MasterChef

Announcer: Across America, thousands of home cooks

think they have what it takes to be a MasterChef.

But only the 40 best have been brought

to the MasterChef kitchen...

Whoo!

to go head to head for a white apron

as they prove themselves

to three of the food world's biggest names--

culinary legend Gordon Ramsay,

renowned pastry chef Christina Tosi,

and joining them this season, award-winning chef

and restaurateur Aarón Sanchez.

Whoo!

They will face challenges from the ocean's edge...

Gordon: Our lifeguards are arriving!

to the top of the world.

- Man: Oh, my God! Wilderness cooking! - Shoot!

They'll cook at 5-star restaurants...

Guys, one omelet!

and all-star destinations.

The 50th anniversary of Caesar's Palace.

They'll battle it out,

creating dish after stunning dish...

I think that is out of this world.

to win the title of...

I'm 53 years old and I'm a native-born Texas rancher.

I'm not your average cowboy. I have a passion for food.

I'm here to win this son of a bitch, and I'm not joking.

Eboni: I am a mother of four from the south side of Chicago.

I have had a hard life.

Nothing was ever given to me easy.

I think that's why I need to win "MasterChef," to show my kids,

you know, they can be something great still.

Dino: I'm a ballet dancer from Bensonhurst, New York.

Being a ballet dancer, food is very important.

You gotta eat right, eat healthy.

The better I eat, the better I look in my tights,

the better my cannoli looks.

- We love you. We praise you, Lord. - Thank you, Jesus.

Announcer: Our first battle for an apron features Yachecia...

- Yes, God. -and Shawn,

two heavenly home cooks with a higher calling.

You gotta pray for me, man, because I'm going up against another pastor.

- You're going home in Jesus' name! - In the name.

Yachecia: Being a minister, it's just my life.

It's not really what I do. It's who I am.

I feel a lifting in my spirit. Hallelujah.

In church we cook a lot.

I believe that food is a part of my calling.

I wanna feed body and feed the soul.

Look at that! Yum!

I call my cooking sassy southern fusion.

I take all the classic recipes and elevate it a little bit.

Yes! Oh!

It's gotta make me sing. It's gotta make me dance.

If it doesn't do that, you can't eat it. I can't give it to you.

I can't leave here without being the next MasterChef.

Announcer: Standing in her way is Shawn, a Washington pastor

who's praying his cooking is on a higher plane.

And you have the faith to live holy!

My parents were really busy growing up,

so I grew up in a house

with mostly TV dinners every night.

When I left home, it was an opportunity

to explore real food for the very first time.

That's a beautiful duck breast.

As a pastor, I've lived all over the United States.

Everywhere I went,

I was immersed in a different culture.

So I would say that my style of cooking

is global comfort food.

Both: MasterChef! MasterChef!

- We got this, Shawn. - Yeah!

- Let's do this thing. - That's right.

Make your way down to the front. Thank you.

Yachecia: I love Shawn,

he's an amazing man,

but he's going down in Jesus' name.

- Hi. - Welcome to your MasterChef battle

- for that elusive white apron... - Yes.

and a spot in the biggest culinary competition anywhere in the world.

Incredible.

Now, in your battle, you'll be making one of the most beloved,

quintessential American dishes of all time.

The is the battle of the almighty

- fried chicken. - Yeah!

Okay. Awesome.

It's crispy, crunchy, golden on the outside,

and absolutely packed with flavor.

But before we get to this,

we start with this.

I'm going to show you the perfect way

to break down a chicken.

Watch very carefully.

First off, the thighs, you nick with a knife.

Pull back the skin and pop out that knuckle

and slice through.

Find your point, let the knife do the work.

And look. Drum, drum, thigh, thigh.

Next, one of the most popular cuts,

the stunning chicken wing.

Feel where the joint is. Cut.

Let the knife do the work.

Wing, wing. From there, feel the breast bone.

Run the knife across the top,

come down to the point where the wishbone is,

hand on, and through.

Using the tip, keeping it as close to the carcass as possible,

making sure that you leave no protein anywhere on there.

Two drums, two thighs, two breasts, two wings.

That is how you break down a chicken

like a true MasterChef.

- Beautiful, Chef. - Amazing.

Tonight you'll just have 30 minutes

to take that whole chicken

and turn it into a MasterChef-worthy batch

of delicious, crispy fried chicken.

- Are you both ready? - Almost. I'm ready now.

Your 30 minutes starts right now.

All right, here we go.

This really is a MasterChef technique

that you have to nail before you can show us

that you can nail fried chicken.

They're up against it. 30 minutes to break down the chicken,

marinate the chicken, bread the chicken, and fry it.

And you know that's a tall order.

So, Shawn, talk to me a little bit about your fried chicken.

Shawn: I lived for two years in Hawaii,

so I'm doing a little Hawaiian style.

It's a five-spice fried chicken

and I'm making a hoisin barbecue sauce for you to go with it.

And I saw rather than using a liquid oil of some sort,

- I just saw a stick of lard in those cast iron skillets. - That's right!

Well, in all honesty, the pork, for me, is again, a throwback to Hawaii,

'cause pork is such a huge part of the culture there.

All right.

Yachecia, you going shopping?

You cannot make real home-fried chicken without a paper bag.

Now, this recipe, where did it come from?

The church that I grew up in in Detroit,

we had fried chicken every Sunday morning.

We season everything, so my dredge is seasoned.

I've seasoned the chicken itself,

and then my buttermilk is seasoned, and so is my oil.

And, you know, in the African-American culture, fried chicken is a staple.

So basically, if I lose to Shawn, I'm gonna get traded out.

Right, ten minutes to go.

Yeah!

I think Shawn's got way too much color.

He's using a mixture of lard and butter.

Yachecia's using canola oil.

Lard and butter are gonna have a lower burning point,

which is why we're getting so much color on the outside.

He's really gonna need to put that chicken in the oven

to make sure it's cooked all the way through.

- All right. - I'm a little worried about Yachecia.

She's frying the chicken entirely,

and she's not finishing it off in the oven.

She's just living with the Lord on her side.

Somebody getting saved today.

60 seconds remaining. Let's go.

- Gordon: Ten.. - Judges: Nine, eight,

seven, six, five,

four, three, two, one,

- And stop! - That's it.

- Hands in the air! - Well done.

- Nice job! - Good job.

Awesome, awesome, awesome, awesome.

Now, very carefully, please bring those incredible boxes of chicken

down to the front. Thank you.

Right. Yachecia.

Wow. That looks beautiful.

- Tell me about the breading. - So I used all-purpose flour,

a little bit of cornmeal just for a little added crunch,

and then a little bit of extra cayenne, some salt, paprika,

- and lots of black pepper. - Now the sauce--

It's called "Sweet Hotness,"

so, a little bit of honey and a little bit of spice.

That, young lady, is beautiful.

- That chicken's delicious. - Thank you, Chef.

Good color, the crispiness is perfect.

It's spicy, so I'm not too sure if you'll get through your second piece.

- But your chicken has love. - Thank you, Chef.

That's juicy chicken.

What I'm in marvel of is the idea of cooking the chicken so consistently.

I think the actual breading needs a little bit more pizazz.

- But that is a pleasant bite. - Thank you, Chef.

- Shawn. - Yes, sir.

Let's have a look. Wow.

What's the seasoning in the flour?

I have mostly five spice, and then paprika, garlic,

salt and pepper, a little bit of oregano, and basil.

Why so many different add-ons into that?

Well, I tell everybody that my top two influences

- are God and Gordon. - Right.

- And I know you love flavor. - Yes, I do.

So I wanted to give you a wide variety of flavor.

My thigh is cooked beautifully.

The spiciness is there.

It doesn't look that attractive