9 brilliant and wacky dishes from MasterChef Australia so far

In the LG mystery box challenge, the contestants had to choose one of the judge’s fridges and use whatever was inside to create a dish worthy of a chance at immunity and a grand prize. Snezana created, as Jean-Christophe said, “a masterpiece of a dish” and we think it’s simply stunning. Sauteed mushrooms under a pasta veil with parmesan infused pomme puree, topped with a smoked egg yolk and a pancetta and parmesan rind sauce.

Jean-Christophe said, “Your mushrooms are juicy and crunchy, your smoked egg is delicious, it’s really well done, there’s no dry skin it’s just perfect.”

“I can’t get enough of that bowl of food,” Andy added. “It is on another level, you can tell you’re familiar with the rind game because all of them work well to give the broth umami and body. I love that, but I was worried [while you were cooking about] A: are you going to get it done, B: are you going to get it together? You win.”

Curtis Stone brought the heat in the immunity challenge this week, and it had us on the very edges of our seats. Four contestants had one hour to recreate Curtis’ impressive pork loin with citrus beurre monte and pistachio dukka and the person whose dish looked and tasted closest to his won.

“It’s achievable, but there isn’t a lot of margin for error,” Curtis Stone said.

Watching the contestants recreate his dish in various ways was impressive, and it showed why they’ve been brought back to win. Every single one of them did a phenomenal job, and now we want to make this dish at home. But with the recipe, of course.

Jean-Christophe led the contestants during a service challenge where four teams competed to stay safe. They had to create one dish that’s a French classic, and another a French classic, but with a twist.

Two teams attempted a Paris Brest, and while Darrsh was familiar with the dish, having made it for Jean-Christophe last year, Depinder and Rue’s version was a hit.

This famous French dessert is one with complexity and beauty, made of choux pastry and a prailine flavoured cream – in this case, hazelnut and decorated with fresh almonds. It’s a classic done well.

We’ve never seen a s’more look so good! Darrsh reimagined the beauty of a simple s’more using native Australian ingredients, with a leatherwood and wattleseed wafer, cinnamon and honey creme patissiere, swiss meringue, cinnamon and charcoal soil and chocolate sauce. One thing’s for sure, its a dish we’ll be dreaming of cooking up at our next BBQ!

Rhiannon delivered a beautiful coral trout to show just how far she has come on her MasterChef journey. Previously, she never would have attempted a whole fish, but here she is and she absolutely nailed it!

“That is delicious, so yum!” Poh said. “The fish is cooked so beautifully, that fish skin, oh my gosh giv eme abucket of it. Everything on that plate is so increibly tasty, I could just dive back in again.”

Sophia added, “What I love about your dish is it’s complex, so you’ve got this beautiful sauce that has this creeping heat that sort of backs up all the auromats in there and then you get to gnor on a fish wing.”

Born from the Mystery Box challenge, Rue had the judges in awe of the beauty of her dish. Showcasing the flavours of a black forest cake: chocolate cremeux with a cherry jam, pickled cherries and a vanilla ice cream, it was one of the top dishes of the day.

“What you’ve done is exceptional,” Jean-Christophe said. “The sweetness is perfect, your cremeux is lovely, your ice cream is perfect. Your two types of cherries are meant to be on the plate. If you cook dishes that way, you are a threat.”

Guest chef Peter Gilmore added, “I agree with that. I just think it was so well balanced, all the textures you nailed and the fact that you did fresh and cooked cherries was a stroke of genius. It’s amazing.”

What. A. Compliment!

From the minute the Burgundy team placed this beef rump cap before the judges, they were in awe. That only heightened after they tasted the buttery, tender and balanced dish. To say they were impressed is an understatement, and honestly, same.

From the judges’ reactions and the elegant plating up, we’re giving this one a heart react. Put simply, we’d make it for dinner and demolish it in a few minutes flat. If you don’t believe us, here’s how the judges so eloquently put it:

Andy Allen: “Beautiful textures, beautiful colours, stunning flavours. Everywhere you put your knife and fork, everything is peaking with flavour, the seasoning is on point, and I’m loving this dish. I’ve got to give Ben a shoutout for cooking that rump cap. The pieces were so inconsistent in size, it could have gone horribly wrong. But if I look around, every single one is blushing medium rare. That is absolutely money and not easy to do.”

Jean-Christophe Novelli: “What a joy! If I were on my own, I’d be licking my plate.”

Now these are the unusual creations that we live for. Laura Sharrad reimagined a classic yet controversial Aussie snack into a dessert. Vegemite ice cream stacked on top of a burnt butter ice cream. Underneath, is of course, a bread crumble.

This is our favourite dish of the week and for good reason! But did our French judge, Jean-Christophe, who has never tried Vegemite, like it?

“It’s wonderful. For every technicality, the crunch, the sweet, the saltiness – everything is just sublime! I think you are a threat,” Jean-Christophe says.

“It’s very intelligent cooking,” adds Poh. “The umami that the Vegemite gave the dish is so beguiling. You know it has that slight effect where you want to go back for more, it’s moreish, you want to keep testing whether you did love it, and you do.”

It’s unique, complex and simply delicious.

They say you need to risk it for the biscuit, but it doesn’t always pay off.

The Burgundy team decided to create a corn ice cream and buttermilk granita, with orange cake, a Geraldton wax oil and cornflake brittle, and a brown milk powder crumb. It’s quite the mouthful and as Poh said on her first bite, “Woah!”

But unfortunately, her exclamation didn’t come with an impressed expression. It was more the face you pull when you drink lemon juice straight.

“I just felt like it didn’t come together at all for me,” says Poh. “I found the granita really jarring; it was just way too sharp for me, and the cake was a bit too bitter. There was intense bitterness, intense sourness, I found all the flavours quite incompatible. But I did like the corn ice cream and the flavour and the fact that it was a bit salty.”

So the weirdest part of the dish, a sweet corn ice cream, worked. But the granita didn’t.

“The thing I like about this dessert is the intensity of the corn flavour in the ice cream, and I think even just the orange cake with all that rind and bitterness, it would have gone nicely with just the ice cream,” Sofia says. “The granita doesn’t work here.”

But Jean-Christoph put it best: “You know what we call it? Confusing.”

It’s a no from us on this one, but hey, if they can pull off a corn ice cream, that deserves applause.