'm feeling, quite frankly, scared." "My food tastes great." "What do the judges want?" "Why didn't they see it on my plate?" "Dave Mack, one step forward, please." "You can't turn out undercooked rice with every mouthful just full of grit." "Dave, you are not safe." "Stay there, please." "Helene." "Your dish was really bad." "We were bitterly disappointed." "But it wasn't one of the worst two." "Back to your station, please." "Thank you." "Thank you." "Tali." "You're not safe either." "Your dish was confused, bizarre." "It's almost like you're trying to outsmart your competition." "You can bamboozle every amateur behind you, but you cannot bamboozle us three, let me tell you." "Sorry, chef." "I just didn't..." "This is my first time cooking a risotto." "Tali." "Stay there." "Based on that risotto..." "The person leaving is..." "Dave Mack." "Ohh." "Your time is done in this competition." "Please bring your apron on your station and leave the Masterchef kitchen." "Thank you." "Thank you, chef." "I'm disappointed, but, at the same time," "I'm glad I got to compete at this level." "The judges did make a mistake by sending me home." "I have a lot of creativity." "Thank you very much." "What can you say?" "You know, hope for the best, plan for the worst." "Tali." "You have dodged that bullet, but, Tali, you are flying by the seat of your pants." "Back on your station." "Thank you so much." "Whew!" "That's the sigh of relief." "I dodged the biggest bullet of my life, and..." "I don't want to be in that position again." "(Announcer) Next time on Masterchef, it's the first team challenge of the season..." "Yeah!" "(Announcer) And the surviving home cooks are going to war." "Hit the deck!" "(Announcer) Each team will battle it out to feed America's heroes." "Get a grip and wake up!" "(Announcer) And the losers will go head to head in a pressure test..." "I can't believe this is happening."