MasterChef

Previously on MasterChef...

A point break team challenge

had the home cooks feed 101 hungry surfers.

All right, hands on deck!

But it wasn't long before there was a major wipeout.

We need more fish.

It's fish tacos, for god's sake.

And when Krissi found herself on the losing team once again...

Blue team!

...things got heated in the pressure test.

I am so sick and tired of you bitching about everything.

You better shut the up...

Really? What're you gonna do?

Or I'm gonna knock you the out.

- Good. - I'm done.

- In the end... - Your time is done.

Savannah was sent home.

Tonight...

This one you're gonna love.

A mystery box challenge throws the home cooks off-balance.

I never made sausage before.

As the top nine begin targeting their biggest competition...

I gotta knock some people out.

How do you break this girl? She's gonna have to go.

I am here to destroy you.

And one more MasterChef hopeful is eliminated.

You have reached the end of the road.

Let's go!

I made history today.

I'm the first Italian who made it in the top nine

of MasterChef USA.

Best day of my life so far.

Walking into the MasterChef kitchen,

I notice a huge box at the front.

Automatically, I'm thinking, like,

it's some type of alligator, some type of big snake.

At this point, I'm getting extremely nervous.

Welcome back, everyone.

There are just nine of you left.

One of you will be America's next MasterChef.

We'll see who has the edge right now

in your next mystery box challenge.

This one you're gonna love.

It's time to find out

what's under your boxes.

On the count of three, please lift your mystery boxes.

One...

Two...

Three. Lift.

Oh...

Yeah.

A delicious sausage machine. Excited?

- Yes. - Yes, chef.

A meat grinder. Hell yeah.

This is gonna be badass.

Who doesn't like sausages?

I'll tell you who. Bad people.

You will use it to make your own incredible sausage

with...

All of this.

So the judges lift up the giant box

that they have in front of them,

and it is a long line of meat.

And then I see that there's

full vegetarian proteins there,

and I'm excited now.

So I just see all these different meats,

and I just light up,

because one thing that Eddie loves,

Eddie loves meat. You know, I'm the meat man.

Besides this meat,

you'll have use of a limited pantry

full of herbs, spices, produce, and other items you can use

to make your spectacular sausage dishes.

You have 60 minutes to make your own homemade sausage

and then feature it in one incredible entree.

Your 60 minutes starts...

Now!

Good luck.

Like a pack of wild dogs.

This is a meat festival, baby.

I mean, there's everything you could imagine,

from alligator to wild boar... ground, chunk...

Tons of different bacon.

But I'm going straight to the king of sausage.

Definitely pork today.

So, sausages.

Gordon, what would you do?

I'd go for a delicious pork and sage sausage

with a granny smith apple grated finely through there,

and then serve that like a traditional bangers and mash.

I'd actually go very similar.

I'd probably do a little more veal

mixed with that pork for fat.

Some roasted apple, caramelized onion,

spicy mustard with it,

just keeping it very simple, kind of midwestern style.

Oh, yeah.

- Right, Natasha. - Hi, chef.

- How you doing? - Good.

So what's the dish?

I'm gonna kind of do a play on breakfast.

Two eggs, I'm gonna have, like, a hash with it,

and then do a chicken, apple, and bacon sausage.

Right.

So it's not forgiving.

I mean, chicken is very lean, hardly any fat.

It's gonna go absolutely solid and firm...

So how are you balancing that up?

What are you putting in there?

I'm gonna be adding a little bit of cheese as well in there,

some mozzarella cheese with it.

So we'll see...

- Yeah. Okay. Good luck. - Thank you.

I am doing a traditional sausage,

one you would buy at a baseball game,

with hickory bacon and wild boar.

Hands down, this is something that would be on the menu

of a bed and breakfast if I end up having one one day.

I'm doing kind of my take on a midwestern bratwurst

with some homemade kraut, some beer cheese soup.

The main component is well on its way.

This is my roots. This is who I am.

- Bri. - Hello.

So what's in the veggie sausage?

It's actually seitan.

I wound up not using the tempeh, so...

I think it's a really courageous thing.

I mean, you know, you're not going the easy route,

You're not going the meat option, and, you know,

you're making something out of the box, so...

Yeah.

I'm thinking that this is... this is gonna be a good one.

I'm really excited.

I'm just hoping that I have enough time

for all my flavors to come together, so...

- Good luck, Bri. - Good luck.

Thank you.

- How are you doing? - Good, chef.

What are you doing?

I got a pork sausage

going with braised cabbage, apple chutney.

Here, I'm just gently poaching it, just a little bit.

Wow. Okay, great.

And then after, are you taking it out, are you frying it?

I think I'm gonna just pan-sear it,

Just to get it a little crispy.

- That tastes delicious. - Thank you.

- Poach it, don't boil it. - Yup.

Krissi, that's a nice sausage. What do you got in there?

Thanks. I have pork, fatback,

salt, sugar, a little hot pepper seed, some rosemary...

You make sausage at home?

Yeah, this is my go-to Italian sausage recipe.

This is another challenge tailor-made for you.

Look at that smile. I love when you cook happy.

Enough of the angry thing. I love it.

I like being angry.

Ah...

They exploded.

Interesting, huh?

Wow, yeah, very interesting.

Lot of different things going on out there.

- It smells incredible. - It does.

Spices and aromas...

Poaching liquor...

Natasha's look beautiful from here.

For a chicken sausage? Very difficult.

Eddie's is looking incredible.

Right now, for me, that man is born to grill.

Honestly, he has that natural connect with protein.

- Krissi's in the zone. - Is she?

She's using very, very traditional

Philly Italian flavors.

Every time we give her a home-style challenge,

- she rises to the top. - Right, absolutely.

She's never won a mystery box yet, though.

Just coming up now,

two minutes to go!

Sausages should be relaxing,

garnish should be ready,

You should be plating your dish.

Let's go, guys, come on!

Think about your presentation.

The sausage has to be the hero.

Ten, nine, eight,

seven, six, five,

four, three, two, one,

and stop!

- Hands up! - Hands in the air.

Let's go, guys, come on!

The sausage has to be the hero.

Five, four, three, two, one,

and stop!

- Hands up! - Hands in the air!

Let's go.

After observing and tasting throughout the challenge,

the judges now take one final look

to identify three standout dishes.

The winner of this challenge will receive a major advantage