13x19 - Finale: Part One

[bunniefuu]

Gordon: Here we go.

- Yeah!
- Let's eat!

- Finale. Here we are.
- Wow. Wow.

Welcome, everyone, to "MasterChef:
United Tastes Of America" finale!

Right. Thank you so much.

This has been one of the
most incredible seasons ever.

This season on "MasterChef"

we brought the nation
together like never before...

This is "MasterChef: United
Tastes Of America." Come on!

...as the best home cooks
from four regions of America...

Everybody knows
Westside's the best side.

Hell, yeah,
the best cook's from the South.

- The Midwest is best.
- Northeast, baby!

...went head-to-head
in a regional rumble.

- Let's go!
- Come on, South. Y'all got it.

- Rally, rally, rally!
- All: West, West, West!

Fight for your region.
Fight for your team.

- I plan to win it.
- I don't know about that, Wayne.

South is talking trash already.

This will be the most
strategic season ever.

Oh,.

Who's baking which cake?

Kyle's a great chef,
so I'm gonna screw him over today.

I like people to be a
little bit afraid of me.

Everybody's out to get you.

It's not all fun and
games anymore.

I am choosing the Midwest.

- What the heck, Jen?
- You have a vendetta

against that part of
the country or what?

With a quarter of a
million bucks at stake?

- Yes, sir.
- It was a season of teamwork.

- Are you ready?
- Hell no.

- Here they come, guys.
- It was completely raw.

- That's terrible. I want them done perfectly.
- Okay.

- I don't know if I like this sauce!
- Did you put it in already?

- No!
- What?

- Switch!
- No, it's an ice cream scoop.

- It's "DisasterChef."
- This is so terrible.

We're not in the a*s end of
nowhere! We're in the Dodger Stadium!

Does anyone care in here?

- Joe: It's the restaurant takeover.
- Check the filet.

- Feels medium rare to me, Chef.
- Survey says, raw.

Hey, hey, hey, hey! Don't ever
disrespect me or my restaurant.

But ultimately,
it was every cook for themselves.

A very professional creation.

- You played the grill like a piano.
- Thank you.

- It's perfect.
- Oh, my goodness.

- Man, you got a homerun there.
- Thank you, sir.

- It's spot-on.
- Very delicious.

- Thank you.
- Cake is absolutely spot-on.

- Thank you, Chef.
- Could've been cooked by the chef de partie.

- Wow.
- Exceptional. Definitely Michelin star worthy,

- let me tell you.
- Thank you, Chef.

And now just three
home cooks remain.

Will it be Jennifer
from the South,

Grant from the Midwest,

or Kennedy from the West?

Only one will be crowned
America's 13th MasterChef.

- Whoo!
- Woohoo!

Are we ready to meet
our three amazing finalists?

First up,
a 42-year-old mom of six

from Little Rock, Arkansas.

- It's Jennifer!
- Yeah!

Jennifer: I can't believe
I made it to the finale.

This has been the
most amazing journey.

I'm so blessed and
thankful for my family,

but being here has given
me so much independence,

and I have found what I
wanna do for the rest of my life.

Whoo!

The last 13 years I've
been raising six babies.

It's been the joy of my life.

But at the age of 40,

I needed to follow
my culinary dreams.

- It's a big yes for me.
- I cannot believe it.

I was over the moon to
be a part of the top 20.

It was so surreal.

I'm gonna cry. This is so hard.

But my goal was to
make my family proud

and represent my
Southern heritage on a plate.

For elevating a home dessert,
it's as good as it can be.

The best dish was
cooked by Jennifer.

- Oh. Thank you.
- Go on, Jen!

I started this
competition strong,

but I also faced
a lot of hurdles.

This doesn't taste like
the Jennifer that I know.

Flag goes to Jennifer.

Stop what you're doing.
Five minute time-out.

And it created such
an inner strength

that I honestly didn't
even know was there.

Aarón: This is
impressive considering

the adversity that you
had to face this evening,

But that's what supermoms do,
right? You make it happen.

Gordon: I think you've
endeared the word "grill"



I can do hard things.
I can do hard things.

I started to realize that I do
deserve to be here. I do have the skill.

- Whoo!
- This journey is for me.

Visually,
it's just so beautiful. Great job.

So I wanna show my six babies

that it's never too late
to chase your dreams.

I wanna be the next MasterChef,

so I'm pulling
out all the stops.

Next up,
we have a 32-year-old beer salesman.

Representing the Midwest,
please give it up for Señor Grant!

Grant: It's the final
three. We are in the finale.

I look back to the beginning of this
competition and back to auditions,

and how many people were
there vying just to get an apron.

And now to look and it's
just me and two others,

I mean,
never in my wildest dreams

would have assumed that
I would be in this position.

So I'm really proud of myself.

The initial reason I came to
"MasterChef" was validation.

Hi,
Mom. Are you proud of your son?

More than I could ever tell you.

Aww.

Growing up,
I generally hadn't had

a lot of great self-confidence.

Over the last
four to five years,

I started taking
cooking seriously.

- Let's go!
- And when I walked out with the apron,

that was just so special to me.

How's your pasta,
Grant? It looks beautiful.

Thank you. That's what the
Midwest is all about, baby.

I love where I'm from.
I love being from Iowa.

To be able to represent
the Midwest was incredible.

Grant,
this dish screams the Midwest.

- Chicken is cooked beautifully.
- Thank you very much, Chef.

And throughout this entire competition,
I really feel like

I showed that we can do
more than meat and potatoes.

I got out of my comfort zone,
and I pushed myself further

than I've ever
gotten in my dreams.

I have a crusted amberjack here
with some pan-roasted gnocchi.

The fish is flakey and smooth,

and that gnocchi
is out of this world.

Gordon: Pork's cooked beautifully,
and I can taste

how desperate you are to
win this competition in this dish.

- Great job.
- Thank you, Chef.

I came on "MasterChef" as a guy

that had a hard time
believing in himself,

and now I know that
I'm here for a reason.

Cooking is what my calling is,

and I have a new air
of confidence to me.

I'm here today to tell
you that nice guy's gone.

- Ooh!
- Gordon: Good.

I feel like tonight's the
night to change my life.

I want my photo up
there on the balcony.

I wanna be right next to
the other 12 that are up there.

I'm not gonna let it slip
through my fingers now.

I'm gonna be the
next "MasterChef."

Finally,


Representing the West,
please welcome Kennedy.

Kennedy: Being in the
top three in this finale,

it's just overwhelming
in the best way possible.

But I've always known my
whole life I wanted to be a chef,

and I just never really had
the tools or the understanding

of how to get to the
level that I wanted to.

And now that I'm here,
I feel like the world is my oyster,

and I have so much more
opportunity and it's amazing.

Hello.

Welcome to my home.

Before "MasterChef,"
I was just a small town girl

living in my tiny bus
and living little dreams.

Let's go, West! Wild, wild West!

When I started this competition,

I really wanted to prove
that I have the mentality

of a MasterChef in the kitchen.

Gordon: I think the refreshing
thing for me is to taste food

this elegant so early
on in the competition.

- Thank you, Chef.
- You're at home here. I can taste it.

- Good job.
- Thank you so much, Chef.

I've learned that I
can handle pressure,

and I've learned that I
can go outside my little bus

and I can cook in a big kitchen.

I kind of wanna be the one
that stands out from the crowd.

You are playing this
game at the highest level.

Congratulations. You
win the immunity pin.

Being challenged has turned me
into someone who craves success.

And winning made me feel
like I was doing everything right

and people were noticing.

Kennedy is definitely one

of the stronger cooks here.

I was definitely targeted multiple
times throughout the competition.

There is one person
who has been putting out

top three level dishes.

- Are you looking at me?
- Kennedy.

Your target is getting bigger

than the "MasterChef"
logo on the doors there now.

Everybody's coming for me.

I kind of wanted to be a threat.

I mean, in this competition,

being a threat,
it's a compliment.

You're just making me a stronger chef,
that's all you're doing.

And it made me just wanna
push myself and stay in the top

for the rest of the competition.

You took one of the most
challenging fish to cook,

- and it's beyond reproach.
- They're beautifully put together,

and they look
like a plate of art.

No matter what they throw at you,
you're gonna come back.

It's really delicious. I'm
really kind of blown away.

- Thank you.
- Gordon: Thanks, Kennedy.

And now getting to the finale,
I really wanna go out with a bang.

I want this more than anything
I've ever wanted in my entire life.

I'm just so ready
to win "MasterChef."

Gordon: A hearty congratulations from Joe,
Aarón, and myself

for making into the "MasterChef:
United Tastes Of America" finale.

Yeah!

Jennifer,
here to support you tonight,

your husband Brian
and your six kids.

That's a lot of kids, Jennifer.

Brian,
who's been feeding the kids?

They are here. They survived.

- To say we missed her is not enough.
- Sure.

And we are so
proud of where she is.

Well, thank you so much for
making the effort to be here tonight.

Aarón: Grant,
here supporting you this evening

is your beautiful wife Emily,
your son,

and of course your
parents Laura and Matthew.

Thank you so much for
being with us this evening.

Grady, what's your favorite
thing to cook with your dad?

- Uh, mac and cheese.
- Gordon: Mac and cheese.

- Yes! Classic.
- Love that.

Emily, how proud are you of him?

He's overcome so much
and believed in himself,

and we both cry a lot.

We're so,
so proud. There aren't words for it.

Now, Kennedy,
here to cheer you on tonight

is your sister Mads and
your best friend Asana.

- Hey.
- Mads, how proud are you right now?

That's an unfair question. I mean,
I watched her be born,

and I was proud of
her from her first word,

- which obviously had to do with food.
- Crowd: Aww.

When we were kids, we used to
pretend to do this little chef show

- against each other...
- Right.

...and obviously she'd
always win since she was a kid.

I'm just so proud of her,
and I love you so much, baby.

Also cheering you on, you have
some of your former competitors here.

Welcome back,
all of you. You look great.

- Thank you.
- Jennifer, how important is tonight's finale?

I grew up in a small
town in Arkansas,

and I am so honored to be
able to represent the South.

I hope that I can bring home
that trophy and for the South.

- You will. You got it.
- Go, girl!

Gordon: Absolutely. Grant,
how hungry are you for this?

Tonight's huge. The Midwest
is known as the flyover states.

We're often overlooked, and I'm
excited to be able to put not only Iowa,

but the entire Midwest on a
map through "MasterChef."

- Love that.
- Go, Dad!

- Kennedy.
- Hello.

You went from cooking on
your beautiful school bus...

I sure did.

...to the "MasterChef" finale.

This journey has been so insane.

I'm a small mountain town girl.

I grew up in Denver,

and representing
the West is amazing.

I mean,
to represent a whole region as one person

is an incredible honor.

Right,
tonight is your last chance

to demonstrate that you
are worthy of the grand prize

because only one of you can
go back to your home region

- with a quarter of a million dollars...
- Ooh, baby!

...a complete state of
the art Viking Kitchen...

- Whoo!
- ...including an amazing Viking refrigerator,

plus a complete set of kitchen
tools and bakeware from OXO,

the amazing MasterChef trophy,

and the title of America's
next MasterChef.

Now if you want to prove
that you are the best cook

in this very special "MasterChef:
United Tastes Of America,"

you must make a
full three-course meal.

An appetizer, an entrée,
and of course, a spectacular dessert.

We wanna see dishes that
show us where you came from

and where you're headed next.

Now, Jennifer,
give us an insight to the menu.

I was born and
raised in the South,

so I'm gonna provide you
with delicious Southern food

and flavors,
but with French fine dining techniques.

- Ooh.
- Nice. Grant?

So my theme is Italian
heritage meets Midwest roots.

I'm gonna use a lot of the Italian
recipes that I learned growing up,

and I'm gonna stick in a lot of
what makes the Midwest the best.

- Love that. Kennedy?
- So my theme is self-acceptance through the eyes of nature.

I really wanna tell a story about
who I am but also where I'm from,

so I'm using just ingredients
that are indigenous to Colorado,

really bringing you to fishing,
hunting,

and really getting a
taste of who I am as well.

They all sound amazing. Right,
let's get started with the appetizers.

- You three ready?
- Yes, Chef.

Your 60 minutes
start now! Let's go!

Come on. Let's go!

Let's go!

- All right, what do we need? What do we need?
- All right, let's go.

- Let's see.
- Kolby: Even though I'm from the South,

I definitely want
Kennedy to win.

She's somebody who
I look up to as a chef

because she's really creative,

she has a flavor
palate like none other,

and that's somebody
that I really could see

taking the MasterChef
title to the next level.

Where are my morels at? Morels,
morels, dried morels.

I wanna see Grant
win from the Midwest.

Everyone keeps calling the Midwest,
like, flyover country.

And I get it,
but when it comes to food,

I think Grant's got
some really bold flavors

and he's gonna show that the
Midwest is definitely here to play.

- Whoo!
- Yeah!

- Go, Dad!
- Whoo!

- Let's go, Jen!
- All right, Jennifer!

Jennifer's style is classic,
and she knows flavors.

And we all know the
South's got great flavors,

so she's about to give us a
show. I am excited for her.

- Let's go, Mom!
- Go, Grant!

- Whoo!
- Yeah!

Come on,
Ken. You got this, Kennedy.

So this is it, the grand finale.

Three phenomenal chefs

from different
corners of the country,

but this is the moment these
three incredible amateurs

show us what they've got.

And tonight, once and for all,

we'll all learn where America's
best home cook comes from.

- Yes?
- Absolutely.

Go, Mom!

- Yeah, she is.
- She was meant to do this.

Kennedy: Tonight
could change my life.

I mean, a quarter of a
million dollars is on the line

and the title of MasterChef,
and having that on your resume

can do so many things for you.

It would really
kickstart my career.

So this has to be the best
meal I've ever cooked in my life.

- Let's go, baby.
- Pressure is on.

- You got this, Grant.
- Come on!

- Let's go!
- Come on, come on, come on!

Yes!

Gordon: We've got


to cook us your
amazing appetizers.

- Come on, guys.
- Grant: Let's go.

You got this, babe.

Kennedy: Smoked oysters.

Yeah, Kennedy.

Brian: All right, Jennifer!

- Go, Mom!
- Right, Jennifer.

- Hi, Chef.
- Come on, girl, how you feeling?

This is exhilarating. It is the dream
of my life to be on this stage right now.

So...

Give us an insight
with your appetizer.

I'm doing a lobster
succotash with corn purée,

and then I'm going to finish it off with a
beautiful champagne caviar vinaigrette

that will have also some
citrus notes in it as well.

Oh,
so no beurre blanc with the lobster?

No. You know what? I think it's
going to end up being a beautiful dish.

Love that. Love that. Love that.

Is this how your kids
get to eat every night?

When dad's not cooking, yes.

- That is very true.
- This dish sounds tricky.

Good luck, and do not-- do
not undercook that lobster, yes?

- Yes, thank you, Chef.
- The very best of luck, Jennifer.

- You got this!
- Whoo!

Looking good. Looking good.

- Yeah. Really hard.
- He's working hard, isn't he, honey?

- You better score them fish, girl.
- Whoo!

- Whoo!
- All right, Kennedy, how are you?

- I'm great. How are you?
- Take me through the dish. What are you making?

I'm making a crispy skinned
trout over a truffle potato,

oyster mushroom, pea purée,

and a quenelle of trout
roe and smoked oyster aioli.

- So the peas and trout's a pretty classic dish.
- Yeah.

How you kind of taking
it to the next level?

I really wanted to show myself
through my androgynous journey.

I've struggled a lot growing up of
whether I wanted to masculine or feminine.

- Mm-hmm.
- So I decided when I grew up that I accepted both sides

and that I'm androgynous, so--

Go, Ken! Talk about it, Kennedy.

I totally appreciate that. How
does that translate into food?

So I'm starting off with a more
feminine dish as my appetizer.

I want it to look
like a beautiful fish

swimming in a river with wildflowers
and really get that feminine side.

And then you'll have to see for
the rest of the menu what's going on.

Come on now!

Well, listen, timing is pivotal,
especially on your fish.

- Good luck.
- Thank you.

Go, Ken! Whoo!

I got it, baby. Thank you.

- Let's go, Jen!
- Ah!

- Nice!
- Go, Dad!

We are now halfway!



- Grant! How are we, señor?
- Wonderful, Aarón. How are you today?

I'm doing great. What do
we got going on here, señor?

So this'll be raviolo al uovo
with a morel cream sauce.

Right now I am rehydrating some morel
mushrooms in some cream right here.

It's something that
really ties in Iowa.

Every spring we hunt
morels down by the creek.

- Down by the creek, huh?
- Yes.

- Or by the crick.
- By the crick. I got you.

I think that this is something that's
really gonna speak to both Iowa and Italy.

You're talking about a very
technically complex dish.

- Not a lot of places you can hide with this.
- Right.

You feel confident with the pasta
dough where it stands right now?

Grant: I feel incredibly
confident with it.

Probably bring it out in about another 10,


so I start getting
it rolled out.

You feel you're gonna do justice and put
Iowa on the map as a culinary destination?

- 100%, Aarón. No doubt about it, baby.
- Orale!

- Oh, yeah!
- Yes!

All right!

Thank you.

- Let's go, Grant.
- Come on, Grant!


guys, keep it going.

Come on.

- Kennedy: Okay, let's get it. Let's get it.
- How cool is this, honestly?

Three amazing finalists
all playing to their strengths.

- Jen: Mmm! Perfect.
- So, Jennifer's appetizer,

I mean, packed with jeopardy,
let me tell you.

She has to blanche
it first and then sauté

- the lobster tail in butter.
- Joe: So blanched lobster,

- difficult to do.
- Yeah, there's a ten-second window

of being overcooked
or undercooked.

You're undercooked,
it's game over.

Overcooked,
it tastes like rubber.

Jennifer: All right,
let's do this.

And also she's doing
a caviar vinaigrette.

But doesn't lobster want
something fat and rich with it?

I know, I mean, if she's leaning
towards that French influence,

then it should be a butter
sauce like a beurre blanc,

- but she's not doing that.
- But you have to applaud the fact

that she's going
away from the norm.

I think the acidity
is gonna be key

in the success
of Jennifer's dish.

Well, that's the jeopardy,
isn't it?

- Kennedy: All right.
- Joe: Kennedy, she's making steelhead trout

with a pea purée
and oyster aioli.

- Gordon: Oyster?
- Both: Aioli?

And the trout and the pea purée?

That is a lot going on there.

The big question is
does it all work together?

Fingers crossed.

- Oh, yeah.
- My boy Grant with the pasta.

- I know it's about to be good.
- So Grant is doing traditional ravioli with an egg yolk.

The raviolo al uovo,
we all know the jeopardy.

We've seen it over the years.
There's a lot of technique here.

You gotta make the pasta,

you gotta know how
to extract the egg yolk,

put it in the center of the ravioli,
no air bubbles,

boil it,
and have it be perfectly runny.

- The construction is key.
- Looks so good.

- Thank you.
- Beautiful.

Gordon: Last ten minutes,
guys. Keep it going, yes?

- Come on, Jennifer.
- Beautiful.

Kennedy: All right, let's go!

Look at that pasta sheet.

Ooh, Grant, be careful.

- This is what he does.
- I know.

Come on.

Gordon: Oh,
no. Grant is in trouble.

- He's struggling. Wow.
- What is he doing?

Come on. This is insane.

The top piece of
pasta's a little bit too wet.

It's sticky. It's very
hard to work with.

What I'm worried
about in this technique,

- it's gonna have too much air inside.
- Yeah.

Joe: Too much air in the
filling will also burst the ravioli.

Right now I am really
struggling in shaping

those really difficult
egg yolk raviolis,

but I'm a little worried
about time right now.

- Come on.
- When I put it in that boiling water,

if this egg yolk breaks in this raviolo,
I'm done.

Grant is playing a
risky game right now

because his raviolis could
literally explode in the boiling water.

- Oh!
- Be careful, Dad.

Oh, my Lord.

Joe: Grant is playing
a risky game right now

because his raviolis could
literally explode in the boiling water.

- Oh, my Lord.
- Be careful, Dad.

- Okay. We're good.
- Five minutes to go!

- Come on, guys! Finish up strong!
- Let's go!

- Y'all got it!
- Beautiful.

Perfect!

- You good, Kennedy. You good.
- You good!

Kennedy's just taken a
steelhead trout out of the oven.

- Look at the color of that skin. It looks beautiful.
- Joe: Wow.

- But did it go in the oven long enough?
- I don't know.

- Grant: Oh, yeah.
- There it is.

Grant's just taking his
raviolis out of the water now.

- Any of the egg yolks burst?
- Perfect so far.

- Wow.
- Grant, those are gorgeous.

- Mmm.
- That lobster looks good, Jen.

Go ahead, girl.

Gordon: 60 seconds to go!

- One minute, guys! Come on!
- Grady: Go, Dad!

You got it. Make it clean.

Madison: You got it, Kennedy.

Show us your artistry,
baby girl.

Yeah! Team Kennedy!

Come on,
Jennifer. Get it on the plate, baby.

Go, Mom, go! You got this, Mom!

Judges: Ten, nine, eight,

seven, six, five,

four, three, two, one.

Hands in the air!

Everybody looks good!

Grant: I think I took a really
big risk doing a technical dish.

I'm a little worried about the sauce,
but I'm hoping

when they break open that egg yolk,
it mixes all in,

it's gonna be that
perfect texture,

exactly what
they're looking for.

There's a lot riding on this,
so I need it to be perfect.

Well done, Jennifer,
Grant, and Kennedy.

What an extraordinary
performance.

Please make your way
around to the front. Thank you.

Whoo!

Wow. Time to taste those
delicious looking appetizers.

First up, Jennifer,
please make your way down, thank you.

I am feeling proud, nervous,

but this dish is the first
out of the competition

that represents me.

My French fine dining
with Southern fusion,

it's important to set the
tone right from the beginning,

so I hope this dish
does that for me.

I've made for you
a lobster succotash

with a sweet corn purée,
truffle oil,

and a champagne
caviar vinaigrette.

The lobster looks like
it's perfectly cooked.

It all looks very, very refined,

very much the kind of
restaurant dish that we requested.

- Thank you.
- Yeah!

- Yeah, Jen!
- Yeah, so I love how generous and abundant the lobster is.

It's definitely the star. And I'm
interested to taste this vinaigrette.

Hopefully it's well-balanced.

Gordon: Let's find out,
shall we?

Jennifer,
where's the truffle oil, please?

- It's in the vinaigrette.
- Mm-hmm.

- Joe?
- The lobster is, uh...

...expertly cooked.

Good job, Mom! Whoo!

It's tender, it's firm. It's not under,
it's not over.

It's perfect. The dish to me
is generally lacking in salt.

That said, I love the contrast
between the acidulous nature

of the vinaigrette
the corn cream.

Caviar kind of
gets lost in the mix,

and I don't taste
the truffles at all,

but with a few
small adjustments,

this is a top-notch dish.

- Good job.
- Thank you. Thank you.

Whoo!

Yeah,
I think for me what's beautiful about this

is that you know what works with lobster,
right?

Tomato, corn,
all of these really familiar flavors

that I think only exacerbate the
beautiful sweetness of lobster.

You cooked it perfectly,
but I almost wish

that that vinaigrette
wasn't there

'cause it's really big
with a lot of lemon.

And I think in this case
you needed the beurre blanc.

Other than that, great job.

Jennifer,
I absolutely love this dish.

It's delicious, it's fragrant,
it's powerful, it's you.

Lobster's cooked beautifully. I think
the lobster needs that level of acidity,

so I quite like it.

It does wake it up
and brings it to life.

A beurre blanc may
have been better,

- but what a great start.
- Thank you. Thank you.

Great job, Mom!

- Yes, ma'am.
- All right, Jennifer!

- It needs salt.
- Yeah.

- I think salt would've helped everything.
- Yeah.

I think she was thinking that the
caviar was going to deliver that.

The hero as the lobster
was cooked beautifully.

- Perfect.
- Great start.

- All right.
- Next up, Grant.

Can you bring
forward your appetizer?

- Thank you.
- Yay, Grant!

- Let's go, honey.
- All right, big G.

Grant, can you please give us
some insight on what you made?

So this is a raviolo al uovo
with a morel cream sauce,

finished with truffle butter
and shaved black truffle.

Young man, you took a risk tonight,
let me tell you.

Making that pasta
in the finale tonight,

that's a bold move,
let me tell you.

Pasta's transparent.
It looks super thin.

It looks great.

But that egg yolk
should be liquid.

How long did you poach them for?

- 75 seconds, Chef.
- Mm-hmm.

- Shall we?
- Yep.

Joe: Let's take a look.

The moment of truth.

Grant,
that egg yolk should be liquid.

Joe: Let's take a look.

The moment of truth.

Sav: Oh, there it is!

Joe: Wow. It looks
nice and runny.

Good job, Grant.

Grant, it's delicious. It's everything
you want from an egg yolk ravioli,

let's get that absolutely
clear. Really beautifully done.

Mine could've done with
another 30 seconds cooked,

less runny,
a little bit more richer,

so you get a chance
for that protein to set.

Be careful with those morels.
It's a super strong flavor,

and it's sort of
slightly overpowering.

- Sure.
- But the technical ability

of putting that raviolo together is a risk,
and it's good.

- Really good, indeed. Well done.
- Thank you, Chef.

I have to say,
I just love the seasoning

by way of the truffle
and the cheese.

It's earthy, and it's also restrained at
the same time, which is not easy to do.

I agree with Chef Gordon. Pull back a
little bit of that mushroom cream sauce.

- The pasta's the star, not the sauce, right?
- Absolutely.

Joe: This is a delicious dish, but if you
told me you were gonna boil the raviolis

for 75 seconds,
I would've told you that's not enough time.

I think it could've benefited by


- and it would've been perfection.
- Thank you, Joe.

Thank you, Grant.

Awesome!

The flavors are all good. Just a little
bit of the cooking time on the ravioli.

- Yeah, yeah.
- Okay, Kennedy, please bring us your appetizer. Thank you.

- Let's go!
- Going into this tasting,

I'm feeling a little bit of
butterflies in my tummy.

I mean, having the live crowd
there just hyping you up really--

it puts you into
a different gear,

and I hope the judges see
the vision that I really planned.

Today I made
crispy skinned trout

over truffle potatoes,
oyster mushrooms,

a tarragon pea purée,
saffron tuile,

with a trout roe and
smoked oyster aioli quenelle.

Kennedy,
it looks absolutely stunning.

I mean, seriously,
it looks like a cover

of a famous chef's cookbook

because it just
looks so appetizing.

Thank you, Chef.

Kolby,
can you see that from up there?

- Looks amazing.
- Mads?

- Yeah? Okay.
- Come over a minute, will you please?

- Do you mind?
- I'm on my way.

Look at you. Look at you,
look at you!

- Hi. Oh, I will.
- Come and sit down.

This is my seat, thank you.

No,
it's all good. How does that look to you?

- How does it look?
- Oh, wow.

I just see her on the plate.

There's the rainbow
aspect of her queerness,

a little fish swimming
down the river,

and I see the foliage,
like the forest.

And I know your artistry, so I see
all the whimsical things inside of it.

- Would you like a job?
- That's what I was about to say.

- You're gonna take our jobs.
- Great job, girl.

Madison: Thank you,
thank you, thank you.

Thanks, Mads. Seriously,
stunning.

Now the big question is
does it all work together?

- Shall we?
- Joe: Yep.

- Trout is cooked deliciously.
- Thank you.

Gordon: I mean, seriously,
it's crispy on the outside.

The temperature is
absolutely spot-on.

There's a lot going
on underneath.

But be very careful with
that smoked oyster aioli.

Especially with a
salty roe. It's powerful.

And I don't know if the
smoke and the saltiness works.

I'm struggling to
take this dish to task.

Great job.

Thank you, Chef. Thank you.

With a dish like this,
what's beautiful

is the freshness
of the pea purée

and how they help
have a beautiful respite

from the richness of
the steelhead trout.

This is a very
challenging fish to cook.

The flavor pairings
that you put together

create something
that's really magical.

Thank you, Chef. Thank you.

I think this dish for
me is a lot about clarity.

Clarity of ideas-- of your
ideas. Clarity of flavor.

The trout itself is perfectly seasoned,
perfectly cooked.

The trout roe is a
great amplifier of it,

and I didn't even wanna
like the saffron tuile.

And then I ate it, and I was like,
"You know what? I'm wrong. She's right."

- So...
- Whoa!

You are to be commended
because there's nothing easy

about what you were trying to
communicate on a personal level,

on a culinary level,
and you nailed it.

- Yeah!
- Amazing.

- Great job.
- Hell, yeah!

That's my baby.

Great job.

- It's cooked beautifully.
- Yeah, I love this dish.

It's definitely the
strongest start by Kennedy.

- Yep.
- That was fantastic.

Wow, what a start. Let's
make that absolutely clear.

Good job.

Now let's move on to the
next course-- the entrée round.

In a three-course meal,
your entrée should be proof

that you are bringing something
that is undeniably you to the table.

Jennifer, tell us what you're
making for the entrée round.

I'm going to be making a
rack of venison persillade

with a roasted root vegetable,
a parsnip potato purée,

and a beautiful
bordelaise sauce.

Grant,
what will you be preparing?

I'll be making pork
loin medallions

with a salmoriglio sauce,
an agrodolce,

celery root purée,
and beer braised baby fennel.

- Wow.
- Aarón: Kennedy?

Today I'm making rabbit saddle,

seared rabbit liver,
beets, pickled cherries,

and a juniper berry sauce.

Sounds like we're in
for quite the entrées.

Well done. They sound delicious.

- Right, are we ready?
- Yes, Chef!

Good. Then your 60
minutes starts now.

- Come on, guys.
- Let's do it.

- Let's go.
- Go!

- All right!
- Okay.

Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit!

I'm so glad the judges saw the technical
risk that I took with my appetizer.

Fennel, fennel. Oh,
yeah, that's big fennel.

But I didn't quite execute it
to the level that I wanted to.

Bone marrow.

And just one little mistake can ruin the
entire chance at winning the MasterChef trophy.

- Gordon: Here we go.
- Going into this entrée round,

I know everything has
to be absolutely perfect.

I tried to really show

high technique and
skill with my appetizer,

but the caliber of the
competition is tough.

- Yeah, Jen!
- Yes!

This is my chance
to wow the judges.

This is my legacy and
my future on the line here.

So I'm going to
really give this my all.

Joe: Entrée round.
Very important.

Gordon: Yeah. Three
phenomenal chefs,

but three very tricky proteins.

Jennifer: Y'all ready for
some beautiful venison?

- That's some flavor right there, Jennifer.
- It's coming.

Gordon: Jennifer's dish,
that rack of venison, come on.

- That is a showstopper right there, isn't it?
- Aarón: Absolutely.

Gordon: But the secret of that
tonight is the resting of that venison.

Two minutes over, then it's dry,
because there's no fat in there.

- So a big risk there.
- Beautiful right here.

Grant: Let's get it in there,
baby.

But with Grant's
pork tenderloin,

there's nowhere to hide, okay?

That thing's gotta
be roasted whole,

and then the cut and the slice

is actually trickier
than the venison,

because while
this is a tenderloin,

we can get away with it being
slightly mid rare, but not rare.

- Very, very tricky.
- Totally.

- Rabbit time. Rabbit.
- Ooh!

- Oh, sh**t!
- Rabbit!

Gordon: And then the
biggest risk-taker of all,

Kennedy,
she's gonna be attempting to cook a rabbit.

Joe: A rabbit is an animal

that weighs about two to three,
four pounds.

So you're dealing with
little itty bits of meat

that are so easy to overcook,
over-season, under-season.

That is real precision,
restaurant-y type of protein.

Yeah. It has to be one of the
most unforgiving proteins tonight.

Get that wrong, it's game over.

Pulling out the
big boys. All right.

Just pour it all in there. Yeah,
yeah.

There you go, big G.

- We're not skimping today, baby.
- Yeah.

- Pretty!
- That's pretty colors over there!

- Jennifer: Perfection.
- We're now 15 minutes down. We've got 45 minutes left.

- Let's go, guys. 45 minutes left.
- Got this.

- Come on, Grant.
- Grant.

Come on. Grant, how you feeling?

- Great. I'm feeling great.
- Yes.

Okay, loin of pork,
right? It's a tough one, this one.

So unforgiving. Hardly any fat.

I'm from Iowa. I'm from the
Midwest. This is what we do.

We're the number one
pork producer in the nation.

I gotta show everybody that
that's what we're all about.

I love that. Tell me about
this exciting agrodulce.

My great-grandparents
were from the island of Sicily,

and so I'm bringing in some
southern Italian ingredients.

So I have some golden
raisins that I have pumped up,

and then I am cooking down
with some champagne vinegar.

I have some toasted pistachios,
shallots,

- and parsley in there as well.
- I love that.

What are we doing
with the baby fennel?

Grant: I'm gonna sear them,

then I'm gonna
braise them in beer.

I sell beer for a living,

and so I really wanna
be able to show today

that it can be ingredient that
can be used in fine dining.

- You feeling good?
- Feeling great. Absolutely.

Having my family here,
having Grady right there in front of me,

seeing what I've been
working for for so dang long,

this is really, really special to
me. I'm excited to be able to do it.

- Good luck. Come on, Grant.
- Appreciate you. Thank you.

- Love you, bud.
- Y'all are gonna love it! Whoo!

- You got it, Ken.
- Let's go!

- How are you, Kennedy?
- I'm great. How are you, Aarón?

- How do you feel where you're at right now?
- I feel really great.

But honestly,
I've never even worked with rabbit before.

- Really?
- Wow.

Yeah, I studied a lot
because I wanted to take a risk.

I didn't wanna play it safe.

I feel like there's a difference

between a cook and a chef,

and a chef creates a menu,

and a cook follows a menu.

- So I really--
- Come on!

Ooh. Good line.

- Preach to the people! Yes!
- Tell them what's up.

Rabbit doesn't have
a lot of inherent fat,

That's a very tricky protein.

How are you gonna work with it

to kind of ensure
it doesn't dry out?

So I really just want
it to speak for itself.

I'm just gonna sear it,
baste it with butter,

rosemary, thyme,
and just let it rock on the plate.

I love that. So beet root is
gonna have a big part of this, right?

It sure is. So I came up
with a feminine appetizer,

and I'm gonna have a
really masculine entrée.

It's called "Hunting Rabbits,"
and it's gonna look like

you just k*lled a rabbit
on a plate pretty much.

- But in an appetizing way.
- Very masculine! Ah!

Love that! This could
be a showstopper.

- So best of luck.
- Thank you. Thank you.

- Grant: Whew.
- Grant, how's that fennel?

Doing good.

Reagan: Come on,
J. That looks so good.

- Stay focused, baby.
- Hi.

- Jennifer, hello.
- Hi, Joe.

Okay,
so you seared the rack of venison.

- Yes.
- And it's in the oven now.

- You have the crust on it.
- Yes.

And the sauce is a...

It is a French bordelaise sauce.

You have reducing red wine,
you have some beef stock,

you have some garlic herbs.

So this is about as classic

- as French cuisine gets.
- I know.

And a very,
very difficult sauce to make.

Jennifer: This is my baby here,

and I am so proud of this sauce.

- You are?
- And I am batting for the fences today

with this entire menu.

And you have also some
big jeopardy with the venison

because if the
venison is too rare,

then it becomes too
bloody. It tastes like iron.

- Right.
- And if it becomes slightly overcooked,

- it becomes mealy and liver-y.
- Right.

So you really have
no margin for error.

I'm gonna rely on sight,
on touch, and if I need to,

I'll temp it because I wanna
make sure that it's perfect.

My husband and sons right there
behind me are big deer hunters,

so I wanted to honor
them and make them proud.

- That guy over there shoots venison?
- Oh, yeah.

He looks like a clean
cut Italian-American guy

who works in an office
somewhere in a nice suit.

There's four deer in
the freezer right now.

Last question,
is he more Southern home style

- or more French classic cuisine?
- You know what?

He loves everything that I cook.

- That's right.
- Good luck, Jennifer.

- Thank you.
- Yeah!

Great job, Jennifer!




Halfway, guys! Halfway! Come on.

Kennedy: Beautiful! Okay,
let's get it. Let's get it.

- There we go.
- Beautiful color, Grant.

- Grant: Thank you.
- Grant, you got meat that ain't been in the oven yet.

- Uh-huh.
- You got 24 minutes left.

- I know.
- All right.

Gordon: So Grant is taking a
big risk with this pork tenderloin.

Look, he hasn't even started
searing them yet, and we're halfway.

And you know the resting is just as important
as the cooking, so he's running out of time.

- He is holding on to the very end now.
- He's stressing me out.

And the question with Grant,
is he being too ambitious?

There's a lot of
jeopardy in that.

Gordon: Next time,
the grand finale continues...

You're one course away from being
crowned America's next MasterChef.

...as the three finalists
finish their battle for the title,

the trophy,
and a quarter of a million dollars.

- My snow's not working.
- I've never seen her like this before.

Jennifer is a little bit in
panic mode right now.

- Oh, my gosh.
- Uh-oh.

- It's getting intense.
- This kind of dish floats around the dining room

in our restaurants
and it's a head-turner.

This is a full-flavored dish

that is the perfect
ending to your menu.

America's next MasterChef is...