Jess Hall

MasterChef Australia is back and tonight each hopeful cook has 60 minutes to produce their dish. If the judges like the dish, they're through to the next stage. If not, sadly, they're heading home.

The pantry is open, there's 75 minutes on the clock and the contestants are asked to cook the dish they'd cook every day for the rest of their lives if they found themselves on a desert island.

It's the end of the first week in the MasterChef kitchen and the winners from yesterday's challenge will cook for an immunity pin. But it won't be easy, they'll be cooking against chef Curtis Stone.

Rick Stein joins the judges and chooses the ingredients for the next mystery box challenge, including cuttlefish, pine nuts, basil, garlic, tomatoes, Australian raisins and marrow bones.

A few dozen home chefs battle it out in the Masterchef Kitchen to earn the best chef title, judge by top Australian chefs.

Today contestants cook outside the MasterChef kitchen for the first time. Their challenge is to create a feast for volunteers, truckies, farmers and their families impacted by drought in Briagolong.