Masterchef UK Professionals

Saddle of Lamb with Wild Garlic, Lamb Tartare and Sheep's Curd in a Brick Pastry Cylinder, Wild Garlic Emulsion, Black Garlic Honey Dressing, Sweet Potato Purée, Charred Roscoff Onion, and Lamb Sauce — inspired by New Zealand Hangi

{Emma}: "I'm definitely looking forward to cooking my own food for the judges. It's once in a lifetime opportunity." {Emma}: "My signature dish today is going to be a little bit of a play on a traditional style cooking method that we use in New Zealand called a hangi. So we would dig a hole in the backyard, fill it with volcanic rock and stone. Usually we'd put a whole side of lamb in with some root vegetables, cover the pit with some earth, have a couple of beers, some wines, and then dig it all up in the afternoon and hopefully have a good time." {Emma}: "It's very close to my heart." {Emma}: "Going to be doing a saddle of lamb. I'll be smoking the lamb under the cloche. I'm doing a lamb tartare and a brick pastry cigar with some sheep's curd, wild garlic and honey emulsion over the top with some kumara potato on the plate." {Emma}: "Kumara is native to New Zealand, but also known as sweet potato. Today we're just going to be roasting that off in the oven. Since I can't dig a hole in the backyard, that would just be finished like a little purée on the plate." {Emma}: "So with the lamb, I'm going to be pan searing it, and that will be finished in the oven and then smoked under the cloche." {Emma}: "With the lamb sauce, we're roasting off the bones, getting a nice caramelization." {Emma}: "I've got some cumin seed, I've got some cardamom and a little bit of fennel seed in the sauce today. And of course, some Pinot noir. Lamb Pinot Noir. It's a vibe." {Emma}: "A little bit of mixed emotions at the moment. There was some positive feedback at the end. There were definitely some valid feedbacks as well. So, yeah, mixed. Mixed bag, I think." Voiceover: "She's using brick pastry. She's wrapped it around a tube. Sheep's curd is going to be going inside. And then she's taken a little bit of the lamb saddle. She's chopped it up for the tartare. Going to sit on top." {Monica}: "Hopefully she has it quite strong because you want some of that smokiness to permeate through the flavors of this dish." {Marcus}: "You want to get so much flavor into the sauce, reduce it. There's a bit of Madeira in there as well, so a little bit of sweetness and also quite a few spices."