MasterChef (US TV series)

For the second round the contestants had to cook a chicken dish. Six more were eliminated, leaving the top eighteen.

Elimination Challenge 1 - The theme for this challenge was the cuisine of Europe. Christian chose French cuisine and also received safety from elimination, while the others had one hour to make their French dish. Derrick's French Cheese Puff Stuffed with Poached Egg and Max's Poached Cod in Cream Sauce earned them the top two spots and the job of team captain in the next challenge. The bottom three were Angel, Erryn and Mark. Angel was the first to be eliminated after a "horrendously executed" fruit tart, and Mark was eliminated for putting uncooked flour in his potatoes.

Pressure Test Elimination 1 - The Blue Team members had to an hour to cook a simple ravioli with spinach and ricotta filling from scratch, finished with a simple butter sauce preventing them from disguising a bad pasta. The bottom three were Esther (whose filling had an aftertaste that she could not identify the source of), Jennifer (who ruined the flavor of her pasta by adding nutmeg), and Tony (whose ravioli was very poor on all counts). In the end, Tony was eliminated.

Elimination Challenge 2 - The theme for the challenge was dessert. Adrien was given the option of coffee, pineapple, and nuts. He chose nuts for himself and coffee for everyone else to use. The contestants had 90 minutes to prepare a dessert. Tracy's Espresso Chocolate Flourless Cake and Esther's Coffee Cheesecake were chosen as the two best and they became the captains for the next team challenge. Jennie, Max and Alvin landed in the bottom. While Max's Torte de Crepes was called horrible by Chef Ramsay, Alvin was eliminated for his Coffee-filled Beignets w/ Coffee Chicory Pudding which Chef Elliot simply referred to as "offensive". Chefs Ramsay and Bastianich also felt that Alvin's molecular gastronomy approach simply did not work for the competition, and advised him to "go back to basics" in the future.

Pressure Test Elimination 2 - Chef Ramsay announced that only two chefs would compete in the pressure test. He asked Esther to choose the two chefs most responsible for the loss and she chose Max and Christine due to their failure to case the sausages properly. Chef Ramsay offered Esther the opportunity to swap places with one of them, but she chose to join the rest of her team in safety. In the Pressure Test, Max and Christine were given three filets of steak to cook rare, medium, and well done. Despite Christine's well done steak being severely undercooked, her rare and medium steaks were perfect while all three of Max's steaks were slightly out, resulting in Max's elimination.

Elimination Challenge 3 - Jennifer was given three dishes cooked by last year's Masterchef winner, Whitney Miller, to choose from for everybody to cook. She chose her Crispy Catfish w/ Homemade Slaw and Sweet Potato Fries. The contestants had to recreate the dish with no recipe while Jennifer was given a basket of all the ingredients needed to cook the dish. Christian redeemed himself from the previous challenge, as did Ben who both became captains in the next team challenge. Alejandra (who inexplicably decided to flavor her tartar sauce with raw garlic), Adrien (for his sloppy plating), and Jennie were in the bottom 3, and Jennie was eliminated.

Pressure Test Elimination 3 - Everyone on the Blue Team was given 2 hours to make a cake with a minimum of 6 layers of sponge. Judges raved over Ben and Jennifer's cakes and Tracy's was also good enough to be deemed safe from elimination. Next deemed safe was Christine, despite her "one-dimensional" cake with blackberries and double cream. It came down to Suzy's overcomplicated Chocolate Ganache Cake with Pecans and Esther's unbalanced and overly sweet and acidic Lemon Raspberry Cake. Esther's was deemed the weakest because of Suzy's delicious ganache, and she was eliminated.

Elimination Challenge 4 - In this challenge with an aphrodisiac theme, Jennifer got to pick from core ingredients of oysters, artichokes and truffles for everyone to cook with. She picked the very expensive truffle and was given the option to watch everyone cook from the balcony with a glass of champagne, but decided to stay and cook with everyone else. Tracy and Guiseppe were the top two and named captains for the next team challenge. Erryn, Adrien and Jennifer landed in the bottom 3. Jennifer, despite her advantage, failed to impress with her undercooked Cottled Eggs, Adrien's "categorical disaster" dish suffered from horrible plating and overpowering chilli and Erryn's dish was let down by burnt steak and crunchy vegetables. With Jennifer just barely deemed safe, Adrien and Erryn were left with two bad dishes, one of them deemed "the worst we've ever seen" by the judges. Chef Ramsay offered its implied creator the chance to step back from the competition, which Erryn graciously accepted as he resigned to let Adrien continue because "[at least] he cooked his steak perfectly".

Pressure Test Elimination 4 - Giuseppe nearly got kicked out before the pressure test even started, after he enraged the judges by indirectly questioning the palates of the three mothers. The Red Team were given 30 minutes to create the perfect Eggs Benedict. Ben and Suzy were the only two to cook competent dishes, with only minor flaws. After they were declared safe, Giuseppe, Derrick and Alejandra were left. Alejandra failed to impress with her overcooked eggs "like golfballs" and botched hollandaise sauce, but was the third to be declared safe. The decision was between Giuseppe's messy dish with undercooked eggs and Derrick's with a lack of sauce. Ultimately, the judges decided that serving them raw eggs was the biggest mistake and Giuseppe was eliminated.

Elimination Challenge 5 - Adrien, as winner of the Mystery Box, got to choose between nine different cuts of pork, ranging from easy to hard. He got to pick his own cut (pork chops) and assign the other cuts to the other contestants, including the difficult pork cheeks (Christian) and pork belly (Suzy). The contestants only got 1 hour to cook their pork dish with pantry ingredients, making the tougher cuts very challenging to cook in time. Christian, who cooked the most difficult cut of pork cheek to perfection, and Christine, whose humble dish of baby-back ribs delighted the judges, were named team captains for the next challenge. Derrick and Ben (who narrowly averted disaster by removing over a dozen undercooked beans from his chilli) were also praised for doing wonders with difficult cuts of pork. Suzy and Jennifer each cooked a dish that was bad enough to make the judges spit it out, and the judges even told Suzy that her dish was the worst-tasting thing that they had ever seen on the show. Ultimately though, it was Alejandra that made the biggest mistake by serving up raw pork loin, considered the easiest cut. Alejandra was eliminated, but the judges told Suzy that she would have been the one who was sent home, were it not for Alejandra's error.

Pressure Test Elimination 5 - Christian, Jennifer, Derrick and Adrien faced a soufflé challenge, in which they were given 90 minutes to cook their best savory soufflé. Due to the difficult timing and extremely delicate nature of the dish, they could put up their most successful soufflé at any time during the challenge and make as many for back-up as they wanted. Despite some minor technical errors or unbalanced flavors, the judges thought every contestant's soufflé was delicious, therefore no one was eliminated.

Elimination Challenge 6 - Winner Jennifer got to pick from the three judges' childhood favorite dishes, being Joe's Pizza, Graham's Mac 'n' Cheese and Gordon's Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese. She picked Gordon's dish and the contestants were to turn it into a gourmet dish. Christine's acidic soup and oily cheese toast and Derrick's cheese-laden unbalanced dish were enough to eliminate both contestants, as no one was eliminated in the previous episode. Just before Derrick left, Chef Bastianich implied that he would be willing to employ Derrick at his restaurant.

Pressure Test Elimination 6 - Tracy, Jennifer and Adrien faced off in a Pressure Test with a salmon theme. They were to correctly fillet a whole salmon and cut it into at least 10 portions. They then had to cook one portion and serve it to the judges. Jennifer performed best overall despite undercooking her salmon and it came down to poor performances from Adrien and Tracy. In the end, leaving the tail on her fish, uneven portioning and her undercooked salmon sealed Tracy's elimination. As a parting gift, the judges gave her a year of culinary lessons, and offered to let her work in any of their restaurants.

Elimination Challenge 7 - Ben, having won his first Mystery Box, got to pick one of Gordon Ramsay's signature dishes for everyone to cook with a spot in the top 4 at stake. He also got to ask Gordon three questions about the recipe, with no recipe given to the other contestants. Suzy's dish was deemed the overall best and almost a perfect copy of the original, except for being slightly too rich with butter. All the other contestants produced dishes that were "below par". Ultimately, it was Ben who was eliminated for overcooking his venison and overreducing his red wine sauce, despite his advantages.

Pressure Test Elimination 7 - With the Blue Team of Adrien and Jennifer safely in the top 3 of the competition, Suzy and Christian went head-to-head in a Pressure Test. They were given 90 minutes to recreate a Lemon Meringue Pie. Suzy's pie didn't look very attractive, had raw meringue and was too weak in texture, but the judges liked her lemon curd. Christian's dish looked better overall and had good flavor and structure, but suffered from a bad meringue as the sugar wasn't incorporated properly. Overall, the judges described the situation as "Christian's looks better than it tastes and Suzy's tastes better than it looks". Despite her reputation as this series' dessert queen, Suzy's pie fell short of the mark as her performance in the kitchen led to a teary elimination.

Elimination Challenge 8 - Adrien, Jennifer and Christian were lead once again to be shown what their challenge would consist of. In this case, it would be ingredients that were three of Joe's favorite. Due to winning the Mystery Box, Adrien got to choose his ingredient, from octopus, veal, or mushrooms. He strategically chose the octopus. Christian then got the chance to choose both his, and Jennifer's ingredient for their entrees. Christian chose veal to try and give Jennifer the worst, but Jennifer then explained she was thrilled to work with mushrooms. Adrien was commended for nearly every element on his dish, especially his core ingredient of octopus, with only his rice not proving very successful. Christian's dish again suffered in presentation, and despite a perfectly cooked veal chop and good mash, other elements such as the vegetables were lacking as Ramsay called it "not his best dish". Jennifer's risky dish of Egg Yolk Ravioli was raved over by the judges, except lacking in terms of seasoning and slightly undercooked pasta. Adrien was the first person to take a place in the final, leaving it down to old competition rivals Christian and Jennifer. Jennifer was declared the second finalist, as Christian was eliminated.

• Starter: Jennifer's starter of Pan Seared Scallops with Quail Egg, Creamed Corn and Pea Puree divided the judges in terms of presentation, but they all agreed that - despite perfectly seared scallops - it needed acidity to cut through its inherent richness and she should have checked her scallops for the chewy abductor muscle. Adrien's Spot Prawn Taquitos with Avocado Sauce, Masago and Micro Greens received big kudos in terms of presentation, but was deemed "too fresh" as the hero element of prawn was lost in the dish's overpowering acidity. Joe quoted that "Adrien's dish could have used a bit of Jennifer's richness [...] and Jennifer's dish could have used [...] Adrien's [...] acidity".
• Entree: Jennifer's entree of Stuffed Quail with Creamy Potatoes and Spinach was raved over by the judges, both in terms of flavor and execution, with a perfectly roast quail showing a lot of technique. Adrien's Beer Braised Short Ribs with Cauliflower-Parsnip Puree and Rainbow Chard also met with raptures from all judges, hailing his presentation, balance of flavor and the use of humble ingredients to create a dish that "nearly brought tears" to Chef Ramsay's eyes.
• Dessert: Jennifer's Braised Pear with Poached Apples and Mascarpone was deemed "a big anticlimax" by Gordon and "a pre-dessert" by Joe. Receiving similarly bad criticism, Adrien's Flourless Chocolate Cake Infused with Blood Orange, Passion Fruit and Chipotle according to all judges was dry and the complete opposite of his successful entree.
• Winner Revealed - Jennifer was pronounced the winner of the competition, taking away $250,000 and the MasterChef title. The reveal was followed by a final casting call for the third season by Gordon Ramsay.