‘MasterChef’ Recap: Kathy Prieto Sent Home

Kathy Prieto was sent home on Wednesday night’s episode of MasterChef.

The theme for this episode was surf ‘n’ turf. The first challenge dealt with “turf” – the chefs were asked to make steaks with two sides for 101 firemen. Bethy Rossos and Bime Cruz had the top dishes in last week’s challenge, and so were chosen as team captains.

Rossos – Team Blue – picked Lynn Chyi, Jessie Lysiak. James Nelson, Howard Simpson, Jonny Blanchard, Savannah Sturges, and Krissi Biasiello. Cruz – Team Red – picked Jordan Roots, Eddie Jackson, Luca Manfe, Natasha Crnjac, Bri Kozior, Prieto, and Beth Kirby. Then, because Rossos had the best dish the last challenge, she had the chance to trade a team member with someone from Team Blue. She took the opportunity and traded Biasiello for Jackson.

Team Red made a cauliflower puree, sautéed mushrooms and a reduction sauce to go with their steak. Team Blue, with Rossos truly taking charge, made potatoes and red peppers, with a chimichuri sauce to go with the steaks.

The Blue Team moved too slow, though, and served incomplete dishes when the firemen arrived. The Red Team struggled to work together with Cruz’s hands-off leadership, and it showed – the firemen ended up choosing the Blue Team’s dish as the winner with a vote of 68-33. This meant that the Red Team would face the pressure test.

Bime, as captain, was given immunity from the pressure test – though not everyone on his team thought he deserved it. He had the chance to give immunity to one more member of his team, and picked Roots, calling him the hero of the challenge. The pressure test in this episode was the most technically difficult breakfast dish – Eggs Benedict.

Four of the six competing contestants – Kirby, Crnjac, Manfe and Prieto – bombed the challenge. While Kozior and Biasiello were safe, the other four were told to leave. Instead of going home, however, they went to host Gordon Ramsay’s new Las Vegas restaurant, BurGR, and were assigned a new challenge – each team had to make a signature hamburger in large quantities to serve to the high volume of customers. The safe contestants made up some of those customers served.

Crnjac and Kirby made up the Blue Team; Manfe and Prieto the Red Team. The Blue Team decided to make a hamburger with goat cheese, crispy prosciutto and arugula. The Red Team decided to forego adding cheese, and instead made a hamburger with caramelized onions and arugula.

In a close call with hamburgers that didn’t please many customers, the Red Team lost and was led to the roof of Caesar’s Palace for a final elimination challenge.

The Red Team was assigned to make a butter-poached lobster in 45 minutes for the final elimination challenge –dealing with the "surf" side of things. Manfe eked by, leading to Prieto ultimately being eliminated. Not all was lost for Prieto, though – upon her elimination, Ramsay made her an offer to mentor her.

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