Tuesday’s “Vive La Pressure Test” episode of MasterChef Canada was about strong culinary knowledge and will to win the title of the best home cook.

The Top 8 entered the MasterChef Canada kitchen wearing black aprons. What did it mean? Why there weren’t any judges in front of them? They got to know in a second when chefs Claudio, Alvin and Michael appeared behind them and revealed their challenge for the day. Tonight, the home cooks would go through three different tests. Do it or you won’t survive!

The first test began with chef Alvin. It was all about France; French technique and precision was a must. The challenge was to cook a plain French omelette. What was so hard about that you say? It’s only two ingredients: eggs and butter. The chefs had four minutes and one set of ingredients to show the judges they deserved to go to the balcony. The secret was to whisk the eggs through really well and not to leave any whites. Everything should be perfect, starting from seasoning and finishing with the heat of cooks’ pans. Beccy was the first one to finish the dish, but was it a mistake? The judges tried the omelettes. The simplest dish was now not so easy for the contestants. Eugene and Beccy made the best, were safe and chosen to be Team Captains for the next challenge. Andy and Michael G. also made it through.

The next elimination challenge was from Chef Claudio. The goal was to cook a steak to medium rare inside with beautiful crust on the outside. The home cooks had 15 minutes to cook their protein to perfection: two minutes to bring the pan to high heat, eight minutes to cook and five minutes to relax. That is how you cook the perfect steak chef Michael’s way. Everything could go wrong; the heat could be too high, there could be not enough seasoning or it could be overcooked. So many things to worry about! The judges tasted the steaks from Jonathan, Marissa, Nadia and Jen. Only two of the home cooks advanced and Nadia and Jen were the lucky ones. That meant Jonathan and Marissa had to fight and prove they deserved the last free spot in the competition.

The last challenge was a sweet and delicious crème caramel with chef Michael. In 30 minutes, the home cooks needed to make a perfect dessert. That was all about time management. There was no place for mistakes. Marissa was ahead, while Jonathan was making mistake after mistake. The judges went to the stations and tested the dishes. Marissa made it to the top while Jonathan went home.

MasterChef Canada airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on CTV.

Tonight’s episode was for you, donut lovers! The team challenge took place at the Cherry Beach off-leash dog park in Toronto. This beautiful place was accompanied by amazing weather. The winners from the last episode—Eugene, Andy and Marissa—were chosen to be the team captains for the Red, Blue and Green teams. The task was to make up to 200 donuts with a two-hour prep time. The team that sold the most had a chance to win the challenge and be safe from the Pressure Test.

The teams gathered to discuss their ideas. What a diversity of thoughts starting from a chocolate banana donut and finishing with breakfast bagel donut-looking dish. However, nothing ever goes smoothly on MasterChef Canada. Beccy was in charge of the dough but added the yeast into very hot water, so it just died. The Green team had to start over. Eugene and his creativity caused his team to slow down and when the Green and Blue had their donuts almost ready, the Red team was just starting to assemble their yumminess.

The Red team went with a breakfast bagel donut topped with orange whipped cream and candied bacon. The Blue team made a caramelized banana donut with chocolate glaze and banana cream filling. The Green team wanted to make people feel warm, so they cooked an apple pie donut with a candied bacon and crunchy cinnamon topping. The crowd had different thoughts and preferences. The Red team was running out of donuts, the Blue team served a raw donut. What else could go wrong? Claudio, Alvin and Michael revealed the winning team. With only $25 separating the first and the last team, the Green team won the challenge and was safe from the elimination. That meant Red team and Blue team had to fight for the right to stay in the competition.

Jonathan, Marissa and Beccy had the opportunity to save one member from each team. Their pick was Andy from the Blue team and Nadia from the Red team.

Eugene, Michael V, Michael G and Jen had to compete against each other in the dreaded Pressure Test. The goal was to master an authentic Russian salmon coulibiac. The dish is six layers of tasty ingredients rolled in puff pastry. The Slavs’ dishes are just insanely imaginative, but very complicated to make. Would you give it a try? Let me know in the comments below!

The home cooks had only 75 minutes to make this happen and the knives were flying on the cutting boards. Every single layer of the dish is unique. There were egg whites, egg yolks, mushroom duxelles, salmon, parsley. The coulibiacs went into the oven and only a bit of luck could help the home cooks. Claudio, Alvin and Michael tried all the dishes and made their decision. Jen’s dish was absolutely a win. Michel V, Michael G and Eugene were in the bottom. Michael V ended his competition in the MasterChef Canada.

MasterChef Canada airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on CTV.

Tuesday’s newest “Fast and Epicure-ious” episode of MasterChef Canada was all about being close to the fans, people who love cooking and simple food. In this week’s Mystery Box Challenge the Top 10 …  got one more box! But what was hidden in there was like a magician’s hat full of fresh ingredients instead of bunnies. The boxes from Chefs Plate were absolutely stunning, containing a wide variety of delicious products. But is too much of a good thing always a bad thing?

The home cooks had to make a MasterChef Canada quality dish in under 30 minutes. There was a diversity of flavours from Asian-inspired food to Pakistani food. The judges selected three chefs to compete for the best Mystery Box dish. The first call was for Nadia, who made beef kofta and leek saag with chili potato and raita to praise her Pakistani roots. The flavour game was on point for Nadia, but was it enough? The second home cook who impressed the judges was Michael V. His Asian-inspired pork taco with tortillas from scratch left Claudio, Alvin and Michael speechless. Finally, the third home cook was chosen. The stuffed pork with crisp potatoes, brussels sprouts and mixed green salad cooked by Michael G. was terrific not only by the look, but by the taste as well.

That combination made Michael G. a winner of Tuesday’s challenge. This victory gave him some huge advantages: his recipe will be featured in the Chefs Plate menu, so millions of Canadians can recreate his recipe at home.

It also meant Michael G. was free from the Elimination Challenge and his next advantage was hidden in the tiniest mystery box. The hidden ingredient was presented in one of three ways: fresh, dried and canned. Michael G. had to assign which of his competitors would cook with each type with just one hour to cook the star of the dish. The chefs rushed to the pantry to find out what the secret ingredient was … and the pantry was full of MUSHROOMS. Canned, fresh and dried. Did you have any idea that the mystery box contained mushrooms? Let me know in the comments below!

The Elimination Challenge began. The home cooks took some unexpected twists to show the judges that they were worthy of making it to the Top 9 on MasterChef Canada. Michael G. was looking at the competitors with a great interest from the balcony, calculating his next moves in the show.

Eugene had the best dish of the night with a vegetarian “bone marrow” of potato confit and mushroom paste on a bed of crisp vegetables that looked just like a real forest. That dish was a pure brilliance. Andy had the second-best dish. He decided not to go with a protein and made the smoked oyster mushroom the absolute star of the dish. The third winner of the night was Marissa’s mushrooms and pistachio pork tenderloin with mushroom parsnip purée, which amazed the judges. The winners of Elimination Challenge would make those home cooks the team captains in the next team challenge.

Three dishes were in the bottom. Nadia, Reem and Jonathan all disappointed the judges with their dishes. Jonathan and Nadia received a second chance while Reem went home.

MasterChef Canada airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on CTV.

Image courtesy of Bell Media.

Tonight’s episode was all about being a team or staying true to your goal of winning the MasterChef Canada prize.

The Top 11 took it to the construction site where they fought for their right to stay in competition in the first Team Challenge of the season. The home cooks had to prepare and cook fresh chicken for 101 builders who then voted on which team made their favourite dish.

The stars of the last Elimination Challenge, Michael V. and Jonathan, were chosen to be the team captains for the blue and red teams. What a great chance to show your ability to manage people, especially when they all have different ideas! But that was just one of the benefits for the captains. Each also had an option of choosing people or protein first. Michael V. had the right to choose the kind of meat he wanted to cook with: dark or white chicken. Jonathan had the power to choose a teammate first. Which would you choose, meat or chefs?

The countdown began. With two hours to go, teams got together to discuss their menu. The blue team had a lot of inspiration from Middle-East and Mediterranean cuisine while the red team went more Southern by using Beccy’s idea of stuffing the chicken breast with duxelles (finely chopped mushrooms), she was almost a team captain for the red team. The red team cooked stuffed chicken breast with white and sweet potato mash and garlic swiss chard, and the blue team made Moroccan-spiced chicken with Egyptian red rice and spiced roasted cauliflower.

Both teams made some fantastic dishes but the winning team was the red team! Was it because the blue team made raw chicken, or there is another reason? Let me know what you think in the comments section below!

Losing the Team challenge meant a Pressure Test for the blue squad, but Michael V. got the chance to save one of his team members or himself. He saved himself, leaving Michael G., Kaegan, Nadia and Reem to prepare a replication of black forest cake in just 80 minutes. The pressure was on!

Nadia and Michael G. made it through the pressure test, leaving Reem and Kaegan in the bottom two. Though Kaegan’s cake was the most flavourful, it wasn’t enough for chefs Michael, Alvin and Claudio to let him stay on MasterChef Canada. Kaegan went home and Reem headed to the balcony.

MasterChef Canada airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on CTV.