‘MasterChef’ recap: A butter-soaked throwdown

Did someone at Fox mix up the nights? Did someone sub in “Hell’s Kitchen” for an episode of “MasterChef”?

It was hard to tell the difference at times as four challenges rolled out in rapid-fire succession.

A steak challenge! An eggs Benedict challenge! A poached lobster challenge! And a burger challenge at chef Gordon Ramsay BurGr in Las Vegas that put four of the competitors through a hell that only the competitors over on “Hell’s Kitchen” could truly appreciate.

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When the smoke cleared, Kathy Prieto was sent home to the Bronx, but not without a Kleenex-worthy pep talk from the judges -- and what sounded like a possible job-offer-tryout-kitchen-tutorial from chef Ramsay.)

Tough as nails, with the heart of a lion, Kathy impressed the judges week after week (well, except cupcake week.) And even though she’d never made poached lobster before she was able to pick it up on the spot and execute it enough to give Luca a run.

But not enough to stick around.

“You proved I was wrong,” Joe Bastianich told her. “Keep climbing, kid.” And Ramsay told her to keep pursuing a dream of a career in the food world. “You are going places,” he said, and then urged her to look him up in his New York City restaurant to “start learning in the real world.”

Good luck, Kathy. You were the underdog, no doubt. But you leave “MasterChef” with everyone’s respect. Run with it.

What else did we learn this week?

--Beth can dish it out, but she cannot take it. (She called her team’s cauliflower dish disgusting, but then broke down into tears when Natasha lashed back. You can’t rip on someone’s dish without expecting someone to take offense, Beth.)

--Natasha can dish it out, and pity the fool who tries to dish it back to her. She is playing this one to win, down to allowing Beth to make almost all the decisions in the burger challenge because, hey, team leader takes the fall if it all falls flat. Nice? No. Smart? Yes.

--Bibi better hope he doesn’t win any more challenges. Because he can’t lead a team. And he knows nothing about women. Like, that they don’t like to be called fat. In public.

And Krissi ... can she do no wrong?

Counting down the minutes till Lidia arrives, and we see Joe get bossed around by Mama.

Anyone else craving butter poached lobster?

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