Sunday, June 29, 2008

What I Had For LINNER: Beef on flavored skewers



Hey hey hey! It's faaaaaat Sunny!!! And I'm gonna sing a song for youuuuuuu .... I've been cooped up eatin' a thing or two-ooooo.

Teeheehee ... a lil ode to Fat Albert. I've been cooking all weekend just getting some recipes together and then of course feeding myself. So, here's what I decided on for linner ... I marinated some beef chunks in balsamic with garlic, olive oil, cilantro, lime, salt, pepper and a tap of cayenne. Then well, you can kinda see the rest, some jalapenos, red bell pepper, pineapple and red onion. I got the flavored grill sticks from my local cooking store ... real neat. I actually wasn't trusting the infusing of the flavors promise on the package, but out of the two flavors I used I could really taste one of them. I used the Honey Bourbon and the Citrus Rosemary. I could really taste the latter, the other not so much. I think my marinade could have over powered the honey bourbon, but all was still yummy. On the side I made some orzo with a light cream sauce, broccoli and parm. That's it ... and I'm back to work on some palmiers. Hope you are having a great weekend, I can't wait to watch NFNS tonight. The weather in NYC is crazy this weekend, sunshine, then rain, then thunder, then more rain. Can't wait to start the week. Check in tomorrow and I hopefully will have some news one various places I'll pop up in the next week or so to promote the new shows. I'm so excited! Ok, if you catch NFNS tonight, check the website for the FN Dish viewing party with me and Adam Roberts. Again ... Linner for a recipe developin' chick on a Sunday early evening ....

8 comments:

Unknown said...

Sunny..those skewers look good. I like the flavor profile on that. With a bit of cayenne..spice is always nice. Hmm, atleast you have some sun. It has been fog city here all week. And with the smoke we now have smog, so I have been staying in. Yes, watching NFNS..Cat Cora is on tonight..she's great. Have a fabulous week! Anything exciting planned for the 4th of July?? I think I am gonna keep it simple and fire up some burgers with cheddar on the grill.
BTW..your intro was funny..hey, hey, hey!!

Monica H. said...

Sunny! You probably don't remember me but I just had to drop by to tell you congrats on your new show on the Food Network! Obviously, God is blessing you in so many ways!! You light up the screen in such a fabulous way and I wish you many successes to come!! Good luck and Best Wishes!
Monica Ortega Holcomb

Jazzy said...

Yummy!!!

I caught the show...sometimes I wonder what these judges really expect of people.

They give you the impossible task and then berate you because your more human than machine. Sheesh!

They all act like they don't remember when THEY were new and doing THEIR first episodes.

If you haven't seen it yet, I won't give it away!

The weather this weekend was SUCKTASTIC!!!!! I truly wish mother nature would make up her friggin mind already.

Nikki @ NikSnacks said...

Hey, Sunny! Those skewers look good, girl! And recipe development? The story of my life! LOL Those flavored grill sticks, if you don't mind me asking, what brand are they? I've never used them before. I teach cooking classes and I think my participants might like something like that. I'm sure I can find some on the cheap at Tuesday Morning, TJMaxx or something, but where did YOU get yours?

Darius T. Williams said...

Dinner sounds good - that orzo especially. I cooked last night too - had a few people over. I was soooo excited about corn I told you about, I did it again - this time I added swiss and bacon to the pot. Yummy!

I saw NFNS. I didn't think ol' girl was gonna make it too much farther. She was really comfortable during the interview moments - but after that, it was DOWNHILL. And to break that bottle the way she did all over the acorn squash and ol' girl's only piece of confit...WHEW, I know she was PISSED.

Geez though, I'm not a mushroom guy - so the beef wellington didn't do me any good. I did wnat to try that tur-duck-en dish and the deconstructed coq au vin too.

Question for you: you should do a post about how you got started. As I understand it, you used to do radio. Now you're on the Food Network BLOWING UP...you're officially an inspiration...so you should tell us how it all happened.

Sunny Anderson said...

alex, thanks. only thing planned for the 4th is work! details this week ...

about us, a maiden name will do the trick, you look very familiar. high school i'm guessing. pep squad?

opinionated diva, ditto on the weather, and lemme tell ya ... the show. the judges. these challenges are realistic. i've seen some comments around the net about how no fn person is given a dish they've never had and had to describe it ... uhhhh yeah, it happens. i'll give a few ways, but it has happened more than a few times in the history of the network i'm guessing. it's totally par for the course. we were taping a show, and had extra time to fill, so we added a drink. this is a drink with elements i'd had before, but never together and i had to put together a blend i liked and describe the flavor on camera not 5 minutes after we decided to add it. i've also had to in the middle of a show change a cooking method due to time constraints. i mean one time it completely changed my recipe and presentation. i had to compensate and work on the fly. i mean it was a total departure from the original recipe. conception, change and cook it all with out planning. but i got a new recipe out of it and loved the change i was forced to make due to time constraints. pretty hard when you have your mind set on a specific recipe. but it happens. other times are on a travel show when asked to eat and emote to the camera what you are tasting. i gotta tell ya, it may seem exaggerated, but when you are under the gun and the camera is rolling, the pressure is on ... why not create some pressure before you hire the person to see how they handle it? i kinda liked jenn fiddling for words whe describing lisa's dish that one time, it was like omg ... nothing? you can say nothing? she's a sweetie, but not a descriptive one.

nikki, the skewers, i got them at happy home, it's my local spot i've written about before. and the skewers are at seasonedskewers.com ... i didn't put the brand in the post cuz i didn't want people to think i'm promoting them ... they are pretty good. made by a company called callisons fine foods. like 8 flavors or so ... only two in myself, next up indian mango curry.

darius, you know what? orzo is all over the place lately to me, so i bought some and went to town. i think about the 3rd orzo dish in as many weeks. all different ways, i'll share in the future hopefully :-). and a teeny bit of my transition story is in my myspace blog ... but to sum it up, hard work man, just crazy belief in my plan and goals and lots of tears. just gotta trust yourself and what the world has to give you. i think it'd take a bit to tell some of the key moments that really mattered to my forward movement. i'm just happy to be here man, ooooweee, so happy. i stressed myself out over this one and continue to ... but the good kind of stress, the kind that pushes you into the unknown. my life has been plenty of unknowns, so i'm ready.

Roopika Risam said...

Bobby Flay had to describe someone else's crabcake on Throwdown the other day, so I thought the NFNS was totally believable!!! But I kind of laughed at what happened to the duck confit, since L was being a little uppity about it being the most perfect addition to the stuffing. Mmmmm would love some turducken right about now.

Sunny Anderson said...

roobee, oowwwee u read my mind, not that i want the turducken, but it made me want turkey and stuffing and all that comes with it. then duck as well, just saw some hanging in a window nice n crispy the other day. i love food network for that reason, it totally inspires a person to cook, or at least eat! lol ... yeah, rolling with the punches is part of the game, so she did an ok job of losing the prized confit. poor jenn, i dunno who opens a bottle like that, i'm tellin ya, nerves will make you do some crazy things. we've spoken since at and she seems to be handling her exit very well. cool chick.