TWO amateur cooks from Warrington took on MasterChef last night, Thursday, as they bid for a place in the competition’s quarterfinals.
Frankie Dunn, a civil servant from Lymm, and John Sharples, the former head teacher of Sir Thomas Boteler, both competed in the final heat of this year’s MasterChef.
The pair were among four other contestants taking on the tough cooking show on BBC2, which sees amateur cooks put their skills to the test,
John, a 70-year-old who lives in Liverpool, kickstarted the competition with a pork and sage tart, which was served with heritage beetroot and caramelised apples.
For Frankie, the 37-year-old explored dishes from Japan, serving a platter of sushi including katsu prawn nigiri and salmon and asparagus maki.
The judges were impressed with Frankie’s ambitious dish straight out of the gate.
“Go hard or go home,” she said.
Sadly, the 37-year-old’s rice ‘didn’t behave’ and the judges were unable to pick it up, meaning Frankie would have to cook again to try and secure an apron.
“I feel very frustrated that my rice didn’t work out,” she said.
“This is something I make once a fortnight minimum, and it always works at home.”
For John, while his pastry proved a hit the filling was deemed to need more seasoning.
“I’m feeling a bit disappointed because it wasn’t quite the response I was hoping for,” he said.
“But it was a good learning experience.”
The pair had to return to the kitchen to compete once again for an apron, which would help them proceed to the final stage and fight for a place in the quarterfinal.
In round two, the amateur cooks were tasked with making gnocchi from scratch to be served with a Tuscan sauce.
Frankie’s dish proved to be a hit, with judges noting that the 37-year-old ‘stood out’ with her tasty sauce.
While John was praised for his gnocchi, his presentation and excessive use of lemon was criticised.
Despite this, the pair both did enough to impress the judges and receive aprons for round three.
This saw the final four making two dishes for three extra guest judges, who were all former competitors on MasterChef.
John, who retired from Sir Thomas Boteler in 2014, opted to make a seafood gratin, followed by sirloin steak with a red wine jus and potatoes and peas in ouzo.
Sadly, judges found John’s seafood gratin sauce to be under flavoured, and while his steak was ‘perfectly cooked’ the ouzo and red wine flavours overpowered the dish.
For Frankie, cooking both of her dishes seemed quite the chaotic experience, with the 37-year-old even setting off the fire alarm.
She served a ribeye steak with smoky asparagus, chimichurri sauce and sweet potato fries, followed by an almond and rosemary tart with fig compote and Manchego.
Her chimichurri was noted to be a ‘revelation’ and her sweet potato fries were ‘perfect’.
Frankie’s experimental dessert proved to have a mixed response, however, with one judge noting that the Manchego ‘threw them off’ and another calling it ‘brave and interesting’.
“That was probably the worst hour and 15 minutes of my life,” she joked.
“Maybe with labour being the exception.”
For John, it was unfortunately the end of the road as he was sent home from the competition.
“I’m obviously gutted to have to go home, but I’ll be going home to my wife Yvonne,” he said.
“She’ll be glad that I’ll be back there cooking for her.”
Frankie on the other hand progressed to the quarter-final, which she will take on in tonight’s episode on BBC2 at 8pm.
“I’m very, very surprised to be standing where I am right now,” she said.
“At least we know the fire alarm works now, I was just testing it for you.”
You can watch Frankie and John in their MasterChef heat on BBC iPlayer.
Share