What I Had for Linner: Mystery Meal, FN Mag-Style

Hey there! So, I got word that Food Network Magazine wanted me to participate in one of it's features in the magazine, 'He Made, She Made'. Have you seen this in the mag? Well, basically two people are given the same subject and are asked to create their own ultimate recipe for it. I love the feature and a good challenge, so of course I agreed to participate. Now, I can't tell you what it is and I can't even tell you who the He is, but I can tell you some of the process. I immediately went into brainstorm mode. I made a mental list of ideas, recipe titles and ingredients then for a day tossed the ideas around. I was familiar with the subject, but wanted to make sure my definitive recipe reflected what I like most. Thing is, I change my mind from week to week as to my favorite thing sometimes, so I hope this recipe rings true longer than that.

Ok, after thinking and writing a couple of rough drafts of the recipe in my notebook, I made a list yesterday and checked it twice. Then I looked in my pantry to get an inventory and headed out to shop. That was about 9AM. Shopping is pretty fun in my 'hood because not one store has everything. I usually have to make a few stops and I like this because I get to look at new set ups and ingredients at each stop. Really keeps your mind open when you are constantly bombarded by new stuff. So, after a few stops my total for groceries was $60.47. This is pretty low considering I had enough for six or eight runs of the recipe and then some. I never feel like any recipe is complete though, they are all works in progress I continue to think about forever. Anyway, around 11AM yesterday I got to work in my kitchen and around 5:30PM I stepped out of the kitchen with the last and final run of the recipe. It was as good as it could get, as far as taste and ingredients. It only took me a few different variations before I was happy. This was something I make often, so really the trick was picking something unique to my point of view. Next, I recorded the changes in my starter recipes and typed up the final and sent it around 6ish via email to my peeps at Food Network Magazine. Since I ate this basically for lunch while I was working the recipe and I had plenty of ingredients left over, I remixed it and had it for dinner as well. Linner never tasted so good, work done and tummy full. Want to see pics of a few of the ingredients? I can't tell you what they turn into, but you can guess ... you have until April 2010 though, because that's the projected issue. I know ... long time, eh? That's how it works in mag-world. Here are the hints ...

Any guesses?

The 5th Annual Great Gathering of Chefs and Me.

One of these things is not like the other ...

That's me, Culinary Gangsta of All Things Cuisine (as I call him) Santos Loo, Owner of one of my favorite restaurants in the world and chef, Marva Layne of Negril Village and part-owner of Annisa, Chef Anita Lo. We are all huddled together yesterday at The 5th Annual Great Gathering of Chefs. Why am I there? Being that I'm not a chef? Well, sometime last year I was taping Cooking for Real here in Manny Hatty and famed photographer Alan 'Battman' Batt visited the set as a guest of Susan Stockton. We met briefly and I went back to work. Later that day I was asked by Susan to participate in his book. Seems he enjoyed what he saw and even though I wasn't a chef, he asked her to invite me to participate in his charity efforts. As soon as I was told it was for charity, I said yes and dropped what teeny bit of insecurity I had about being in a cookbook with such big-time chefs. Oh, let me explain ... Alan puts out beautifully photographed (by him, of course) cook books once a year using donated recipes from the world's top chefs. Then he hosts an event so they can all sign the books. He then sells the books donating the proceeds to a charity. This year the charity is Action Against Hunger. I didn't hear much after I submitted the recipe, but then earlier this year while I was shooting, I got back to my green room and on my table was a huge blown up photo of the recipe I submitted. I was so excited, what a great photog can do to a simple recipe! Anyway, just yesterday was The 5th Annual Great Gathering of Chefs and there I was in some jeans and a cowl-neck sleeveless sweater, while most of the attendees were in chef whites, blues, blacks and other.
I call this picture "Where's Waldo", look at all the chef coats! Can you find a home cook in there somewhere??? Lol, it was really crowded, but I got there early and caught a shot of one of the long signing tables ...
That's just one of the tables, they wrapped the entire room with tables and still with that had to snake a bit to fit all the chefs, plus me, teeheehee. The lush green to the right out the window is Central Park. What a view. Would you pay millions to live there? I dunno, I think Prospect Park in Brooklyn is just as beautiful, I digress ...
That's a guy from D'Artagnan prepping hot dogs made of duck. He topped 'em with spicy brown mustard and a drizzle of reduced balsamic vinegar. They actually served a 3rd of a hot dog, cut and then skewered, I coulda done about 6 of those. I held back though and did one. I must say, I keep some reduced balsamic on hand in the fridge because it's so good over so many things, so now I'll have to add hot dog to that list. To the right is the crew from ISBRE water. They were total foodies and watched Food Network and watched my show, so that was neat to meet them. On the other side was a Starbucks set up with the new instant coffee. I mention these sponsors because I really like companies that support charitable causes, especially when budgets are being cut across the board. The coffee tasted like, well coffee. I couldn't tell it wasn't brewed, but I muddy my coffee up so much with other stuff so ...
And that's the book I'm in! It's called Small Things Savory, Bite Size Dishes From 150 Chefs. Eric Ripert, Emeril Lagasse, Daniel Boulud, Alex Guarnaschelli and me. Goooooooo Homecooks!!!! I scored one for the team and did it for charity, thanks for your support! I couldn't do this without you watching and supporting. Pretty neat.

NYC Wine n Food Fest - My Weekend Deja View

Hey there! Sorry so slow on the post from this past weekend. I've had a couple of packed days. I'll make it quick :-). After hangin' with The dancin' Chairman in the Grand Tasting Tent Friday afternoon, that night it was all about Brooklyn!
That's me under the Brooklyn Bridge happy I'm there! I was pretty beat earlier in the day mostly from traveling, but Aaron McCargo and Aida Mollenkamp both visited me at the Grand Tasting and we made plans to hangout at the Burger Bash. Plus it was in Brooklyn, how could I not go? Speaking of, here I am with the big guy ...
He met my dude that night and we all had a good laugh at how eating too many burgers, even tiny sliders, could make you feel like ... you ate too many burgers. You know? So, I had Bobby Flay's burger and stuck to the beer. Smart choice, his burger was just as good as I remember the last one being down in South Beach at the other festival. Mmmmmm yummy. It was crowded and so many people were there to chat with.
This is Aida and me sandwiching Stan, a big-time-crazy-cool ad sales rep at Food Network. We hung out a bit there and then walked around the corner to an after party. I had a cooking demonstration the next day, Saturday, so I scooted early to get some rest.

So the next day I headed over to the Javits Center for WBLS' Circle of Sisters event. Remember I told ya, you'd never guess who I ran into? Take a look ...
Look familiar? I was walking up to the stage and saw her standing there and immediately thought, "Hey! Next Food Network Star!". It's Nikki Shaw, remember she was on a couple of seasons ago. Well, she was hosting the event that day and took questions from the audience as I prepared my Grilled Chicken with White Wine Mushroom Sauce and Sweet n Sour Garden Collards. Then, I headed over to the broadcast booth to do an interview with radio host Jeff Foxx, when I ran into WBLS host Jasmine and singing legend Charlie Wilson. I grew up listening to him when he sang with the Gap Band and just recently caught him at the Essence Festival. He tore that stage up! What a performer! It was a nice chance to tell him that and if you are interested ... he said he'll be back next year. Says the event organizers called him shortly after to book him again.

I called it a day after that because I knew I would be giving out more of my North Carolina House Ribs with Viva Towels the next day. Sunday, Jacob stopped by for a visit and has some great flicks on his blog. Right across from me was the Iron Chef booth and the plates coming outta that kitchen were soooooo good!
That's contestant Eric Greenspan and you can jussst make out the back of Seamus Mullen's head. Then I headed out to eat some and drink as well. One of my first bites was from Govind Armstrong.
Looks tiny, but it packed a flavorful punch. I told him my daddy used to always have venison in the freezer from his hunting trips, so I was familiar with the versatility of the meat. Here we are after I had two of these, I'm so greedy.
Then, I doubled back around and headed over to get something everyone was talking about the whole weekend ... the marrow.
Wanna know what's in it, and by it, I mean the hollowed out bone ... can you see it?
Ahem, that's my drink there, Wild Turkey with Honey. I had it neat, then got the mixed drink ... very yummy, not an ad, just an observation. :-) Here's the marrow getting shaved on ...
I ate so much and then when I was stuffed, headed home to rest. I sat down in my movie room to the read the Sunday paper and look what I found!
Pardon the hard cheese, but this is seconds after I saw it and I wanted to catch the moment. Totally excited. And pardon the mess, it's my work-couch lol. Anywho, in my hand, is what fell out of the advertisement section ... my first ever coupon! How neat! I knew it was coming, but didn't know when. It's with Viva of course and my Dad called shortly after I saw this told and me one of his co-workers saw it, then I got a text message from a friend that saw it. It seemed to be everywhere. Neat feeling, I love a coupon with a real amount of money off, that's almost a dollar!!! My dad kept saying on the phone I was "20 cents off" to kid with me and I kept correcting him with "it's 85!!". It was funny. Hope you saw the coupon and put it to use! Viva towels were all the rage at the Wine and Food Festival everyone kept telling me they were so soft, like I had something to do with it. That's the smart engineers and people at the plant. I'm just happy to be here to spread the word. Ok, well that's it! More flicks later from a secret shoot I had yesterday with some ladies from Food Network and food flicks from my vacay.

NYC Wine n Food Fest - Look Who Likes My Ribs!

Hey all! I've been a bit quiet because I was on vacation ... more on that later. I got back just in time for this past weekend's festivities here in NYC at the Wine and Food Festival ... I have more on that later as well, but just to give you an appetizer, here's a pic of me and The Chairman at my Viva ... Get Closer To Your Food booth at the Grand Tasting.
There I was busy chatting up people eating my ribs and wiping their faces when I hear someone say ... "Hey the Chairman is here!". I turned around and he was already on his 3rd rib! I was totally flattered when he told me they were yummy and asked for a picture for my blog ... nice guy! I've been to a couple of Iron Chef America tapings and never got the chance to meet him, so I was totally happy to run into him. It wasn't that much of a stretch though because I was stationed right by the Next Iron Chef America booth, more on that later as well ...

Plus, somewhere during the weekend I made time for my radio family and presented a cooking demo at Circle of Sisters at the Javits Center in NYC ... YOU'LL NEVER GUESS WHO I RAN INTO ... more on that later as well ...

Phew, ever come back from va-cay or stay-cay and hit the ground running with no de-lay?? Well, I feel like I'm sprinting ... with a smile on my face. :-) Stay tuned for pics and stories to go with my above mentioned 'laters' .... Until then if you have time to read, I found a fellow bloggers post about the Grand Tasting, take a look and enjoy your Monday!