Masterchef

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Masterchef

Junior MasterChef

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MasterChef  Champion 2013

photo: Telegraph

Natalie Coleman, a 29 year old, part-time DJ from
Hackney won the 2013 MasterChef Champion title. 

My own personal favourite to win, Natalie seemed such a down-to-earth and truly lovely girl, who had real skill as a chef.

Natalie's winning meal was a lobster tail starter accompanied with fennel, a main of roast pork belly with quail’s scotch egg, pomme puree and caramelised shallots and a vanilla panna cotta accompanied by a chocolate tuile, caramelised pears and a trio of hazelnut biscuits

You can follow and chat to Natalie on Twitter @moochlondon 
and facebook


MasterChef 2012

Professional MasterChef Joint Winners 2012

 For the first time ever we have joint winners claiming the title of MasterChef. Anton Piotrowski and Keri Mos.

Judges Gregg Wallace and Michel Roux Jr couldn't choose between the chefs and made them the show's first ever contestants to share the title.

Keri's winning menu was a starter of mackerel tartar served with crispy poached quails eggs, a main of Chinese five-spiced duck breast and a dessert of green olive and pistachio cake with a white chocolate parfait.

Anton's menu was elderflower marinated pollack with a brown shrimp and elderflower beurre noisette, cocoa-marinated loin of venison accompanied by a nettle ballotine and pan-seared ox heart, and a caramel-filled dark chocolate cylinder with a banana parfait.

You can follow and chat to Anton Piotrowski on twitter @antonpiotrowsk1




Celebrity MasterChef Champion 2012

45 year old actress and writer Emma Kennedy was announced this year's Celebrity MasterChef. 

Judge John Torode said Emma "propelled herself to absolute greatness through sheer tenacity - the skill, the touch, the finesse, the flavours!".

Her winning dish was a pan fried turbot and a dessert of poached meringue in creme anglaise.

You can follow and chat to Shelina on twitter
@EmmaK67
and on her website.





MasterChef Champion 2012

29-year-old Shelina Permalloo, whose family is originally from Mauritius won the title of MasterChef 2012.

Judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace praised her cooking, saying she brought "sunshine to a plate" and was a "very special cook".

Shelina with her love of Mangoes, Mauritian cooking and ready smile, won out against Andrew Kojima and Tom Rennolds.

Shelina is only the second woman to win this title.

You can follow and chat to Shelina on twitter
 @hungrymauritian
and on her website.


MasterChef 2011

Professional MasterChef 2011

Ash Mair, a 34 year old from Tasmania was crowned the winner of Professional Masterchef 2011. Competition was stiff and he beat Steve Barringer and Claire Hutchings to win first place. His winning menu was a starter of monkfish tail, a main course of lamb and a Spanish bread and butter pudding.

"This series of Masterchef: The Professionals, which saw Sean Pertwee replace India Fisher as the show's narrator, has attracted an average of audience of more than three million viewers."

You can follow and chat to Ash on twitter
 @_ashmair
and on his website.


Celebrity MasterChef 2011

"Former England rugby captain Phil Vickery won the 2011 BBC Celebrity MasterChef title.

The 35-year-old father of two was competing against journalist Kirsty Wark and actor Nick Pickard.

Judge Gregg Wallace said Mr Vickery had "serious" talent."

You can read about and contact Phil on his website.







MasterChef Champion 2011

26 Year old Tim Anderson won the 2011 title of MasterChef Champion. He is the youngest winner so far.

John Torode said: “I think all three were amazing but Tim was in a different world altogether. He had influences from Norway, Japan, America, Australia and the UK. That all coming together gave us the best culinary explosion that we've ever seen in MasterChef.”

Gregg Wallace said: “Inventive is one thing but inventive and delicious is nothing short of incredible.”

You can follow and chat to Tim on Twitter
 @ChefTimAnderson.
You can also try out some of Tim's recipes from the BBC Food website. 





MasterChef 2010


Professional MasterChef 2010

Claire Lara was named the first female winner of MasterChef: The Professionals on 8 December 2010. 30 Year old Lara was pregnant when she took part in third series of Professional Masterchef and said her heightened sense of smell helped her to win.




You can follow and chat to Claire on Twitter
@claire_lara 



Celebrity MasterChef 2010

38 year old Lisa Faulkner won this year's Celebrity MasterChef. Lisa, ex-Holby City actress was joined in the final three by Coast presenter Dick Strawbridge, 50, and Christine Hamilton, 60.

Gregg Wallace said "Lisa elevates humble food into something beautiful. She's possibly the best celebrity MasterChef winner we have ever had."







You can follow and chat to Lisa on Twitter
 @lisafaulkner1


MasterChef Champion 2010

34 year old Londoner Dhruv Baker was named the winner of this year's amateur cooking competition Masterchef.

"Judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace described him as an ‘exceptional’ cook with the ‘palate of an angel’."



 




You can follow and chat to Dhruv on Twitter
@DhruvBaker1 



If you would like to apply to be on Masterchef you can fill in an online application here.


You can follow Gregg Wallace on twitter:  @GreggAWallace
You can follow John Torode on twitter: @JohnTorode1
Follow MasterChef on twitter: @MasterChefUK


For those of you who are not familiar with the programme, here is a rundown.

Masterchef is a TV cookery game show aired on the BBC. It was first shown back in 1990 and has gone through many changes in it's lifetime with different formats and different presenters. It seems to have settled into it's stride now with presenters John Torode (an Austrian born British Chef and Restaurateur) and Gregg Wallace (writer and restaurant vegetable supplier).

This series features a host of celebrities hoping to win the coveted title of Celebrity Masterchef. It seems that the only qualification for this series is a willingness to join in, as many of the celebrities are rather clueless and admitted novices. However, if previous series are anything to go by, the celebrities really up their game as the show goes on and the final few could easily find a career in cookery.

Accompanying the show is a glossy cookbook simply called The Masterchef Cookbook. I love the series and I was very excited to be presented with a copy of the book by the lovely Gemma.

It is a beautifully produced book featuring 250 of the best recipes from the Masterchef series and has a foreword from the presenters. The recipes fall into the categories Starters, Vegetables & Fish, Poultry, Meat, Game and Desserts. It is full of glossy photographs (a must in my opinion), along with comments from the judges, mastertips and step-by-step photos showing techniques such as making puff pastry, sweet pastry, chocolate ganache, custard, meringues, pasta and preparing fish, vegetables and meat.

It is a great gift for carnivores, but I was more than happy with the selection of recipes and step-by-step techniques on offer to vegetarians.

Here are a few of the recipes that caught my eye:

Gazpacho with Mediterranean Scones (Peter Gerald - Personal Trainer and 2005 quarter finalist)
Goat's Cheese Fritters with Spinach & Apple Salad (Midge Ure - Musician and 2007 celebrity finalist)
Leek & Wild Mushroom Vol Au Vent (Christopher Souto - IT Consultant turned chef and 2005 semi-finalist)
Mushroom, Leek & Ale Pie (Richard Arnold - Presenter and 2007 celebrity finalist)
Strawberries with Sable Biscuits and Orange & Lemon Syllabub (James Nathan - Barrister turned chef and 2008 winner)
Blueberry Sponge Pudding with Vanilla Ice Cream (Andi Peters - Presenter & Producer and 2008 celebrity finalist)
Hot Chocolate Cake with Whisky Vanilla Cream & Caramel Sauce (Andi Peters - Presenter & Producer and 2008 celebrity finalist)
Pineapple Tart Tatin with Coconut Caramel (James Nathan - Barrister turned chef and 2008 winner)

If you miss any of the episodes you can catch up on the BBC iplayer.

If you would like to apply to be on the next series of Masterchef you can fill in an online application here.

Finally, if you haven't had your fill of Masterchef yet, you can find over 200 recipes from the show here.

Disclosure Statement: I received this book free from the publisher to review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.