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The ultimate food fight

Locals vie for win in Family Cook Off, airs Thurdsday
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Al and Sheila Carter face off in cooking challenge on Family Cook Off.

It’s been almost nine months since the taping and finally Al and Sheila Carter will be able to watch themselves cooking for a crowd in False Creek.

The Carters, along with their daughter Suzanne Andrews and granddaughter Elizabeth, will be appearing on Family Cook Off, a new series on the Food Channel.

Three generations of the Carter family answered the casting call for families who want to cook together.

“I was thrown in the deep end by my daughter,” says Al Carter with a laugh.

It all started with a casting call put out by the Food Channel for families interested in working together in the kitchen.

Suzanne Andrews lives in Trenton, Ontario as does her daughter Elizabeth.

Elizabeth is the pastry chef in the family, said Sheila.

“When we all get together, 16 of us, she happily bakes for all of us.”

The Carters themselves are no strangers in the kitchen. They own the Whiffin Spit  Lodge B&B

and cooking has always been an interest. They went to Tuscany to a cooking school with Chef Angelo Prosperi-Porta from Cooper’s Cove and they have travelled all over the world over the years sampling the cuisine.

“There’s nothing we don’t like,” said Sheila.

It was an easy fit from that point of view, said Al in regard to going on Family Cook Off. So they formed the team of four and luckily they were chosen. The filming took place at an outdoor kitchen in False Creek in Vancouver last summer. Two families faced off against each other to compete for the coveted Golden Frying Pan and $1,000 worth of groceries,

Family Cook Off, over the course of the show, will feature a total of 24 families demonstrating their cooking skills, enthusiasm and  organization. They will be judged by a pair of pros, Anthony Sedlak and Trish Magwood with ET Canada’s Kim D’Eon as the series host.

The competition actually started long before the filming began. Sheila and Al and Suzanne and Elizabeth tested recipes in their own kitchens coming up with the submission of an entree and a dessert.

Once on set they had 20 minutes to prepare, cook and present their dishes to the judges. Teamwork was important as the time flew by rather quickly. Al said it was 20 minutes in real time, no time for errors.

The Carters cooked up the seafood linguini they had been testing but were thrown a secret ingredient once on set. Asparagus was substituted for the spinach they normally use and that took a little more prep time.

“It mucked up our time a little bit,” said Sheila.

Dessert was a lemon sundae arrangement with a raspberry coulis and cream.

When the show finished filming, those who mentioned anything about the winners on Facebook were asked to remove it to ensure the secrecy and integrity of the show, said Al.

The premiere of the Carter family’s adventure into the world of the Food Channel, airs on Thursday, Mar. 15 at 9:30 p.m. The Carter/Andrews team is featured in episode 6. Two back-to-back episodes start at 9 p.m. with an earlier  airing at noon.

The Carters are long-time Sooke residents who moved to the community from Ottawa. After eight years of Ottawa winters, the couple knew they needed to make a change. When the opportunity came to transfer to Rocky Point to work for the Dept. of National Defense they took it. After having travelled all around the world, the West Coast was where they wanted to be. They kept returning to Sooke and finally settled in. This was to be their 28th address. Sheila always wanted to run a B&B and the old Mugford/Vowles house suited their tastes. Many renovations and upgrades later, the B&B is a thriving business for Sheila and a welcome home when the kids visit.

The recipes used by the Carter/Andrews team will be available on the website after the episode airs. Go to: foodnetwork.ca/ontv/shows/family-cook-off/recipes

The series was filmed by Vancouver-based  Force Four Entertainment for Shaw Communications.

Saucy Seafood

Linguine

Ingredients:

3 tbsp. olive oil

2 tbsp. butter

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

3 shallots, chopped

2 dried chillies, chopped

6 medium tomatoes, chopped in small chunks

21 jumbo shrimp

9 scallops, sliced in half lengthwise

3/4 cup white wine

1 1/2 cups pasta

1 teaspoon sugar

12 ounces dried linguine

3 stalks asparagus, cut into 5 cm pieces

chopped basil, to garnish

lemon zest, to garnish

salt and pepper

(store-bought Italian strained tomatoes)

Directions:

Sauté shrimp and scallops in half the butter and olive oil. Remove from heat.

Sauté shallots, garlic and chili in remaining butter and olive oil for 2 minutes.

Add chopped tomatoes and cook until soft.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add linguine and cook for 8 to 9 minutes or until al dente. Drain.

Season softened tomatoes with salt and fresh ground pepper.

Add wine, pasta (Italian strained tomatoes) and sugar and simmer for two minutes.

Add pasta, shrimp and scallops to the tomato sauce and adjust seasoning. Plate and garnish with chopped basil and lemon zest.

 

Courtesy of Family Cook off