The seven home cooks who made it through the first episode return to face two more challenges designed to gauge both their creativity and culinary repertoire. The first is the Market Challenge, in which each of the seven is tasked with inventing a dish on the spot from a market full of ingredients, including monkfish, quail and lamb. The pressure is on because at the end of this test one contestant will be sent home.
The remaining six then face their most difficult assignment so far - cooking a dish to a brief set by one of the country's toughest food critics, Tom Parker Bowles. Tom tries to get their creative juices flowing by asking them to cook a dish inspired by their favourite holiday destinations.
Only four cooks can go through to the quarter-final. Who can handle the pressure and show they have what it takes to move another step closer to being crowned MasterChef champion?