Slidell family to cook on show
A “joyous” Slidell family will square off against some singing siblings from Florida in the debut episode of GSN’s “Beat the Chefs” Thursday night.
In the new series, amateur home cooks compete against a trio of professional chefs, each team making its version of a favorite meal of the amateur team. In the end, judges determine which family “beat the chefs” and wins $25,000.
The Bulots from Slidell call their team Jougs of Joy in honor of their late mother, Joy, who they say never used conventional measurements while cooking, she just put in “a joug of this and a joug of that.”
The Bulots will use shrimp and potatoes to make their specialty, barbecue shrimp with garlic bread and their grandmother’s potato salad.
Jougs of Joy includes Kristine Bulot, who works in client services; Angelle Bulot, a document control manager; Boyd Bulot, a caterer; and Richard Bulot, a fishing company manager.
The playfully argumentative siblings learned cooking from their mother, according to a GSN news release. As kids, the boys would throw live crabs into their sisters’ bathtub, the release also said.
The Florida family competing against the Bulots calls itself the Singing Weavers. Having grown up singing in the church choir, the brother and sisters now sing while they cook and will make chicken and dumplings with greens for the show.
The professional chefs are Beau MacMillan, known for his victory over Bobby Flay on “Iron Chef America” and as co-host of “Worst Cooks in America”; Antonia Lofaso, a competitor and favorite on “Top Chef” and a finalist on “Top Chef All-Stars;” and Jeff Henderson, the first African-American executive chef at the Bellagio in Las Vegas and author of the New York Times bestselling memoir “Cooked.”
Judges are well-known food and travel journalist Brad A. Johnson and Christy Jordan, publisher of SouthernPlate.com, a website dedicated to classic Southern recipes and quick and easy family favorites. Celebrity judge for the first episode is actor Eric Roberts.
The host is Matt Rogers, a finalist on the third season of “American Idol” who is continuing his country music career.
“Beat the Chefs” airs at 8 p.m. (cable Channel 221).