"MasterChef (US)" - Season 11 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Fifteen

This season, a new group of home cooks headed to the MasterChef Kitchen to pursue the grand prize with the instruction to cook their signature dish in the audition round. With only forty-five minutes to cook, the chefs had to put themselves on a plate for one of only fifteen white aprons. Additionally, the judges would be accompanied by one of three legendary judges who would contribute their feedback and send participants through to the main competition.

The first of these was Emeril Lagasse, the second was Curtis Stone, and the third was Paula Deen. If three of the four judges gave a yes, the apron would be handed over.

Answer: Monkfish

The Top 15 entered the kitchen for the first full round of competition to find that the first Legend to be facing them would be Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto, who introduced them to their star ingredient for the day, monkfish filet. In this first round, the chefs had to cook any monkfish dish in one hour using a full pantry of fresh ingredients and herbs.

The winner, who ended up being Kelsey, got a dinner for two at Morimoto's Las Vegas restaurant; she cooked a pan-seared monkfish with cauliflower two ways and fish sauce caramel.

The first home cook to be sent packing, Elyce, stayed in her comfort zone by making baja fish tacos with spicy aioli and chips, a bit too pedestrian for "MasterChef".

Answer: Desserts

Following Morimoto's visit to the MasterChef Kitchen, Sherry Yard was brought in to place the Top 14 into an Elimination Test themed around whatever dessert they figured would fit the bill. With the full pantry at their disposal, the home cooks were asked to make a restaurant quality treat with the winner taking home a $5,000 set of Breville kitchen appliances.

The winner of this one was Tay, whose Pineapple Upside-Down Cake with cherry compote and lemon zest whipped cream was considered the top of the crop.

It was Annai's avocado no-bake cheesecake that missed the mark, partly because she served it on top of its metal baking tray.

Answer: Three

While other seasons have leaned hard into the Mystery Box Challenge as a staple task placed in front of the fledgling home cooks, this season only featured three across its run, each with different unique requirements. The first of these was inspired by Michael Mina, who prepared a Meat Roulette for the Top 12, giving each cook a different cut of beef to work with. Jonathan Waxman had a California-themed Mystery Box for the Top 10, forcing them to work with five specific ingredients. Ludo Lefebvre had the last one for the Top 5, giving them nothing more than a seventy-five minute timer and asking them to make French bistro cuisine.

Answer: Mary Jayne

In the only instance this season, Mary Jayne withdrew from the competition, placing 13th overall, due to illness. This particular instance was of note because this eleventh season of the show was filmed in two parts, the first just at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and the second later in the year. Though the reasons for her departure were not disclosed, later interviews did not outline COVID as a reason.

In the meantime, the remaining cooks had their first Mystery Box Challenge curated by Michael Mina, and themed around original dishes using different beef ingredients. Abe won using the sweetbreads while Matt went home on a poorly-made filet mignon.

Answer: Sea urchin

In the season's second Mystery Box Challenge, the Top 10 home cooks were given a Mystery Box containing five key ingredients curated by California cuisine master Jonathan Waxman, who required that the home cooks use all of them in some way. As such, the contestants made restaurant-quality dishes using Santa Barbara spot prawns, fresh sea urchin (or uni), California grapefruit, wasabi, and avocados. Tay's dish proved to be delicious, but lacking because he forgot to place his uni butter on the plate.

This meant that although others had worse dishes, he was eliminated for not fulfilling the challenge requirements.

Answer: None

At this point in the competition, the Top 9 had the opportunity to, without the fear of elimination, bring risky, new dishes into the fold by elevating classic street food for Los Angeles chef Roy Choi, and the winner with the best dish would receive immunity, not needing to cook in the subsequent challenge in which the contestants had to cook for their own personal legends. Joseph took the win on the street food challenge with a new take on a banh mi.

His immunity pushed him into the Top 8 but he was eliminated an episode later during a Team Challenge.

Answer: No

The Team Challenges occurred late in the season and might have been as a result of the circumstances plaguing production this season. Though most "MasterChef" seasons see the home cooks out in the field cooking for large groups or, near the conclusion, in a 'restaurant takeover', COVID-19 protocol likely restricted the opportunities here.

The Top 8 faced off in a unique Team Challenge, needing to create matching distances through vocal communication only (as they were split by an opaque wall). The Top 6 had a pseudo-restaurant takeover, competing as men vs. women to serve meals for four legendary chefs.

There was no Tag Team Challenge this season.

Answer: Boiled

Bringing Niki Nakayama, the judges examined the simplistic menu of a high-end kaiseki and asked the home cooks to use these techniques and cohesive sensibilities to make a three-course kaiseki meal, exploring a grilled item, a steamed item, and a fried item. With a Japanese-inspired pantry they needed to put their own spin on an otherwise traditionally-minded set of dishes. Kelsey won this challenge with a simple and clean presentation inspired by Japanese flavours while Anne was eliminated in seventh place, partly because she confused parsnips with turnips, greatly muddling her dish.

Answer: Kelsey

This season's final three-- Kelsey, Autumn, and Suu-- were brought into the MasterChef Kitchen with the typical ask of a three course meal, this time split into appetizer, entree, and dessert courses with one hour to cook each. In a twist, the judges asked the cooks to prepare ten canapes partway through their appetizer course, asking that they be presented in only thirty minutes before continuing with their actual first course.

When all was said and done, Kelsey was declared the winner of the competition, claiming the usual trophy and $250,000 cash, but also a set of kitchen appliances from Viking.