{"id":62630,"date":"2014-10-17T00:11:17","date_gmt":"2014-10-16T22:11:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whalecottage.com\/blog\/?p=62630"},"modified":"2014-10-22T19:57:17","modified_gmt":"2014-10-22T17:57:17","slug":"masterchef-sa-season-3-episode-9-chicken-masterpiece-invention-test-boring-claire-allen-chickens-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chrisvonulmenstein.com\/blog\/whale-cottage-portfolio\/masterchef-sa-season-3-episode-9-chicken-masterpiece-invention-test-boring-claire-allen-chickens-out\/","title":{"rendered":"MasterChef SA Season 3 episode 9: Chicken MasterPiece Invention Test boring, Claire Allen chickens out!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MasterChef<\/a>Last night MasterChef SA continued with more boring viewing, the simple task of the Invention Test being to make a MasterChef Chicken MasterPiece, using the whole chicken, including the giblets! It was surprising how poorly this challenge was executed. \u00a0Penny Fitchet won the Invention Test with her Coq au Vin, while Claire Allen was sent home. \u00a0It was shocking to see how casually Reuben Robertsons Riffel was dressed, with a crumpled pair of slacks and a round neck jersey, while his colleague judges Pete Goffe-Wood and Benny Masekwameng looked smartly dressed and professional! \u00a0Riffel was filmed with his hands in his pants \"MasterChef<\/a>pockets too! \u00a0Shocking was the spelling errors in the M-Net<\/strong> media release!<\/p>\n

Having returned back to the MasterChef SA kitchen at Nederburg, after having spent some time (and two episodes in Durban, Umhlanga, and Ixopo), the Finalists appeared happy to be back ‘home’ in their kitchen. On each cooking station was a black apron, with each contestant’s name embroidered on it. \u00a0The contestants had 90 minutes to prepare their chicken dishes, transforming the ‘common chicken<\/em>‘ to a MasterChef chicken MasterPiece, Riffel said. \u00a0They enjoyed the luxury of an open kitchen for the whole Test, and the 90 minute preparation time. \u00a0The contestants were told that one of them would have to leave the show at the end of the episode, and that the person preparing the winning dish would be the one choosing the contestant pairings for the next episode, eight contestants being left.<\/p>\n

Sipho Mdlankomo<\/strong> was excited about the challenge, and planned to make peri peri roast chicken with tomato samp, saying that chicken is South Africa’s favourite food. \u00a0While she had been excited about the amount of time they were given, she ran out of time, cooking her samp ‘al dente’<\/em>! \u00a0 Riffel praised her for the ‘nicely cooked’<\/em> chicken, being pink inside, but criticised her samp, for being undercooked. \u00a0Chef Benny praised her for using the whole chicken, but criticised for having added too much chili.<\/p>\n

Roxi Wardman<\/strong> was on such a high at the beginning of the series, flying off to Dublin for a Michelin star meal at Thornton’s restaurant. In episode 8 she landed in a Pressure Test, against Refilwe\u00a0Tselanyane. \u00a0Last night she seemed overambitious, making chicken lollipops, croquettes dusted with cous cous for something different, and butternut-stuffed ‘ballantines’<\/em> (as per the M-Net<\/strong> media release), making a collection of tapas dishes from the chicken. \u00a0The filling she had put into her chicken ballotine exploded as she took it out of the oven. \u00a0Chef Benny told her that he was disappointed that the dish she presented did not contain half the elements she had planned to make when she started preparing her dish. \u00a0He also critiqued her crumbing, being too thick and chewy. \u00a0Chef Pete added that he could not stomach any more lollipops, saying that they are not worth the effort. Overall, he said, she should have made fewer elements, and added more seasoning. \u00a0Her butternut crisps were tough, as they still had the skin on them. Roxi was very hurt by the judges’ feedback.<\/p>\n

\"MasterChef<\/a>Penny<\/strong> decided to follow her French roots in making her grandmother’s Coq au Vin ( or ‘coc au vin<\/em>‘ as M-Net<\/strong> calls it), served with a port liver pat\u00e9 on melba toast. \u00a0She told Riffel that he was distracting her while she was preparing her\"MasterChef<\/a> dish. \u00a0Penny was critical of her own plating, describing it as ‘rubbish’<\/em>. \u00a0Chef Pete praised the dish, saying that it is how Coq au Vin should be prepared and that it was top quality, while Riffel said that the pat\u00e9 was a ‘genius’<\/em>, and that the Coq au Vin contained lots of butter and cream.<\/p>\n

Claire Allen<\/strong> deboned her chicken, and prepared it three ways, as breasts, ballotine stuffed with her grandmother’s chicken stuffing, and as sticky sweet wings. Clare said that she wants to do so much more on MasterChef SA, only having cooked three times on the show. She emphasised a number of times that she had never cooked with giblets, the chickens she buys coming without them. Chef Benny said that all three her elements tasted of chicken, and all tasted the same. \u00a0Chef Pete added that there was nothing ‘wow’<\/em> about the dish.<\/p>\n

\"MasterChef<\/a>Philippa Robinson<\/strong> made a traditional roast chicken, one which she would make for her family too. \u00a0She added butter, thyme, and rosemary under the skin. \u00a0Her dish was named ‘Chicken a la Robinsons<\/em>‘. \u00a0Chef Pete could not stop raving about her dish, saying the chicken was perfectly roasted, and that the mash and stuffing were ‘fantastic<\/em>‘! \u00a0Riffel parroted Chef Pete, saying that the stuffing had good flavour, and that the roast chicken was ‘very good<\/em>‘.<\/p>\n

Abigail Mbalo<\/strong> received little airtime last night, using four elements to make her\u00a0‘Flavours of the Cape<\/em>‘ \u00a0Cape Malay dish, which Chef Pete described as being ambitious. \u00a0Chef Bennie said it would ‘take you around Cape Town’, <\/em>while Riffel said that he liked the wings, but felt that the dish was slightly under-seasoned and too tomatoey.<\/p>\n

Francois Zietsman<\/strong> made a Karoo chicken pie, which he had amended from his mother’s recipe. \u00a0He seemed to panic, worrying about his pastry having enough time to bake, needing at least 15 – 20 minutes to bake it. He said that he hoped for the best, and was proud of how good the pie looked, which he served with sweet potato pur\u00e9e, and aubergine with stuffed chicken liver mozzarella roulades. \u00a0 Chef Pete praised the pink liver and the mash, but the pastry was criticised for being ‘very doughy’<\/em>. \u00a0Riffel said that the pie had gone into the oven too late.<\/p>\n

Mel Sutherland<\/strong> did not get much airtime last night, making chicken lollipops, ballotine and mousse, as well as a chicken soup. with Banting CauliMash. \u00a0Chef Pete said that making four elements was too many, one only would have been enough. \u00a0 Riffel added that it is great to play with different ideas, but that one should concentrate on what one does best.<\/p>\n

Ian Young<\/strong> seemed unstressed. \u00a0 He baked his own bread rolls, to mop up the chicken juices. \u00a0He had marinated his \"MasterChef<\/a>Spatchcock chicken for just less than half an hour, and flamb\u00e9ed the hearts and liver. He confidently said that he was happy with what he had prepared. Chef Pete said that the dish tasted better than it looked, and that it could have been cooked a few minutes longer. Riffel praised the ‘bloody good bread’<\/em>, the offal green salad, and chicken.<\/p>\n

The judges fed back that they liked the linkage to family members in the preparation of dishes, using their menus. \u00a0They were also impressed with the effort put into the dishes, ‘no one playing it safe’<\/em>. \u00a0The top three chicken dishes were those made by Philippa, Penny, and Ian, but it was Penny’s Coq au Vin which the judges voted as being the best. \u00a0She will choose which pairs of contestants will work together in the\u00a0food and wine pairing episode next week. \u00a0 The Bottom Three were Claire, Roxi, and Francois, but it was events manager Claire who had to hang up her MasterChef SA apron.<\/p>\n

Given the high standard of cooking in the earlier episodes, it was surprising that such a fundamental common-or-garden Chicken Invention Test was stretched out over a whole episode, and that the quality of what was presented was so low, given the task of creating a Chicken MasterPiece – sadly there was none to be seen! \u00a0Can someone please help Riffel in dressing professionally for the show?<\/p>\n

For an overview of MasterChef Season 3\u00a0read here<\/a>,<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0read here too<\/strong>.<\/a>\u00a0For a summary of episode 1 of Season 3 at Bootcamp 1\u00a0read here<\/a>,\u00a0<\/strong>and of episode 2\u00a0read here.<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>The summary of episode 3\u00a0can be read here.<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Read about Roxi\u2019s trip to Dublin and Thornton\u2019s Restaurant, and the first Pressure Test in episode 4\u00a0here.<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong>Read about the Carrot Dessert Invention Test in episode 5\u00a0here<\/a>. \u00a0<\/strong>The Pressure Test with Swedish Chef Niklas Ekstedt, and visit to Syddah Essop in the Karoo in\u00a0episode 6 is here<\/strong><\/a>. \u00a0For a summary of episode 7, a Team Challenge in Durban,\u00a0click here<\/strong><\/a>. \u00a0For the write-up of the Pressure Test between Roxi and Refilwe, and the visit to the Ixopo Retreat by the winning Red Team, click here.<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

For the Twitter handles of the Top 12 finalists,\u00a0click here.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

POSTSCRIPT 22\/10<\/strong>: The Independent on Sunday copied and pasted M-Net’s media release for this episode<\/strong><\/span><\/a>, with embarrassing typing errors (for coq au vin and ballotine!).<\/p>\n

PLEASE NOTE<\/strong>:<\/b>\u00a0The weekly\u00a0WhaleTales Sweet & Sour Service Awards<\/span><\/a>,<\/strong>\u00a0usually posted on Fridays, will be posted on Saturdays until late December, to allow the write-ups of each of the 18 episodes of MasterChef SA Season 3 to be posted the day after the episode.<\/span><\/p>\n

MasterChef SA Season 3<\/strong>, M-Net. \u00a0www.masterchefsa.dstv.co.za<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0Twitter: @MasterChef_SA \u00a0Thursdays at 19h30.<\/p>\n

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio:\u00a0www.whalecottage.com<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0 Tel (021) 433-2100, Twitter:@WhaleCottage \u00a0Facebook: \u00a0<\/strong>click here<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last night MasterChef SA continued with more boring viewing, the simple task of the Invention Test being to make a MasterChef Chicken MasterPiece, using the whole chicken, including the giblets! It was surprising how poorly this challenge was executed. \u00a0Penny Fitchet won the Invention Test with her Coq au Vin, while Claire Allen was sent […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false},"categories":[124,587,266,14539,21,293],"tags":[27242,28329,15291,15274,914,28327,28323,32378,27239,28324,3905,332,19740,28328,27243,15935,28326,28325,28330,3401,32404,27382,27806,27232,1458,27246,28331,27249,23738,27378,20478,27953,27511,12179,32373,1771],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t