Tag Archives: Joani Mitchell

MasterChef SA Season 2: The Top 10 cook up a storm!

MasterChef Top 12 FinalistsThere are 12 episodes left in the next six weeks of MasterChef SA, and we are down to the Top 10, an amazing accolade for each of the Finalists, and will change their lives forever.  This is the MasterChef SA Season 2 Top 10 Finalist list, with their performance to date:

*   Tiron Eloff :  Into Pressure Test in episode 12, and did reasonably well. Twitter: @TironEloff

*   Karen Els : Top 5 dish in episode 7. Did well in her fish dish in the Pressure Test in episode 10, after not doing well in the Spice Test.  Won best dish in episode 11, and won a MasterClass in ice-cream making at The Creamery. Twitter: @kelsfoodie

*   Khumo Twala : Into Pressure Test in episode 6. Made a perfect hollandaise sauce, and was allowed to join the other Finalists in episode 6.  Top 5 dish in episode 7. Was in the Spice Test in episode 10, but was allowed to join the other Finalists.  Survived the Pressure Test in episode 14, making Chef David Higgs’ macaroons and panna cotta.  Twitter: @Simply_khumski Continue reading →

MasterChef SA Season 2 episode 13: Dairy Challenge pans out for some, Kamini Pather creams it!

MasterChef 2 13 Finalists Whale Cottage PortfolioEpisode 13 of MasterChef SA last night marked the halfway mark for the reality TV cooking show, and focused on the use of Dairy.  Many panna cotta dishes were made for the Dairy Challenge, which panned out for some, and not so for others.

The episode began with the Finalists discovering that all their dairy products had been removed from the fridge in their house, and they reacted grumpily to not being able to have coffee to wake up with.  Herman Cloete said their mood was ‘scratchy‘.  When they arrived at the MasterChef kitchen, Chef Andrew Atkinson cheekily asked why they looked as if they did not have a good start to the day, knowing full well what had happened at the house.  It was meant to introduce the Invention Test, to test the Finalists’ creativity with the products most commonly found in households, being dairy.  The Pantry had been stocked with milk, cream, cheese, and yoghurts, and the Finalists were challenged to make any dish with dairy, be it a starter or dessert, as long as they got the basics right.  They were given 10 minutes to grab their products in the Pantry, and 60 minutes to prepare their dish. Continue reading →

MasterChef SA Season 2 episode 11: Some Finalists bite off more than the judges can chew, Karen Els transforms into a butterfly!

MasterChef 2 11 Meat Whale Cottage PortfolioLast night’s episode 11 of MasterChef SA was a very meaty one, with the full range of Woolworths meat cuts being available to the 13 Finalists for a spectacular dish they had to make, with beef as the hero. Some dishes were highly praised, others were mis-steaks mainly related to the amount of time needed for the cooking, and others did not meet the challenge brief, in playing it safe.

Chef Benny Masekwameng introduced the challenge, and described the cultural tradition of slaughtering a cow for special occasions and celebration.  On the first day, one would serve the innards as a welcome dish.  On day 2 the whole carcass would be prepared for the main feast, while on day 3 the head and trotters would be served, he explained,   The Woolworths range of meats included fillet, sirloin, pickled tongue, boerewors, biltong, mince, shin, oxtail, and sausages.  The Finalists had ten minutes to grab their ingredients from the Pantry,  and were given 90 minutes within which to prepare their dishes.  The creator of the best dish would win a personalised MasterClass, while the bottom three Finalists would have to go into the Pressure Test. Continue reading →

MasterChef SA Season 2 episode 10: Spicy Test, Blatant Branding, Beulah Bashing, SASSI Slating, fishy end to Neil Lowe!

MasterChef 2 10 Pressure Test team Whale Cottage PortfolioWhat a diverse and controversial episode 10 was last night, generating many emotions at different levels, as well as criticism of M-Net and MasterChef SA on Twitter for the first time since the commencement of Season 2.  There was little that was judged to be favourable in the episode:

‘Spice’ Test

The losing Red Team (Joani Mitchell, Karen Els, Khumo Twala, Jason Steel, Leandri van der Wat, and Neil Lowe) from Tuesday evening had to go into the ‘Spice’ Test when they lost the Pizza Challenge by two points.  Robertsons ‘Spices’ were the focus point of the Test, annoying viewers for such strong blatant branding of the sponsors’ products, in addition to being subjected to so many TV commercials, especially relative to Season 1.  MasterChef 2 10 Robertsons Whale Cottage PortfolioThe criticism was two-fold:

*   Herbs and spices are two different things, yet the contestants had to guess which combination of Robertsons ‘spices’ had been used in a number of dishes they could smell and taste (the company advertises spice and herb combinations), according to the judges’ brief, yet they had both herbs and spices to evaluate, including in a tomato dish, and in caramelised butternut.  Chef Andrew Atkinson said that one’s tastebuds must be attuned to seasoning, so thatMasterChef 2 10 Tomato Whale Cottage Portfolio one can change or enhance a dish’s flavour profile.

*   No serious chefs would use Robertsons spices in their kitchens (except Chef Reuben Riffel of course, who endorses the brand and appears in its advertisements!), as ‘fresh is best’, the trend in restaurant and home cooking! Continue reading →