After a wild guessing game and a messy group elimination challenge, Baton Rouge’s Avery Kyle is safe again on Fox’s MasterChef Junior.
In the most recent episode, the top 12 contestants took on the most mysterious of the Mystery Box challenges yet. Instead of a star ingredient to incorporate into a dish, the cooks were presented with a blindfold.
The kid chefs were asked to don the blindfolds, taste a dish that judge Gordon Ramsay made and then recreate the dish without knowing what it was made of.
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Ramsay’s dish was pan-seared chicken with rosemary mashed potatoes, baby carrots and turnips with a side of green beans and sliced almonds. Though made of well-known ingredients, the plate had a combination of flavors so complex it could throw off a chef with even the finest palate.
Only four contestants created a dish that was close enough to the original for the judges to taste. Kyle wasn’t one, but her herb-crusted pork tenderloin looked like it would have been a crowd-pleaser.
After the Mystery Box challenge, the contestants were split into two teams of six and were given 90 minutes to cook and plate 31 dishes for a room of VIP diners. The two teams chose between a crate of New England ingredients and a crate of New Mexico ingredients. Avery’s team chose New England and decided to whip up a classic New England clam bake with a cod cake, roasted corn on the cob and a celery salad.
Pitted against the other team’s New Mexico-themed pork loin and bean cakes, Kyle’s team suffered a loss. Two contestants from the losing team were sent home, but the Baton Rougean was safe—and she says she isn’t surprised.
“I think I did everything I could have for my team,” Kyle says. “I worked really hard and I felt like I deserved to stay.”
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Nearing the end of the competition, Kyle says she is feeling more than confident. And as optimistic as ever, the fourth grader declares she only has nine people left to compete with.
“And then I win,” she says with a laugh.
MasterChef Junior will not air Friday, Dec. 25, or Friday, Jan. 1. FOX will air a 2-hour special Friday, Jan. 8.