12 to 16 contestants with poor cooking skills are taken through an eight-week culinary boot camp, to earn a cash prize of $25,000. The recruits are trained on the various basic cooking techniques including: baking, knife skills, temperature, seasoning and preparation. The final challenge is to cook a restaurant quality three-course meal for three food critics.
Episode 1
In the series premiere, 24 terrible home cooks arrive in New York City, hoping to be selected for a 10-day culinary boot camp with chefs Beau MacMillan and Anne Burrell. Then, the field is narrowed down to 12 hopefuls and they begin competing for a $25,000 grand prize.
Episode 2
The recruits learn five fundamental knife skills at the Arirang Hibachi Steakhouse. Then, each attempts to prepare a teppanyaki-style dish. For the Main Dish Challenge, Anne and Beau post a recipe on the blackboard, only to erase it halfway through the challenge.
Episode 3
The importance of flavor is emphasized when the recruits learn to make crepes. Then, Anne and Beau teach the basics of marinating and grilling.
Episode 4
The recruits learn how to make fresh pasta. Then they prepare a variety of hors d'oeuvres while catering a 30-person cocktail party.
Episode 5
The final four recruits learn to cook a complicated dessert before teaching the dish to a group of high-school football players. Then the finalists must reinvent the terrible dish they cooked for Anne and Beau on their very first day.
Episode 6
Season 1 comes to a close as the final two recruits prepare a three-course meal for food critics, who think they're eating dishes prepared by Anne and Beau. Then, the amateur chef who serves the best-executed meal is declared the winner.
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