MasterChef (U.S. season 2)

MasterChef (U.S. season 2)
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	20
Broadcast
Original channel	Fox
Original run	June 6, 2011 (2011-06-06) – August 16, 2011 (2011-08-16)

Season 2 of the American competitive reality television series MasterChef had a two-night premiere on Fox on June 6 and 7, 2011.^[1] At the end of the third episode, which aired on June 13, 2011, the judges had tasted all 100 dishes and given white MasterChef aprons to 38 contestants. In the fourth episode that aired on June 14, 2011, the judges cut that number down to 18 contestants.^[2]

Top 18

Source:^[3]

Contestant	Age	Hometown	Occupation	Status	Winnings
Behm, Jennifer !Jennifer Behm[4][5]	34	Wilmington, Delaware	Realtor	Winner 16 August	7
Nieto, Adrien !Adrien Nieto	28	Ventura, California	Server	Runner-Up 16 August	8
Collins, Christian !Christian Collins	31	Gloucester, Massachusetts	Stay-at-home dad	Eliminated 16 August	7
Singh, Suzy !Suzy Singh[6]	27	Chicago, Illinois	Neural Engineer	Eliminated 15 August	6
Starr, Ben !Benjamin "Ben" Starr[7]	33	Dallas, Texas	Travel Writer	Eliminated 9 August	5
Kontos, Tracy !Tracy Kontos[8]	32	Coral Springs, Florida	Sales Consultant	Eliminated 8 August	6
Prince, Derrick !Derrick Prince[9]	33	West Babylon, New York	Web Designer/Blogger	Eliminated 2 August	3
Corley, Christine !Christine Corley	27	Sopchoppy, Florida	Single Mom		4
Alejandra Schrader[10][11]	37	Playa del Rey, California	Architect/Urban Planner	Eliminated 26 July	2
Morisco, Giuseppe !Giuseppe Morisco	38	Chicago, Illinois	Granite Salesman	Eliminated 19 July	3
Cobb, Erryn !Erryn Cobb[12]	26	Chicago, Illinois	Public Relations	Eliminated 18 July	3
Kang, Esther !Esther Kang	28	Los Angeles, California	Lawyer	Eliminated 11 July	1
Kelley, Jennie !Jennifer "Jennie" Kelley[13]	37	Dallas, Texas	Musician	Eliminated 5 July	1
Kramer, Max !Maxwell "Max" Kramer	18	New York, New York	College Student	Eliminated 28 June	1
Schultz, Alvin !Alvin Schultz	28	Houston, Texas	Retail Manager	Eliminated 27 June	1
Scruggs, Tony !Tony Scruggs	52	Grant Park, Illinois	Truck Driver	Eliminated 21 June	0
Mark Raffaeli[14]	35	Chicago, Illinois	Realtor	Eliminated 20 June	0
Angel Moore-Soukkay	37	Columbus, Ohio	Property Manager		0

Elimination table

Place	Contestant	Episode
		5		6	7		8	9		10	11		12	13		14	15		16	17		18	19		20
1	Jennifer	IN	IN	LOW	LOW	IN	WIN	WIN	IN	PT	WIN	LOW	WIN	IN	LOW	PT	WIN	IN	PT	HIGH	LOW	WIN	LOW	IN	WINNER
2	Adrien	IN	IN	WIN	WIN	IN	NPT	HIGH	LOW	WIN	IN	LOW	WIN	WIN	IN	PT	HIGH	IN	LOW	HIGH	LOW	WIN	WIN	WIN	RUNNER-UP
3	Christian	WIN	IMM	PT	IN	IN	WIN	LOW	WIN	WIN	IN	IN	WIN	HIGH	WIN	PT	IN	IN	WIN	IN	LOW	PT	HIGH	ELIM
4	Suzy	HIGH	IN	WIN	IN	IN	WIN	IN	IN	LOW	IN	IN	PT	IN	LOW	WIN	HIGH	WIN	WIN	IN	WIN	ELIM
5	Ben	LOW	IN	WIN	IN	IN	NPT	IN	WIN	PT	IN	IN	PT	HIGH	IN	WIN	IN	LOW	WIN	WIN	ELIM
6	Tracy	IN	IN	PT	HIGH	WIN	WIN	IN	IN	PT	IN	WIN	WIN	IN	IN	WIN	IN	WIN	ELIM
7	Derrick	IN	WIN	WIN	IN	IN	NPT	IN	IN	WIN	HIGH	IN	LOW	IN	IN	PT	IN	ELIM
8	Christine	IN	IN	WIN	IN	IN	PT	IN	IN	LOW	IN	IN	WIN	IN	WIN	WIN	IN	ELIM
9	Alejandra	IN	IN	PT	HIGH	IN	WIN	HIGH	LOW	WIN	HIGH	IN	PT	IN	ELIM
10	Giuseppe	IN	IN	PT	IN	IN	WIN	IN	IN	WIN	IN	WIN	ELIM
11	Erryn	IN	LOW	WIN	IN	IN	WIN	IN	IN	WIN	IN	ELIM
12	Esther	IN	IN	LOW	IN	WIN	NPT	IN	IN	ELIM
13	Jennie	HIGH	IN	WIN	IN	LOW	NPT	IN	ELIM
14	Max	IN	WIN	PT	IN	LOW	ELIM
15	Alvin	IN	IN	WIN	IN	ELIM
16	Tony	IN	IN	ELIM
17	Mark	IN	ELIM
18	Angel	IN	ELIM

     (WINNER) This cook won the competition.

     (RUNNER-UP) This cook received second place.

     (WIN) The cook won the individual challenge (Mystery Box Challenge or Invention Test) and received an advantage in the next challenge.

     (WIN) The cook was on the winning team in the Team Challenge and was safe from the Pressure Test.

     (HIGH) The cook was one of the top entries in the individual challenge, but did not win.

     (IN) The cook was not selected as a top entry or bottom entry in the challenge.

     (IMM) The cook won the Mystery Box Challenge and did not have to compete in the Invention Test.

     (PT) The cook was on the losing team in the Team Challenge, competed in the pressure test, and advanced.

     (NPT) The cook was on the losing team in the Team Challenge, but did not compete in the pressure test, and advanced.

     (LOW) The cook was one of the bottom entries in an individual elimination challenge, but was not the last person to advance.

     (LOW) The cook was one of the bottom entries in an individual elimination challenge, and was the last person to advance.

     (ELIM) The cook was eliminated from MasterChef

Episodes

Episode 1

• Original airdate: Monday June 6, 2011
• Audition 1:

Episode 2

• Original airdate: Tuesday June 7, 2011
• Audition 2:

Episode 3

• Original airdate: Monday June 13, 2011
• Audition 3:

Episode 4

• Original airdate: Tuesday June 14, 2011
• Top 38 Basic Skills Challenge: The 38 contestants must demonstrate their knife work by creating perfectly even slices of green apple. They must continue slicing until stopped by one of the judges, when they'd find out if they're going through or going home. Twenty four contestants remained after this round.
• Top 24 Invention Test: The remaining 24 contestants must prepare a meal using chicken. In the end, the Top 18 is composed.

Episode 5

• Original airdate: Monday June 20, 2011
• Mystery Box Challenge 1: The contestants had to prepare a dish using only the Mystery Box ingredients. Ben's strawberry balsamic and overcooked salmon was deemed as "hideous" earning him last place.
• Best dishes: First announced was Suzy, who made salmon three ways. She did a trio of pickled salmon, smoked salmon and grilled salmon. Next announced was Christian, who made a pistachio crusted salmon with a strawberry balsamic reduction and he put that over some asparagus with a little caramelized fennel and some roasted fingerling potatoes. Last announced was Jennie, who made a savory salmon tart with the ricotta and the mustard spread, caramelized fennel and the shaved asparagus.
• Challenge winner: Christian won the challenge. His prize was to choose the style of food that everyone would cook for the elimination challenge.
• Elimination Challenge 1: The theme for this challenge was the cuisine of Europe, with Spanish, French and British (which Joe, Graham and Christian reacted to with extreme disdain when Gordon revealed it). Christian chose French cuisine and also received safety from elimination, while the others had one hour to make their French dish. Only some dishes are featured. Some great ones included Max and his Poached Cod in veloute cream sauce with roasted sage potatoes and mussels, Giuseppe's profiteroles with lemon vanilla cream, Suzy's Chocolate Ganache and Lemon Curd tarts with meringue and fruit, Alejandra's Seared Cod with Croutons and Steamed Clams and Derrick's Gougere (French Cheese Puff stuffed with White Wine poached egg). There were also some severe disappointments, such as Jennie's Soup Trio, consisting of French Onion, Cream of Mushroom and Cream of Zucchini, Mark's Peppercorn Crusted Filet Steak with Béarnaise Sauce and Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Angel's so-called 'Fruit Tart with Custard', Christine's seared Pork Chops in a creamy Dijon Mustard Sauce and Erryn's Beef Carpaccio with Zucchini Soup and Sweet Potato Fries. Derrick and Max had the best dishes and would become team captains in the next challenge. The bottom three were Angel, Erryn and Mark. Angel became the first member of the Top 18 to be sent home, due to her "horrendously executed" fruit tart. The judges then told Erryn and Mark that one of them had made such an unforgivable mistake that they would also be eliminated, before sending home Mark for putting raw flour in his mashed potatoes. Erryn therefore survived, but was told that he would more than likely be eliminated if he landed in the bottom three again.

Episode 6

• Original airdate: Tuesday June 21, 2011
• Team Challenge 1: The contestants were split into two teams chosen by Derrick (Red) and Max (Blue). The teams had to create a five-course meal for 350 busy office workers in the building. The service had to consist of soup, a salad, pizza, a special entree and dessert. At the end of service, each diner would vote for their favorite dish. The Blue Team produced Chicken Chili, Seasonal Salad with Blue Cheese and Nuts, Arugula and Bruschetta Pizza, Beef Hamburgers and Chocolate Chip Cookies. The Red Team produced Chicken Orzo, Watermelon Salad with Cucumber and Feta, White Pizza, Cheesy Lasagna and Fresh Berries with Cream. Midway through service, the Blue Team ran out of meat and had to switch to Chicken Burgers. This and a terrible backup from Giuseppe at the pizza station allowed the Red Team to win and send the Blue Team to the Pressure Test
• 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.

Episode 7

• Original airdate: Monday June 27, 2011
• Mystery Box Challenge 2: The contestants had to prepare a dish using only the Mystery Box ingredients, including New Zealand lamb. Jennifer's dish stood out as the worst as her lamb was completely raw, with Joe stating that if this was an elimination test, he would send her home right then and there. Alejandra, Adrien and Tracy landed in the top 3. Adrien won with his Farmer's Market Lamb with Cauliflower Puree. He won the opportunity to choose the theme for himself, and then everyone else in the elimination challenge.
• 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. Adrien, the only one not working with coffee, produced a Chocolate Nut Torte with Pistachio and Hazelnut Filling and a Raspberry, Strawberry and Pomegranate Coulis that the judges considered disappointing, with no obvious use of the nuts. Christine's Chocolate Espresso Mousse was deemed delicious, but Max's Torte du Crepes were deemed horrible and rancid, with Chef Ramsay saying it tasted like he'd "gone to the doctor for a skin graft on his butt". Alejandra's Black Bottom Coffee Cream Tart was deemed 'strange' because it looked similar to what it was like when the chefs visited her station. Jennie produced a Coffee Infused Tart with Orange Blossom Cream that Joe criticized her for being severely undercooked. Things looked better with Tracy presenting an amazing Chocolate Espresso Flourless Cake with a Coffee Carmel Sauce and Chocolate Shavings, which was praised by all the judges. Things stayed that way with great praise for Esther, who made Coffee Cheesecake, Suzy, who produced a Chocolate Coffee Brownie and Chocolate Coffee Truffles, and Jennifer, who created Coffee Creme Brulee with White Chocolate and maserated berries. However, things did not end well with Alvin's extremely bitter Coffee Filled Beignets with Coffee Chicory pudding, which Chef Elliot said was executed to the point of almost being offensive. Tracy and Esther were declared the top 2 and became team captains for the next challenge. Jennie, Max and Alvin landed in the bottom 3. Jennie's dish was declared the best of the worst and was deemed safe, leaving Alvin and Max facing elimination. Initially, Max appeared to be the one to be eliminated, as his dish seemed to be the absolute worst because of its rancidness. However, much to the great shock and devastation of the other contestants, Alvin was eliminated. Chefs Ramsay and Bastianich 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.

Episode 8

• Original airdate: Tuesday June 28, 2011
• Team Challenge 2: The contestants were split into two teams chosen by Tracy (Blue Team) and Esther (Red Team) and were given 90 minutes to prepare sausage sandwiches for 101 bikers who would vote on which one was the best. Tracy's team made a Spicy Italian Pork Sausage w/ Caramelized Onions and Molasses while Esther's team made a Beer Soaked Sausage Patty w/ Drunken Onion and Pepper Relish. Despite an early setback when Christine and Max couldn't case the sausages, which was salvaged when Ben suggested turning them into patties, Esther's team had an early lead. Tracy's team decided to add banana peppers to their sandwich to give it a spicier flavor, which led to the Blue Team receiving 51 votes first for the win, sending the Red Team to the Pressure Test.
• 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 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 perfectly cooked and seasoned while all of Max's steaks were 'small notches off', resulting in Christine being deemed safe and Max's elimination.

Episode 9

• Original airdate: Tuesday July 5, 2011
• Mystery Box Challenge 3: The Mystery Box contained several vegetables and spices which the chefs used to create a vegetarian entree. Before tasting, the judges deemed Christian's dish as the worst, which Christian openly disagreed with to the judges. Jennifer, Adrien and Alejandra landed in the top 3, and Jennifer won the challenge with her Vegetable Terrine w/ Eggplant Wrap and Tomato Sauce.
• 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 29 ingredients needed to cook the dish. Christian redeemed himself from the previous challenge, and Ben received a great praise from Joe. Both became captains in the next team challenge. Jennifer, Esther and Giuseppe also were praised for their catfish, while Derrick received criticism for moggy crust. The bottom 3 consisted of Alejandra (who inexplicably decided to flavor her tartar sauce with raw garlic), Adrien (for his incorrect plating), and Jennie (for salty fish and terribly-made coleslaw). In the end, Jennie was eliminated.

Episode 10

• Original airdate: Monday July 11, 2011
• Team Challenge 3: The contestants arrived at Gordon Ramsay's restaurant at the London West Hollywood hotel in downtown L.A., where they were split up into teams by captains Christian and Ben, winners of the previous challenge. Ben's Blue team consisted of Jennifer, Tracy, Esther, Suzy, and Christine, while Christian's Red consisted of Derrick, Adrien, Alejandra, Giuseppe, and Erryn. The teams were responsible for catering a Hollywood party and prepared hors d'oeuvres for all the guests, with a brief of vegetable, beef and a dessert. The winners would be decided per course, by guests' votes. As vegetable, both teams opted for Gazpacho: the Red Team took the starter with 64% of the votes for Adrien's Duo, which beat out Suzy's more traditional recipe. The Blue Team had a crushing comeback on the entrée with a clean sweep of 100% of the votes for Christine's Mini Beef Wellington, after not a single guest had anything positive to say about Derrick's Raw Beef Tartare. The dessert course proved problematic for both teams, as they both wanted to make a profiterole dish, but failed to put it up in time. Giuseppe (Red Team) decided to switch over to a Puff Pastry Fruit Tart after botching his first batch of profiteroles, whereas Esther (Blue Team) made 3 batches of dough and managed to finish her profiteroles, but a broken chocolate mousse filling caused them to have to change their dessert to a simple Kumquat Fruit Salad with Whipped Cream. Giuseppe's quick thinking paid off as the Red Team took the dessert course and the challenge with a close 53% of the vote, with the Blue Team up for the elimination challenge.
• 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. Some competitors struggled, such as Tracy forgetting to put her cake round under her layers causing her to lift her cake onto a glass round and ruining the construction as well as Esther starting cake construction very late in the challenge. In the end, Ben's pumpkin carrot cake with cream cheese frosting and Jennifer's banana split cake were deemed the best and Tracy's chiffon cake with basil and citrus-infused icing was also deemed delicious enough to earn her safety. The bottom three were Suzy, Esther and Christine. Despite her one-dimensional apricot berry cake, Christine was the first to be sent to safety, leaving Suzy and Esther facing elimination. Ultimately, while the judges deemed Suzy's ganache and pecan cake overcomplicated, it was judged to be better than Esther's unbalanced and poorly constructed lemon raspberry cake, who was sent home.

Episode 11

• Original airdate: Monday July 18, 2011
• Mystery Box Challenge 4: With a lobster in their Mystery Box, the contestants fired up their creativity. Derrick, Alejandra and Jennifer were the top 3. Christian, considered a seafood expert, showed disrespect towards the other contestants by eating his own dish during the tasting of Jennifer's dish, for which he got told off by Joe. Jennifer won the Mystery Box with her dish of Baked Lobster.
• 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 Giuseppe 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 fared even worse, featuring only a few strips of burnt steak, and some crunchy, undercooked vegetables, with no noticeable usage of the truffle. 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". Despite the disastrous end to Erryn's time in the competition, Graham invited him to take part in some on-the-job training in the kitchen of his Chicago restaurant.

Episode 12

• Original airdate: Tuesday July 19, 2011
• Team Challenge 4: The red and blue teams each cooked a three-course menu under the scrutiny of the judges' moms, including Joe's mother, world famous chef Lidia Bastianich. Tracy led the Blue team, with Adrien, Jennifer, Christian, and Christine as her brigade. And Giuseppe led the Red team, with Alejandra, Ben, Suzy, and Derrick as his brigade. The team captains were able to spend a few minutes alone with the mothers to find out what they liked. Once Tracy and Giuseppe returned, they filled their teams in on what the moms liked and began to cook. The Blue Team won the challenge, despite a risky decision to cook a fish entrée, knowing Gordon's mother doesn't like fish.
• 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.

Episode 13

• Original airdate: Tuesday July 26, 2011
• Mystery Box Challenge 5: The contestants, among other ingredients, found some hand-dived scallops in their Mystery Boxes. The top three consisted of Christian, Adrien and Ben. Adrien's Trio of Scallops won over Ben's risky combination of scallops and bananas.
• 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 chose double cut pork chops for himself, pork belly for Suzy, cheeks for Christian, ground pork for Jennifer, Applewood smoked bacon for Tracy, baby back ribs for Christine, boneless center cut pork loin for Alejandra, pork butt for Ben, and St. Louis style ribs for Derrick. 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 to perfection, and Christine, whose humble dish 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, but Joe appreciated them, founding they were not so bad) were also praised for doing wonders with difficult cuts. Adrien's dish was deemed a safe choice and a bit overcooked. Suzy and Jennifer each cooked a dish that was bad enough to make the judges spit it out. Joe even threw Jennifer's dish into the trash and the judges even told Suzy that her dish was the worst thing they had ever tasted on the show. Ultimately though, it was Alejandra who made the biggest mistake by serving up raw pork loin, considered the easiest cut, leading to her elimination. However, the judges told Suzy that if it weren't for Alejandra's error, she would have been the one eliminated.

Episode 14

• Original airdate: Monday August 1, 2011
• Team Challenge 5: With Christine and Christian as captains, the blue and red teams headed into a catering service for a children's party. Their menus had to contain a slider and a side dish. Despite their unorthodox menu choice according to the judges, the Red Team received the most votes in the end, avoiding what Chef Ramsay called "the toughest Pressure Test so far".
• Pressure Test Elimination 5: Christian, Jennifer, Derrick and Adrien faced a soufflé challenge, in which they were given 90 minutes to cook their best cheese 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.

Episode 15

• Original airdate: Tuesday August 2, 2011
• Mystery Box Challenge 6: In a Mystery Box with a surf and turf theme, contestants were to cook a dish with core ingredients of beef and seafood. Adrien, Jennifer and Suzy landed in the top 3 and it was Jennifer's well-conceived risotto that sealed the win and the advantage of getting to pick the dish for the next challenge.
• 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 had 45 minutes to turn it into a gourmet dish. When the other contestants came back from the MasterChef pantry, there were pictures of them as kids on their stations. Suzy and Tracy had the best dishes and earned the job of team captains for the next challenge. This left Ben, Christine, and Derrick as the bottom three. With Ben being narrowly declared safe, Christine's acidic soup and oily cheese toast and Derrick's cheese-laden unbalanced dish were enough to eliminate both contestants. However just before Derrick left, Chef Bastianich implied that he would be willing to employ Derrick at his restaurant.

Episode 16

• Original airdate: Monday August 8, 2011
• Team Challenge 6: The top 6 were taken to Michelin-starred Patina restaurant in Los Angeles, where they had to run a dinner service. Tracy selected Adrien and Jennifer as part of her Blue Team, whereas Christian and Ben cooked with Suzy in the Red Team. There was chaos in the kitchen, but both teams managed to correct themselves in the end. The Red Team was declared the winner based on kitchen performance and feedback from the customers and the chefs at Patina.
• 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, thanks to leaving the tail on her fish, uneven portioning and undercooking her salmon, a teary-eyed Tracy was eliminated. As a parting gift, the judges gave her a year of MasterChef cooking lessons, and offered to let her work in any of their restaurants.

Episode 17

• Original airdate: Tuesday August 9. 2011
• Mystery Box Challenge 7: The contestants were given three kinds of ground meat as a core ingredient for a dish of their choosing with other ingredients from the box, which they had to cook within 60 minutes. The top 3 consisted of Jennifer, Adrien and Ben, with the latter's Shepherd's Pie (made with ground veal instead of the traditional ground mutton) emerging triumphant.
• 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.

Episode 18

• Original airdate: Monday August 15, 2011
• Team Challenge 7: The top 4 were divided in two teams and cooked a dish for the judges, who were joined by 3 judges from international versions of MasterChef: Kunal Kapoor (India), Sébastien Demorand (France) and Michal Ansky (Israel). As the winner of the last elimination challenge, Suzy was allowed to pick which of the other three chefs she wanted to work with, and chose Christian. Suzy and Christian received some criticism on their Thanksgiving Dinner with Raspberry Coulis. Ansky thought the sauce was floury and although everyone agreed the elements were well-executed overall, Joe thought of the dish as "disrespectful" towards the international guests and exuding "a lot of animosity" between Christian and Suzy. Jennifer and Adrien's dish of Prawns with Lobster, Corn and Avocado was panned by critics for having uncleaned prawns, "watery" sauce, lack of seasoning, texture and presentation. Their team work was, however, a lot better, which ended up earning them the win for this challenge.
• 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 to find out who would join them. 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.

Episode 19

• Original airdate: Tuesday August 16, 2011
• Mystery Box Challenge 8: The final 3 chefs were asked to cook a dish using chicken once again in 1 hour with an open pantry. Jennifer received some criticism on her dish, which suffered from both overcooked and undercooked elements. All three judges were very impressed with Adrien's dish, but only had minor compliments for Christian's. Jennifer was announced as being the least favorite dish, coming in third place. Adrien won the challenge.
• 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, while Christian was eliminated.

Episode 20

• Original airdate: Tuesday August 16, 2011
• Season Final: Adrien and Jennifer faced off in a single challenge to determine who wins the title of MasterChef and $250,000. They were given 2 hours to create a three-course menu of their choosing.
• 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. However, the judges agreed that Adrien's dish, though highly praised, was simply pressure cooker cooking, and that Jennifer showed better technique.
• 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 extremely 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.

References

MasterChef (U.S.) Seasons 1 2 3 4 5 6 Judges Gordon Ramsay Graham Elliot Christina Tosi Joe Bastianich Winners Whitney Miller Jennifer Behm Christine Ha Luca Manfè Courtney Lapresi Runners-up David Miller Adrien Nieto Josh Marks Natasha Crnjac Elizabeth Cauvel MasterChef USA Shine America MasterChef Junior