Today we are celebrating MKR winners Tasia and Gracia (and planning to try the MKR recipes that made them a success).
But we are also looking back at the lessons we have learnt during MKR episodes over the years.
Here, we share 10 priceless lessons from the MKR kitchen.
1. Don’t skip the hair-nets
Even for the most conservative diners who would struggle with sending back an over-cooked steak; it’s pretty difficult to look past a stray hair tossed through your meal. But this year’s show was full of them, with one team serving up three separate hair-laden dishes in one evening.
If Mitch and Laura’s ultimate instant restaurant round was anything to go by, it’s important to make sure your hair is tied back and covered well at all times. And boys, that means you, too!
2. Offal is the new black
While a few years back, we’d expect to see mostly seafood and red meat on the instant restaurant menus, the 2016 series was all about a nose-to-tail approach.
Possibly inspired by the introduction of Colin Fassnidge as one of the show’s judges, contestants have started experimenting with offal cuts more than ever before.
This season we saw crumbed brains, livers, kidneys and lamb sweet breads (neck glands) presented to the judges, with mostly positive critiques all round. It’ll be interesting to see if this sustainable approach to cooking hits home with the kids, though.
Why not try experimenting with offal? This tasty chicken liver and asparagus terrine recipe is a great place to start.
3. Mumma’s recipe isn’t always best
We know – it’s a hard pill to swallow when someone questions the credibility of your family’s secret spaghetti bolognese recipe, especially after you’ve spent the last twenty years of your life reiterating how brilliant it is.
But My Kitchen Rules is evidence that sometimes it’s better to mix it up. This season, we got to witness Zana’s epic facial expressions shift quickly to a look of horror as she was told her grandmother’s tesphixe recipe was not enjoyable. The pastry was described as dry, with a slightly savoury flavour, prompting feedback that the recipe needed to be altered and modernised.
4. Pressure cookers are your new best friend
Tender, juicy lamb-shanks without spending several hours simmering your meat on low heat? Surely not!
My Kitchen Rules introduced us to the world of pressure-cooking, where trapped steam allows temperature to rise rapidly, mimicking the effects of slow-cooking, in a fraction of the time. Many of the teams opted for this style of cooking as they could create tender, hearty dishes in less than two hours.
These convenient machines are perfect for busy cooks who want to whip up a comforting dinner at the end of a busy day. Check out this collection for some pressure-cooker recipe inspiration.
Check out some of our hearty pressure-cooker recipes like this lamb and macadamia curry.
5. Learn the lingo
If you’ve followed the show religiously over the years, you’re probably guilty of adopting some of the contestants’ memorable catch-phrases (perhaps without even realising).
Some notable favourites from the season include Nev’s infamous line, “the duck’s nuts” – used (confusingly) to describe a sense of success and achievement.
And who could forget Lauren’s “totes inapprops” (read: totally innappropriate), and “two fiddy k” (two hundred and fifty thousand, we believe).
It might sound ridiculous, but you’d be surprised how quickly it catches on.
6. The power of the sous vide
Forget everything your mother told you – cooking in plastic isn’t as bad as you think. If you’re using the right equipment, that is.
My Kitchen Rules has opened up the minds of every day home cooks to a technique that’s been used in restaurants for years – the sous vide, where food is vacuum-sealed in airtight plastic bags and cooked in a water bath or steam-oven.
Since the show, more shops have started shocking sous vide machines, with every day people seeking out perfectly tender chicken breast, steaks and salmon fillets.
Try Mark Best’s confit ocean trout recipe, done in the sous-vide.
7. Always remove the poo trail
Along with hairs, there isn’t anything much more disappointing than stumbling across the thin, black – er, intestinal trail – in your prawns.
Zana and Giani’s ultimate instant restaurant reinforced this claim for us, as judges and contestants struggled to eat the whole king prawns (shell, poo-tube and all).
The act of cleaning prawns itself isn’t all that difficult, says judge Pete Evans. “All you need to do with a prawn like that is a little skewer behind it’s neck, and underneath the intestinal track, and just gently pull it out.”
And as Pete eloquently pointed out, “do we want to be taking the vein out when we’re dressed like this?”
8. When in doubt: deconstruct
The concept of a deconstructed meal takes all the flavours of the traditional dish, and breaks them down into separate elements. For example, a deconstructed pavlova may feature separate dollops of crushed meringue, thick cream and fresh berries on the same plate.
Although you’ll probably find at least one deconstructed dessert on most fine-dining menus, My Kitchen Rules proves that as well as being irresistibly pretentious, ‘deconstruction’ is a great option for covering up boo-boos.
When Mitch and Laura’s caramel tart failed to hold it’s shape, they simply broke up each element of the complete dessert and acted like it was intentional.
These watermelon, lime and berry cheesecake jars are the perfect example of a classic dish, deconstructed.
9. Restaurant techniques are now mainstream
If you find yourself barking at your partner to create a quenelle of creme fraiche to sit atop tonight’s quiche lorraine, you’re not alone. One thing the My Kitchen Rules producers have done brilliantly is brought traditionally restaurant-exclusive techniques into the home kitchen.
From tempering chocolate, to creating thin almond tuiles finish off our desserts, there are many cooking and styling techniques that everyday home cooks are adopting after watching them on-screen.
Did you know what a ‘jus’ was before the show? Stop and think about that…
10. You can never have too much sauce
For devout My Kitchen Rules watchers, Manu’s luscious French accent demanding ‘where’s the sauce?’ probably still echoes in your head.
In fact, if you were to join the show yourself, you wouldn’t dream of serving up a lamb fillet without a generous serving of blue-cheese dressing or red wine jus.
And if this is the most important lesson we take away from the season, at least you can be assured your family will never eat a dry meal again.
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