MasterChef USA

- Season 5

(2014)

Host award-winning chef Gordon Ramsay, along with fellow judges restaurateur Joe Bastianich and acclaimed chef Graham Elliot return for Season Five, putting the latest group of contestants through a series of challenging elimination rounds and turning one home cook into a culinary master.

In the first mystery box challenge of the season, the Top Finalists will have 90 minutes to prep and cook a unique and impressive dish, using mainly dessert ingredients. The winner of the mystery box will have a significant advantage in the next round, deciding which classic American dish the remaining contestants will have to prepare in the elimination round. Find out who will rise to the occasion and whose dream of becoming America's next MASTERCHEF will come to an end.

It's the ultimate culinary war when the remaining 20 home cooks compete in the biggest field challenge in MASTERCHEF history: feeding an army of 500 servicemen and women on a desert army base. In their first team challenge, the contestants will split into two teams - the red team and the blue team - to create a hearty meal including one protein and two side dishes. Tempers flare as both teams struggle with consistency, and every dish counts as the troops will vote for their favorite dish and determine the winning team. Later, the losing team will face an intense ...

For their second Mystery Box Challenge, the contestants had sixty minutes to create a dish with live seafood.

For their 2nd team challenge the contestants were divided into two teams and had two hours to cook for 120 wedding guests.

The 3rd Mystery Box Challenge, the contestants were given 52 unlabeled aluminum and tin cans, and a limited pantry. They can use any amount of cans they preferred, in 60 minutes to create a restaurant quality dish.

For the 3rd team challenge, for 1 hour the contestants worked in pairs cook with seafood and red meat. The teams with the worst dishes would compete in the Pressure Test.

The Restaurant Takeover took place at Dinah's Family Restaurant in Culver City, California.

Thirteen chefs compete in a mystery-box challenge involving wild Alaskan king salmon. In the second round, the home cooks create dishes using a judge's favorite ingredients.

for their 5th Team Challenge, the contestants were divided into 2 teams of 6 and had to cook a romantic entrée and desert for seventeen couples, including Gordon and his wife Tana.

For their 5th Mystery Box Challenge, the judges presented 2 Mystery Boxes, one box had cheap ingredients and the other had expensive ingredients, the contestants had 60 minutes to create a dish using only one of the boxes.

For their 6th Team Challenge, the cooks were divided into 2 teams and had 1 hour to make a turkey burger and fish taco for the football players and their fans. The players and fans would vote and the losing team will face the pressure test. The pressure test ends with an emotional elimination.

For their next team challenge the cooks chose who they wanted to partner up with forming 4 teams of 2, each team would cook with a different body part of the chicken and the body part was randomly chosen.

For the 6th Mystery Box Challenge, the contestants had 60 minutes to create an entrée using only apples. They can also include ingredients from the pantry.

the remaining 6 contestants cooked dinner at restaurant with 50 guests. They had to replicate 2 appetizers and 2 entrees from the restaurant's menu. They have 1 hour to prep and 2 hours to serve the customers.

In 60 minutes the remaining contestants and their loved ones picked the ingredients they needed to make their loved one's favorite dish.

Team Challenge: The final four cooks were divided into two pairs. Courtney chose Elizabeth as her teammate on the Red Team, leaving Cutter and Leslie as the Blue Team. Each pair had to choose a box of ingredients from one of their home states. Courtney and Elizabeth chose Pennsylvania, and Leslie and Cutter chose Texas. Each pair then had to make an appetizer and an entrée based on what was in their box. Courtney and Elizabeth were narrowly judged as the winners, leaving Cutter and Leslie going head to head in the pressure test. Team Challenge Winners/Immune: Courtney...

The last 3 cooks cooked an entrée for 50 chefs, symbolizing the 50 states of America. The 3 cooks randomly selected the eliminated contestants to help prepare the 50 portions. The cook with the most votes will advance to the finale.

For the finale, Elizabeth and Courtney were required to cook a three course meal for each of the judges.