Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Sowwy ... enter the recipes ...


Hey all! So, the Wendy Williams Show was such fun yesterday!!! I didn't even think to take pictures, so I'm waiting on a copy and then I'll upload the segment, may take a week or so, but I'll get it up. I got there at like 8AM and we went through a rehearsal to make sure the camera and director knew where we'd be during the live segment. They call it a "run-through" or "walk through" and the coordination of the cameras and stuff is "blocking". So, midway through my blocking Wendy came on set and she was just sooooooo sweet! We'd never met, but I'd been singing her praises for years and recently someone here on this blog told me in a comment that she said something sweet about me on her radio show. So, to say thanks, I sent her a little something and viola, here we are. Her husband was there as well and he was just as friendly as she was. I'd heard so many good things about him from a former co-worker that introduced the now married team years ago. So, we did the walk through and went back upstairs to finish hair and make up.
Antonio Sabato Jr. was on before me and our dressing rooms were right across from each other ... he is very handsome in person! I heard a producer tell him I was next door and he was like "who?" lol!!! omg, I totally had to laugh inside, cuz of course he doesn't know who I am ... he is Mr. play on the beach with Janet Jackson! :-) what a memorable video. So, up next was me and Wendy ... she asked if I was fired from my last job in radio, I answered something like "my contract was up and it was time to go", which is the truth, but not getting renewed does sound like a firing huh? We actually came to a mutual agreement that I wanted to do something different the way things were going at the station weren't for me. There was new management and plennnnnty of in-fighting. The funny thing is I don't think my former radio boss believed I was serious about a new endeavor and he kind of joked about me trying "this cooking TV stuff I was looking into" ... and here we are 3 years later. I worked hard and boy am I happy I didn't give up. So, I'm going to continue to work hard because there are actually people that think you can't do anything better than the radio station Wendy Williams and I both worked at ... but they can, and we did. So, I am more than proud of Wendy Williams, I admire her. The rest of the interview went off without a hitch and she asked a jillion rapid fire questions, all while we made Caribbean Chicken Wings, Mango and Avocado Salad and Refrigerator-Brewed Iced Tea. I've received several requests here, and my website email for the recipes because they aren't all on FoodNetwork.com yet, sowwy. The only reason for that is because they haven't aired yet, but GMA's website has them up, so I'll post them here too. Wendy Williams' website is basic now so it doesn't have recipes up from guests yet, but I am pretty sure she is getting picked up, the buzz, the shows and the staff are all that of an established show and she really fills the gap we are missing in midday talk television. If you can catch her, give her a try.... ok, here are the recipes, have fun with them and stick around for a few pics from last week's road trip ... 

Caribbean Chicken Wings
Recipe courtesy Sunny Anderson

1 habanero, seeded and chopped
1/4 cup soy sauce
¼ cup honey
¼ cup brown sugar
2 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons fennel seed
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons allspice
2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 teaspoon ground ginger
4 garlic cloves, chopped
4 green onions, chopped
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
¼ cup lime juice
¼ cup orange juice
7 lbs chicken wings

In a food processor, blend together all the ingredients but the chicken until smooth. Reserve 1 cup of marinade. Place chicken wings into a large resealable plastic bag and pour remaining marinade over them. Seal and marinate in the refrigerator 4 to 6 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two sheet trays with parchment. Remove chicken from bag and place on the baking sheets. Bake 20 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan bring reserved marinade to a boil. Reduce by 1/3 until it thickens slightly, about 10 minutes. After 20 minutes, remove chicken from oven. Brush chicken with the glaze. Raise the heat to 400 degrees F and cook chicken until cooked through, another 20 minutes.

Yield: 4 to 6 servings
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 40 minutes
Inactive time: 4 to 6 hours


Mango and Avocado Salad
Recipe courtesy Sunny Anderson
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon lime juice
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 mangos, cubed
2 avocados, cubed
1/2 small red onion, diced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a large serving bowl, whisk together vinegar, lime juice, salt and pepper to taste. Slowly whisk in oil. Toss in mangoes, avocado and red onion to coat. Serve immediately.

Yield: 4 servings
Preparation Time: 15 minutes



Refrigerator-brewed Sweet Iced Tea
Recipe courtesy Sunny Anderson
1 orange
2 to 3 plums
8 tea bags (recommended: Lipton)
½ cup sugar
1 lemon

Fill a large pitcher with 2 quarts of cold water. Quarter orange, squeeze juice into pitcher as well as add the peels. Pit and cut plums into wedges and add to liquid. Cut the strings off the tea bags and mix the bags into the liquid. Let tea steep in the refrigerator 8 hours or overnight, stirring occasionally.

When ready, remove orange peel and tea bags from pitcher. To the tea, stir in sugar until it dissolves. Cut the lemon in half and squeeze the juice from one half into the tea. Slice the other half into rounds and add to the tea. Serve over ice.

Yield: 2 quarts
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time:
Inactive time: 8 hours

11 comments:

greenbean said...

yay! How you doing! I so love Wendy and miss listening to her via online radio at work. I can't seem find a stream anymore. It's about time that she has a TV show. If possible, can you post a clip in addition to the pics?

Oh, and as an Atlanta resident I was to let you of good places to eat. I must admit, I watch and read more about food than can I get out and actually eat :-/ I know, I know...but my favorite breakfast spot has to be Thumbs Up Cafe. The food is amazing! And you will be nice and satisfied for the rest of the day. Long lines, but the early bird can catch a table w/o the 2 hour wait. And I recently had one of the best meals at Ecco on 7th street. Open kitchen, kinda upscale/kinda friendly (haha), incredibily delicious. One of those meals that you think about for days. I'll let you know about anything else worth noting :)

Anonymous said...

Yumm.. cant wait to try that mango avocado salad, my neighbors mango tree has been dropping gifts into my yard all summer and I've been looking for something new to do with them (aside from just devouring them).

I tend to catch your show Sunday morning while Im at the gym, and it always makes me hungry. lol. last night, i kidnapped your curry pork burger recipes and twisted it a bit since i don't eat pork, but now I have a weeks worth of yummy turkey meatballs to have for lunch at work. Quick and delicious!

Props mama on all your sucess!!

Darius T. Williams said...

Sooooo - that's why I didn't see or hear the see the show because you were on TV. I thought you were on the radio or something - sorry, I'm slow. Plus, she's not on here in Chicago for her trial runs.

So, you'll be proud of me. I made smothered chicken (pics are on my blog) and guess what...I used cornstarch and flour to fry the chicken. It came outta the grease super crispy!!! Now, that's what's up! I smothered it and the cornstarch make the gravy so silky and thick...as you can see from the folks who were eating on my blog - they LOVED IT!

Oh, I'm also making your fish tacos. But, I'm going to do a pico de gallo w/the balsamic AND guess what? I was thiking about about the creamy/cheesy factor. I was like what can I do? I thought of a adobo sour cream. With that and the natural sweetness from the pico - I think we have a winner here sunny!!!

Sunny Anderson said...

geenbean, i thought she had a stream ... lemme search. prolly not now that i think about it cuz she's syndicated now. and thanks for the places to eat in atl!!!!!

greeneyes, hope you like the salad recipe and i'm so happy you made somethign work with my pork burger spices!!! the salad when u try it ... it's a practice in texture ... i love how the onion, avo and mango work together. and boy am i jealous of your falling mangoes!!!

dtdub, teeheehee ... sorry i didn't make it super clear ... i hear she did mention me yesterday on her radio show, though.... video up in a few minutes ... if i'm ever in chicago, i'm coming over for dinner. period.

Anonymous said...

Sunny...thank you sooooooo much for posting these recipes! I see I wasn't the only one bugging you about them yesterday. :-D I will be trying these really soon.

Glad you love the coney chili here in Detroit. It's crazy that we have Coney Island restaurants on just about every corner here but they're not in other cities that I've seen. Hmmmm...maybe we should open some new locations! LOL

Wish you tremendous success above & beyond your present. Take care!

~ kimistry

Anonymous said...

Gees, Sunny, I'd love to try the new recipes you posted but I'm still dealing with the fact that you were 'thisclose' to Antonio Sabato Jr.! Le Sigh. Okay, I'll pull myself together for a bit and bookmark the recipes!

Anonymous said...

Hey Sunny,
I'm happy to see that you posted the clip of you on the Wendy Williams show! Kabrina and I tried to watch it, but there were thunderstorms going on around here and since we have DirecTV, our satellite signal kept going out! We were annoyed, but we got to see it anyway on your blog...so thanks! Every time I see that refrigerator brewed iced tea, I say, "Man, I gotta try that!" It sounds sooo good, especially since we all love iced tea in this house...lol.
Keep doing your thing girl, we'll keep watching!
We're still waiting to see the commercial, I hope they didn't decide to not use the commercial now.... :(
Anyway, we'll be looking out for it!

Sunny Anderson said...

kimistry, no prob! and i have told a jillion people about the coney island phenomenon in detroit. like how crazy is it and then the differences between them all is pretty neat too ... maybe i'll get a chance to highlight it one day.

mrs.L, i know right? he is verrrrry handsome in person and super tall.

kcps6277, i saw the commercial! they sent it to me, let me know if you want a copy! i think i'll post it soon, but i need to check the air times so i don't precede the launch. tell kabrina she did a great job!!

Darius T. Williams said...

LOL @ your comment. I want you to come over too. BUT you gotta give me like a week's advance notice. I can't have you all up in my crib without thinking ong and hard about what I'm gonna cook - lol.

Sunny Anderson said...

dtdub, well, i don't even know things a week in advance these days sometimes, but i won't pop up lol ... only a few get pop up privileges ...

Lys said...

You know, I so need to stop this traveling mess because figures you were on Wendy Williams when I was out and about. Thankfully you posted the clip but daggone.

Thanks for the recipes - I'm gonna have to figure out how to tame down the heat a bit because I'm still a spice scaredy cat.

BTW - I got a little somethin' somethin' that I have to send your way.