MasterChef

Gordon: Previously on "MasterChef: Dynamic Duos"...

- Welcome, guys. - This is a season of surprises.

- Let's go! - Oh!

- We're back! - The eliminated duos returned

for a second chance for a pair of white aprons.

- A vegan fish and chips. - Yeah, you heard me.

It's hard to believe that's not fish in there.

These aprons go to Darce and Courtney.

Azu: The dish that we made is called chiles en nogada.

It's good. Congratulations, Azu and Javier.

I feel like my heart is gonna explode.

- We made shrimp and grits. - The dish is very, very successful.

- Adam and Joel. - Let's go!

We made a berbere-spiced lamb lollipop.

Lamb is cooked beautifully. The final white aprons go to Jessica and Jesse.

Yes!

Got an apron! Unh! We got an apron!

Tonight the competition officially kicks off...

- We got to prove that we're not a one-trick pony, okay? - Hell, naw.

As the top 12 duos compete together for the first time...

It's gonna get spicy over here.

...and try to impress with their best dinner party dish.

- Ooh! - There ain't no party like a pasta party!

- Oh, (bleep). - Medic!

- Someone just screamed medic. - Oh, my God. I'm so stupid.

That's a dinner party disaster.

It's authentic. It's charming. It's delicious.

I'm feeling that restaurant quality dish.

This dish is an epic fail. There's no teamwork here.

If you're gonna play it safe, you've got one foot out the door.

- This is an exciting one tonight. - Yes.

This is it. Our first night as the top 12 duos compete.

- 24 cooks in the kitchen tonight. - Wow.

- That's a lot. - It is a lot.

12 dynamic pairs.

- (cheering) - Let's go!

This is such a rowdy bunch. I love it.

- Whoo! - Let's go! Come on!

- We got this. - Yeah, brother.

Whoo!

We feel amazing to be in the top 12.

We're thinking intensity. We're thinking drive.

He's definitely thinking, "I will not mess this up for my wife."

- New stations. Yeah. - Yes!

- Whoo! - We are so proud that we are top 12.

Zach: This is the first time we're all kind of measuring ourselves against each other,

- and I can't wait to see how we stack up. - (murmuring)

Welcome back to the amazing MasterChef kitchen, everybody. Amazing.

But more importantly, congratulations to all of you,

'cause you are the top 12 dynamic duos.

- Yeah! - (cheering)

That's right. This competition has officially begun.

Oh, yes.

- Awesome. - Yeah!

You duos have already shown us

that this year's competition is going to be fierce.

But now that you've earned your apron for this kitchen,

your job is to prove that we should keep you here.

- Absolutely. - We gonna make you proud!

- Tiffany: Good. - Gordon: Remember, this season,

we are not judging you guys as individuals.

We're gonna be judging you as a dynamic duo. Understood?

- Yes, Chef. - Good.

That means both of you should be cooking

at the ultimate highest standard every single week.

- Yes, chef. - You got it.

Listen up, for tonight's challenge,

we are celebrating your early success

- with a dinner party. - Ooh!

- That's right. - Pop the champagne. Yeah!

We want to see dishes inspired by a dinner party that you would throw at home.

- Oh. - I love it.

And because you're here in the MasterChef kitchen,

your dishes need to be restaurant quality standards.

- Yes, Chef. - You will have one hour

to make your fantastic dinner party dishes.

After that, we will be tasting the top three dishes

and the bottom three dishes.

And the duo who makes the best dish

will earn a big advantage in the next challenge.

- (all murmuring) - And one duo will be going home.

- Right. Everybody, ready? - Yes!

Your 60 minutes start now. Let's go!

- Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. - Here we go.

Ooh! Oh, my God. Here we go. Aah!

- Yeah, let's do corn pasta. I'm gonna grab all the corn. - Corn sauce.

- Garlic. Chicken. - Shallots, garlic. Chicken thighs.

- Just dry vinegar, okay? Okay. - I got vinegar already. Let's go.

- I need chili. - I got chili.

We put on dinner parties every weekend at our family.

- We find every excuse to give us the party. - Yeah, yeah.

Aivan: So growing up, we all kind of lived under the same roof.

And whether we liked it or not,

it was a dinner party every night.

- You got lemon? - Yes.

This is our first challenge in the MasterChef kitchen,

so we really want to make an impression, and not a bad one.

Auntie and niece here to win.

Coming out!

- You got it. - Behind, behind, behind, behind, behind.

- Did you get baking soda? - What's that? Yeah?

- Let's go. - Okay. All right, all right.

- Can you get that off for me? - Yeah.

- Just like the ER, okay? Nice. Calm. - Ah, the corn.

We're cooking for our friends, for our family.

- Yeah, it's a party. - Where is our glass of wine?

- Okay. And my glass of wine? - Just think about it.

Azu: So, 15 years we have been divorced.

We have a beautiful 19-year-old son, and we remain very good friends.

So for us dinner parties are very common.

But the rice has to be perfect, and Javier is an expert on that.

Gordon: Guys, five minutes gone, 55 minutes remaining.

Okay, five minutes gone.

It is so fast in here. It's crazy.

- It is nuts. It's just-- time flies. - It just flies.

This is it. Our amazing duos are taking up their first big challenge

of this competition, and honestly they need to bring their A-game.

All right, I took the seeds out of one.

We're gonna leave the seeds in the other one.

Time to bring the heat, baby.

You know, for most of these contestants, they've been on the side of,

"Oh, that party is great! Great food!"

Everyone's telling them it's all amazing.

Here, we are going to be judging on many different aspects,

and I doubt they've been to any party where they've been judged like that.

Well, your family may forgive, but the MasterChef judges, it's a different story.

Where's my spicy little habanero?

- I need your help on the sides of these chicken thighs, okay? - Okay.

We're cooking a spicy white bean ragu

with nduja, Italian sausage, and chicken thighs.

Our first two dishes were very refined and elegant.

This is gonna be our rustic, homey edition.

We do not want to let these aprons go.

We do not want to let go of these aprons.

We're gonna put a killer dish.

We're breaking in these aprons.

- They're staying on. - This is probably

the most stressful cook I've ever done.

We're making a cheeseburger with a bacon and date jam

and a spicy habanero sauce.

Burgers are one of those rustic classic South Dakota dishes,

but we have to really elevate

because it's what would be a simple dish.

- So we really have to bring it. - We just need to focus on that chicken.

- Yes, ma'am. - Ooh, I get, "Yes, ma'am"?

- Yes, ma'am. - Mm!

- Ooh, I can't see. Glasses are fogging. - You good?

Oh, boy. I can't wait to smell that trinity going.

- It'll feel just like New Orleans all over again. - Yeah.

Okay, gonna get the squash cut.

We're making a brown butter and butternut squash pasta

with crispy skin chicken breast.

Kayla and I both started cooking

at a very young age on "MasterChef Junior" season 3.

And a couple years ago, we hosted a pasta making party, so we have experience.

There ain't no party like a pasta party!

Ain't no party like a pasta party. We love our carbs over here.

We are carbed up and we're ready to give it to Gordon.

- You getting the dough working? - Yep, I'm getting the dough working.

Oh, (bleep).

- Both: Medic! - Medic, medic, medic!

- (bleep) - Someone just screamed medic. Was that Kayla?

- It's two fingers. - What have you done? What have you done, doll?

- Just a knife. - Yeah?

I cut the whole tip of my thumb off.

Holy (bleep). God, that's a lot.

I'm just seeing blood drip down

and the timing of everything to make this dish

is so important, and I just hope I don't set us behind.

God. (bleep). And I said I wasn't gonna cut my finger on this season.

- You're all right. - I was on Juniors and I cut my finger.

It's go-- ow!

- Medic. - How you feeling, darling?

- What happened? - Um, I cut myself.

- Is it deep, medic? - It's pretty deep.

- Oh, God. - Oh, my God. I'm so stupid.

I can't. Go, Ryan Kate. Keep doing the dough.

- Bro, I'm sorry. - It's okay. It's okay.

- Don't apologize. - I feel really bad

that I have Ryan Kate out there stranded.

She's left to kind of do everything while I'm trying to get bandaged up.

I feel really stressed and I hope I don't set us behind.

That's a setback early on.

I told myself I wasn't gonna cry!

Oh, my God. I'm so stupid. I can't.

You're good, Ryan Kate. Keep doing the dough.

- Bro, I'm sorry. - It's okay. It's okay.

Don't apologize. We're gonna get back in the game and we're gonna kill it.

- Yep. - Oh, my God. I'm so ( bleep) sorry.

- Girl, don't worry about it. I'll help make up. - I feel so stupid.

Why won't this oil come out of the dang bottle?

All right, this is good. I'm sweating my ass off already.

Oh, my goodness. These gloves keep getting stuck in the ground beef.

- Look, these are breaking down. - All right, so take them off. Take them off. Take them off.

- Why don't you take a bite? - Nope, they're good. They're good.

- I think they're good. - Exciting night. Come on, dinner parties.

And we don't think of dinner party with comfort food.

- Elevated food. - Oh, my goodness.

- Smells good? - You could be making pasta.

- Gordon: Yeah. Yes. Yes. - You could be braising. You can be grilling.