My Kitchen Rules

[TV.Cynic]

Rosie and Hayley’s great risotto regret

Aunt and Niece slip to the bottom of the leader board

Tonight on MKR, Queensland aunt and niece team, Rosie (53) and Hayley (29), took on the risky “death dish” of risotto. Sadly, the pair followed in the footsteps of other MKR teams who failed to master the dish, scoring 57/110.

An emotional Rosie and Hayley served their Nonna’s recipe for Meatballs with Tomato Sauce and Homemade Bread for their entrée.

Judges Manu Feildel and Matt Preston agreed the sauce was the hero of the dish but said the team should have opted for a fluffier bread and taken more care with their protein choice.

Manu admitted it was hard to critique a dish that meant so much to Rosie and Hayley: “I think the tomato sauce was brilliant. My disappointment is the meatball, I’ve got to say. And I think you may have mistakenly chosen a mince that was not fatty enough.”

Rosie and Hayley returned to the kitchen to prep their main of Roasted Pumpkin and Sweet Potato Risotto, a tough dish to cook for 12 people.

"It is very ballsy to cook risotto for a table of 12 in a competition. It’s one of those dishes that’s very fragile in how it needs to be eaten when it comes out of the pot,” Manu said. “Unfortunately, I don’t have good news for you. I think the confusion to start with is, why pumpkin and sweet potatoes? They both offer sweetness. The rice is overcooked. The rice is unseasoned.”

Matt told the team that risotto has a reputation for being the dish that finishes competition cooks, given the elements that need to be balanced: "The problem with this dish is that you needed more time for the sweet potato to caramelise around the edges.

“Your risotto needed less time on the heat. It needed to be cooked less. The rice needed to be nuttier. I mean, the two problems you’ve got here is because you’ve overcooked the rice. And when you press it down, there’s no star of starch in the middle. It’s just totally sodden.”

Feeling a sense of failure after the feedback on their main, Rosie and Hayley set to work on their dessert of Vanilla Cake with Buttercream and Caramel Sauce. The team had hoped to turn things around but had to start their cake from scratch after Hayley dropped it on the kitchen floor.

Tasting Rosie and Hayley’s dessert, Manu said they had executed the elements correctly, but overall it was too sweet: "Technically, I think you ticked all boxes. The vanilla cake, tick. The buttercream, tick. The caramel sauce is brilliant. And the macadamia nuts are a great addition for textures and a little saltiness.

“The negative part of all of that is it’s sweet, on sweet, on sweet. It’s like a rush of sugar that makes you a little sweat under your eyes. Unfortunately, the balance of that dessert was wrong, even though the technique of every element was right.”

Matt said the caramel was “fantastic”, and the vanilla cake was perfect for soaking it up, but the dessert needed another component to give some freshness and relief from the sweet. “If you like sweet desserts, if you like your golden syrup dumplings, if you like your sticky toffee cake with your butterscotch sauce, this is the dessert you’d love, and it looked beautiful.” He commended the team for not giving up after the mishaps in the kitchen with their dessert.

Judges’ Scores	Entrée	Main	Dessert
Manu Feildel	5	2	6	15
Matt Preston	6	3	6	13
Total		28/60

MKR Team Scores
Matt and KT	7
Leanne and Milena	5
Nicky and Jose	7
Sophie and Katherine	5
Che and Dave	5
Total Score	29/50

MKR Continues 7.30pm Monday

[JohnsonTV]

Tonight’s instant restaurant might have been in Brisbane, but for some reason the producers chose to air the Melbourne skyline from Spotswood in the west. The West Gate Bridge is not the same as Gateway Bridge!

[JBar]

I noticed in a Sydney episode last week, they used a drone filmed establishing shot of Barangaroo. The problem was that it must have been at least six years old. The trees along the teraces at Barangaroo Reserve are no longer seedlings and the Sydney Harbour Control Tower at the top was demolished in 2016. Oops.

[TV.Cynic]

Spanish foodies’ flavour fail

Nicky and Jose take third place on the leader board

Tonight on MKR, Spanish foodies Nicky and Jose felt the pressure of plating up a feast of Spanish classics, including a second-generation paella recipe from Jose’s dad.

Lack of flavour proved to be the team’s number one enemy on the night, with judges Manu Feildel and Matt Preston saying their dishes needed more seasoning. A score of 62/110 put them in third place on the leader board.

Nicky and Jose served Tortilla de Patatas for their entrée, a dish Jose’s grandmother used to make for him. Matt congratulated the team on the consistency and texture of their patatas, but said their mayonnaise lacked flavour.

Manu said it was a good entrée but wanted something to open his palette more: “I think you need to bring a little more seasoning. It’s a kind of plain dish. There’s a little bit of chorizo in it, but not enough to bring any extra flavours.”

Matt was also looking for flavour: “It’s quite bland. I would have loved some smoked paprika to give it a bit more oomph!”

The team missed the mark with their entrée and hoped to impress with their main of Paella, a risky dish to cook in a competition given its numerous ingredients.

Manu acknowledged the team for taking on the difficult dish: “It was a very, very brave thing to cook paella in this competition. The issue you may have had was the ratio of rice to stock. Even though you had a socarrat, it wasn’t very crispy because it was still a little wet.

"I feel for you because I know paella means a lot to you, but it didn’t get to where we were hoping.”

Matt agreed with Manu that, while the dish was beautifully presented, it lacked flavour: “For me, the use of the crab was great, but it was overcooked. The chicken was beautiful, and I reckon I might be the only person at this table with a great piece of socarrat on the top of my bowl. For me the whole dish is lacking some va va voom."

Nicky and Jose were looking to make up some lost ground with their dessert of Churros with Chocolate Sauce. As owners of a churros truck, expectations around the table were sky-high, but Nicky and Jose were confident.

Disaster struck when Nicky accidentally diluted the chocolate sauce by adding too much milk. It also became clear that one batch of the churros had been prepped better than the other.

Manu was served from the “good” batch and was happy with the churros but faulted the team’s chocolate sauce: “The texture is fabulous; crunchy on the outside, golden on the inside and fluffy. The chocolate sauce, it’s very sweet and I feel it makes the whole dessert a bit too sweet.”

Matt wasn’t a fan of the Churros: “Beautiful platting, but crunchy on the outside and doughy in the middle; not good. There’s too much bi-carb, so they taste soapie and funky.”

Tomorrow on MKR: Victorian best friends Matt and KT are ready to compete and showcase native Australian ingredients to the guests and judges at their Instant Restaurant.

Judges’ Scores	Entrée	Main	Dessert
Manu Feildel	7	5	4	16
Matt Preston	7	6	4	17
Total		33/60

MKR Team Scores
Matt and KT	6
Leanne and Milena	5
Rosie and Hayley	8
Sophie and Katherine	5
Che and Dave	5
Total Score	29/50

[TV.Cynic]

Season final:

Wednesday 31 August 7:30 - 9:20 PM

[JohnsonTV]

Jose mentioned during last night’s episode that he and Nicky own a churros business called The Sweet Spaniard in Adelaide. I visited its FB page after the show, and found that they recently welcomed South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas and Infrastructure and Transport Minister Tom Koutsantonis. The couple was grateful of the support from the politicians.

[TV.Cynic]

Croc-corn is born

Matt and KT’s native menu keeps keeps them in the game

Tonight on MKR, Matt and KT curated an incredible indigenous-inspired menu designed to showcase Matt’s heritage as a proud Yamaji man, but the pressure to do his family proud saw Matt and KT stumble with their execution.

While the stress of the kitchen showed on their plates, the team impressed the judges enough to avoid the bottom of the leaderboard, with a score of 66/110.

A nervous Matt and KT served their entrée of Buttermilk Fried Crocodile with Aniseed Myrtle Slaw. Matt’s “croc corn” was a hit around the table, but the other elements of the dish failed in comparison.

“The coleslaw is missing seasoning and acidity. I would have put the finger lime into that. You put in coriander and parsley which kills the flavour of what you want to showcase,” said Manu.

“You should have used fresh aniseed myrtle, julienned it, and thrown it on there. Dry just doesn’t give you the vibrancy,” commented Matt, even though he was in awe of the crocodile popcorn: “I loved, loved, loved the popcorn crocodile. I want a bucket of it to keep on popping because it’s great.”

Matt was visibly rocked, continuing: “Your croc corn could be a massive hit. It’s such a great idea and it’s an innovative way of thinking. I loved it. And that’s the part of the dish I will remember when I’ve forgotten the lack of seasoning.”

KT was crying as the team returned to serve their main of Kangaroo Loin with Parsnip, Saltbush Puree, and Pepperberry Jus. The pressure of the cook was taking its toll.

Manu said the dish was a winner: “That looked gorgeous. That was a well-plated main course. The jus, maybe a bit thin, but delicious. The kangaroo was cooked perfectly, and the puree was silky smooth. The only problem, the biggest problem, is the seasoning.”

Matt said their main was well-executed and far superior to their entrée: “For me, that’s how I like my kangaroo. Juicy, succulent and there’s a little collar of heat-kissed exterior that’s got a little chew to it and in the middle, you slide through it. It’s carpaccio style. The kangaroo was a real hit on this dish.”

Dishevelled from a whirlwind cook, Matt and KT served their dessert of Kakadu Plum Ice Cream with Bush Tucker Brittle. They failed to make enough Kakadu jam to fold into the ice cream and had to serve the jam on top of their vanilla ice cream.

“I was just disappointed because you promised us Kakadu Plum Ice Cream as the headline act, the superstar. If you get the two separated, I think you lose a large part of what the dish is,” lamented Matt.

Manu had high hopes for dessert but was disappointed, telling the team they needed to focus on home cooking if they had another chance to cook again in the competition.

Tomorrow night on MKR: the final instant restaurant sees fiery Italian sisters Leanne and Milena put their Calabrian heritage on the plate. Which team will be eliminated from the competition?

Judges’ Scores	Entrée	Main	Dessert
Manu Feildel	4	8	5	17
Matt Preston	6	8	6	20
Total		37/60

MKR Team Scores
Rosie and Hayley	5
Leanne and Milena	5
Nicky and Jose	6
Sophie and Katherine	7
Che and Dave	6
Total Score	29/50

MKR Continues 7.30pm Wednesday

[JohnsonTV]

That was a very stressful cook by Matt and KT. They made numerous mistakes and the result showed on their dishes. Matt promised so much to showcase native ingredients but, apart from the kangaroos loin, the dishes under delivered.

Matt Preston had invited Matt and KT down to Melbourne to work on their fried crocodile dish for delicious. magazine. I wonder if we get to see the improved recipe in a future issue?

[TV.Cynic]

Sisters show simple succeeds

Leanne and Milena’s Italian feast scores big

Tonight on MKR, Italian sisters Leanne and Milena cooked up a storm and scored 87/110, but it wasn’t enough to knock Sophie and Katherine from the top spot on the leaderboard.

Sophie and Katherine headed straight to the semi-final with a score of 95, while aunt and niece team Rosie and Hayley were eliminated from the competition.

Leanne and Milena’s entrée of Arancini was an instant winner with judges Manu Feildel and Matt Preston. Both cleaned their plates and awarded the sisters a 10s for their entrée.

Manu exclaimed: “It’s exactly what MKR is about – simple home cooking done well. The mistake people make is trying to reinvent the wheel to make us happy but what you’ve done, ladies, is to cook something you’ve cooked and learned from Nona and you haven’t changed anything. What we know about Arancini is one thing, and what we were just presented was another. Ladies, congratulations!”

Elated over the success of their entrée, Leanne and Milena served up their main of Spaghetti with Salsiccia and Rapini.

Matt was impressed the team had made their own pasta and sausage: “Everyone worried about you deciding to make homemade pasta for 12 people. But that was a massive tick. That was absolutely perfect, delicious and wonderful. Thank you. And you made your own sausage; that’s another massive tick.”

Manu was also surprised to see homemade pasta mastered in a competition. “When I saw it was homemade pasta, I thought it was going to be a disaster. They are the quickest pasta to cook, but that fact that you succeeded in cooking them perfectly, I really have to take my hat off to that.”

For their last dish of the night, Leanne and Milena platted up a Woodfired Chocolate Hazelnut Calzone.

Manu said the team overworked the pastry of the Calzone and questioned their decision to add strawberries to the dish: “The pastry was rolled way too thick. Fresh strawberries; Yum. But stewed strawberries without sugar becomes a sloppy undesirable fruit. The flavour of the chocolate and hazelnut and acidic strawberries makes no sense.”

Matt agreed that the addition of the strawberries didn’t work but loved the presentation of the dessert and the ice cream.

Sunday night on MKR: Finals week is here! Janelle and Monzir, Ashlee and Mat, Arrnott and Fuzz and Peter and Alice cook off to decide which team will join Kate and Mary in the semi-final. Each team will plate up a main and a dessert hoping to impress judges Curtis Stone and Colin Fassnidge.

Judges’ Scores	Entrée	Main	Dessert
Manu Feildel	10	8	4	22
Matt Preston	10	9	5	24
Total		46/60

MKR Team Scores
Rosie and Hayley	8
Matt and KT	8
Nicky and Jose	9
Sophie and Katherine	8
Che and Dave	8
Total Score	41/50

Grand Final week starts 7.00pm Wednesday

[JohnsonTV]

Synopsis for the remainder of Finals Week

Monday 29 August
The second last-chance cook-off sees four teams from group two cook a main and dessert, hoping to impress judges Colin Fassnidge and Gary Mehigan and secure the final spot in the semifinal.

Tuesday 30 August
Four teams go head-to-head preparing a three course meal to wow judges Manu Feildel and Curtis Stone, but only the top two teams will progress to the grand final.

Wednesday 31 August
It’s the grand final. Our top two teams must prepare 100 plates of food to impress judges Manu Feildel, Curtis Stone and Colin Fassnidge. Which team will be crowned champion and win $100,000?

[JohnsonTV]

The venue of the finals week was National Innovation Centre at Eveleigh in Sydney, not far from Seven’s HQ.

[TV.Cynic]

Janelle and Monzir head to the semi-final

Couple’s MKR dream one step closer

Tonight’s first MKR cook-off came down to the wire, with winning NSW couple Janelle and Monzir progressing to the semi-final by impressing judges Curtis Stone and Colin Fassnidge with their two-course menu at Kitchen HQ.

Each team had 90 minutes to cook and serve a main and 60 minutes to prepare a dessert. The brief for both dishes was to reflect their heart and heritage.

After judging the main, Colin said it was anybody’s competition, but hinted Janelle and Monzir and Arrnott and Fuzz had edged ahead.

Janelle and Monzir served a main of Tavuk with Muhammara. Colin and Curtis praised the dish despite the team missing a component on the plate.

“Your chicken was cooked perfectly. On the bone. Moist. Taking in all that flavour,” said Colin.

Curtis added: “There was a lot of flavour on the dish, so you needed the potatoes to balance it out. But you nailed it. I really like this dish and the flavour was certainly there.”

Continuing to showcase Fijian cuisine, Arrnott and Fuzz presented a main of Chicken Palau with Tomato Chutney and Spiced Yoghurt.

Curtis said it was a wonderful dish and the team had chosen the perfect condiments: “It’s a good curry, but when you eat it with that tomato condiment, it becomes a great curry.”

Colin said Peter and Alice’s Lemon Curd Roulade with Rhubarb and Pistachios was the best dessert of the night, but Janelle and Monzir’s successful main and dessert of Middle Eastern Three-Milk Cake took out the win.

Colin loved the presentation of the dessert: “My eyes were already eating your dish. The cake was beautiful and moist.”

Curtis commended the team for mastering the balance of rose water in the dessert.

When asked by Colin what the win meant to them, Janelle answered: “It means everything to us. We would have been proud no matter what. This is like a reward for all the hard work we have put in; the time, tears and effort.”

Watching on, semi-final contenders Kate and Mary had mixed reactions to the win.

Kate said: “They’re stiff competition. I said they were going to come though. I think it’s excellent that they are through to the semis. Bit of a shame for us though!”

MKR Grand Final week continues 7.30pm Monday

[JBar]

Quite a brutal cut to have three teams leave in one episode. It’s a shame they don’t do the public restaurant rounds any more. I used to like those.

[JohnsonTV]

Two things I didn’t like:
*The result of the cook off was not decided by scores, but solely by the opinions of the judges
*When Colin and Curtis were delivering their critiques to the teams after tasting their mains, the judges were either looking at the wrong camera or not looking directly at each team. I think it was rude

[TV.Cynic]

Matt and KT’s MKR redemption

Best friends get ready to cook in the semi-final

Redemption was on the menu tonight for Victorian best friends Matt and KT as they sealed their spot in tomorrow’s MKR semi-final.

After crumbling under the pressure of their instant restaurant, the pair won over judges Colin Fassnidge and Gary Mehigan at Kitchen HQ with their two-course indigenous-inspired menu.

Matt and KT had 90 minutes to cook and serve a main and 60 minutes to prepare a dessert. The brief for both dishes was to reflect their heart and heritage.

All teams had a solid start across the board, but Matt and KT’s main of Warrigal Greens Gnocchi with Cinnamon Myrtle Burnt Butter Sauce had the judges in awe.

Gary was impressed with the texture of the team’s gnocchi, saying it was “light and pillowy” and had good flavour.

Colin agreed it was a good dish and the team had made a “beautiful” burnt butter sauce.

After the judging of the mains, Western Australia’s Che and Dave were at the back of the pack for overcooking their Pork Fillet with Fondant Potatoes, Port and Red Wine Jus.

Che and Dave regained their form to produce the best dessert of the night, Poached Nashi Pears with Chocolate Sauce and Toasted Peanuts.

But with many highs and lows across the teams during the night, Colin and Gary deemed Matt and KT had been the most consistent in cooking the best two-course menu.

“We loved your idea of promoting these flavours. It absolutely ran true,” Gary said of Matt and KT’s aim to showcase native ingredients throughout the competition.

“This is so unexpected. All we wanted to do, was to do better than last time and we did that,” Matt said elated with their win. “It just means so much to me, all my ancestors are looking down and this is what we came to do. KT’s Italian and I’m aboriginal. We smashed it all together and put it on a plate.”

Tomorrow on MKR: Semi-finalists Kate and Mary, Janelle and Monzir, Sophie and Katherine, and Matt and KT go head-to-head at Kitchen HQ to secure a place in the MKR grand finale.

MKR Grand Final week continues 7.30pm Tuesday

[JohnsonTV]

I thought Leanne and Milena would reach the semi-final even though their fritelli dolce was dense but tasty, but I was happy that a Victorian team would make the final four.

[Apple75]

Saw casting for next season during the semi final

[TV.Cynic]

Meet MKR’s 2022 grand finalists

Kate and Mary and Janelle and Monzir compete for the crown

Kate and Mary (Queensland) and Janelle and Monzir (NSW) will battle it out in the MKR Grand Final tomorrow night after an epic night of semi-final cooking at Kitchen HQ.

Judge Manu Feildel announced couple Janelle and Monzir as the first team through to the Grand Final, saying they had cooked the best three-course menu of the semi-final.

“I’m just so relieved. We worked so hard for this and going to the grand final is an absolute dream come true,” said Janelle. “We’re hungry for this. I know we have so much more to give. We’re going to level it up one more time and we’re going to win this battle against Kate and Mary.”

But Kate and Mary will be stiff competition, with Mary saying: "We’ve come this far; we just want to go to the top. I can’t believe we’re one cook away from winning $100,000. It’s our intention to win this competition.”

It was a nail-biting night at Kitchen HQ as Kate and Mary, Janelle and Monzir, Sophie and Katherine, and Matt and KT battled it out over three courses.

In a twist that no one saw coming: the lowest scoring team, Matt and KT, were eliminated after the judging of the entrées.

Judges Manu and Curtis were underwhelmed by the team’s entrée of King Prawns with Bush Tucker Dukkah and River Mint Yoghurt.

Although both judges said the prawns were cooked “beautifully”, they thought Matt and KT could have brought a little more to the dish and demonstrated more technique.

“We came here to put indigenous ingredients on the map and we’ve done that. We’re so proud,” said Matt of the team’s elimination.

The judges said Sophie and Katherine had nailed the protein in their main of Crispy Pork Belly with Parsnip Puree and Roast Pears but were let down by their sauce. They applauded the black peppercorn ice cream served with their dessert of Quince and Sour Cream Tart, but Manu said they should have made individual tarts to minimise error with cooking time.

Kate and Mary plated up a main of Duck Breast with Caramelised Radicchio and Potato Dauphinoise. Manu said their duck was cooked perfectly and the accompanying jus was rich and delicious, but their potato Dauphinoise was missing a little bit of garlic.

Manu questioned the team’s use of sesame seed oil in their dessert of Tahini Crème Brulé with Sesame Seed Tuile, saying the flavour lacked subtlety and likened it to a “smack in the head”.

Janelle and Monzir served a main of Lamb Backstrap with Kisir and Ezme Salad.

Manu praised the dish: “I just loved the different levels of texture you offered and the different layers of flavours. The spicy and the smoky. I think it was a very clever dish." Janelle and Monzir’s only stumble on the night was dessert, with their Basil Panna Cotta failing to set.

Tomorrow on MKR: It’s Grand Final time and Janelle and Monzir and Kate and Mary must prepare 100 plates to impress judges Manu Feildel, Curtis Stone and Colin Fassnidge. Which team will be crowned MKR champions and win a life-changing $100,000 prize?

MKR Grand Final 7.30pm Wednesday

[TV.Cynic]

[JohnsonTV]

The semi-final result means all teams in group 2 were eliminated.

It was very close between Kate and Mary and Sophie and Catherine (the top two scoring teams from instant restaurants), but Kate and Mary got through because they made less errors than the Sydney team.