Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Back to Class!

Hey there! Well, today was the first day back in the studio to tape Season 7 of Cooking for Real! It feels like the first day of school every time, but instead of clothes I lay out my knife kit before I go to bed.

On the first day back we tape just one show to kinda work out the cobwebs, so today was a light day, but busy at the same time. As I've shared with you, I wrote a recipe for one of my favorite short cuts in the meat dept. ... the smoked cured pork chop. It's a must request from your butcher if you haven't seen them around. Inexpensive, fast prep and tasty! Here I am pretty happy with my crosshatch marks and the aroma, plus I know I'm closer to the 4th act of the show ... where I get to eat!
I love the way the smoke from my grill created some Glamour Shot lighting for my chops lol. When I say these are easy to make I mean, they are sooo easy. It's almost a shame to call it a recipe.

One of the neat things I like about going back to work, is how new things pop up and disappear. Today, I got a new dish and when it showed up, I fell in love.
It's just so sweet and innocent. A shame I had to cover it with some chops, salad and pop overs. Ever buy pretty dishes like that? I have a casserole I've never used because I think it's too pretty to use. Very silly, I admit.

I can't wait for you to try the chops, the salad and the popovers. Shortly after I finished taping I headed through the kitchens to say my good byes and caught Cedric, aka "Ced Lova", cooking. I call him that because he always has a smile on his face and reminds me of radio host Ed Lover. He's usually helping out around the kitchens and isn't a chef, nor a staff cook, so I asked him what was up. Turns out he has a recipe coming up in an issue of Food Network Magazine and was demonstrating it! I told him to gimme a pose, and he did ...
Look for his chicken recipe in the next few months. It looked yummy and smelled even better. I say points for the cast iron pan off the top!

Also in this month's Food Network Magazine catch me and Ted Allen in a cooking showdown for the He Made, She Made feature. I told you about testing for this feature a few months back on my post What I Had for Linner: Mystery Meal, FN Mag-Style, now you get the answer to the question I posed when I gave picture clues as to what I was making. Check the recipes and if one of them speaks to you, vote! There's a page to vote here. If you don't subscribe to the magazine yet, click here.

Well, the day went by so fast, I got done when the sun was still out. I hopped in my ride, we turned the corner right outside of Chelsea Market and look what I saw ...
Pretty neat to see as I was leaving my first day back to work. Don't be fooled by the sky, the clouds rolled in soon after and we are waiting to see if it's a snow day for work tomorrow ... hey, this really is like school!

10 comments:

Mary | Deep South Dish said...

That must be so freaky to see yourself on the side of a building like that! Dang girl, you got me all excited now about the new shows!! Stay safe and warm, heck it's down in the 20s way down here and they're even talking of possible snow on Thursday for us - in south Mississippi, imagine that!

Oh yeah... how 'bout those Saints huh? You shoulda seen that crazy parade today - like 200,000 people, Lombardi Gras all the way!!

The CDM said...

Okay, keep in mind I'm trying to acknowledge some good here, recognize. Having said that, I just have to ask, have you been losing weight? Don't get me wrong girl, you always look good, but WOW, I'm seein' a difference.

Showin' love,
CDM

tamilyn said...

I was afraid to try popovers in a cupcake tin, thinking it isn't high enough to hold them. One of our favorite restaurants makes awesome ones with a honey butter-oh heaven!

I bet my hubs would love those chops-he really digs pork chops.

Is it a little surreal seeing yourself on a building?

Anonymous said...

Hi Sunny!
It's Karen and Kabrina (your mini-me)...lol. It's been a while since we stopped by but we haven't forgotten you. Just wanted to stop by and say Hi! And to let you know that we're so glad to see that everything is still going great for you. Keep up the great work! :-)

Linda said...

Hey Sunny!

Wow! That is a totally cool picture of you on the side of that building! That had to be very exciting to see that when you turned the corner!

Your post said that the season you are taping is #7. Do you tape more than 1 season in a year? I remember reading that you have only been doing this since 2008, so it would almost have to mean that you do 3 seasons in a year with XXX shows per season. I think you said 13 per season, yes? That would make 39 episodes in a year if this is your actual 3rd year of taping your show. My math skills aren't that great though, so how many seasons do you tape in a calendar year? I have been watching your shows in repeat form and some are from 2008 and 2009..

I have fixed smoked pork chops before, and you are right.. They are delicious and easy as pie to do. They taste like ham to me, which is a true love of mine. I love the smoked picnic hams that we fix throughout the year. I have one in my freezer waiting patiently for me to give it warmth in the oven or pot that I fix it in.. Yummmm!!

Remind me to tell you one day why I won't eat any stew that has fish in it. LOL.. Baaaaddd childhood memory.. :) I can still smell it when I think of it. I watched your show yesterday about your friend that you first catered for. I think his name is Nory or something like that? I was with you until you put the oysters in there.. Then you lost me.. Sorry about that.. Oysters and me don't get along..

I grew up on Captain D's though.. I still love their fish, though I don't go by there very often because there isn't one close by me in Clayton..

Anyway, gotta fly.. Must go to work now.. My boss would be quite happy if I did that.

Have a great night!
Linda

jen @ one curly fry said...

Those pork chops look amazing! I can’t wait to see the show – I’m dying to try those popovers!!!

It’s funny you mention the “pretty plate” thing because in the past 6 months or so I’ve just started getting into buying fun serving plates and serving bowls! It makes dinner time a little more fun :)

I subscribe to the Food Network magazine (I LOVE getting magazines – I subscribe to a million!) and I did check out the He Made, She Made section! Loved it! And I voted for you!

I hope you got that snow day! We got hit with a lot of snow – another 2 feet. So we’ve shoveled 50 inches of snow in the past 5 days – that’s unreal! So I'm on day #2 of working from home - just how I like it!

Mausi said...

Hi Sunny,
I am excited that you are back shooting a new episode. I look forward to watch it :-) The pork chop looks wonderful! By the way, Valentine's day is coming up. Do you have any plans? I think I will bake something. And on Sat, I am going to have a nice dinner in Manhattan with my husband to celebrate a day before. If you have any suggestion on restaurant, please let me know! Thanks! and good luck with the new season!

Sunny Anderson said...

mary, it is very freaky, but freaky good. lol. i'm glad you are excited cuz i am too! i really look forward to the entire process. the writing, developing, pitching, testing, planning, taping. all of it. hope you like the new shows. and omg, the saints did it huh!? i was a bit bored, but it was a good game. fat tuesday is gonna be crazy!

complaint dept. mgr., :-) i take it in a good way. i've happily gained the "food network 10" and then some. i'm quite ok with it, but the frugal side of me wants to fit into all my jeans, i have a nice collection, i mean that's the uniform of my last job -- t-shirt and jeans, so yes, i've been trying to portion control myself, but it's hard during testing and even harder when people try to feed you wherever you go. i'm not one to turn down food so ... anywho, thanks for noticing. i'll always be thick though, and i actually like it better this way.

tamilyn, the key to great popovers for me is a super hot tin before you pour in the cold batter. i preheat mine in the oven and sometimes quickly refrigerate the batter. i do mine in mini muffin tins and i've done them in ones with sloped sides and tins with straight sides. hope you like my recipe!!! it's eeeeeeasy! and if your husband likes ham, he'll love the chops because they are smoked and cured, so very similar, just a slightly different texture. about seeing myself on a building, pretty neat. when i was on the radio, we had a subway ad campaign and it was crazy riding the train and seeing myself in an ad. pretty funny.

karen and kabrina!!!! hi lovely ladies! i think about you often! kabrina, i hope school is well and you are enjoying it! and karen aka supamom, hope you are doing well too! my email is still the same, keep in touch!

linda, thanks! yeah, turning the corner was pretty neat. ok, plenty of questions, let me answer in order. yes, i tape more than one season in a year. i guess right now it looks like 3 or so seasons a year. yes, there are 13 shows per season, but my first season was only 6 episodes. they were my on-air "audition". if they went well, i could keep my dream and continue working. if you want a full accounting of my episodes, check the cooking for real home page, scroll down and look just to the right of "episode guide", click on the link that says "full episode guide" and there's a list of them all. ok, jaelous of your ham dinner on the way! and yes, i first catered for n.o.r.e., he always wanted pork-free ... so many of my pork-free meals that usually include it are from that time, like my vegetarian greens. and i know about captain d's. the hush puppies!!!! ooooweeeee! we used to go there when we visited my grand ma! ok, well hope i answered all of your questions, i know know there are alot of posts, but if you look around here i answer plenty of questions with the blog posts.

jen, thanks, i wonder if they'll air in the order i tape them? if so, i'll surely know when it's gonna run and i'll alert ya! btw, pretty plates are where it's at!! i have some adult mature ones, but my faves have personality. and the mag is the best isn't it? it's like a cookbook in every issue! a real good buy and i'm not just saying that. we did, get the snow day, i'm gonna put up a picture of our snow soon ...

mausi, hey! hope you've been well! i don't have any major plans for v-day. baking sounds good though! i've been baking all week on the show, i love it! nothing that gets baked is bad lol. think about it. ok, it's tough to make a suggestion on where to eat ... what are you looking for??

nessienessa said...

SInce getting my own kitchen together, I'm slowly acquiring cute dishes and utensils and what not. It's hard when you go out and look for those things; they just have to come to you, huh? That flower dish made me smile.
I noticed you had cute dishes when I saw the episode for 'Airman Anderson's Chicken'. Loved the bright colors. :]
My airman just bought me my first kitchen-aid mixer (It's purple!) for our anniversary so I am looking forward to using it with some new recipes from your upcoming shows. Yeah!

Sunny Anderson said...

nessienessa, ita about letting the dishes speak to you. it is really hard for me to buy a full set of anything. i often buy pieces here and there. wendy waxman does all the shopping for the dishes on my show and gets my style completely. she's so talented and actually does many other shows for food network. congrats on your new stand mixer!!!!!!!! i know the feeling!!! i have plenty of new eps on the way that'll put it to use!!! yaaaaay!!! just make some whipped cream! lol ... way better than a whisk, a bowl and some elbow grease!