It’s episode nine of MasterChef Australia 2023 and an Immunity Pin is up for grabs!

Declan, Jessica, Robbie, Adi, Ralph and Theo were all in the winning team during Wednesday night’s first team Service Challenge, meaning they had the chance to cook it out to be safe from Sunday’s elimination, alongside Melissa.

Upon entering the kitchen, they were greeted by judges Jock Zonfrillo, Andy Allen and Mel Leong as well as chef Shannon Bennett and the “humble roast chook”.

To win Immunity, they were going to need to “beat the chef” as well as turn the “versatile” roast chicken into a delicious dish, with the challenge set by Andy.

“Take my humble roast chicken and turn it into something out of this world,” he said.

The contestants had a total of 45 minutes to bring the judges “an absolute banger” and with that, the countdown began.

The Cook

Theo said that the “challenge played into his strengths” given that he and his mates eat a whole roast chook each on a Sunday…

Adi referred to the roast chook as the “Bachelorette’s handbag — you can pick up the chook after a busy day at work,” she said, revealing she was turning it into Butter Chicken.

Robbie wanted to make his wife proud while Ralph said he was making a Chicken Pie. Jessica admitted she was making a “death dish” and Melissa, a simple Chicken Sandwich with Chips.

“I’m hoping I can pull off each one perfectly,” she said.

Declan decided on “festive food” with a Mexican inspired “que-sa-dill-o” i.e. a Chicken Quesadilla with “tor-till-a”.

“I’m lucky they don’t judge my pronunciations otherwise it might be a bit of hasta la vista…bebe!” LOVE HIM.

Adi struggled with the flavours of her Butter Chicken and had to smoke her dish to get the nutty flavour while Theo felt he was in “a good spot” and Declan used a tortilla press for the first time, getting the perfect round dough.

With five minutes to go, Theo’s oven wasn’t at the right temperature so he switched to using a pan and Adi forgot about her Jeera which she called “a crappy-looking bowl of rice”.

The judging

Theo presented his Chicken Lahmacun but said he was worried about the bread.

Jock called it “amazing” and a “deluxe sandwich”, Mel said she “loved it” and Shannon said he’s “got the passion and the talent”.

Declan then presented his Spicy Mexican Chicken Quesadilla.

Mel said that he did “very, very good work”, Shannon said he “loved it” and that there were “smarts in it”.

Robbie then presented his Malaysian Warm Salad.

Andy said the “idea was epic” and the “dressing was cracking”, calling it a “really solid place of food”. Mel said it “transported” her to being “on country” with him.

Melissa was up next with her Chicken Sandwich with Chips, Shannon said she had “knocked it out of the park”.

Ralph presented his Chicken Pie, which Andy called a “wrong decision”.

Jessica then delivered her “death dish”, a Chicken and Mushroom Risotto.

“You are a super talented cook, but what you can’t do is bend time in this kitchen,” Mel told her, while Andy said the bones needed to be roasted.

Adi was last with her Butter Chicken with Jeera Rice, apologising for how it looked.

Shannon said she had “great flavour depth in the sauce” while Jock said, “undercooked rice aside, that’s delicious”.

Theo was victorious and was now tasked with beating Three Blue Ducks’ chef Darren Robertson.

“Are you ready?” Jock asked him, to which he replied: “Nup.” Lol

Beat the Chef round

“Not let the pressure get to him and cook from the heart, mate,” Darren told Theo.

Theo had the choice of three pantries and was also given the opportunity to choose which one Darren was going to use.

The first choice was a 90-minute cook with only five ingredients and the second 60 minutes with ten ingredients. The third pantry was 30 minutes and 20 ingredients.

Given it was a blind tasting, the judges left the room before Theo chose the second option. For Darren, he gave him the third option.

“I would have done the same,” Darren told him.

Beat the Chef round — Cook

Theo decided to create an Apple Tart, playing to his strengths and Darren chose to cook Barramundi, whole roasted with Mango Chilli Vinegar and Flatbreads.

Theo became stressed with three components to complete and Shannon told him to keep his “composure.”

“This is your bread and butter,” he said.

Beat the Chef round — Judging

First up was Theo’s Apple Tart. Mel said that there was “a lot of intelligence” went into the bake while Andy said the stewed apple was the “stand-out” and Jock “really enjoyed” the crunch and flavour of the tart case, but the tart shell was too thick.

Up next was Darren’s Whole Barramundi with Pickled Cabbage, Flatbread and Mango Chilli Vinegar.

Andy said the dish absolutely had to be Darren’s, but the judges were confused about the flatbreads and whether or not Theo cooked them.

When Jock cut into the fish, there was a question of whether the fish was cooked through. After an ad break, it was revealed it was “very close”.

Mel called it “delicious” and that “the devil was in the details” and Andy said: “This does have Darren Robertson written all of it”.

“It really is a tasty, tasty dish,” he said.

The scoring and final verdict

Theo – 23/30

• Mel: 8/10
• Andy: 8/10
• Jock: 7/10

Darren — 25/30

• Jock: 8/10
• Andy: 8/10
• Mel: 9/10

Theo did not walk away with an Immunity Pin.

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