Darren, Josh and Danilo are through to the knockout round of MasterChef: The Professionals 2015, but the decision wasn't particularly easy this week as no one really excelled in the gruelling skills tests set by Michelin-starred Marcus Wareing and Monica Galetti.

During Tuesday's episode, Monica was eager to see the chefs hack away at a whole rabbit, in order to show their butchery skills. Ideally, the judges were looking for the rabbit to be jointed in to five pieces.

Monica demonstrated what she wanted by de-boning and stuffing the saddle and thigh bone before sending in the blissfully unaware chefs. Ex-English teacher turned chef, Angela, a private chef from London, approached the situation with caution.

This meant that in the end, she was running short of time which resulted in her having to leave the bone at the top of the thigh.

Luckily, that was exactly what Monica was looking for, and Angela was chuffed, and slightly confused about the anatomy of a rabbit.

Her pan seared cannon of lamb with burnt aubergine puree didn't bowl over the judges during the signature dish round, but it was enough to send her to the quarter finals. Unfortunately, that was where her journey ended, as Angela truly felt the heat of the kitchen, which saw her delivering late and imperfect dishes to the panel of judges.

Polish born chef, Bartosz, didn't have much luck handling the rabbit either, even after declaring: He had never eaten or butchered a rabbit, so sought advice from Marcus, who bluntly explained 'rabbit is the same as any other animal' and swiftly listed the bits that were A-OK to chop off. Much to Monica's dismay, he removed the loins from the saddle, and made the thigh into some sort of faggot. During the signature dish round, Bartosz chose to lay back.

Plating up plaice in Greek yoghurt and almonds apparently didn't take that much time or effort, which Marcus reprimanded him for during the tasting, saying "it shows lack of interest". So it was an apparent easy decision not to keep him the competition. Marcus' skills test was a lot more simplified, the chefs were required to make a buck rarebit, or as Gregg explained it, cheese on toast... with an egg. Alex, sous chef at a 5* restaurant in Perthshire, had a good crack at it. Keeping a calm composure, he cooked all of the components to the dish, although faltered at which order they should have been added to the bread. In the end he produced nothing more than an egg on toast.

Demanding to see more love and passion in the next round, Alex didn't deliver with his sea trout, which was overcooked, and the mix-match of flavours all on the dish solidified the judges decision to send him home. Also not particularly successful at the skills test either, Darren from Moray. Asking if it was 'against the rules to ask Monica or Marcus to look after his egg' didn't particularly impress them, and neither did his dry toast. What saw him through to the next round was his Scottish langoustine, with langoustine tortellini and biske...

Wednesday saw Monica embrace her sweeter side, by asking the chefs to make a sweet sabayon. Caribbean chef, Jason, was left to his own devices to make his own version, which could have gone one of two ways. Fortunately, he did produce something that hinted to a sabayon, but that was underneath a burnt layer due to turning his back on the salamander.

Determined to show his passion for refined Caribbean food, Jason plated up the 'best jerk' Marcus had ever tasted, and soared through to the quarter finals.

Jason didn't make it through to knockout week however, after he crumbled at the pastry course.

>>> Read: Our chat with Jason about opening his new restaurant, Froottree

Chris, who was self taught, had never worked beneath another chef, which became apparent when he served up raw egg yolk and sugar in an attempt to meet Monica's sabayon task. Chris' signature dish had the judges almost reeling in disgust as he chose to serve fish alongside honeycomb. "Did I enjoy it? No I didn't. Would I try it again? No, I wouldn't" Monica said, and the decision to hold him back from the next round was obvious.

Marcus asked for scallop to be cooked in three ways - a tartar, pan fried and as a mousse. For Liam, sous chef in a Michelin-starred restaurant, this task was as easy as pie. Ensuring that his dish was perfect, Liam discarded the first mousse-filled courgette flower and quickly prepared another. The judges were rife with compliments, which carried on through to the signature dish round where Liam served a well cooked and moist turbot, alongside crispy squid and 'delicious' courgette and basil puree. Thrown off by the addition of Marcus to the kitchen, Richard strayed completely from the mark during the skills test. Pouring over a cream sauce that was not required dissatisfied the chefs, and Marcus felt the need to remind Richard that 'fish mousse is steamed for a reason, and shouldn't go near a pan'. Attempting scallops again, Richard's signature dish was a different kettle of fish. The scallop was 'lovely and golden' however, the flavours were masked by powerful garlic slices. The judges felt that, at this stage, Richard was out of his depth.

>>> Read last week's MasterChef: The Professionals round up

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