Mark and Chris’ MKR bust-up

They’re the loveable footy friends from Victoria, but Mark and Chris’ mateship was put to the ultimate test on Monday night as the MKR teams faced their toughest challenge yet – three courses in 90 minutes.

The fur flew between the usually tight buds as they struggled with the possibility of not even completing the brief, which was to wow judges Pete and Manu with their supposedly fast and fresh meals.

But while David and Betty and Amy and Tyson were quick off the mark with their respective entrees of Thai coconut mussels and coconut poached chicken, Mark and Chris flailed BIG TIME as they realised their starter of yellowfin tuna rice paper rolls was nowhere near done by the half-way mark.

“This is panic stations mate, I’m really starting to freak out,” admitted Chris, blasting Mark for wasting time grating too many carrots.

And when Mark dropped the ball again by forgetting to toast the peanuts, Chris let him have it with both barrels.

“The peanuts man, we’ve got to do the peanuts. **** me mate, you could have been doing them now!”

Admitting he had “brain fade”, Mark made things even worse by toasting cashews instead of peanuts, and then his whole dish almost ended up on the floor when Amy nearly collided with him.

“I’m taking out the competition,” she joked as Mark sweated even more.

Finally ready, their entré failed to set the judges’ world alight, with Manu branding the rolls “one-dimensional in texture.”

And with just 10 minutes to go to serve a main of braised pork with scallops and a Pina colada coconut lime sorbet dessert, the gloves came off.

“Think, let’s think mate, come on!” Chris hissed, but their decision to hide the braised pork and scallops beneath a topping of apple and radish only added to the judges’ list of complaints.

“That pork is so dry and tough, what a shame,” Pete lamented.

Meanwhile, Amy was practically glowing with smugness after she and Tyson got all three plates up ahead of most of the team, and won raves for all, especially for their peaches and cream with shortbread cake dessert.

Sure that they’d secured their place in the semis, while others struggled with their entrees, Amy bragged, “yeah and we’re plating our main, might be another win for us.”

And win they did, with Pete and Manu awarding them the ultimate head start by allowing them to choose who to face in the semis.

Valerie and Courtney were also given a stay of execution, despite the fact their spice crusted salmon, chicken biriyani with pepper water, and mango kheer was almost late to the table, with Manu noting that the rice in their dessert was “undercooked.”

However, despite having a head start which gave them unlimited time in the storeroom, Tim and Kyle failed to impress with their salt and pepper squid entré, which Manu branded “lacklustre”.

Pete also took aim at their dipping sauce, insisting the dish “wasn’t worth the wait.”

While they pulled it back slightly with their steak with salsa verde and lemon panna cotta, it wasn’t enough to keep them from facing Sudden Death against Chris and Mark.

The battle of the boys saw both teams fight valiantly to stay in the show, with Kyle pulling out all the stops with his beef cheeks with cauliflower and bone marrow gravy.

“At this point in the competition a good gravy won’t cut it. I’m bringing out all the guns,” he said, as Tim fretted about all the flavours he was throwing in.

Meanwhile, Mark and Chris played it safe with their signature dish of beef rib chilli with charred corn and guacamole.

But their fiery offering had Pete reaching for the water, and even caused chilli-fiend Manu to look uncomfortable.

“I’m nervous mate. I’m sweating more than they’re sweating up there eating our hot chilli,” Chris fretted.

And it only got worse when Pete asked, “are you happy with the spice level?”

What else could Chris say other than, “yeah, absolutely.”

“We think it packs a real punch of heat and you love anything with a bit of spice to it,” he reasoned.

It wasn’t looking great for Tim and Kyle either with Manu asking, “do you think you may have cooked better dishes in the competition?”

“My aim today was to produce a dish that was faultless. I don’t know if it is or not to be honest,” admitted Kyle. “Our taste buds have been a little bit up and down.”

It turned out Pete and Manu’s meanness was all a front though, with the duo gushing over the “bang-on” beef cheeks as they announced the Sudden Death results.

And despite Pete admitting he “enjoyed” Chris and Mark’s attempt, it wasn’t enough to save them, and they got given the boot.

Then without further ado, it was time to find out who crafty Amy would choose to face in the semi.

Tim and Kyle fearing she’d want to cook against them, but she and Tyson surprised everyone by choosing David and Betty.

“David and Betty get too much strength from being underdogs,” Amy explained. “We think if they can get through a tough semi-final, they will be hard to beat in the final, so we want to try and knock them out in the semis. That way we don’t have to see them in the grand final.”

And it’s a battle Betty is more than up for.

“I take that as a huge compliment actually. This is going to be a good fight.”

Which leaves semi-final number two to be fought by Tim and Kyle and Valerie and Courtney.

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