Masterchef: The Professionals 2014 is back on our screens once more with new judge, Michelin-starred chef Marcus Wareing at the helm.

Each week we'll be bringing you a round up of the culinary successes and disasters as we edge closer to finding out this year's winner of Masterchef: The Professionals 2014.

Last week I was left feeling a little underwhelmed. Yes there were some good dishes, there was a sprinkle of humour in places and the novelty of watching talented chefs crumble under the pressure. But I couldn’t help but wonder if Masterchef had had its day? No need to worry, Monica Galetti stepped up this week and slapped me round the face with her skills test. I sat open mouthed, one hand covering my eyes and squirming around on the sofa waiting for the horror show to stop.

The professionals were given the task of preparing a woodcock for roasting, at this point can I just say all vegetarians/vegans look away now! Only one chef, who I’ve nicknamed ‘super sous Sven’ from London as the judges couldn’t get enough of him and he had already impressed with his turbot dish; took on the challenge and left the bird with some dignity.

The rest, dear god where do I start? They ripped off wings, tore flesh away with the feathers, and pulled off heads and Jamie from Plymouth, well what can I say? His bird was hung, drawn and quartered the poor thing! The memory of that will stay with me for a long time and no doubt with Jamie - let’s hope he is never allowed near a bird carcass again! Marcus Wareing, Gregg Wallace and Monica clearly had their favourites this week.

Although they were not in agreement! Monica and Gregg were all about super sous Sven, he impressed them and didn’t frighten them with anything too crazy. In the Marcus camp was Sean from Malta who currently works in London. He dished up minimal amounts of food on each plate but ‘he can cook’ and ‘I’m not worried’ were the words Marcus chose to praise him with. Unfortunately the critics were a step to far for Sean.

He did exactly as I would of done, he ordered the most expensive ingredients – just because he could! With no budget thanks to the BBC it must be very tempting! Unfortunately he then just piled lobster, beef and asparagus on a plate and followed that dish with a mouthful of mousse and a cloud of dry ice – it was time to show Sean the door! The critics test had this week’s competitors practically on their knees – even super Sven crumbled and had a little cry in the corner when his ice cream melted.

The highlight for me this week was watching the chefs cook with scraps – the tortellini dish Jamie from St Andrews produced and of course Sven and his pot-au-feu, were nothing short of impressive. And by the judges faces they both tasted as good as they looked. Scottish Jamie is the dark horse from this round, I’ll be keeping my eye on him.

Finally I have to talk about egg fried rice gate. Marcus said: “You have served scraps as scraps.” Poor Jamie from Plymouth, he had a rough week – so much so he lost his mind, cooked egg fried rice and then to really upset the judges added banana to his ‘hungry man in the fridge’ concoction. For anyone looking to apply next year – this is how not to win the completion, sorry Jamie. By Cara Pilkington @canteencara

>>> Read more about Masterchef: The Professionals 2014 here

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