The BEST episodes of MasterChef Australia season 2

#1 - Masterclass 2

Season 2 - Episode 11 - Aired 4/30/2010

The judges share their own food memories in this week's MasterClass. A good old English Sunday Roast was Gary's dish of the day while George cooked up lasagne with a twist.

#2 - Return Elimination Challenge 2

Season 2 - Episode 61 - Aired 6/28/2010

Devon, Courtney, Philip, Jimmy, Jake and Peter competed in the final round for one of 3 spots back in the competition. They were faced with an Invention Test, with the freedom to choose from an extensive range of ingredients. In a twist, it was the Top 7 contestants who were unknowingly deciding their fate; judging the six dishes under the pretence of learning how to critique a dish. The seven plus Matt Preston were unanimous in their decision.

#3 - Seafood Platter Pressure Test

Season 2 - Episode 37 - Aired 5/31/2010

Jake, Jimmy and Matthew faced off in the Pressure Test; to recreate a Rick Stein seafood platter worth $350.

#4 - Signature Dish

Season 2 - Episode 2 - Aired 4/20/2010

The remaining contestants were asked to prepare their signature dish. In a first for MasterChef Australia the contestants did the judging, with the men voting for their favourite dish from the women, and vice versa. The top 7 vote-getters (4 women, 3 men) were then put into a beef wellington pressure test, with the best man and woman progressing directly to the top 24. The winners, Claire and Jimmy, were the first pair to advance to the Top 24.

#5 - Classic French Meal Team Challenge

Season 2 - Episode 21 - Aired 5/12/2010

The two teams were tasked with preparing a Classic French 3-course meal for Matt Preston, Tetsuya Wakuda and Guillaume Brahimi. Michel Roux mentored the Red Team, Tony Bilson mentored the Blue Team.

#6 - Grand Final - Welcome Masterchef 2010

Season 2 - Episode 84 - Aired 7/25/2010

Adam and Callum faced three rounds in the finale, worth 100 points in total. The first round involves basic skills tests. The second round is an invention test. The final round is a pressure test, cooking a Peter Gilmore dessert.

#7 - Italian Restaurant Team Challenge

Season 2 - Episode 9 - Aired 4/28/2010

The off site team challenge, to take over the running of two Italian restaurants, saw the Red Team conquer despite having a simpler menu. From the Blue Team, Jonathan and Devon were selected by the judges as the two worst performers and were up for elimination. Sarah withdrew from the competition to return to her family.

#8 - Kids Birthday Team Challenge

Season 2 - Episode 15 - Aired 5/5/2010

In an unprecedented twist, Callum as winner of the weeks Invention Test was granted the power to pick his entire team first. The off site challenge was to put on a children's birthday party for 150 people, who would vote for their favourite dish. The Blue Team proved to have too great an advantage and won easily.

#9 - Normal Family Meal Team Challenge

Season 2 - Episode 27 - Aired 5/19/2010

The two teams were tasked with preparing a 3 course meal for a normal family and judges Matt Preston and Curtis Stone, on a tight budget and time limit. In the end, the families rated each team equally and the judges could not agree on a winner, so the challenge was ruled a tie. Therefore, a bottom 2 was selected from each team,

#10 - Oyster Terrine Pressure Test

Season 2 - Episode 43 - Aired 6/7/2010

Callum, Joanne, Peter and Skye faced off in the Pressure Test; to recreate George Calombaris' oyster terrine. Callum's terrine was described as a dog's breakfast but was closest to George's dish in flavour.

#11 - Mystery Box & Invention Test

Season 2 - Episode 24 - Aired 5/16/2010

"Around the world" theme. The Mystery Box challenge saw the contestants tackle a complex range of ingredients and a time of just 25 minutes. Peter took out the challenge and was given a significant advantage in the Invention Test, which for the first time would see the contestants competing in trios. Peter was given the power to not only pick the core ingredient for each country's cuisine, but also to pick the members of each team.

#12 - Chef Challenge - Frank Camorra

Season 2 - Episode 32 - Aired 5/25/2010

#13 - Masterclass 6

Season 2 - Episode 35 - Aired 5/28/2010

Gary and George showed the contestants how to make the perfect pizza, while Gary also served up an English rice pudding, and George cooked up some chicken oysters with homous and fatoush.

#14 - London Week Day 2: Heston Pressure Test

Season 2 - Episode 55 - Aired 6/21/2010

Contestants competed in pairs to recreate Heston Blumenthal's elaborate signature dishes. Heston praised the contestants' attempts at dishes he'd taken years to perfect with Alvin and Marion's recreation of "Sound of the Sea" deemed the most impressive.

#15 - Masterclass 4

Season 2 - Episode 23 - Aired 5/14/2010

The judges serve up duck two ways and invite guest chef Kumar Mahadevan to cook a spicy prawn curry. Justin North also helps the contestants make crackling pork.

#16 - Duck Two Ways Pressure Test

Season 2 - Episode 31 - Aired 5/24/2010

Their task was to recreate a dish by Australian food icon, Stephanie Alexander, a confit duck-neck sausage with grilled duck breast in sour cherry sauce, potato crisps and buttered spinach. Peter, being from Melbourne, was able to source ingredients from Queen Victoria Market quickly and make his way to the Langham Hotel first, followed by Carrie and then Jimmy. In the end, each dish had its problems: Peter's sauce was too floury, Carrie's sauce was too thin, her sausage grainy and she failed to plate up the spinach, and Jimmy's spinach was gritty and his duck breast overcooked.

#17 - Army Base Team Challenge

Season 2 - Episode 69 - Aired 7/7/2010

Teams were faced with preparing a hearty buffet lunch for 100 Australian soldiers. Starting at Holsworthy army base, contestants trekked to the field kitchen where they tackled creating a suitable menu. Teams came up with a few similar dishes and were forced to negotiate compromise in their menus. The Red Team struggled with their dessert, and Callum was chastised by the judges for his poor handling of the situation.

#18 - Finals Week - Day 6 - Final Masterclass

Season 2 - Episode 83 - Aired 7/23/2010

Callum and Adam each spent time with a chef, from the markets to service, with Justin North and Peter Kuruvita. The top 24 contestants returned to the MasterChef kitchen for the last MasterClass. Alvin showed how to make his Drunken Chicken with Bruised Cucumber Salad and Fiona demonstrated her Chocolate Ganache Tart with Lavender Cream and Fresh Raspberries. Gary and George then felt the pressure in their own mystery box challenge.

#19 - London Week Day 1: Invention Test

Season 2 - Episode 54 - Aired 6/20/2010

"Afternoon Tea" theme. It was revealed to the contestants that this Invention Test would take place in London. After settling in at the Langham Hotel, the contestants first challenge for the week was to invent a pastry, drawing inspiration from one of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom. Callum won the challenge and was rewarded with a private MasterClass with Jamie Oliver as well as attending the announcement of the World's 50 Best Restaurants with Matt Preston. Jonathan was chosen by Callum to share the reward.

#20 - London Week Day 2: Chef Challenge - Martin Blunos

Season 2 - Episode 56 - Aired 6/22/2010

#21 - Signature Dish Challenge

Season 2 - Episode 75 - Aired 7/14/2010

Contestants were tasked with creating a dish that represented themselves and their cooking philosophy. After planning overnight and shopping with a $250 budget, each contestant had two hours to cook their signature dishes on five plates for Matt Preston and four other guests: Alla Wolf-Tasker, Mark Best, Kylie Kwong and Jacques Reymond. Each contestant was determined to impress such an illustrious panel, and the intense pressure lead to some potentially fatal mistakes. Overall, the judges were very impressed with the calibre of the dishes put forward, but only four contestants would automatically win their spot in the final week and a reward at Marque restaurant.

#22 - Carrot Cake Elimination Challenge

Season 2 - Episode 52 - Aired 6/17/2010

In a taste test Elimination Challenge, all members of the Blue Team were asked to name the ingredients to a carrot cake.

#23 - Masterclass 9

Season 2 - Episode 53 - Aired 6/18/2010

Aaron and Marion are treated to a masterclass in artisan baking by Michael Klausen, while Gary and George cook up a dish of lamb backstrap fillet cooked in a Barramundi skin with flesh from the fish, along with a shiitake mushroom sauce and hash browns. Julie Goodwin then returns to the MasterChef kitchen and conjures up a dish of scallops with bacon crunch and cauliflower puree, and Gary and George round it off with an extravagant dessert of bitter chocolate ganache with peanut ice cream, peanut toffee caramel and a honeycomb.

#24 - Masterclass 11

Season 2 - Episode 65 - Aired 7/2/2010

#25 - Pressure Test - Peter Gilmore

Season 2 - Episode 13 - Aired 5/3/2010

Carrie, Kate and Fiona faced off in the Pressure Test after cooking the three least impressive dishes in the Invention Test. They were asked to replicate a chicken dish from chef Peter Gilmore. Fiona had a slow start but she finished strongly and cooked the chicken perfectly but her dish lacked detail. Despite a strong start, Kate failed to read her recipe thoroughly, she wrapped up her chicken too much that it didn't cook properly and she ended up serving the judges raw chicken although her vegetables were perfectly cooked. Carrie struggled through the whole challenge, she cooked the chicken perfectly but all the flavour leaked out in the water bath because she left a hole in her chicken's skin and her vegetables were undercooked.