My Kitchen Rules UK

From across Britain and Ireland, six amateur cooking couples are taking part in the culinary contest that’s got it all. They are representing their regions: Ireland, Scotland, Wales and from England, the North, the South and the Midlands. Putting them through their paces - the My Kitchen Rules judges. Two of the biggest names in British food: professional chef, best-selling author and baking queen, Lorraine Pascale and international Michelin starred chef Jason Atherton. The teams gather at My Kitchen Rules Headquarters to find out from the judges about the first stage of the competition - the Instant Restaurant Round. Each team has just one day to set up and then host a super-sized dinner party in their home town. They must serve up a three-course menu to twelve very exacting critics - the judges and their rival teams - who will all score the meal at the end of the night. After all six teams have cooked, the couple with the lowest score will be eliminated from the competition. First to cook, Team Ireland - best friends since school, Clare and Rebecca. Their instant restaurant is a traditional Irish pub called “Shenanigans” and they want to serve up traditional Irish fare but with a few modern twists. The girls kick off the competition with a tricky starter of sous vide salmon and then get in a stew in the kitchen preparing their main course – beef cheeks with colcannon. As the clock ticks away, and their hungry diners are kept waiting, the pressure mounts – the beef cheeks will need to be perfect to impress. Perhaps their mystery dessert will carry the day. At the end of the first instant restaurant Team Ireland await their scores from the rival teams and the Judges.

It’s the turn of Team South - burly Essex fire fighters, Danny and Kev. They intend to spice the competition up with a hot hot hot Thai-inspired menu - all three courses featuring the common ingredient of chilli, even their dessert. It’s a big risk - will their rival teams be able to stand the heat? Sourcing authentic Thai ingredients in Romford proves to be difficult, so in the kitchen, the boys have to make some last minute changes to their recipes. But will their Thai fishcake starter and Hot & Sticky Pork Ribs main pass muster with Asian food expert, Jason Atherton? As the problems mount, the guys are fighting fires to keep the meal on track. Their chili chocolate mousse cake goes into melt down, and Kev who’s in charge of dessert, admits he has never made a cake before. They’ll need to pull off a bit of magic to impress baking queen, Lorraine Pascale. To beat Ireland’s score of 66, Danny & Kev need to pull off a rescue job. But alliances start to form around the dinner table and the knives are out when it comes to critiquing the boys’ food.

After keeping their cards close to their chest, everyone is keen to see what Team North, waitresses Gabi and Steph, have in store. In Liverpool, the girls set about creating a glamorous Instant Restaurant called “Bocca di Rosa” and plan to bring a taste of Italy to their rival teams and judges. The evening starts off with a bang when the girls greet their guests with an aperitif served with a sword. In the kitchen, the girls are a well-oiled team – they spent a season as chalet girls cooking for big numbers – but their aubergine starter is accidentally served with grease-proof paper and their deep-fired mozarrella balls don’t go down well. For their main the girls are upping the ante, serving a dish Jason describes as “one of the hardest pasta dishes on the planet”. “Some of the best Italian chefs struggle with this dish” he admits. So the girls have a lot to live up to. Around the table, opinion is divided and tensions begin to surface. Aiming for the top of the leader board the girls must beat top Ireland and the South of England’s efforts but will tactical voting scupper their chances?

Next stop - the Derbyshire countryside. Team Midlands, neighbours Duncan and Stuart, have created their own cuisine – “Afrosaxon”, a fusion of African and British cuisine. And the first diners they are testing it out on are their rival teams and the judges, Jason Atherton and Loraine Pascale. Jason thinks their menu is “bonkers” and the boys’ instant restaurant decoration definitely is – African rhinos, garden gnomes and suits of armour are all in the mix. Both judges are intrigued to see if the meal will be fusion or just confusion. In the kitchen, Duncan’s laissez-faire approach clashes with Stuart’s obsessively organised regime and things quickly go haywire. Luck is not on their side, there’s a power cut while the starter is in the oven and insult is added to injury when Duncan cuts himself. Has Duncan and Stuart’s bold menu prove too much of a risk?

It’s the turn of Team Wales, fine dining fans Phillip & Emma, who run a supper club together. They’ve been highly critical of everyone else’s food so expectations are high. Emma’s the boss in the kitchen and has planned an impressive menu showing off a variety of techniques, the rival teams wonder what Phillip’s role will be. Their Instant Restaurant is called “Once Upon A Time” and Phillip and Emma greet their guests with a “Drink me” potion, Phillip then ‘entertains’ the diners with his violin and some excruciatingly poetry. Some of the guests are squirming in their seats. With the rival teams keen to find fault, the food needs to be perfect. It doesn’t stop Phillip and Emma aiming for the very top of the leader board. Are they as good as they say they are?

It’s the final Instant Restaurant and when the scores are in, one of the teams will be leaving the competition. Team Scotland, best friends Allanna and Catriona, plan an evening of traditional Scottish food with a bonnie welcome, lots of booze and lots of laughs. The judges think they have a menu that could top the competition and the rival teams are expecting big things. Interior designer Allanna gets carried away decorating their Instant restaurant and they lose valuable cooking time. From that moment on the girls are up against it and as a long wait for their starter is followed by another long wait for the main, expectations plummet and the girls’ place in the competition looks in jeopardy. It’s back to My Kitchen Rules Head Quarters to find out which team has the lowest score and who will be leaving the competition.

Last week, Gabi and Steph (North) knocked Rebecca and Clare (Ireland) out of the competition in the sudden death cook off. This week the remaining teams head for the New Forest for the second challenge. They gather in a supermarket car park and the judges tell them that today they will be cooking lunch for a group of 40 campers at a nearby campsite. Their kitchens? The camper vans parked behind them. First they need to decide what to cook and buy their ingredients in the supermarket, then drive their campervans to the campsite. Gabi’s map reading leads she and Steph taking a detour before they finally catch up with all the others at the campsite. It’s one of the hottest days of the year and the teams are starting to feel the heat. Danny and Kev (South) have underestimated how long it will take to shell prawns for forty people, while Emma and Phillip (Wales), in their first ever challenge, can’t peel the quails’ eggs for their posh scotch eggs. The winners of the Instant Restaurant round could be in trouble. Catriona and Allanna (Scotland) are in high spirits after winning the breakfast challenge and plan another crowd pleaser but the judges have warned them to be more ambitious – can they do it? Gabi and Steph attempt to pull the wool over Jason’s eyes by claiming to have cooked quail before – they confess they haven’t but get on with trying to barbeque enough quail for forty people. The campers vote for their favourite dish. The team with the most votes will be safe from elimination. The remaining teams will have to fight for their place in the competition in the next round of cook offs at My Kitchen Rules Head Quarters – one team will be leaving the competition.

With two places in the final at stake the judges set the remaining teams - South, Scotland and Wales – their biggest challenge yet. They must cater for a party at an exclusive London venue for 30 VIPs that Lorraine and Jason have invited. Lorraine wants spectacular party food. Jason tells the teams to pay special attention to the three Ts – taste, technique and theatre. The teams are very excited and speculate to who the guests may be. They are also out to impress so that they can win a place in the final. Phillip and Emma decide to make the most dramatic surf and turf ever assembled around a spectacular ice sculpture. Danny and Kev, who have struggled with presentation, aim to up their game by smoking four saddles of lamb and dipping a beetroot mousse into liquid nitrogen. After disappointing with their seafood at their Instant Restaurant, Allanna and Catriona want to prove to the judges that was a one-off with a seafood symphony of crab, lobster and prawns with sea sponges. Little do the teams know that the judges’ guests are in fact their own friends and families – it’s an emotional reunion. The scores from the friends and families are added to those of the judges and the winning couple has a place in the final. The two remaining teams fight it out at My Kitchen Rules Head Quarters to join them.

The Final and it’s a grudge match. The supper-clubbers Phillip & Emma versus firefighters Danny & Kev. Wales against the South of England. Phillip has consistently criticized the guys throughout the competition and they have not been afraid to bite back. Now they are cooking against each other for £25,000 and to be crowned the winners of My Kitchen Rules. Emma and Phillip made their mark early on in the competition, top-scoring in the Instant Restaurant Round. Danny and Kev started far less auspiciously but they have proved themselves in and improved over the weeks. To win the competition the teams take part in a monumental cook-off, creating a three-course meal for the judges to score, with some twists and turns along the way. Only one cook from each team can prepare their starter which means Phillip can’t hide behind Emma and has to step forward and prove himself. Danny must sit on his hands while Kev pulls together all the elements to their dish. Round two is the main, the teams can cook together again but this time they need to make six dishes in 90 minutes because the judges will have some help scoring – the rival teams are welcomed back to My Kitchen Rules HQ. It all hangs on the final course – dessert. Both teams have struggled with desserts in the past. It was a dessert from Phillip & Emma that got them into the final but there were mistakes. Danny & Kev have admitted right from the start that desserts are their Achilles heel. Which team will serve up the perfect pudding and take home the £25,000-pound prize and the coveted title of My Kitchen Rules champions?