‘MasterChef Australia’ 2016 recap and spoilers: Mimi runs around like a headless chicken, lands at the bottom with other two dessert experts

With only five contestants remaining, there’s exciting times ahead and so much to play for in “MasterChef Australia” Season 8. In episode 58 that aired on July 19, the top five found themselves cooking in the kitchen of a top restaurant in the country. Each had to prove they deserve to have a spot in this year’s competition, but at the end of the cook, three budding chefs are in danger of losing their place in the finals.

Mimi Baines, Elise Franciskovic and Harry Foster all fumbled on their way to the next stage in the competition. Their efforts just didn’t measure up during the service challenge, according to Lake House’s Alla Wolf-Tasker and judges George Calombaris, Gary Mehigan and Matt Preston. As a result, the “MasterChef Australia” hopefuls have to battle it out on the upcoming elimination challenge and strive to survive for the next day.

Spoiler Alert! This article contains "MasterChef Australia" Season 8 spoilers. Read only if you want to know more about it.

Network Ten posted a sneak peek of Wednesday’s episode. In the trailer, Mimi, Elise and Harry face another daunting pressure test. To go further in the competition, these three will have to prove how far they’ve come. They’ll cook with all their heart out, but for one contestant, the pressure will be too much.

Since it’s finals week, anything can happen and it’s anybody’s game at this point. Mimi sailed through without a hitch on the last elimination challenge. [READ: “‘MasterChef Australia’ 2016 recap and spoilers: Trent's freestyle approach on a mystifying dessert leads to a cake mess and his elimination”]

It would be interesting to see whether she’ll replicate her success. The three could only hope that it’s going to be a dessert challenge, since they all excel in that department.

“MasterChef Australia” Season 8 recap

The remaining contestants excitedly trudged down to Lake House restaurant, one of top culinary destinations in Australia. The judges informed them that they’d be cooking in Alla’s restaurant in a challenge that was fitting for the top five of “MasterChef Australia” 2016.

Mimi, Elise, Harry, Matt Sinclair and Elena Duggan learned that they had to cook one highly technical dish from Alla’s customised menu. Each would be responsible for one course that they had to prepare for 40 guests within two and a half hours. The main ingredients were smoked eel, chicken, kangaroo, plum and berries. The “MasterChef Australia” hopefuls randomly picked knives for their ingredient. Harry would be cooking the first course, followed by Mimi, Elise, Elena and Matt.

Right off the bat, the first three contestants – Harry, Mimi and Elise – were reprimanded by Gary, saying their energy was not enough for the cook. He also told them to motor or else they won’t be able to serve anything. Harry made a massive mistake in the first step of his recipe – he found out that he left a lot of bones in the eel, meaning he filleted it wrong. Alla confirmed his fears and said that he didn’t cut the eel at the right angle, so he needed to pin bone all the eel now. To save time, Harry decided to cut up the eel and keep the pieces with the least amount of bones. This seriously affected the presentation of his dish. He had to make the smoked eel a little smaller than the original since he didn’t have enough eel.

Mimi, on the other hand, was also out of her element that evening. She’s working against the clock and she’s worried since her salsa verde took a long time to prep. When Alla reminded her that she’s serving next, shortly after Harry, she became absolutely flustered since she’s nowhere near ready. With Alla breathing down her neck, Mimi was really becoming overwhelmed with her dish. When Alla asked where the chicken stock was for the jus gras, Mimi realised she completely forgot about that element. She knew she’s in big trouble since it takes an hour to reduce and there’s only 40 minutes remaining.

Alla told Mimi she’s all over the place and she had a complete meltdown. George came over to give her a pep talk. He told her to stop crying, get it together and follow her instincts. Mimi knows time is running out, so decided not to follow the recipe word for word and cut some corners. With seven minutes left before service, her chicken wasn’t ready yet and her stock for the jus gras has not reduced enough. However, she didn’t have any choice but serve it.

Elise seemed to have things in control, but blanching the kale in batches took such a long time. Alla warned her earlier about the color of the kale puree – it needed to be vibrant green. When Alla checked on her, she was impressed with the kale but became worried about her time. Elise was feeling confident about her dish, but Alla burst her bubble after making Elise realise that she hasn’t tasted the seasoning of the puree. It turned out that the kale puree was quite bitter, and Elise became worried it might overpower the dish. She knew that with that crucial mistake, she’d be heading to elimination the next day.

Elena was feeling good with her dish during prep time. However, she hit a slight snag when she rolled her mousse in the plum jelly. She became nervous when the first ones didn’t work – she began to think that the jelly she made was too thick. Running a bit behind, she knew she can’t spend too much time trying to roll the jelly perfectly. To salvage her dish, she decided to cut squares of the jelly to drape over the mousse instead of rolling them in the jelly.

Among the five, it was Matt who was calm and collected throughout the cook. Despite being out of his comfort zone because he’s more comfortable with savoury dishes, he smoothly went from one step to the next. Alla was even impressed when she came over his station – he had a clean bench, everything’s organised and things were in place. When Matt began plating his dish, Alla said it looked sensational.

The guests and judges tasted the five courses on a staggered basis, starting with Harry. His smoked eel with beetroot crisp received mixed reviews. The judges said that while everything’s there, the dish has a few issues on the details. They noticed straightaway that the eel roll were smaller than the original dish. Gary commented that Harry did a pretty good job, raving about the elements on the plate. George, on the other hand, said the eel was beautifully cooked. Matt, however, said that there’s not enough eel in the dish and it didn’t seem like the hero ingredient.

Mimi’s course, organic chicken with barley and foraged mushrooms, was up next. After taking a bite, Gary said the wheels have fallen off the wagon with her dish. It was a completely different dish than what Alla specified in her menu. George, on the other hand, commented that the jus gras was lacking, Matt, meanwhile, said the positive side of Mimi’s plate was the well-cooked chicken and barley.

When Elise served her kangaroo loin with native mint and kale puree, the judges were impressed with the presentation of her dish. While they loved the sausage and the loin, they commented that there was massive bitterness on the puree. It was just too intense for their taste.

It was Elena’s turn to serve the fourth course and the first dessert for the evening. When the judges tasted her take on plum and rosemary with sheep’s milk yoghurt, Gary said that the rosemary sorbet was absolutely fantastic. Elena got the flavours right and it was well-balanced. Matt said she also nailed the crumb, but the plum jelly around outside was too thick.

Matt’s dessert came out last, and it seemed a beautiful way to end the five-course meal. The judges raved that the presentation of his country ramble with buttermilk and chocolate bark was absolutely spot-on. After taking a bite, George loved his dish because everything was done correctly. Gary commented that it was very close to the original plate, while judge Matt said the dish is good enough to be served at Lake House. Alla also paid Matt the biggest compliments at the kitchen.

Unsurprisingly, Matt’s dish was hailed the best of the evening. However, Mimi and Elise struggled in the kitchen, which means that they are both in the upcoming elimination. Joining the two ladies in the pressure test was Harry. Elena was also deemed safe and she’s heading to the quarter-finals with Matt.

Find out what happens next on “MasterChef Australia,” and stay tuned for episode spoilers. “MasterChef Australia” Season 8 airs every Sunday to Thursday at 7.30pm on Ten.