Fearless in the Kitchen
Upcoming episodes
Sep 30th
600a
Max: Max ‘n’ Cheese
The only thing Max can make is Mac’n’cheese. So Christine has her work cut out for her as she tries to teach this culinary novice the rules so he can create well-balanced meals for his fiancé and kids. Max goes from massacring mac’n’cheese, to learning how to make artisanal taco chips and salsa, a sizzling Mexicali stir-fry and a cheese soufflé for high-end restaurant patrons. But has he developed the skills that will allow him to create a dish that will give him the thumbs up from both his kids and his fiancé? One thing is for certain, this terrible cook will keep Christine jumping as she attempts to put the Max into Mexican.
Sep 30th
630a
Ann: Soy Sauce and Salt
When it comes to cooking Ann doesn’t have a clue about flavor. The only seasonings she ever uses are soy sauce and salt. It’s an uphill battle as Christine tries to take Ann’s palette from bland to grand. Ann goes from creating crappy Caribbean rice and peas, to a blind taste test to tantalize her taste buds. Ann also learns to make a scrumptious spiced lemon shrimp, and plunges down a culinary rabbit hole as she attempts to put the pizzazz into a pizza for a packed room of VIPs. The question is, can Ann take everything she’s learned to create a flavorful sensation that will cause her son, and the rest of her family to offer her a standing ovation. One thing is for sure, it’s a treacherous trek as Christine attempts to spices up Ann’s life.
Oct 1st
500a
Lisa: Any Given Sunday
Just the mere mention of the word ‘cooking’ is enough to send Lisa into a downward spiral of defeat. After all Lisa has more culinary mishaps under her belt then bottles of half eaten condiments in her fridge. From hockey puck hamburgers to scorched frozen food Lisa has never had a success in the kitchen. Lisa goes from screwing up scalloped potatoes to discovering how to bake fresh bread. She also gets cozy with cooking Cornish hens and attempts to put her ducks in a row when she makes duck canapés for patrons at a high-end restaurant. This time Christine will have to work 24/7 if she wants to help Lisa make Sunday dinner a new tradition that her family will always want to observe.
Oct 1st
530a
Zain: How to Look Good Cooking
32-year-old television host, Zain is so busy that he generally only eats twice a day and the food is either take-out, catered or quickly thrown together from the raw ingredients in his sparsely populated fridge. What Zain wants more than anything is to learn how to make healthy meals not only for him but also for when he entertains his many celebrity friends. So Zain moves from obliterating an omelette to learning the five steps to searing sashimi from a professional chef. He also stirs things up with a Vietnamese Soup and demonstrates his newfound skills when he blitzes an upscale restaurant with his own special Blinis and Borscht. Christine will be pushed to her culinary limits as she tries to get this television host with the gift of gab to take his cuisine from drab to fab.
Oct 1st
600a
Carlie: Where’s There Smoke There’s Carlie
Carlie is an executive assistant who is in dire need of assistance in the kitchen, that is, besides the 911 type she received when she burnt salmon so badly that fire trucks arrived at her door. More often than not Carlie attempts to mask her culinary failures under a layer of various condiments. From mustard to honey barbeque sauce there isn’t a half filled bottle of sauce in her fridge that Carlie has not employed at one time or another. Carlie really wants to learn how to properly prepare meat so she can host a dinner party that doesn’t end up with firemen as unexpected guests. Carlie grows from creating cookie chaos to finding out the process of smoking the ribs she has won contests eating. She also learns how to properly prepare pork chops and finds herself in a heated situation when she attempts to make ice cream for a huge culinary event. Christine will be up to her ribs in it as she attempts to bring Carlie from frightened to fearless in the kitchen.
Oct 1st
630a
Aaron: Reheat, Eat, Repeat
The only thing Aaron has ever successfully prepared is boiled dumplings. So it’s a good thing then that, at 35, this sales and marketing representative still lives at home and can generally rely on “meals by mom”. However, Aaron fears that if he doesn’t figure out to cook soon, he may be single forever. Aaron dives in and attempts to make crab cakes and then finds himself in a pinch when he learns how to prepare lobster from an expert. Next up he learns how to make a creamy lobster pasta dish and tries to get lucky with his lime tarts for a special Ladies Night. Christine will be swimming upstream as she tries to build Aaron’s culinary confidence, after all for Aaron this is a “bake it or break it” situation.
Oct 2nd
500a
Melissa: No Cook Zone
On the cooking ability scale from one to ten, Melissa is a self described negative ten. This flight attendant and pregnant mother's chicken ‘specialty’ once sent her husband to a specialist. More than anything Melissa would love to get over her cooking frustration and learn to make hearty family meals from scratch. After a failed quiche experiment that leaves Christine queasy, Melissa learns it's not always as easy as apple pie when she visits a top pie maker. Then it's time to tackle her paltry poultry skills with a chicken piccata, and turn up the heat as she prepares crepe suzette tableside to a crowd of demanding lunch goers at a top French restaurant. Christine will have to soar to new heights if she hopes to bring this flight attendants’ cooking skills up to snuff so she can make meals her whole family will enjoy.
Oct 2nd
530a
Anna: No Country For Non Cooks
An adventurous 29 year old, Anna may have traveled the world but she doesn’t know her way around the kitchen at all. From fried cucumbers to flash fires, Anna has been banned from cooking more times than she can count. Thankfully, up until now, Anna has been able to rely on Sasha, her culinary student kid sister who was clearly the one who inherited their ex-restaurateur grandmother’s gastronomic prowess. After Anna struggles with an old family classic, potato pancakes, she's off to the butcher to take a stab at making bison burgers from scratch. Anna then has to stuff her fears in her back pocket when it's time to stuff peppers with Christine, and finally it's out of the paella pan and into the fire to impress some VIP's at a Spanish wine tasting event. Anna may be fearless about a lot of things, but it’s going to take a huge leap of faith for Christine to put the fight into Anna’s cooking plight.
Oct 7th
600a
Olena: Son-Day Dinner
Olena came to Canada with her wit, determination and a suitcase full of her mother’s recipes that she couldn’t make. After years of struggling in the kitchen where she has created such delicacies as pasta bathed in ketchup and poached chicken breasts in water sauce, fish, Olena wants to expand beyond her key ingredient; water. With her son on the cusp of flying the proverbial coop, Olena’s biggest fear is that he will never want to come home from university if she only has “bad food” to serve. After Olena annihilates fried chicken, she churns up some old memories of her mother when she learns how to make butter Black Creek Pioneer Village style. She also learns how to bake cream cheese biscuits which profits her when she attempts to make chocolate profiteroles for patrons at a high-end restaurant. From kooky to culinary Christine has a lot to tackle as she attempts to teach this martial arts instructor a cooking move or two.
Oct 7th
630a
Frank: Band From the Kitchen
Frank is a guy on the go. With four kids, a managerial position at a recreation centre and a part time job as the front man for a rock band, Frank barely has time to cook, let alone refine his culinary skills. Frank really wants to learn how to cook so that he can not only provide hearty home cooked meals for his kids but also to inspire them to learn how to cook so they will be able to provide for their own families. Franks goes from goopy goulash to learning how to create the perfect cheesecake. He also learns to prepare a nutritious feta and spinach stuffed chicken breast as well as to take centre stage when he attempts mini-cheesecakes for a room full of VIPs including one of his rock idols. Poor Frank can sell a song, but his family isn’t buying his cooking. If Christine can help him find his way, then Frank will end up a star on the stage and in the kitchen.