Original subtitles

ANNOUNCER: Previously on MasterChef Australia,

It's every cook for themselves.

(ALL CHEER)

And with a massive prize on the line...

$10,000 and an immunity pin? That would be huge.

..they produced some of their best dishes yet.

Michael, This is the kind of recipe that gets downloaded by the million.

Thanks.

And Sarah blew away the judges... Hi.

It has all the beauty and elegance of a three Michelin star dish.

..claiming the cash and the pin.

Tonight, one of our favourite guests...

HARRY: I've loved her my whole life. I've got all of her cookbooks.

..is back in the MasterChef kitchen.

# 'Cause you're hot, then you're cold

# You're yes, then you're no

# You're in, then you're out

# You're up, then you're down

# You're wrong when it's right

# It's black and it's white

# We fight, we break up

# We kiss, we make up

# You're hot, then you're cold

# You're yes, then you're no

# You're in, then you're out

# You're up, then you're down

# You're wrong when it's right

# It's black and it's white

# We fight, we break up

# We kiss, we make up

# You # You don't really wanna stay, no

# You # But you don't really wanna go-o

# You're hot, then you're cold

# You're yes, then you're no

# You're in, then you're out

# You're up, then you're down. #

Excited!

Hello, everybody.

This is so nice. What's going on?

Hey, mate. How are we? Eh?

Come on, guys.

Yesterday we finally joined teams, and now we're one big group.

Good morning.

ALDO: Everybody is over the moon excited

that we're going to be cooking all together.

We are one big family.

Oh. Mystery boxes.

We've got a mystery box.

Good morning, everyone. Come on down the front.

It's so great to see you in your fresh new aprons.

(LAUGHTER)

It's a new day, a new mystery box,

and a new stage in the competition.

Daniel, you're looking across at this very talented group of people

and thinking, "I have to beat them all."

Yeah. Pretty much. (LAUGHTER)

No, I'm kind of excited.

Like, now it's an opportunity

to learn from more than just the Fans,

and it's probably a good breath of fresh air

from the Fans, they're probably sick of me. (CHUCKLES)

You right, Andy?

Yeah, there was a few nods. I was like...

(LAUGHTER)

Brush it off.

Well, today is a mystery box day.

And today's mystery box contains ingredients

chosen by a legendary cook and a national treasure.

Ooh. Mmm.

She's been part of our lives for the past 40 years,

and her cooking has graced our television screens, our homes

and our hearts.

Her love of food radiates through her,

and it's hard not to smile when she's in the room.

Maggie Beer.

Please give a very warm welcome

to Maggie Beer!

(ALL CHEER)

Oh, this is amazing!

We all love Maggie from watching her on TV.

She's part of the fabric of the Australian food scene.

JOCK: How are you?

What a joy.

What a rock star reception.

Maggie, how does it feel to be back in this beautiful place,

the MasterChef kitchen?

I'm thrilled to be here again.

And who wouldn't love that welcome? Exactly right.

I think that is the biggest welcome we've had yet.

(LAUGHTER)

Melanie, you were... you were blushing.

You were excited. You had a huge smile on your face.

How does it feel to have the legend Maggie Beer in the room?

This is unreal. I just, like...

Some people fangirl over Taylor Swift or Katy Perry.

For me, it's Maggie Beer.

One of the meals that Maggie made on the show,

like, years ago when I was 14 or 15,

was one of the first family meals I made at home.

What was it?

It was a lamb roast with, like, a crumb...like, a herb crumb crust.

And it was so good. So good.

Just can't believe you're here. (LAUGHTER)

No pressure about all this.

Oh, gosh. Can I go now?

(LAUGHTER)

Well, Maggie, you've put this box together

with all of the ingredients that you love to have in your regular pantry.

Mm-hm.

Should you show us what they are? I'd love to.

Are you ready to see what's inside my mystery box?

ALL: Yes. We are.

Here we go.

ALL: Ohh!

That's, like, a classic Maggie mystery box.

Like, there's a beautiful bunch of fresh herbs, chickpeas

and the game bird.

I don't even know what it is.

Well, there had to be game.

So, we have guinea fowl,

beautiful bird to eat,

chickpeas - South Australian, of course -

as well as beautiful, tiny capers.

Prunes - now, people either hate or love prunes.

I love prunes.

Eggplant, paprika,

pistachios

and all these fresh herbs, things that I can't cook without.

How many people have cooked with guinea fowl before?

Two.

Oh. Wow.

OK. May I ask a question?

Yeah. Come on. Hit us, Julie, what have you got?

Well, just, you know, with chicken,

it's got to be cooked all the way through.

Duck, you want it to be pink in the middle.

What's a guinea fowl?

Well, you can't overcook it.

Game must be just pink near the bone only.

Overcooking is sort of like the worst thing in the world,

but don't have it raw either. OK.

Just be perfect. Alright.

MEL: Easy. Just like that. Simple.

You guys have all got 75 minutes to cook whatever you like,

but you must use at least one ingredient

from Maggie's mystery box.

The pantry and the garden, of course, today are closed.

But because Maggie is here,

she's been very kind

and gave you a couple of extra for your underbench pantry,

which is, Maggie?

Oh, well, verjuice, would you believe?

(LAUGHTER) Of course.

But also some vino cotto as well.

But don't forget the verjuice.

For sure there must be verjus. Maggie Beer verjus.

And also vino cotto is so good.

Today, the four least impressive dishes

will send their makers into a pressure test tomorrow

where someone will go home.

Maggie, would you like to kick us off?

I'd love to.

Good luck, everyone.

And your time starts now.

Sorry. Sorry, Dan.

Look, I'm super stoked to see Maggie again one more time.

She's a gem.

I've got such a great memory of Maggie Beer.

I met her on MasterChef Season 10.

It is just so perfect.

Oh...

Yes!

Oh...

I was in elimination, cooking a beautiful perfect chicken breast.

And she raved about it.

That silkiness, it's perfection.

It's shimmering.

Today, I just want to give another great dish to Maggie.

OK. Come on, let's go.

How are we, mate?

Aldo. Hello. How are we?

I'm good. How are you? Very well.

What are you cooking?

I'm basically going to do melanzane a scarpone.

It's basically half eggplant,

then it's going to be the filling of the eggplant,

with capers,

prunes and beautiful pistachio.

And then normally we add the mozzarella

or whipped ricotta cream on the base.

Ricotta? Yes.

There was no ricotta in the pantry.

And we've got to make it.

Hey, it has to come from somewhere.

Fabulous. I love these classic Italian flavours.

A confident Aldo is a good Aldo.

Well, you know, I'm cooking something that I love.

Plus, Maggie, she's here. She has been my lucky star so far.

Good luck, Aldo. Thank you.

Good luck.

I remember the advice that she gave me on my season.

She said, "Just showcase the bold Italian that you are."

I want to keep that memory and channelling for today,

and I can be safe from the bottom four.

HARRY: I couldn't be more happy.

While other kids watched, like, The Simpsons and Play School and stuff,

I only ever watched, like, The Cook and the Chef when I came home.

So, it's pretty special to have her here today

and, like, some seriously beautiful ingredients as well.

So, when Maggie introduced the mystery box,

there were some incredible-looking eggplants.

The judges seem to be really responsive

to when I cook my, like, really vegie-based dishes.

So I think that maybe I should just stay in that box today.

So, today I'm going to make oven-roasted eggplant

with some agrodolce,

which is something that we learned from Jock

in our MasterClass the other day,

and also a herb salad.

Agrodolce is a sauce that is sweet and sour,

really interesting, really complex.

But given the ingredients that we got in the mystery box,

I'm a little bit worried

about how I'm going to balance the agrodolce.

Hopefully, I'll be able to manage that in other ways.

The agrodolce is my hero of the dish.

As long as I give myself enough time all day today to taste

and continually work on it, I think I should be alright.

He's like a little chook that's been on the run for a while, isn't he?

Yes. Yes. And they do. They run around a lot.

STEPH: # Vino cotto. #

I'm looking at the guinea fowl.

You know, I was kind of tempted,

but I'm just going to play to my strength.

Today I am going to make a pistachio frangipane tart with a prune jam.

When I saw Maggie Beer, I was like, "Oh, we're going to get vegies."

Which was great, so I've cracked open the vegies.

I love to put it in fruit.

So, I'm doing my prune jam and the vegies today as well.

The prune jam is cooking.

The next thing I need to do is work on my tart base.

With frangipane tart, I kind of want different textures.

I don't want it all to be the same.

So I want a crispy shell,

a really good layer of jam in the centre,

and on top of that

just a really smooth and buttery pistachio frangipane.

There is a lot to do.

No-one wants to go into a pressure test, and I would love to avoid it.

I'm just going to have to see what happens and try to cook my best.

Someone knows how to cook.

I'm making a dessert samosa, prune syrup

and the pistachio ice-cream.

I kind of want to have that play

on what a traditional samosa would look like,

but the sweet version.

MATT: Here we go.

Today I'm going to do a guinea fowl breast roasted on the crown,

a prune sauce to go with that.

(CHUCKLES)

Where's the...?

I'm making a steamed sort of custard with eggplant and chickpeas harissa

with caramelised vino cotto and verjuice.

Work in progress.

(TIMER BEEPS) Oh, shut...up.

MONTANA: Sticking to my strengths today is definitely important.

There's a lot on the line.

The competition is getting a lot tougher.

So, I'm cooking a rosemary ice-cream with a prune cake

and a pistachio praline sort of crumb.

I want to smash out something that can keep me safe

from tomorrow's pressure test.

JOCK: Maggie, thanks for coming.

And thanks for bringing a few interesting ingredients

from your pantry.

We know that your style of cooking, it all revolves around produce.

That's never changed.

But what's exciting to you right now?

What's exciting me right now is all these beautiful herbs,

the chickpeas and these beautiful capers.

But game is my thing.

You know, I have cooked more pheasant and guinea fowl

and partridge

than I think most people in Australia.

I think you're right.

And I think guinea fowl is underrated.

Honestly, I hate to say this,

but I think it's sent them into a bit of a spin.

Anyone who's cooking guinea fowl

just does not really know how it's meant to be perfectly.

Oh, just stay there for a minute.

Have I made it too hard? Oh, Maggie.

They're in a bit of a tailspin because you're here,

and they don't want to disappoint you.

Man, I don't know what to do with this bird.

I'm a huge fan of Maggie Beer.

I would like to do something that would impress Maggie,

but I feel flustered just thinking about it.

Hi, Melanie. Hi, Jock.

Mi, Maggie! Hello, Melanie.

Oh, I'm so glad you're doing guinea fowl.

That makes one of us.

(LAUGHTER)

What are you making? What's the dish?

So, I'm going to put a compound butter under the skin

of the marylands of the guinea fowl and roast them off.

I'm thinking about roasting the eggplants as well.

Going to make maybe a puree with the chickpeas.

What are you doing with the crown? The crown?

I'm not sure. It scares me. OK.

No, you just cut there and then splay that down.

Spread it down like a spatchcock.

I feel really flustered talking to Maggie.

I'm starstruck.

Put your butter under the skin there, too.

They cook at different levels.

I'm listening and I'm nodding along...

..but I just feel like nothing is going in.

This is an important cook for you

because you grew up being inspired by Maggie, right?

Yeah. Absolutely.

Have courage. Yeah.

Cook with instinct. OK. Alright.

Good luck.

My mind's just kind of blank. They said cook instinctively.

I don't know if they meant for me to take it off.

Only problem is, I still don't know how to treat a guinea fowl.

Don't know how to cook it.

Oh, God, I don't know. I don't know.

Oh, God, I'm shaking.

I feet really flustered talking to Maggie.

The one thing that's kind of sticking in my mind

is that she said, "Cook instinctively."

So I'm just going to try and do that.

I've separated the skin from the meat of the guinea fowl,

and I'm just forcing as much butter in there as I can fit.

All good, Mel? Uh, I don't know. (CHUCKLES)

I'm sure you're fine.

I've got a probe in one of the marylands, and I put it in the oven.

(SIGHS)

If I fail this, I'm probably going into a pressure test.

Pray to the guinea fowl gods.

Lower temp... Stop!

Maggie Beer's in the house. Don't disappoint her.

45 minutes to go! Let's go, guys!

MINDY: Right. Wowee. Here we go.

I'm actually feeling quite confident about today's cook.

Wow.

Maggie's mystery box has made me realise

that mystery boxes are really about embracing the home cook,

you know, focusing on that produce, just like Maggie does.

Mindy! Hello.

How are ya? Hi, Mindy.

Hey, Maggie! Welcome.

Thank you. Yeah.

It's good to be here. What are you doing?

I'm doing eggplant that's going to be stuffed

with all these amazing ingredients that you've given us.

So I've got the pistachios, I've got the capers, I've got crispy capers,

I'm making a prune and paprika dressing.

But this is so much fun.

Just having you here has just brought a smile to my face, so...

Oh, well, I'm thrilled.

Even though you haven't tackled the guinea fowl,

you've tackled everything else.

It's my kind of food.

Bitterness, acidity, balance. Yeah.

Always about balance, and also layers of texture as well.

Totally.

Sounds like you're onto a winner, Mindy. Yes.

Thanks, guys. Good luck.

Oh, my God. I just love her. Seriously.

SARAH: She's amazing. She's so good.

When I cook at home, I love it. I cook from joy.

And I love cooking for people, and I love cooking for family.

And Maggie Beer is like MasterChef family.

So if I can layer the flavours,

bring a dish that I would be... happily serve her at my house,

that's all I want to do today.

What are you doing with your chickpeas?

Roasting some off with some spice, seeing what happens.

So, I'm going to roast the guinea fowl with a stuffing

of pistachio, the chickpeas, the capers and prunes.

I'm just sort of going to treat it a bit like chicken

and hope for the best.

For my stuffing, I'm going to use

prunes for the sweetness, capers, acidity,

pistachios, some butter and stuff just to keep it moist

and the chickpeas to be essentially the body.

But I've never cooked raw chickpeas, so I'm a bit unsure.

I'm just going to stuff the guinea fowl with it

and let it cook in the oven.

Cook, my pretty. Cook!

I've got a bit of a bad track record

of undercooking things at the moment,

so let's hope that I don't overcook it now.

SARAH: Got my dough for my dessert samosa

and now I'm just moving on to the pistachio ice-cream.

(SIGHS)

I'm just worried about the balance in the flavours.

Hopefully, it all comes together nicely and the judges like it.

I'm just glad no-one has to go home today.

(LAUGHS) That's true. I hate that.

BILLIE: I'm on the fly here, holding my swear words away.

I definitely feel a little bit off today.

The fact that we have to really fight

for our own place now in the competition -

the stakes have risen.

It's thrown me a little bit.

I'm not feeling as confident.

Never used guinea fowl before.

I'm doing the legs in the pressure cooker, just quickly...

..and some nice sides.

So, using the chickpeas, using the herbs -

just attempting to make something half-decent.

Oh, I bloody hope it all sort of comes together.

I don't want to be in a pressure test, so...here's hoping.

ANDY: Maggie brought us some top ingredients.

Don't bring us a bottom-four dish.

You've got 30 minutes to go.

ALDO: Have you got a tongs? Have you got one?

MINDY: Uh, I've got one. I'll come back for that.

There you are. Thank you.

Today, definitely, the pressure is on.

(SIGHS) It's Maggie Beer,

and I need to live to the expectation that she's got,

especially on myself.

Thanks, my love.

But for my stuffed eggplant,

I'm happy with the way that everything looks so far.

Beautiful.

The eggplant on the bottom in the oven.

For my beautiful filling, the mixture is looking great.

It's a classic Sicilian style.

I've got my ricotta going, capers, prunes and pistachios.

But now I need to finish the dressing

that goes on top of the eggplant.

Let's go, let's go, let's go.

I'm going to use her favourite verjus,

just to get the acidity which this dish needs.

Try this.

Will I add a bit more verjus?

Mm...

All my attention has to be just focused on

to deliver this great food today for Maggie.

So, the pastry for my tart, the pistachio frangipane,

and the prune jam is done,

and I'm quite happy with how that's taken.

But all the elements I've made took a little bit longer than I wanted.

TOMMY: Good luck, tart lady! (LAUGHS)

So I'm rushing to get the tart into the oven.

It's going to take at least 25 minutes to bake.

This may be trouble.

Ooh.

Hi. Come on, show me what's going on.

I'm actually feeling nervous.

About it setting? Yeah.

Oh, man.

I'm, like...I'm upset. Don't...

Because, if that doesn't set,

you will automatically be in the bottom four.

Good luck. Thank you.

I am anxious, waiting by the oven.

God.

I wish that, the longer I stare at it,

it would just somehow come together really quickly.

It's making me sick.

Feeling great. Feeling great.

What's that? HARRY: Agrodolce.

Yeah, nice.

I'm actually in a pretty good position today. Don't jinx it.

(KNOCKS ON BENCH) Touch all the wood.

Harry. Hello!

How are you? Hello!

Nice to meet you.

Good to meet you. What's the dish?

I've got some roast eggplant

and I'm going to be serving that with my take on Jock's agrodolce...

Awesome. ..and a parsley salad.

I'm just trying to balance this agrodolce at the moment

to add bitterness.

It's really hard to get it, like, right on the edge.

Prunes and capers?

Prunes, capers, pistachios...

The whole lot? ..verjuice, vino cotto...

OK. The vino cotto is wonderful, and prunes are wonderful,

but it can be sweet-sweet. Yeah.

So, yes, your bitterness - you're on the right path...

Yep. ..but really push it.

OK. Will do. Good luck.

Thank you so much.

Without that level of bitterness, it's going to be too sweet

and won't hit every little point that you want it to.

I have multiple roasted eggplants and I don't need all of them.

Let's burn this.

So I'm going to stick two of them back in the oven

and completely burn the skins.

And then I'll put that into the agrodolce

to try and add some bitterness.

Burn, goddamn you! Burn!

And hopefully, that will balance out my agrodolce.

You've only got 10 minutes to go!

Come on! ANDY: Come on, guys!

MELANIE: I don't know, Dan. Is she cooked? (LAUGHS)

The guinea fowl is out of the oven

and I don't know if it's cooked right.

But I really want to try and trust my instincts.

Mel. Hey, Andy.

How you travelling? OK, I think.

(INHALES SHARPLY) What are we at here?

Um, it's currently at 62.

Hoping to rest it up a couple more degrees.

Get it there. You just don't want to be in that bottom four.

I'm very anxious about overcooking this guinea fowl,

so I'm very wary of applying more heat to it.

See what it rests up to.

I want it to finish around 64 degrees,

but it got to 62 degrees and it stopped there.

I don't know if I'd say it's going to plan.

MINDY: Come on. Boil, water! Boil!

I've managed to jam-pack in so much flavour

into my roast eggplant and chickpea salad.

I've got my chickpea cream.

I've got those beautiful caramelised eggplants.

I'm doing my little chickpea and herb salad on the side.

I've got my capers in there.

And then that herb oil,

which is going to tie all the ingredients together.

Mindy. Hey, girlfriend!

Uh... Hey!

I've got all my beautiful bits and pieces ready to go.

Looking very good.

And are you confident this is sure-fire...

I'm just having fun, you know what I mean? ..safe, delicious...?

I had this moment where I realised, "Cook like you cook at home."

Yeah. Absolutely. You know what I mean?

Like, it was like this light-bulb kind of moment.

And I just...when I cook like this and I love what I do,

I just...I don't know, it works.

Here's hoping all of those flavours come together.

Prep looks great. Great. Thanks, Mel.

Now I just need to mix all of those different elements together.

Fingers crossed, Maggie's going to love it.

SARAH: That looks yum, Mindy. Let's hope we get there, hey?

Just...I just...I am mesmerised.

BILLIE: Oh, I'm still feeling a bit off.

I've had my guinea fowl braising in the pressure cooker

and I'm not sure about the cook.

I'm hoping that it's OK.

I dunno.

On my bench, there's a lot of sort of stuff that I'm not sure I'll use.

Hey, Billie. Hey, Andy.

Where are we at?

Good... I've got the breast of the guinea fowl,

the leg of the guinea fowl. Yep.

I'm making a sauce. Uh-huh.

What's...what... what's this little guy?

Oh, that's...yeah, nothing.

Is it all coming together? Yeah.

You look a little... I dunno. Yeah it's just...

"That might go on, this may go on -

"I'm not really sure where it's going to get to." I do actually have a lot of that.

Well, I'm going to leave you with it,

'cause you've got a few decisions to make.

Good luck, Billie. Thanks, Andy.

MEL: Five minutes to go!

Time's gone fast.

You good?

Um, I've just gotta finish balancing my prune sauce now

and finish my chickpeas.

But the guinea fowl is looking good, which is the main component.

How hard should chickpeas be? They should be quite soft, eh?

Um, yeah.

I hope you're right at the very last

and you know exactly what you're doing,

but you've only got three minutes to make it happen.

Come on, guys! Three minutes! Three minutes!

MONTANA: I'm really happy with the flavours

in the prune cake and rosemary ice-cream.

I've just got to make sure my quantities on the plate are perfect.

DANIEL: Cook, my pretty! Cook!

I'm feeling good.

I've managed to make a prune sauce

and my guinea fowl is ready to take out of the oven.

It's hard now I've got this in the oven.

I'm just sort of standing around, eh. Yeah. (LAUGHS)

I want to pull it out, giving it enough time

to climb up in temperature to about 63 to 65 degrees.

I'm going to serve the chickpea stuffing next to the bird.

Just wanted to give it a quick taste with everything else

to be sure that I'm on the right track.

Are they supposed to be this crunchy, you reckon?

Or no?

I'd say they're a bit under. Yeah.

The chickpeas haven't cooked through, and it's...

..quite gross.

I'm not happy with the stuffing,

but if I take that off the board,

I've only got the roast bird and a sauce,

and I don't have any time to make anything else.

I'm sitting there at a crossroads

and I have to make that right decision.

The chickpeas for my stuffing haven't cooked through.

But I'm trying to impress Maggie,

so I have to make that right decision.

I can't bring myself to serve it.

I'm going to take them off.

It's painful, but it's better than serving it to the judges.

It all comes down to how well the bird is cooked.

I think I've done alright.

I'm quite happy with that.

I carve off the breast of this guinea fowl.

The legs are there, too.

It's very moist.

I've got nothing else on this platter,

so I may as well give them as much of the guinea fowl as I can.

Hopefully, that's enough to keep me from the bottom four.

JOCK: Get your dishes on the plate.

You've only got two minutes to go! Come on!

That looks... that looks cooked, right?

The guinea fowl is rested.

I don't know if it's cooked right.

But there's not a whole lot I can do about it now.

Sorry, Dan, just watch your elbows.

I put some of the chickpea mash on the plate.

My roasted eggplant.

I know this isn't my best dish,

but I don't know how good or how bad it is.

HARRY: Oop!

Finally, the agrodolce tastes balanced,

but I think I've cooked it too far.

The agrodolce is really tight and almost jammy.

That's all I have to put on my dish,

so I'm just going to have to go with it.

Here we go, gang! You've got 60 seconds!

I am really nervous about this tart.

Hot!

I don't know if it's cooked through.

If this tart is not cooked properly,

this is definitely my ticket into the bottom four.

Oh, my God, I hope she works.

That looks nice.

Yeah, I don't know what I'm going to do here.

I'm still feeling a bit weird about this dish,

but I just need to get it done.

30 seconds! JOCK: There it is!

Alrighty, then! Ten!

JUDGES: Nine! Eight! Seven! Six!

Five! Four! Three! Two! One!

That's it! MEL: Whoo!

ANDY: Well done, guys! (JUDGES APPLAUD)

SARAH: We've got to be set, guys. ALDO: Well done. MINDY: We will be.

Epic. Epic. Well done.

Well, with the legend Maggie Beer in the house today,

it was all about turning what looked like a very simple mystery box

into something extraordinary.

And the first dish that we'd like to taste -

Mindy.

MINDY: I felt so great to be cooking as if I was cooking at home,

cooking for someone that I love and adore.

And I really hope that shows in my cook today.

I've managed to use most of those incredible ingredients

that you had in your mystery box, Maggie,

and I made roast eggplant salad.

I hope it's full of flavour for you. Thank you, Mindy.

Well, the chickpeas are beautiful,

that infused flavour that you've given,

your balance of your bitterness and acidity and creaminess.

It's a fabulous dish.

Whatever you did, whatever inspiration that you had -

and I know we can't have Maggie in here all the time -

but in terms of the ingredients, just continue to go there.

Honestly, that's right up there

with one of the best things you've cooked in the competition so far.

Thank you so much. Nice one, Mindy.

Well done, Mindy. It means a lot.

Next up, Steph.

OK, Steph, you've cooked a tart.

But what kind of tart is it?

Um, so, it's a pistachio frangipane and prune tart,

pistachio cream and pistachio praline.

Is it cooked?

'Cause that was, like, the big thing when I came around to your bench.

I think it's cooked.

Cool.

Well, let's taste.

Um...

I really dig that prune jam, that layer of prune jam.

I thought that that was really nicely done,

especially when you only had a couple of sweet things

to work with in the mystery box.

Um, the pistachio frangipane...

..is, like, JUST cooked.

Like, very fine line there, Steph.

Yep.

I love that the pistachio's only just cooked,

because it's so moist.

You know, it can so often go over and become dry.

The prune is fabulous.

Do you know, my only trouble with it is the Chantilly cream - too much.

Yeah.

Jock doesn't feel the same way, I can tell.

(LAUGHTER) He's going to steal you cream.

So, the...the flavours...

..the flavours are fantas...

Oh, you did! (LAUGHS)

I did offer it to him a minute ago.

I really enjoyed it. Thank you.

Thank you, Steph. Thank you.

MINDY: Good job, Steph. Thank you!

JOCK: Harry, you're next.

HARRY: Walking my dish up to the judges,

I'm not feeling confident.

I want my agrodolce to be

like the one Jock made in our MasterClass the other day,

but it's not exactly how I thought it was going to look.

God, it's really, like, jammed up. (LAUGHS)

and delicious exclusives, at:

HARRY: God, it's really, like, jammed up.

(MAGGIE LAUGHS)

Harry, what have you cooked us?

I've cooked some oven roast eggplant with a prune agrodolce

and just a little parsley salad.

The agrodolce - you managed to get a good balance of flavours in there.

Like, it is sweet, is sour, there is some bitterness in there.

But it's cooked down to the point where it's solidified

and it kind of just sticks to your teeth.

The main part of this, which is the roast eggplant,

is really, really underseasoned.

Yep.

Can I disagree with you?

Of course you can. Yeah.

Of the eggplant, I got the smallest one that was more burnished.

And if you get a thinner one and you get that caramelisation on it,

which you have on mine...

But the roasted eggplant has been sort of overtaken by your Vegemite.

Yeah.

Have a better day next.

Thank you.

Thank you. ANDY: Thanks, Harry.

(APPLAUSE)

Wow.

Nah, I knew. It's fine.

Told ya.

Next up, Montana.

So, it is a prune cake with rosemary ice-cream,

a caramel and verjuice granita.

MEL: The flavours are really lovely.

And the combination of the ice-cream, cake, the caramel

and then that granita, I think it was a clever strategy.

I think you've done a nice dish of food.

Thank you, guys. Thank you.

The next dish we'd like to taste belongs to Alvin.

ALVIN: I made a savoury custard with eggplant and parsley oil.

Alvin, I quite liked it.

Oh, my God.

I could see it on a modern Asian menu.

Thank you.

The next dish we'd like to taste belongs to Sarah.

SARAH: I've made a sweet samosa with a pistachio ice-cream.

Sarah, that pistachio, that roundness in the mouth is fantastic.

And that ice-cream I'd go miles for.

Thank you.

Next up, it's you, Matt.

I cooked you roast guinea fowl with chickpea and prune.

That guinea fowl leg has got so much going for it.

And I love the sauce, but the sweetness is just over the edge.

Yep. And the chickpeas are undercooked.

Sure. JUDGES: Thanks, Matt.

Chickpeas, huh? (LAUGHS)

Next up, it's Melanie.

MELANIE: I'd love to impress Maggie Beer,

but I don't know if the guinea fowl is cooked right.

I don't know if it tastes good.

I'm very unsure about this, and that's making me very nervous.

Melanie, what have you cooked us?

Uh, it's a roasted guinea fowl maryland,

eggplants and...with a chickpea mash and pistachios.

You happy with it? You don't seem happy.

Is it Maggie that threw you off your game today?

Yeah, a little bit. I mean, you grew up...

You grew up watching her on TV, right?

When you guys came to my bench and you were talking to me,

I felt like I was taking it in.

And then you left, and I was like, "Wait, what?

"What just happened?"

I didn't know what you'd said.

I've got to leave. I can tell.

Melanie, with this, I think you've come across something unfamiliar

and you've come across this amazing woman in the kitchen,

which has probably thrown you today.

The skin on the maryland just needs to be caramelised more.

And with your bird herself,

it was undercooked.

Maybe a minute more, 90 seconds more.

It's just not a great dish, overall. Yeah, I know.

But the guinea fowl is still good eating,

even though it could have had that...

..it should have had that extra time.

Obviously, it's not been a good day, but try it again at home

when there's no pressure.

OK. Thanks.

Thanks, Melanie. Thanks, Mel.

I'm disappointed that I cooked a bad dish for Maggie Beer.

It is what it is.

Does Maggie Beer watch MasterChef in her free time?

I would love for her to see

that, you know, I've cooked some good stuff,

and hopefully she'd be pleasantly surprised.

Next up, Billie.

Billie, what did you make?

So, roasted guinea fowl breast with a parsley butter under the skin,

a chickpea puree and a chickpea parsley...

..salad?

Salad. That'll do.

I am gonna put it out there

that you were just not quite yourself when you cooked today. Like...

No. I don't know.

I just didn't really feel like I really got into the cook,

as I usually do.

I got the thick part of the guinea fowl breast right at the top

and it was actually quite perfect.

But the flat leaf parsley -

the flavour of it in this little salad....

..is just out of whack.

When you cook parsley, you've got to be terribly careful

that you don't lose what you had in the beginning.

Yeah. And so that's what it is.

There's a few flaws here.

The guinea fowl is good.

Everything else probably needs a little bit of a tinker.

OK, thanks.

She really wants to get out of there.

Next up, Daniel.

Long way to come!

Righto, Daniel.

Ever cooked guinea fowl?

Never cooked guinea fowl.

What did you cook?

Roasted guinea fowl.

Cool.

I'm spewing. I had a stuffing.

I really wanted to sort of put like a nice sort of mushy...

..not mushy, but a nice sort of tender stuffing for the chickpeas

but I've never cooked fresh ones before

and they didn't break down anywhere near the amount that they needed

and they were quite raw.

So I had to bite the bullet and take it off.

So I've only really got some bird and a sauce

and I really hope that everything's cooked well, but I don't know.

Guinea fowl for the first time. You're a game man.

Um...

I think you've actually done pretty well...

Oh, thank you. ..on the cooking of the guinea fowl.

It's up there with the best today, in my opinion. Oh, sweet.

Well, I think it's not only up there with the best so far.

I think you've pinged both the breast and the leg perfectly.

If only it hadn't have been just a plate of meat.

Yeah. (LAUGHS)

That's what I loved about it! (LAUGHTER)

OK. That's all. Thank you, Daniel.

Righto, Daniel. Thanks, guys. Cheers.

(APPLAUSE)

Next up is Aldo.

I'm very happy with what I produced, actually.

But if Maggie doesn't enjoy this dish,

the consequence for me will be that I'm going to be heartbroken.

Thank you.

I really don't want to ruin and destroy the great memories

that she's got of myself as a cook.

Aldo, Sicilian flavours today for you.

We call it melanzane barchetta, or a scarpone in my dialect,

which means stuffed eggplant.

And the last dish that you cooked for Maggie, she loved.

Do you think that she'll love this one just as much?

Last dish that I cooked for Maggie was just giving justice

to the classic Italian flavour,

and I hope that I did the same this time around as well.

The creaminess between the really beautifully cooked eggplant

and then your topping

is just a perfect balance there,

because the whole thing is really creamy.

But...

..all I want is a bit of a squeeze of lemon.

And I know you didn't have lemon to use,

so I'm wanting a little bit of acidity with it.

Allow me.

Allow you? Try it again.

I'll try it again. There's verjus in there.

Oh!

There - you've got it. (LAUGHS)

There's lovely creaminess.

You've got saltiness. You've got...

You've got this acidity.

Another lovely dish you've cooked for me, Aldo.

Well done.

Thank you, Maggie.

Thank you.

I'm feeling stoked.

Like, it's mind-blowing.

Giving another great dish to Maggie,

it means the world for me.

Smashed it.

Maggie, it's been an absolute pleasure

having you back in the MasterChef kitchen again.

It's been way too long.

Please, everyone, give it up for Maggie Beer!

Right. There were a handful of dishes that dazzled today.

We had perfectly cooked guinea fowl from Daniel.

Oh, thank you. (LAUGHS)

We had an eggplant chock-full of flavour from you, Mindy.

And we had a fresh take on an Italian classic from Aldo.

Well done, you three. Great dishes.

But for some of you,

Maggie's mystery box proved to be quite the challenge.

If I call your name,

unfortunately, you're in tomorrow's pressure test.

Matt.

Harry.

Melanie.

And the final person going into tomorrow's pressure test

is Billie.

Matt, Harry, Melanie and Billie,

get your game faces on,

walk in here tomorrow determined to do what it takes

to stay in this very special competition.

Good luck, guys. We'll see you tomorrow.

Thanks, Maggie.

Going into the pressure test, it feels crap.

Oh, yeah, I knew it was coming.

But I need to push it aside

and forget about it and focus on what's...tomorrow.

ANNOUNCER: Tomorrow night on MasterChef Australia...

We have Josh Niland!

..a legendary fish expert

brings an epic pressure test.

Ohhh!

BILLIE: This recipe is huge.

MELANIE: I feel very out of my depth.

HARRY: I am extremely determined

to fight tooth and nail

to stay in this competition.

But there's one giant catch.

Aaaggh! That's a worry.

Captions by Red Bee Media