Cooking for Real: Week 3 preview ...

Hi all! I've spent most of the day recovering from a late night - early rise thing. Got up this morning to go hang out with DJ Whoo Kid and Coach PR over at G-Unit radio on Sirius' Shade 45 channel. People called in from all over the country and we had plenty of fun. Thanks to the guys from Dallas, Virginia, New York and the especially the two guys from Miami that called in to chat and hit me off with some great real places to get a meal when I go down there for the first time. Yeah, been all over the world, but I've missed Miami, so it's on my short list, I want some Cuban food and a hot beach! So, when I go down, now I have Janet's and Tom Jenkins to look into for a meal. Can't wait! This morning we had food from the 1st show that aired, which was a New Orlean's theme. Tomorrow's show is all about Tex-Mex flavors.

I went to high school and basic training for the Air Force in San Antonio and after being stationed in South Korea for a year, I was sent back to San Antonio to finish my enlistment. It's such a great city a with all the military bases in town, there's a chance to really get some world cuisine in San Antonio if you know where to look. Something you never have to look for in Texas though is Tex-Mex. It's alllll over the place, from the street stand to the super expensive restaurants. I think my favorite recipe from tomorrow's show is the Huevos Rancheros. This is a dish you can find many ways in the southwest. It's usually plated though, so I thought I'd make it more compact. It just happened one day in the kitchen, how to make it without it looking like just an over easy egg with some beans, cheese, tortillas and salsa. After I got the recipe down, it was about making each component really work and have personality. So, why buy a salsa when you can make a fresh pico de gallo? Why use just refried beans in the can when you can hook em up a bit and make a spread? The black bean puree I make on the show is so good on so many things, try corn chips to start and it'd be a better layer in 7-layer dip than just beans from a can as well too. Have fun with the puree and the pico de gallo recipe because they are good for so many other things alone without the company of everything that makes them work for the Huevos Rancheros. I only came up with the puree part of the recipe just this year and wish I'd had it in my life longer. I sometimes add way more cumin than I listed in the recipe, but any recipe is just a good starting point, so find your blend if you use it.

Ok, now the Churros aren't something I fell in love with in San Antonio, I fell in love with them on a train in NYC. Every once in a while, you'll catch a lady selling churros out of a grocery cart in the subway system, not the same lady of course, they are all over the city. Anyway, I had one and loved it, but wanted it fresh and not from a cart that was sitting in the subway for hours waiting on me to buy it. So, I came up with a way to make a version of the sugary doughnut-like dessert at home. The hint of lime really takes the flavor over the edge! Mouth is watering as I type, these were hard to keep on set for the beauty photos we had to get after I prepared each menu item. A sure crowd pleaser, try 'em for kids parties and for adults as well :-).

Then the corn comes from Texas and Red Hook, Brooklyn. I'll talk about the eating scene in Red Hook in the near future here because the season for eating there is on the way with the good weather and more people should make the trek even though it is now getting super crowded due to all the press. The good with the bad :-). Ok, hope you can catch Cooking for Real tomorrow! here's the official show descrip...

RE0103: MEXIN-IT UP
Premieres: Sunday, April 20that 10:30AM ET/PT, Food Network
Some of the best Tex-Mex street food happens right in your own kitchen when Sunny Anderson whips up her Huevos Rancheros with Homemade Black Bean Puree, Mexican Street Corn, and Homemade Churros with a hint of lime.