‘MasterChef Australia’ 2016 recap and spoilers: Brett’s injury and rattled nerves cost him the immunity pin

On the toughest week of “MasterChef Australia” Season 8, the highly coveted immunity pin seemed to be as elusive as ever. After a three-way battle, only one survived and moved on to the second round. In episode 48 that aired on July 5, Brett Carter continued his winning streak and beat the other two contenders.

However, the 43-year-old airline captain soon ran out of gas and failed to defeat top chef Shannon Bennett for immunity. Despite his loss, Brett is hopeful it’s only the beginning of greater things to come in the competition. The toughest week ever continues, and judges George Calombaris, Gary Mehigan and Matt Preston have another mammoth challenge for the eight remaining “MasterChef Australia” hopefuls.

Spoiler Alert! This article contains "MasterChef Australia" Season 8 spoilers. Read only if you want to know more about it.

Network Ten posted a sneak peek of Wednesday’s episode, which centres on a team challenge. The top eight find themselves grouped in pairs to represent the country’s four corners: north, south, east and west. While each team will be guided by a mentor, it doesn’t guarantee a smooth-sailing cook. Two teams navigate their way to success, while the other two find themselves in troubled waters.

The trailer shows the pairings, namely: Mimi Baines and Matt Sinclair; Chloe Bowles and Elena Duggan; Brett and Harry Foster; and Elise Franciskovic and Trent Harvey. With only eight contestants remaining, the competition is becoming more and more difficult. While there were clear frontrunners in the beginning of this season, Brett’s improvement proves that it’s still anybody’s game at this point.

“MasterChef Australia” Season 8 recap

Having served the top dishes in a previous episode, Brett, Elise and Harry were given the opportunity to snag the immunity pin. When the three walked into the kitchen, they found a mystery box on each of their benches. Once they lifted the lid, they found out a set of ingredients, plus another – albeit smaller – mystery box.

The first batch of ingredients was composed of venison, bay leaves and elderflower cordial. Brett decided to go for it, and he was told that he must use all the ingredients to cook for only 20 minutes. Both Elise and Harry decided to open the smaller box, which contained quangdong and yet another tiny box. The two again preferred to go for the last box, wherein they found mastic. Having opened all the boxes, Elise and Harry got 60 minutes to cook, but they had to make use of the quangdong, mastic and one ingredient from the first box. They both decided to prepare desserts.

Despite only having 20 minutes on the clock and fewer ingredients, Brett’s savoury dish was deemed the best for the round. The judges raved about his cauliflower puree with pepper crusted venison, saying it’s absolutely delicious. With his winning dish, Brett made it to round two, where he soon found out that he’d be competing with Shannon Bennett. Shannon has become quite familiar with the “MasterChef Australia” immunity challenges, being its regular mentor.

The judges laid down the conditions for this particular task – there is no time advantage and the contenders have access to an open pantry and an open garden. Gary took over Shannon’s job of running the kitchen, while George and Matt did the blind tasting to determine the winner.

It seemed that great minds really do think alike, as both Brett and Shannon decided to use lamb as their hero ingredient. As expected, the ever calm and collected Shannon breezed through the preparation time. Brett, however, hit a snag when he sliced his thumb while cutting up the meat bones. It proved to be a setback as the dressing of his wound took some minutes away from his cook. His confidence further derailed when he knocked over his fried shallots while cleaning his bench. Worse, he had to have his finger re-dressed, which again cost him some time.

Toward the end of the challenge, however, Brett regained his composure and finished off strong. Shannon even went over to his bench to give him a hand, which Brett appreciated. With only 10 minutes remaining on the clock, it’s Shannon’s turn to run into some trouble – he found out that his braised lamb is not cooked well. However, he managed to salvage his dish with some smaller pieces of the meat found in the pressure cooker. The two finished plating and they both looked happy with their dishes.

Brett’s dish was up first, and the judges loved how he presented his lamb with smoked parsnip puree and enoki mushrooms. They also had nothing but glowing words to describe the taste of the dish – it’s comforting, delicious and the flavours were spot-on. George said that the lamb was cooked really well and the parsnip puree was flawless. Shannon’s lamb with onions, mustard and fresh herbs also earned positive reviews. Shannon cooked the lamb perfectly, and he nailed the mustard foam and stock. However, George and Matt had qualms over Shannon’s braised lamb.

When it was time to announce the scores, Brett received an 8 from George and a 9 from Matt, giving him a total of 17 points out of a possible 20. Shannon, on the other hand, got both 9s from the judges, making him the challenge’s winner. Even though he didn’t get the immunity pin, Brett was happy because despite all the problems he encountered, he only lost by one point.

Find out what happens next on “MasterChef Australia,” and stay tuned for episode spoilers. “MasterChef Australia” Season 8 airs every Sunday to Thursday at 7.30pm on Ten.