MasterChef: The Professionals 2015 semi-finals are here! This week, the chefs were split into groups to battle against each other.
Carted around the UK, the competitors were put under the pressure of working a busy service within a Michelin-starred restaurant, while being expected to produce dishes to the head chefs’ exacting standards.
The first group, Mark and Darren, took a trip down to Devon to cook with Anton Piotrowski, who won MasterChef in 2012. Mark, who wants to own his own gastro pub, looked doe eyed at Anton as he demonstrated the dish that he would be serving up.
Cajun spiced goat loin with a goat samosa, garnished with aubergine puree, glazed apricots and charred lettuce. Anton, who is partial to some blow torching, showed Dean how to make scallops on brown shrimps, cockles and clams, mixed with compressed cucumber pickled samphire and citrus dressing, topped with burnt apple and lemon balm purees, pickled onion gel and lobster powder.
Running around the kitchen complimenting the chefs was, understandably, thirsty work for Anton, who was able to relax with a beer while Dean and Mark cooked his signature dish; pigeon wellington. Which, horrifyingly, looked like a Frankenstein's monster-pidgeon reaching out of its pit. 
For Mark, there was some room for improvement, certain elements of the dish could have been more crispy, to add a different texture. Dean, on the other hand, was flourished with positive comments and was even offered a job at Anton's The Treby Arms!
Back in the kitchen Dean's dishes, a charred duck breast, with charred carrots, navets, and mandarin in a duck and sesame sauce followed by a pine nut panna cotta, with pine nut and orange cake, with orange curd, orange granita, orange jelly and fresh orange didn't impress the judges enough to send him through to the finals. Although, Marcus and Monica were ecstatic to see a new side to Dean, who throughout the competition had been reserved, talking passionately about his food and stepping up his game. 
The next group, made up of Darren, Danilo and Nick, were crammed in the back seat of a miniature car for seven hours only to be greeted by an extremely shouty Tom Kitchin. Nick was put in charge of main course, lamb cooked three ways.
A rack and shoulder of lamb with neck of lamb wrapped in feulle de brick, potato spaghetti, potato terrine, heritage carrots and tongue of lamb. Darren, a development chef who was about to embark on his first service in three years, was given a fish dish. Turbot, shellfish and seaweed, which doesn't sound so hard, unless you have Tom breathing down your neck.
Danilo was in charge of plating up Tom's take on a panna cotta, with layered strawberry, meringue, orange confit, strawberry crisps, strawberry and a very tricky consomme.
As this dish only required plating, Danilo was tasked with cooking another dish, which he was very unhappy with - a gooseberry crumble souffle with elder flower ice cream.
Danilo started off struggling to quenelle the sorbet, which resulted in Tom's pastry chef taking over several times. His
