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- A woman sees an assassin outside San Francisco killing yakuza men and later in Vancouver. She's been told that he leaves no witness. Will she be his next victim or...?
- Anna and Kristina test recipes from "Betty Crocker's Cookbook". They decide on making eight recipes, all to be completed in two hours: chocolate chip cookies, picadillo chicken paella, macaroni & cheese, cheese biscuits, Caesar salad, beer battered fish, breaded pork chops, and cheesy hamburger hash. Being a cookbook that purports to have easy and quick recipes, the two believe they can ace preparing this meal. They decide to test the ease of the recipes by having two non-cooks also prepare two of the dishes. Anna and Kristina are unprepared for what can go wrong when they don't pay attention. The guest chef tasting the food is Stella Shurety - better known in the restaurant world solely as Stella - the British owner/chef of The Diner Restaurant in Vancouver, she who specializes in the type of home cooking purported by the cookbook. Nonetheless, she will be a tough chef to please. Anna and Kristina also taste test dark ales for the fish recipe, and stress test wooden mixing spoons. Anna finds out some distressing news about the hygiene of her own personal wooden spoons.
- In tackling recipes from the cookbook "Campground Cookery", city slickers Anna and Kristina head on a camping trip on the shores of Alouette Lake. The cookbook strives to have gourmet recipes that can be cooked outside on open fires. The recipes they will be attempting are braised beef round steak, grilled trout, reflector oven zucchini parmigiana, bannock, campground coffee, sweet potato stuffed apples, and cherry filled pudgy pies. One of their first tasks is to catch trout out on the lake, and if they don't, they will down one recipe. And if they do manage to catch a trout, they will have to figure out how to clean it. The other challenges they face are building a fire, and figuring out how hot it is since it doesn't have a heat gauge like a stove or oven. Their guest chef taster is Chili Thom, a gourmet chef and outdoor guide. If they and/or the recipes fail, they will have to hope that Chili, like most outdoorsy west coasters, is relaxed in his attitude. In addition, they evaluate chef knives based on their handles, and taste test canned cherry pie filling with expert pie makers.
- Anna and Kristina are testing recipes from the South Asian cookbook, "Mangoes & Curry Leaves". Unfamiliar with many of the ingredients listed, the twosome head to Vancouver's Little India neighborhood for inspiration, and get more than just culinary inspiration. They attempt seven recipes in four hours: tandoor naan, crisp fried okra tidbits, lamb kabobs, tamarind potatoes, star fruit chutney, cachoombar salad, and gulab jamun (fried sweet dough). They do a taste test of store bought garam masala - a South Asian spice blend - to see how it compares to home made, and a test of mortars and pestles, needed to grind spices which are so key to South Asian cooking. Regardless of how the cooking goes, they are nervous about the meal since South Asian food is one of their favorite cuisines, and the guest chef tasters are Vikram Vij and Meeru Dhalwala, husband/wife owner/chefs of the renowned Vij's Restaurant in Vancouver. But Anna and Kristina will at least look good for their guests no matter how the food turns out.
- 2008–201222mTV EpisodeAnna & Kristina spend one entire day tackling five recipes from Julia Child's iconic cookbook, "Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 1", the recipes being onion soup, green beans, scalloped potatoes, chocolate soufflé and pate de canard en croute (duck wrapped in pastry), the latter considered a difficult recipe to master. Partly due to the complexity of the menu, Anna and Kristina, as well as their guest taster, renowned French chef Alain Raye, are skeptical about how successful the meal will turn out. In the end, the food brings some smiles and laughs to Chef Alain. In addition, Anna and Kristina do product tests associated with two of their recipes, one on onion slicers, and a taste test comparing heritage and Pekin ducks.
- Anna and Kristina have six hours to prepare four dishes from renowned Mexican food chef Rick Bayless' cookbook, "Mexican Kitchen". Much like Bayless, Claudia Ibarondo, the executive chef of Vancouver's Tequila Kitchen Restaurant and the guest chef taster, wants Americans to know authentic Mexican cuisine, as opposed to Tex-Mex, which is what most Americans think is authentic Mexican food. The four dishes they will be preparing are guacamole, pork tacos with pickled red onions, braised chicken in Oaxacan black mole, and cajeta pudding. The multi-step mole is one of the most difficult of Mexican dishes to prepare, which causes Anna and Kristina's smoke detector to go off. Chef Claudia doubts if they will be able to conquer that specific recipe. Regardless of the success or lack thereof of the cooking, they hope that Chef Claudia will at least bring some tequila to drown their sorrows. In addition, they test various electric cast iron griddles, and taste test various types of hot chili peppers to decide which to use in their guacamole.
- With the trend toward tapas styled meals for at home dinner parties, Anna and Kristina test out recipes from a cookbook called "Small Bites", which only features recipes typical to cocktail parties. They attempt six recipes in two hours: margarita, celery & fennel soup with chilled grapes, prosciutto wrapped melon, seafood spring rolls, saffron chicken skewers with tomato jam, and raspberry meringues. Their guest chef taster is caterer Jonathan Chovancek, whose company, Culinary Capers, specializes in cocktail party type meals. Beyond the taste of the food itself, Anna and Kristina learn from Chef Jonathan two other important aspects of catering cocktail parties: the ease of eating the food served, and promptness of service. In addition to cooking, Anna and Kristina test manual citrus juicers through setting up their own lemonade stand, and decide if Serrano ham goes better with melon than prosciutto.
- Anna and Kristina tackle recipes from celebrity chef Jamie Oliver's seventh cookbook, "Cook with Jamie", which purports to be able to make its users a better chef. So they figure that there is no one better to be their guest chef taster than David Wong, an award winning executive chef and culinary instructor, whose culinary philosophy is strong on research. The two prepare seven recipes: overnight slow roasted pork, fresh crunchy prawns, asparagus risotto, beet salad, a green salad, shortbread (the best in the world according to the cookbook), and a fruit filled meringue. Jamie, through the cookbook, strongly recommends using fresh local organic food products, Jamie comparing commercially raised meat to cheap running shoes. So Anna and Kristina decide to make two pork roasts, one with organic meat and one commercially raised meat to see if there really is a difference. They also decide that there is nothing fresher than going to catch one's own food, so they go out with some commercial prawners to catch some spot prawns for their meal. For the green salad, they test salad spinners.
- In making recipes from the Japanese cookbook "Nobu West", Anna and Kristina think they've come across their most difficult cooking challenge thus far. The primary issues are an unfamiliarity with many of the ingredients and with some of the cooking techniques, and an intricacy of the recipes. They also learn that some of the equipment needed is specialized, and as such test sushi knives against chef knives in slicing maki rolls. They are also intimidated by their guest executive chef taster, Hidekazu Tojo, the owner/chef of Tojo's Restaurant in Vancouver, known as one of the premier Japanese restaurants in the world. Chef Tojo has his doubts as well at how well Anna and Kristina will do. The two attempt seven recipes: beef tataki, toro miso, bo herring sushi, frothing Dungeness crab, popcorn shrimp, pear gyoza, and a drink called sake mule. For the crab recipe, they blind taste test fresh cooked crab versus canned crab. At the end of the day, will their predictions of disaster come true?
- Anna and Kristina tempt their sweet tooth by making recipes from the award winning cookbook, "Pure Dessert", the recipes from which seem to have a twist unusual to desserts. Their guest taster is executive pastry chef and fourth generation chocolatier Thomas Haas and his two children. Chef Thomas is worried about the lack of success he anticipates with their attempt solely because baking, different than cooking, can at times be more a science than an art; the recipes need to be exacting to be successful. Anna and Kristina attempt five recipes: ice cream (the recipe in the book is a plain crema version, but they decide also to make a vanilla version to compare the two), tarragon tuiles, chocolate pudding, ice citron vodka chocolates, and honey caramels. They give themselves four hours to complete the recipes, which unlike cooking recipes is spent primarily in letting the desserts set. For the caramels, they taste test various types of honeys. And they test saucepans for heat distribution and how well they stand to physical abuse.
- The actual cooking may not be the most difficult aspect of Anna and Kristina's latest cooking challenge, but understanding what all the unfamiliar ingredients are. They are tackling six recipes from "Chinese Kitchen", a cookbook that strives to provide its users with knowledge to cook authentic Chinese cuisine, and not the Chinese fast food that so many North Americans know as Chinese food. They admit that the actual cooking will also be a challenge, as food is more than just sustenance within the Chinese culture and as such it will be difficult to impress their guest chef taster, television chef Martin Yan. In the five hours of cooking, they are preparing basic cooked rice, hot & sour soup, sweet & sour pork, shrimp marinated in green tea leaves, beggar's chicken, and glutinous rice cake. They are most concerned with the chicken dish - the most difficult in their estimation - and the rice dessert, as Chinese cuisine is not known for its sweets. For the shrimp recipe, they taste test green teas to see if there is a difference between tea made with loose leaves and tea made with tea bags, which is generally made with what is considered inferior tea. And they test which material makes the easiest to handle chopsticks.
- Anna and Kristina aim the food they're cooking to a younger demographic: children. The cookbook, "Deceptively Delicious", professes to have healthy recipes that are kid friendly. Many of the recipes contain vegetables purées to hide the vegetables from discriminating kid palates. While they prepare the meal - lasagna (with sweet potato and cauliflower purée), tortilla "cigars" (with squash purée, which is supposed to resemble cheese), blueberry lemon muffins (also with squash purée), brownies (with carrot and spinach purée), chicken nuggets, (also with spinach purée), and green eggs (ditto to the spinach) - they are also babysitting a bunch of kids, who will be fed this meal. Another person being fed this meal is their guest chef taster, Mary MacIntyre. A former pastry chef, Chef Mary has opened her own family friendly aka kid friendly restaurant called Little Nest in Vancouver which aspires to good tasting and healthy food for both kids and adults alike. Because of the number of purées they had to make, Anna and Kristina test various blenders. And a bunch of kids and Anna taste test butter substitutes (melted) on popcorn.
- Anna and Kristina travel to Tuscany to test the cookbook, "Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking". There, they decide first to go to cooking school to hone their culinary skills. They better be paying attention as their guest executive chef taster is Umberto Menghi, the owner of the school who admits that he thinks the two are going to "screw up". The two have extra pressure in pleasing him as they will feed him immediately after he gets off a trans-Atlantic flight. In just under five hours, they attempt seven recipes: tomato bruschetta, asquacotta (a Tuscan peasant soup), Tuscan meat rolls with porcini mushrooms, fettuccine with butter & sage, sautéed chicken with lemon & parsley, ham & potato croquettes, and zuppe Inglese for dessert. As they are making homemade fettuccine, they get a lesson on hand made pasta from a local Italian woman, and test various pasta rollers and cutters. As an essential ingredient of Italian cooking, they also ask locals to blind taste test various North American supermarket brands of olive oil.
- The 2007 25th anniversary edition of the award winning cookbook, "Silver Palate", is the book from which Anna and Kristina will be cooking. Their guest executive chef taster is Karen Barnaby, the executive chef of the Fish House Restaurant in Stanley Park in Vancouver, and a cookbook author herself. Anna and Kristina attempt an ambitious menu of cassoulet, creamy mushroom soup, shrimp & artichoke salad, saffron rice, hunter styled carrots, gougere (cheese puffs), and crème brulee. They are most concerned about the cassoulet, which takes a minimum of two days to prepare and has nineteen steps. Chef Karen is skeptical if they will be able to complete the recipe in the time they've allotted. For the mushroom soup, they hope to be able to harvest wild mushrooms with the assistance of a mycologist. In addition, they test the heat resistance capabilities and handling of various over mitts, and Kristina wants to try out an unusually designed egg separator.
- Based on the restaurant of the same name, Anna and Kristina cook recipes from "The French Laundry" cookbook. The cookbook's recipes of five star gourmet fare are intricate processes not to be rushed, and as such they decide to make two recipes only in eight hours: pig's feet with green lentils, and crème de farine with poached apples and ice cream. They are especially concerned about how to prepare the pig trotter for cooking. To match the ambiance of the cookbook, Anna and Kristina travel to the Okanagan Valley to cook in the kitchen of Terrace Restaurant, which is the restaurant of the Mission Hill Estate Winery. In 2008, the restaurant was rated in the top five of all winery restaurants in the world. Their guest taster is the restaurant's chef de cuisine, Michael Allemeier who hopes the two have passion in their cooking. He especially hopes they put passion into cooking the pig's feet, which he considers a special treat. Despite the cookbook specifying a specific variety, Anna and Kristina taste test apple varieties for their dessert, a perfect test for the apple growing Okanagan Valley. They also put various types of cutting boards to the test.
- As busy working women, Anna and Kristina are really hoping they will love television personality Nigella Lawson's latest cookbook, "Nigella Express", as it purports to contain good tasting recipes for traditional comfort foods that are quick and easy to make but that are still good enough to serve at dinner parties. Their guest executive chef taster Stephan McIntyre is skeptical. The philosophy of Chef Stephan, the executive chef at Burgoo Bistro in Vancouver, is that slow cooking is the way to go if one wants to develop flavor in food, and that shortcuts in cooking are not worth it if they compromise the overall quality of the dish. To see if the recipes are indeed quick and easy, Anna and Kristina attempt six recipes in two hours: breakfast bars (akin to granola bars), roquamole (a combination of guacamole and a sour cream & cheese based dip), chicken liver salad, macaroni & cheese, high speed hamburgers & fast french fries, and chocolate pear pudding. They are confident that they can easily complete the recipes in the short time frame, but too are skeptical that Chef Stephan will like them. They are most worried about the macaroni & cheese as a slow cooked version of it is a specialty at Burgoo. Because the recipes are written for a British sensibility where ingredients are often measured by weight rather than by volume, Anna and Kristina test various kitchen scales. And along with eighty women, they taste test a number of different commercially available granola bars.
- Anna and Kristina have high hopes for the recipes from "The Oprah Magazine Cookbook" solely because everything associated with Oprah Winfrey seems to turn to gold. The cookbook is comprised of recipes from sixty different contributors to the magazine. In their pre-tests with the cookbook, both were so far impressed with their dishes. However it all counts when their guest chef taster comes in for the prepared meal. That person is Melissa Craig, the accomplished twenty-something executive chef of the high end Bearfoot Bistro in Whistler. For her, Anna and Kristina are making five dishes in five hours: beet salad with grilled red onions & manouri cheese with a kalamata vinaigrette, callaloo soup, Moroccan chicken with cous-cous, homemade gnocchi with sage pesto, and maple syrup pie. For their recipes, they taste test different types of chicken broth, and they product test different pepper mills.
- Anna and Kristina are making recipes all using one ingredient, "Garlic, Garlic, Garlic", which is also the name of the cookbook from which the recipes come. Every recipe in the cookbook does contain garlic, even the desserts. The six dishes they will be attempting, which contain in total ninety-one cloves of garlic, are: bagna cauda, gazpacho, artichokes with a mint vinaigrette, spiral bread loaf with onions & garlic, garlic chicken (which in itself contains forty cloves of garlic), and a honey garlic sauce for ice cream. They are a bit nervous about especially the dessert, but also their guest chef taster, Andrea Froncillo, the owner/executive chef at The Stinking Rose Restaurant in San Francisco, he who eats, lives and breathes garlic. The restaurant goes through approximately forty tons of garlic per year. As Chef Andrea is flying in directly from San Francisco, Anna and Kristina and their meal are at the whim of the chef's flights and their possible changes. In addition, they product test garlic mincers and compare them to mincing garlic using a chef's knife. And they taste test different varieties of garlic.
- Anna and Kristina are not looking forward to testing their latest cookbook "How to Grill" as use of a barbecue is generally the domain of the male. They are however looking forward to getting out of the house as they are going to be cooking outside at Nat Bailey Stadium for the players of the Vancouver Canadians triple-A baseball team. They will also be cooking for their guest chef taster, Bob Haselbach, also known as BBQ Bob, a two-time barbecue grand champion. They learn from Chef Bob the difference between barbecuing and grilling. Anna and Kristina's all day barbecuing/grilling menu consists of beer can chicken, Texas brisket, Kansas City pork ribs, stuffed "hot dogs" (they will be using veggie dogs to provide a vegetarian option for their food tasters), corn on the cob, grilled stuffed cabbage, smoky potatoes, and roasted pears. They are caught up in two debates: if there is a difference between gas and charcoal barbecues, and if it is better to husk or not husk the corn for grilling. They also taste test veggie hot dogs with a bunch of unsuspecting baseball players. At the end of the day, they find that barbecuing is easier than other activities taking place at Nat Bailey Stadium.
- Before testing the cookbook "Jewish Home Cooking", Anna and Kristina take a field trip to New York City, the North American center of Jewish food. The cookbook strives to teach the home cook not only about traditional Jewish home cooking, but how it has transformed itself within North America and how to make it more healthily than it was a century ago. They attempt to make six dishes: gefilte fish, whitefish salad, chicken soup with matzo balls, pot roasted brisket, potato knishes, and challah. Their guest executive chef taster is Jeff Nathan, the owner/chef of Abigael's on Broadway, arguably the premier kosher food restaurant in New York City, if not the US. Flying in from New York for this meal, Chef Jeff is hoping the two will be able to pull off the meal, but will be brutally honest with them if it is not up to standards. Despite some problems specifically with the knishes, Kristina manages to do some damage control. Anna is not so lucky with the matzo balls, but is proud of her work on the recipe which she placed the most focus, the challah. In addition, they test various smokers to hot smoke whitefish, and they taste test various brands of jarred kosher dill pickles.
- Anna and Kristina test recipes from one of the most influential books - not just cookbooks - of all time, "The Joy of Cooking". They are using the 75th anniversary edition of the book. From the book which has gone through transformations over its history but which still retains many old fashioned recipes, they are making both new and old dishes, six in total, in four and a half hours: caldo verde, grilled salmon with watercress mayo, cheese soufflé cockaigne, ham steak with red-eye gravy, green beans with onions, tomatoes and dill, and plum pudding with hot foamy sauce. Their international guest chef taster is Tom Douglas, a Seattle based restaurateur who owns no less than five restaurants. He considers "The Joy of Cooking" one of his favorite cookbooks. Regardless of Chef Tom's evaluation, Anna and Kristina are hoping to feel the joy when they're cooking. Meanwhile, they test various potato peelers and taste test various types of salts as finishing salt.
- Can heart healthy cooking be tasty? That's the question posed by Anna and Kristina in testing "The New Lighthearted Cookbook", which solely contains heart healthy recipes. To their chagrin, most of the recipes are light on the addition of salt, which they consider necessary for flavorful cooking. Will their guest chef taster agree? He is Eric Arrouze, a personal chef to the stars who specializes in healthy cooking. His philosophy on the matter is the best ingredients are needed to make simple foods taste good. For him, Anna and Kristina will be preparing eight dishes in four hours: whole wheat oatmeal bread (prepared in a bread machine, but baked in a standard oven), hamburger patties, cucumber relish, broccoli & mushroom dip, mushroom stuffed zucchini, tofu Alfredo, curried chicken crepes, and blueberry flan. In addition, they taste test low fat plain yogurts (with one full fat variety thrown into the mix), and product test various bread machines.
- In testing recipes from "The New Intercourses", Anna and Kristina place a lot of pressure on themselves. The cookbook deals with foods with aphrodisiac qualities and serving such food in a sensual manner, so they are going to be serving their meal not only to a guest chef taster, but also to their blind dates. The chef taster is Daryl Nagata, an executive chef who among other things creates a special Valentine's Day meal in cooperation with an herbalist to incorporate aphrodisiacs into the meal. Anna and Kristina are preparing seven dishes: black bean salad (which they all don't understand can be an aphrodisiac due to the gaseous after effects), avocado and pine nut salad, shucked raw oysters, sausages in fig sauce, rabbit in mustard sauce, quick chocolate croissants, and indoor s'mores. Anna and Kristina and Chef Daryl each talk about the sensual qualities - or non-sensual qualities as the case may be - of the dishes chosen. In addition, Anna and Kristina, with the assistance of a forensic scientist, test the myth of oysters as aphrodisiacs. And they test a variety of pastry brushes on an unusual painting surface.
- Anna and Kristina feel that cooking from the cookbook "Alinea" is a daunting task. A year after it opened in 2004, Alinea Restaurant in Chicago was voted the best restaurant in America. The cookbook is a companion to the restaurant, where the food they serve looks as much like works of art than things to consume. Much of what they prepare at the restaurant is through the magic of molecular gastronomy. An immediate difficulty for the two is to find the ingredients required in many of the recipes. They are attempting only three recipes in five hours: black truffle explosion with romaine & Parmesan, bison with braised pistachios, potatoes & sweet spices, and caramel popcorn liquefied. Their guest chef taster is Warren Geraghty, executive chef of the famed West Restaurant in Vancouver. His concern is that the two may not understand the unusual cooking methods and the preciseness which some of the recipes require. Chef Warren also stresses the importance of presentation with such dishes. Regardless of how their attempt at cooking the dishes turns out, Anna and Kristina do give the A&K stamp of approval to the actual restaurant. Because one of the recipes calls for its use, Anna and Kristina also test vacuum sealer machines and bags.
- Anna and Kristina are excited to be cooking from television chef Giada De Laurentiis' first cookbook, "Everyday Italian", as they love comforting home made Italian food, on which this cookbook purports to focus. All the better if the recipes are easy to make, and contain ingredients on most Canadian pantry shelves. Because of the ease of the recipes, they are attempting more recipes than ever before, nine, in the span of five hours: tapenade, prosciutto wrapped bread sticks, roasted red pepper salad, spinach & mushroom ravioli, polenta with Gorgonzola, osso bucco, eggplant rollatini, tiramisu, and garnished store bought pound cake. Their guest chef taster is Gennaro Iorio, the executive chef at La Terrazza Restaurant which specializes in old-styled Italian dishes. Because Italian meals center on family, they will also be serving the meal to Chef Gennaro's Italian family. Despite the supposed ease of the recipes, miscalculations on both Anna and Kristina's part may sabotage the meal. Meanwhile, they product test different food processors, and taste test various canned tomato brands.
- Anna and Kristina are excited about tackling recipes from the cookbook "Thai Food" if only to be able to learn about many of the exotic ingredients unfamiliar to them. They are making six recipes in eight hours: egg mousse with pineapple, corn & salted duck eggs, crispy fish cakes with sweet pork salad, pad thai, chicken curry with basil, ginger & peanuts, jasmine rice, and egg white custard with coconut. Their guest chef taster is Brian Marchesi, who has worked at some four star restaurants and now owns and cooks at Chada Thai Restaurant in suburban Vancouver. Although Anna and Kristina think the dessert will be the easiest dish, Chef Brian is most worried about that as Thai desserts have a certain delicacy to their nature. Kristina has another challenge when it comes to the meal, doing a task that ends up consuming most of her time. In addition, they taste test different varieties of canned and powdered coconut milk and wonder if it measures up to making one's own coconut milk from fresh coconuts. They also product test different pineapple corers and slicers.
- Anna and Kristina are making recipes from the cookbook "New Food Fast", containing elegant recipes which purportedly can be made quickly. As such, they give themselves a challenge: make four recipes between the two of them in thirty minutes. The four recipes are white bean tuna salad (ten minutes), sweet chili prawn cakes (twenty minutes), rack of lamb with gremolata (thirty minutes), and Amaretto French toast (ten minutes). They will start their cooking at exactly the same time their guest chef taster Dino Renaerts leaves his restaurant, which is thirty minutes away. Chef Dino is the executive chef and sommelier at Diva at the Met, a high end restaurant located in Vancouver's business district, the restaurant whose lunch clientèle is made up primarily of business people who want and need a quick meal fast. Despite the relative ease of the recipes, Chef Dino thinks Anna and Kristina have bitten off more than they can chew within their time allotted. He feels that the two working together may be more of a liability than benefit. A slow oven may ultimately be their downfall. Meanwhile, they taste test canned versus home cooked beans with some experts on another type of beans. And they product test different types of hand whisks.
- 2008–201222mTV EpisodeAnna and Kristina have a number of special challenges in preparing a meal from recipes in the "Martha Stewart Living Christmas Cookbook". First, they are preparing a total of nine dishes: hot buttered rum, rosemary breadsticks, blinis with caviar, glazed carrots with ginger, Brussels sprout salad, turkey with pear chestnut stuffing and giblet gravy, potato chive soufflé, cranberry chutney, and bouche de noël for dessert. Second, they want to live up to the exacting standard of the cookbook's celebrity author, Martha Stewart. Third, this meal will be an actual Christmas dinner. Fourth, their dinner guests will be Anna's family, including her mother Sally Beattie, her older sisters Lisa Samstag, Laura Bincik and Amy Wallner, and Amy's infant daughter Chloe. And fifth, their executive guest chef taster is Sally, who is a caterer by profession and who has always been in charge of the elegant Wallner family Christmas dinners. Will this dinner live up to that Wallner family Christmas dinner standard? In addition, they product test hand held electric mixers, and taste test various brands of rum for their hot buttered rum drink.
- Fitting with today's health conscious society, Anna and Kristina are testing recipes from the cookbook "The Best Light Recipe" which provides healthier versions of classic high fat recipes. Beyond their main cooking challenge, Kristina also undertakes her own challenge of using tips from the cookbook to lighten up a chocolate cupcake recipe she already has to see if the results still taste good. For their main meal, they are making roasted artichoke dip, chicken Caesar salad, fettuccine Alfredo, oven fried chicken, and New York styled cheesecake. With the latter, they are making the lower fat version in the cookbook as well as a full fat regular version for comparison purposes. Their guest chef taster is Julian Bond, who among other things was named rising young chef of the millennium by a national newspaper and is a culinary instructor. He believes that natural fats, such as butter and animal fats, are required for flavor and are on the most part healthier than many fat substitutes. Therefore, he is skeptical of the cookbook and dismisses recipes that, in their alterations to be lower calorie, fundamentally change what they purport to be. He shows his skepticism by bringing Anna and Kristina special gifts. Chef Julian may be in for a bit of a surprise. Meanwhile, they test the durability and heat capabilities of various celebrity chef endorsed non-stick skillets.
- Self-professed carnivore Anna, in preparation for her and Kristina testing the cookbook "Vegetarian Meals" by Good Housekeeping, went meatless for a week in the lead up to the big meal. Going meatless was not as big an issue for Kristina. They will be preparing six dishes: sweet potato stew, lo mein with tofu, carrots & snow peas, leek & goat cheese quiche, microwave carrot risotto, tofu 'egg' salad, and nacho casserole. Regardless of their carnivorous status, Anna and Kristina are skeptical if they will like the recipes - based most specifically on the over-use of prepared food products and under-use of added flavorings - let alone impress their guest. Their executive chef guest taster is Yves Potvin, a French chef renowned for making soy based protein products. The meal could be even worse than Anna and Kristina envisioned because of something outside of their control. In addition, they product test various produce cleaner fluids against washing with a vinegar/water solution and washing with plain water. And they taste test different brands of goat cheese.
- Going against the general societal trend, the mission of the latest cookbook that Anna and Kristina will be testing is to show the public that cooking with "Fat", specifically animal fat, is a good thing, especially in adding flavor to food. In four and a half hours, they are preparing five dishes: roasted marrow bones, miso & orange roasted pork belly, vegetable cake, chicken Kiev, and beignets. They have added pressure for the meal in that their executive chef guest taster is Andrey Durbach, not only the chef of a group of high end restaurants in Vancouver including La Buca, but also a former high school colleague of Kristina's who intimidated her then and intimidates her now. Hopefully an admission by Chef Andrey about high school life will soften the blow if he doesn't like the food. In addition, they taste test store bought salted butters against their own home whipped butter. And they product test various thermometers specifically for deep frying.
- The cookbook that Anna and Kristina are testing, "The Best of the Best and More", is a compilation of recipes from the previous six "Best of Bridge" cookbooks - with some updates - as well as a few new recipes leaning toward current food sensibilities. First published in 1975, "The Best of Bridge" was a compilation itself of recipes from a group of friends who played bridge together. The cookbook authors purport that the recipes are easy but gourmet quality. Anna and Kristina are skeptical as some of the recipes, which seem to be a throwback to olden times, do not seem to match the new sensibility of eating healthier and fresher foods. They in particular do not like the over use of prepared foods, such as canned soup. And they think that some of the newer recipes have what sound to be an odd combination of flavors. In three hours, they are preparing six recipes: phyllo wrapped samosas, Regina beach coleslaw, hamburger soup, fettuccine Alfredo with sambuca & cranberries, classy chicken, and fruit cocktail cake. Unlike all their other meals, they will not be serving this one to a professional chef, but rather to talk show host and cookbook editor Vicki Gabereau, who is nonetheless a food aficionado. Vicki is not skeptical of the cookbook - how can millions of cookbook buyers be wrong? - but of Anna and Kristina's ability to pull it off based on feedback from one of their previous "victims". Vicki's prophecy may be self-fulfilling, despite the ease of the recipes. Anna and Kristina also product test can openers, and they taste test various types of cabbage, both eaten raw and in coleslaw.
- In testing the cookbook "The Cake Bible", Anna and Kristina are only attempting one cake, but are facing their most daunting challenge yet. The one cake they will be making, which is a three day process, is a wedding cake for a real wedding. Being a small wedding, they are making a three tier white cake, but one on which they will be adding all the trimmings: lemon curd mousseline filling, homemade fondant covering the cake, and royal icing pearls and red hand made marzipan roses as decoration. For a self-admitted opinionated bride, the cake is an important aspect of the wedding, so they have no room for error. An error in even one step could ruin the entire cake. Providing advice is expert pastry chef Sylvia Weinstock, renowned in New York society circles for her elegant cake creations. In the end, Anna and Kristina have advice for those wanting to make their own wedding cake to save money: don't! In addition, they test different types of food coloring, to see which is most true to color. And they test ball bearing rolling pins to see which material is the best.
- Anna and Kristina are testing recipes from the cookbook "Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics" by television chef Ina Garten, also known as the Barefoot Contessa. The cookbook strives to provide recipes and tips for low hassle entertaining. They will be testing the cookbook by attempting six recipes in three hours: pomegranate cosmopolitans, Italian wedding soup, bruschetta with peppers & Gorgonzola, coq au vin, roasted butternut squash salad and pumpkin roulade with ginger cream. They may have a bigger challenge than usual since their guest taster is not a chef per se, but rather renowned and opinionated food critic Jamie Maw who because of his profession tells it like it is. His critiques are not only on food itself but everything associated with the dining experience. As such, chefs and restaurateurs can be intimidated by him. Anna and Kristina, despite some hiccups along the way, are buoyed by Jamie's final comment to them post-meal. In addition, Anna and Kristina taste test various brands of bacon, and product test cocktail shakers.
- Anna and Kristina are excited about the concept of the cookbook that they are testing, "Entertaining with Booze" as they have been know to imbibe when whey are at parties. However as they pretested some recipes, they found that the added alcohol was more often than not not needed to provide additional wanted flavor, and often had the exact opposite effect of making the dish off tasting. They are hoping that on meal day, things might be different. They are attempting six recipes in two and a half hours: Ruby Tuesdays, a BLT salad, roasted stuffed pork with a cognac sauce, caramelized onion & pear pastries, beer braised mussels with coriander & orange, and chocolate Cabernet peace offerings. They guest tasters know a thing or two about booze. They are Neil Ingram, the co-owner and sommelier at the acclaimed Boneta Restaurant in Vancouver, and Michaela Morris, a wine consultant. Regardless, they can all either compliment or drown the taste of the meal, depending on how the meal turns out, with a nice glass of wine. In addition, Anna and Kristina take a trip to Mission Hill Estate Winery to learn about what to look for in a good Riesling. And they experiment with different methods of storing an open unfinished bottle of red wine, the test being how the wine tastes after several days.
- Anna and Kristina are testing recipes from "The Flexitarian Table", which purports to solve the problem of having to cook meals for the household that has both meat lovers and vegetarians. The concept is to provide a basic framework for a recipe that can be made either with meat or as a vegetarian option, with the vegetarian option not being an "afterthought" as many vegetarian dishes in mixed meals often tend to be. The guest taster has some doubts. He is Nico Schuermans, executive chef and owner of Chambar Belgian Restaurant and neighboring Medina Café in Vancouver. Being Belgian, Chef Nico is used to a meat based cuisine, and is skeptical about claims that such recipes can be so easily converted without additional flavorings on the vegetarian side. He will have a chance to try seven dishes made by the twosome which they will prepare in four hours: spring vegetable & apple salad, crispy pressed chicken, crispy pressed tofu ("crispy pressed" being one of the convertible recipes), a slow cooked braise with white wine & escarole in both a lamb shank version and a vegetarian red bean version, cauliflower polenta, and pizzoccheri casserole. Being Belgian, Chef Nico would like a good Belgian Trappist beer with his meal. In addition, Anna and Kristina test Dutch ovens to see which material cooks a pot roast the best. And they taste test different varieties of extra firm organic tofu, plain.
- Anna and Kristina take a departure from their regular testing of a cookbook to the testing of a magazine, specifically "Gourmet". A monthly, "Gourmet" was first published in 1941 and offers its readers a wide variety of recipes, from the simple everyday to the more challenging for the true gourmet. In five hours, they are making five dishes, each taken from a different edition of the magazine: mozzarella (from scratch), pupu platter, buffalo salmon with watercress, Argentinian beef with chimichurri, and twelve layer mocha cake. Their guest chef taster is Pino Posteraro, the executive chef of the famed Cioppino's Restaurant in Vancouver and who was named 2008 chef of the year by "Vancouver Magazine". Despite the apology that Anna offers Chef Pino on his arrival - they failed in their attempt to make one of the dishes - would they be able to impress him with the other four? Their cause may be helped in what the chef doesn't know about their day. In addition, Anna and Kristina take a field trip to Mission Hill Estate & Winery in BC's Okanagan Valley to learn about pairing wine to food. They also product test rimmed baking sheets to see which material is the best to use.
- Anna and Kristina believe that cooking recipes from "A Cowboy in the Kitchen" will be a breeze because of the perceived unrefined nature of chuck wagon cuisine. To get inspired, they are preparing their meal outdoors at Stump Lake Ranch. Their executive chef taster is flying in all the way from Texas for the meal and will be difficult to please. Terry Chandler is the owner and head chef at Fred's Texas Café in Fort Worth, he who also runs real chuck wagons at cattle ranches. He feels that the quality of the beans and biscuits are the true measure of any chuck wagon feast. In addition to sourdough biscuits (they are not making beans), Anna and Kristina are preparing four other dishes in five hours: jicama & carrot coleslaw, smoked rib-eye steaks, son-of-a-bitch stew, and pecan pie. For one dish, Kristina bribes Anna to do the unsavory work required. At the end of the day, Anna and Kristina vehemently disagree with Chef Terry's assessment, but not in the way they have with previous guest tasters. In addition, they test different styles of knife sharpeners, and they taste test different varieties of what are considered premium beef.
- "A Good Catch", the latest cookbook that Anna and Kristina will be testing, is a compilation of recipes from several different chefs. The common theme is the use of sustainable seafood. Their guest chef taster is Robert Clark, the executive chef at among other places C Restaurant in Vancouver. This restaurant was one of the first restaurants to sign on to the Ocean Wise program, which promotes the use of only sustainable seafood products in a restaurant's menu. All cooked outside in three hours, the two will be preparing five dishes: shaved geoduck salad, gingered cantaloupe soup with spiced crab & prawns, baked halibut with herbed pesto & warm spring salad, cedar planked glazed salmon (which they attempt to catch themselves), and oyster pie. They may have an extra challenge in pleasing Chef Robert, who dislikes little in terms of food, but detests cantaloupe. Regardless of how the meal turns out, Anna and Kristina do admire the thought of using only sustainable seafood, but may not be too pleased with some of the more unfamiliar seafood ingredients. In addition, they taste test different varieties of raw oysters.
- 2008–201222mTV EpisodeAnna and Kristina have taken on their most intimidating challenge in tackling recipes from "Chef Daniel Boulud Cooking in New York City" if only because Daniel Boulud is a three star Michelin award winning chef and one of the most renowned and famous chefs in the world. Because they want to make sure they perfect the recipes, they are only making three dishes in five and a half hours: white asparagus with poached egg dressing, open lobster ravioli with pea purée, and coconut rochers for dessert. They will not have one, but three guest chef tasters, who are all intimidating in their own right. The first two are Stephane Istel and Dale MacKay, the executive chefs of DB Bistro Moderne and Lumière respectively, both which belong Chef Daniel's group of restaurants. But Anna and Kristina do a first in this series in that the third guest taster is the cookbook author himself, Chef Daniel Boulud. Will the meal be up to what Chef Daniel's expectations of recipes from his cookbook are? Meanwhile, Anna and Kristina product test miniature greenhouses for the peas they will need to grow for their ravioli recipe. And they taste test various brands of Dijon mustard.
- 2008–201222mTV EpisodeAnna and Kristina go into preparing recipes from the cookbook "Lucinda's Authentic Jamaican Kitchen" with just a little skepticism, despite author Lucinda Scala Quinn's pedigree as head of Martha Stewart's test kitchen, if only because of her not being Jamaican. They are making six recipes in three and a half hours: rum punch, ackee salt fish with Johnny cakes, beef patties, paw paw pepper sauce, jerk pork, and pineapple upside down cake. Their guest chef taster is Prince Rowe, a born and bred Jamaican and executive chef at Kingston 11 Reggae Café in North Vancouver. Before trying the food, Chef Prince is even more skeptical about the cookbook's claim to authenticity, especially as the dessert itself is not typical Jamaican fare. Anna and Kristina think they themselves will like the food, but aren't sure if it will meet Chef Prince's knowledge of what is truly Jamaican. As they are going to cook the pork on an outdoor grill, they product test miniature outdoor grills. And they compare different ethnic varieties of hot sauces.
- Despite thinking the book title a little cheesy, Anna and Kristina are excited about testing recipes from the cookbook "Bon Appétit, Y'all", which has as its focus southern American foods cooked with a French flair. To truly capture the essence of the cookbook, the two decide to go on the road and cook their meal in Savannah, Georgia. There, their guest taster is Sallie Ann Robinson, a cookbook author and true southerner, whose other claim to fame is that she, as a child, was a student of future author Pat Conroy, who wrote of his experiences with Sallie Ann and her classmates on Daufuskie Island, Georgia in the book, "The Water is Wide". She credits Conroy in part for her love of cooking, especially gullah cooking, the true cooking of the south. Anna and Kristina will be preparing seven dishes in three hours: hushpuppies, green beans Provençal, funeral grits, coca-cola glazed baby back ribs, fried catfish fingers with country remoulade, Meme's fried chicken with gravy, and peach soufflés. The two are confident that they will like the food, but aren't sure if it will meet Chef Sallie Ann's expectations of true southern cooking. In addition, they test different type of gravy boats, and take a trip to a peach farm for advice on choosing the right peaches for their dessert.
- Anna and Kristina go into testing recipes from the cookbook "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives", based on the television show of the same name, with a sense of ease as they figure that diner food - standard American cuisine - can't be that difficult to cook. They also go into the process figuring that diner food is not something one would always want to eat because of the high calorie content. They will be preparing seven recipes in four hours: Captain Crunch french toast, Cheryl's coleslaw, pork & sweet potato empañadas, inside-out burgers, Mike's Chili Parlor chili, peanut pie, and the XXX root beer frost. Their guest chef taster is Olympic gold medal winning figure skater Brian Boitano, who now hosts his own cooking show. His passion for cooking came after his skating career ended as it allowed him to get away from the constant need to count calories. Although diner food may appear easy, he wants the food packed with flavor. Anna and Kristina admit they are in awe of their guest not so much for his cooking prowess but his athletic prowess. Anna and Kristina soon find out that although they think the recipes will be easy, that does not mean that disasters cannot occur. And a little improvisation may be the key to success. In addition, they test both metal and synthetic flippers, an essential tool for use on a diner grill, and they taste test different varieties of root beer that are easier to find in Canada than the one listed in the recipe.
- Anna and Kristina find that their next cooking challenge is a bit daunting because the cookbook they are testing, "How to Cook Everything", is a huge 2,000 recipe collection that spans a gamut of cuisines. However, the purpose of the book and its recipes seems to be to provide useful advice to the novice chef to be able to cook anything using generally available pantry ingredients, and thus the actual cooking should be simple. They are preparing six recipes in four hours: baba ganoush, gougères, cherry tomato salad with soy sauce, almond stuffed braised squid (which they hope to catch themselves off the coast of Washington State), butternut squash pansotti, and lemon meringue pie. They are even more daunted by their guest taster, Frank Pabst, the executive chef at Vancouver's famed Blue Water Café. They equate his name with perfection. Chef Frank does have high expectations for Anna and Kristina, and doesn't believe they can live up to his expectations. Because of Chef Frank's reputation, Anna in particular is fanatical about perfecting one of her Achilles heels, namely the pastry for the pie. But she is able to pass along a short cut tip to Kristina which makes Kristina's day regardless of how the food turns out. In addition, they test different types of graters needed to grate the lemon zest for the pie.
- Anna and Kristina go back to an updated version of an old standard, "The New Moosewood Cookbook", as their next cookbook to test. It was one of the first and still is one of the most popular vegetarian cookbooks in North America. They go into it with different palates, Anna who is a confirmed carnivore, and Kristina who leans much closer to being vegetarian by not eating much red meat. They are preparing six dishes in four hours: vegetable walnut pate (which the author claims tastes like chicken liver pate), pita bread, Scheherazade casserole, Kristina's potato salad (named after an unnamed Kristina and not the Kristina that will actually be preparing it on the show), eggplant curry, and iced carob brownies. Their executive chef taster is Lisa Ahier, the owner of Tofino located Sobo (which stands for Sophisticated Bohemian), named one of the top ten restaurants in all of Canada. Chef Lisa believes that vegetarian cooking is much more difficult than cooking meat, but that the Moosewood Cookbook should provide a great basic grounding in doing so. All three also believe that fresh ingredients are key to good vegetarian cooking, and neither understands trying to make vegetarian dishes taste like meat. At the end of the day, Anna and Kristina have surprising reactions to their dishes and the cookbook as a whole. They also test different brands of mini-choppers, which will hopefully make their task of chopping all those vegetables easier. They test them both for use and durability.
- As busy working women, Anna and Kristina like the concept of the latest cookbook they are testing, "The Skinnygirl Dish", as it purports to simplify cooking for the non-cook. In addition, the recipes are lower calorie versions of many standards. In reading through the cookbook however, they feel that author Bethenny Frankel, one of The Real Housewives of New York City (2008) takes the simplicity to too far an extreme where cooking is deemed to be a non-enjoyable experience, and food itself is solely sustenance. Their executive chef taster, Manouschka Guerrier, one of the Private Chefs of Beverly Hills (2009), concurs and believes that if Anna and Kristina follow the recipes to a T, the food will be awful. Regardless, Anna and Kristina attempt to make seven recipes in only three hours: mojitos, artichoke & spinach dip, sweet tomato soup, dungeness crab tian with avocado & mango, wasabi tuna sliders with pickled ginger & cucumber relish, lower fat pasta carbonara, and 1-2-3 cookies. Despite the ease of the recipes, Anna and Kristina are pressed for time to complete the meal preparation before Chef Manouschka's arrival. Will the food be as bad as all three are expecting, especially the carbonara made with soy milk? In addition, Anna and Kristina taste test different types of milk substitutes as the recipes in the book are milk free, and they test different types of muddlers needed to make the mojitos.
- Anna and Kristina are hoping to have some fun while testing the cookbook "Bite Me", which takes a lighthearted approach to cooking food using everyday ingredients. They will be preparing seven dishes in three hours: chicken tostada cups, stacked sushi, mango and cranberry salad, meatloaf with mushroom gravy, sweet and sour halibut, pasta puttanesca, and fudgy double layer chocolate cake. Their guest taster is New York based executive chef Sam Talbot, who may be best known for his appearance as one of the more popular contestants on the cooking show Top Chef (2006). Instead of being judged as he was on that show, self-professed laid-back guy Chef Sam will be doing the judging on the one thing he takes very seriously in life, namely food preparation. In preparing the meal, Anna and Kristina notice two themes in all the dishes: the use of a lot of sugar, and extremely long ingredient lists, the latter which they find somewhat surprising for a cookbook purporting to have easy recipes. By the end of the meal, Chef Sam provides two extreme evaluations to Anna and Kristina. As the cookbook also provides comments on must have and "dust collector" kitchen gadgets, Anna and Kristina test different varieties of one of the gadgets in the latter group, namely avocado slicers. Will Anna and Kristina concur with the cookbook authors that avocado slicers in general are dust collectors? And they visit a local cranberry farm to learn about the fruit's harvesting.
- Anna and Kristina are starting at the end and finishing at the end by preparing recipes from "Le Grand Livre de Cuisine", a cookbook containing recipes solely of high end desserts. They have never been more intimidated by any cookbook as it is used by professional pastry chefs who require little instruction, which is what this cookbook seems to provide. However, the book's author does refer to home chefs using it, which provides a little comfort to the two. They are preparing four recipes in four hours: caramel variations (which in and of itself has five different components, which are then assembled together), pistachio nougats, crepe Suzette, and Louis XV bread (which is shaped to look like a fanned open book). Their executive chef guest taster is Thierry Busset, a Michelin star award winning pastry chef, who intimidates Anna and Kristina as much as the cookbook does. Chef Thierry doubts they will be able to master the recipes because of their difficulty and preciseness. As Anna and Kristina go through cook day, they nearly decide not to complete their meal preparation due to frustration. Meanwhile, they test different styles of flours to see what the results are going to be for a quick bread. And they test mixing bowls made of varying materials to see the appropriate use, if any, for each.
- 2008–201222mTV EpisodeOn the surface, the new cookbook that Anna and Kristina are testing, "Three Sisters Around the Greek Table", one with home styled Greek recipes, is perfect. It looks great, Greek food with its bold flavors is popular, the recipes are not overly complicated or difficult, the directions seem straightforward, it has great features such as a listing of preparation time for each dish, and it is award winning. Will this on surface perfection translate into their meal? They are preparing six dishes in three hours: olive tapenade with goat's cheese on pita chips, stuffed grape leaves, bread salad with asparagus and tomatoes, moussaka, one thousand layers of vegetables (in reality, only five layers), and custard purses. Their guest taster is restaurateur and cookbook author Harry Kambolis. Although none of Chef Harry's award winning restaurants, such as Nu, C, and Raincity Grill, are Greek, he himself is ethnic Greek. He admits that his cultural background makes him opinionated, which he will be when evaluating Anna and Kristina's attempts to prepare the type of food he grew up on. In addition, Anna and Kristina test different types of cherry pitters to pit Kalamata olives, and they taste test different varieties of feta cheese.
- 2008–201222mTV EpisodeAnna and Kristina are holding "Williams-Sonoma 'Christmas Entertaining'" - the latest cookbook they are testing - to a slightly higher standard if only because meals for the holidays need to be just a little more special than usual. The cookbook provides several set menus for differing holiday entertaining situations. For three and a half hours on meal day, they are preparing the 'Christmas Eve in the City' menu, which consists of six recipes: Belgian endive with crème fraiche, capers and ahi tuna, shrimp bisque, crab salad with green apple and grapefruit coulis, beef tenderloin with shallot and Syrah reduction, twice baked potatoes, and almond apple tart. Because the cookbook provides not only recipes and menus but also tips and advice on all aspects of entertaining, they will be judged by not one but three guests, each with their own expertise: chef, cookbook author and cooking instructor Caren McSherry who will be judging the food, Vancouver sommelier of the year Kurtis Kolt who will be judging the wine pairings with four of the dishes (based on twelve wines he has previously provided to them, but not telling them which wine may go with which dish), and party planner Colin Upright who will be judging décor (Anna and Kristina will be using a set centerpiece outlined in the book). Despite the fire in the kitchen, will Anna and Kristina create that festive atmosphere and meal associated with Christmas?