Spoilers ahead for “Family Recipe Showdown” on Food Network.
The contestants on Food Network’s latest show “Family Recipe Showdown” gave their spin on two of Al Roker’s favorite recipes.
Al and his daughter Leila starred as guest judges on the July 17 episode of the new Food Network show, in which two family members on each team showcase their household recipes — and put their own twist on others for a chance to win $10,000.
The episode starts with three teams — Mamaw Gail and her grandson Ethan, sisters-in-law Antoinette and Pamela, and sisters Haley and Rachel — as they try to wow judges Octavia Spencer and Edgar “Dook” Chase with their versions of a Southern classic — biscuits.
“Biscuits are in our genes,” Haley said to her sister as they started the challenge. “We’re making a buttermilk biscuit, like Nana does it, layered with a lot of butter.”
“We can’t really go wrong if we use those recipes,” Rachel replied.
Haley and Rachel wowed Octavia and Dook with their biscuits with tomato gravy, along with Mamaw Gail and Ethan’s goulash and biscuits — the dish that ended up winning the challenge.
But Octavia and Dook felt Antoinette and Pamela’s biscuits didn’t rise high enough, so the pair were sent home after round one.
For the second challenge, Al and Leila walked out to the contestants’ delight.
“Al Roker walks through the door — like, America’s weatherman!” Ethan said.
Al then explained how important cooking is to the Roker family.
“When we were growing up, my mother, my grandmother all cooking, but they didn’t write anything down,” Al said.
The judges revealed the next challenge: Take two of Al and Leila’s favorite family desserts and make them their own. Al offers up his famous baked apple crisp, and Leila, the baker of the family, suggests her lemon meringue pie.
Since Mamaw Gail and Ethan won the first challenge, they got to pick which one they’d revamp, and after some deliberations, the pair chose the apple crisp.
“We’re going with Al’s — we’re going with the apple!” Ethan said, leading Al to pump his fist and shout, “That felt good!”
Haley and Rachel got the lemon meringue pie, and the challenge began.
“It took Al two years to write his cookbook, and now you have to reimagine two of his dishes in just 60 minutes,” Dook said, before Octavia reminded them that the winning team will get $10,000.
“When you’re making pie, that’s a lot of dough,” Al said, leading everyone to laugh at his pun as the challenge started.
Haley and Rachel decided to turn Leila’s lemon meringue pie into a parfait, with each layer representing a memory of their family, including sweet-tea infused lemon custard and a gingersnap layer.
Meanwhile, Mamaw Gail and Ethan worked on their take — an apple cobbler crisp with whipped cream.
Over the course of the hour, Octavia, Dook, Al and Leila checked in on the contestants, and the teams explained why winning the competition would be meaningful to them.
Ethan got emotional as he explained his grandmother lives in a single-wide trailer, and Haley and Rachel said they’re representing a long line of cooks in their family.
Mamaw Gail and Ethan presented their dish first, and Mamaw Gail said she made an apple cobbler with a crisp on top.
“I think we should call it a crobbler,” Al said, before commenting on the simple presentation of the dish.
“I think that’s the beauty of it,” he added. “It evokes home.”
Al loved the lightness of the dough underneath, and Dook loved the balance of the whipped cream paired with it. Octavia lauded the crispiness of the topping, which Al also said he was “blown away” by.
Next, Haley and Rachel presented their parfaits. Dook said he loved the lemon custard, and Leila said she thought the gingersnap throughout was “the perfect amount.”
“I think we executed really well, but I’m still nervous,” Rachel said.
The four judges then announced the winner: Mamaw Gail and Ethan.
Mamaw Gail put her hands over her mouth as Ethan yelled and jumped up and down, before hugging his grandma.
“We just won $10,000!” Ethan said.
“It’s just an amazing lifetime experience,” Gail said.
Octavia then asked what the pair would spend their prize money on, and Gail said she wants to get rid of her 2004 vehicle, wiping tears from her eyes.
“She’s driven it as long as I knew her,” Ethan said.
Octavia said the pair earned it throughout the competition, and that they also earned their way into the judges’ hearts.
“All right, listen, we’re in the South, we hug it out — let’s hug it out,” Octavia said, ending the episode with a lot of embraces.
When asked what’s next for them, Ethan said working on a cookbook, while Mamaw Gail had a simple answer: “Gettin’ back home so I can cook Sunday dinner.”
