Fearless in the Kitchen

Time Schedule

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Overview

Celebrity Chef Christine Cushing transforms terrible cooks into savvy, fearless chefs who can prepare tasty meals for family and friends. Each episode introduces viewers to a culinary – challenged participant who will be guided through a series of cooking-related tasks and challenges by Cushing in order to help them gain confidence in the kitchen.

In the end, the terrible cook is given one final challenge, where they must put their new-found skills to the test as they are thrown into a tense culinary situation, such as preparing food for 300 on the opening night of a major theatrical extravaganza – in only an hour and a half. Cushing will coach and encourage the cooks along the way as they try to prove that they can hold their own in the kitchen.

Episode 13 – Simone stove-a-phobic

Simone has avoided cooking her entire life by relying on her family, roommates and her husband. But now that she has someone counting on her – her newborn son, Jesse.  Christine wants Simone to start some family traditions and takes her on a baking adventure to make homemade cookies.  Simone’s confidence builds and Christine challenges her to make funnel cakes at the grand opening of FunLFun, a dessert emporium dedicated to making the “World’s Best Funnel Cakes.” Can Simone learn how to make delicious food that her family and friends will actually enjoy?

Recipes

Episode 12 – Vik: Dr: Takeout

Vik’s a doctor who never cooks.  He either eats out or relies on his friends to cook for him.  Christine decides that it’s time this vegetarian doctor learned to cook for himself.  She shows him how to make vegetarian staples, teaches him about the importance of herbs and then challenges him to prepare at fabulous dessert at on a busy night at a top French restaurant.  In the end, can Vik actually pull off a meal that will impress the friends who’ve been taking care of him for years?

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Episode 11 – Jessica: Can’t stand the Heat

Jessica’s idea of cooking is reheating frozen food.  It’s time for her to learn to cook and Christine is on the job.  After Christine teaches her to make amazing Jerk Chicken skewers, they head out on an adventure to make handmade empanadas.  With Jessica feeling a little more confident, Christine throws her into a huge challenge: prep, grill and serve seafood appetizers to over 200 VIP guests at Boy’s Night Out.  Later, when Jessica has to cook for her friends and family and the party size suddenly triples, can she take the heat?

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Episode 10 – John: Brutal on the BBQ

John’s a terrible cook. He can’t even use the BBQ. Christine decides that it’s time for John to be a man and learn how to grill. She shows him how to cook the perfect steak, and then takes him on an Oyster adventure – in hopes that he can prepare a surf and turf meal for his wife and friends. But before he can do that, Christine turns up the pressure and has him grill ribs for hundreds of people at an International Ribfest.

Episode 9 – Rosemary: Blue Suede Goo

Rosemary’s family doesn’t want her anywhere near the kitchen.  Her cooking is awful, but even worse, she’s set not one, but two, kitchen fires.  Christine decides Rosemary’s first challenge is to learn how to fight fires – from real fire-fighters. Later, Rosemary works as a short-order cook and is flabbergasted to learn that her biggest order is cooking for her favourite Elvis impersonator.  Later, she has to prepare a traditional meal for her very skeptical family.

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Episode 8 – Elaine

Elaine’s food is so bad; her kids won’t even eat it. Christine must turn this career-driven mom around so she can cook nutritious meals for her family. Focusing on Elaine’s love of Italian food, Christine takes her to make fresh pasta with the ultimate Italian Mama.  And, just as Elaine is starting to feel confident, Christine throws her into an Olympic sized challenge – catering a private dinner at the home of multiple gold-medallist Marnie McBean.  In the end, can she finally cook a meal her family will actually eat?

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Episode 7 – Elvira: Not funny in the Kitchen

Elvira Kurt’s a stand-up comic whose abysmal attempts at cooking are downright hysterical. Christine plans to change all that by harnessing Elvira’s on-stage confidence and bringing it to the kitchen. To get started, Christine has her make a homemade version of one of her favourites – gelato. After that, Elvira seems ready for anything — until she learns she must cook at a restaurant for a room full of her peers. Later, can Elvira dazzle her demanding mother with her new cooking skills?

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Episode 6 – David: Sir Kitchen Fire

David’s a charming and witty Brit, but he’s a disastrous cook who’s burnt down two kitchens.  Christine starts David at a healthy butcher, making sausages, and eventually challenges him to cook on the line for a gala dinner at Niagara-on-the-Lake’s Shaw Festival.  In the end, can David finally make a safe, edible meal for the love of his life, his wife, Bette?

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Episode 5 – Kathryn: Where is the Love?

Kathryn is an accomplished dancer who has trouble boiling water. Christine’s mission: to build Kathryn’s confidence so she can cook a phenomenal meal for her new fiancé and the rest of her family. Christine starts out slow, playing off Kathryn’s love of cheese, but eventually throws her into a huge challenge: cooking for the entire cast of The Sound of Music.  Later, Kathryn must cook for her future in-laws and her Scottish father, who wants nothing more than for Kathryn to finally put some love in her cooking.

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Episode 4 – Pina: Queen of the Frozen Foods

Pina is a fashionista with a hectic schedule and is the self-titled queen of frozen food. If it can’t be ready in 10 minutes, she doesn’t bother. It’s going to be a challenge turning Pina from useless in the kitchen to fearless in the kitchen, but Christine is up for it.  She helps Pina get hands-on in the kitchen at a cheese factory and then puts her to work at a panini grilling station at a wedding. Finally, Pina must cook and serve a stylish meal for her picky parents. 

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Episode 3 – Michelle: Burnt & Bland

Michelle loves to experiment with food, but she finds it daunting to cook new dishes for her overly critical family.   Christine has been enlisted to fuel Michelle’s cooking passion and takes her to a spice shop where they mix and play with different spices. After finding her spicy rhythm, Michelle must cook desert for an exclusive dinner party.  With cooking for the elite under her belt, cooking for her own family shouldn’t be a problem.

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Episode 2 – Vivian: Sweaters in her Oven

When Vivian’s children were growing up she was known to the neighbourhood kids as the maker of condiment sandwiches. Now, with her kids grown and out of the house, Vivian wants to learn to be fearless in the kitchen. Christine Cushing pays her a visit, samples Vivian’s inedible French toast and prepares herself for hard work.  After a visit with a chocolate artisan for inspiration and a dinner challenge of making crepes for 150 people, Vivian is set to astound her family with her kitchen bravado.

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Episode 1 – Susan: Ham and Nail

In the first episode, Susan, a busy career woman and mom, is clueless when it comes to cooking – having once garnished a ham with pineapples using nails – and is in desperate need of Christine’s help. Realizing that it’s going to be a long road to making this cook fearless in the kitchen, Christine sets out to give Susan the tools she needs to prepare savoury food for her friends and family. 

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