Saturday, August 27, 2011

New Cooking for Real Saturday!! Taco Dinner, Taco Lunch

Hey there! Well today's episode started with this picture above. I made chicken tacos at home on a whim and realized quickly that I hadn't done it yet on the show and it was a quick way to get dinner on the table, or lunch. Which is what the taco above was. Many times the recipes I develop from the show happen at lunch time because I'm developing them during my workday, other times the recipes come late at night, after the work is done, but my creative juices are still working. After putting this recipe together, I decided to streamline it even further and push the tomatoes that you see here sprinkled on top, right into the sour cream mixture. It removes a step and then I said to myself "that's close to a creamy salsa". So, I moved things around more and it's a pretty tasty and creamy version of salsa we are used to. It would be great on anything you put salsa on!!!

The next recipe I share is a dessert you can make today if you are stocked up properly for the hurricane :-). No, really even if you aren't stocked up, the recipe was built from my pantry, and my pantry isn't fancy, just the typical pantry items. So, I bet if you like the way they look, you can make em today from your pantry as well!! Ok, Here are the recipe links ...

Only two recipes?? That's not alot, eh? Well, today's show has a guest!! A returning one at that!! Please tune in to hang with my blog-friend Darius Williams again!! We had so much fun cooking and chatting last season, that I invited him back for more. He runs a cupcake shop and a pie truck in Chicago, he's an entrepreneur that left one career field (not by choice, but by design), then landed where his heart and mind could flourish. Here are his links ...

Ok, enjoy the show and please tell a friend!! You are supporting two dreamers today :-) not just me!! We need extra love. If you've ever had a tiny dream and left it behind, if it's still a tiny nugget in your head ... think about chasing it. This is the only chance you'll get in this skin. I'm asked all the time why I am so happy and positive and there are so many reasons, but it starts with waking up knowing that it's possible. What's possible? "It" is and that's all I need to know. Happy to be here, and you the person reading this, I'm happy you are here too. Not just at the blog ... but here. Means plenty you take time to hang, I don't take it lightly at all. If you meet me, that's what the hug is for, the whisper in the ear, the direct look in the eye. I thank you. Ok, before I get too sappy ... enjoy the new show!!!

Cooking for Real today!! Season 10 @ 10!!! Taco Dinner, Taco Lunch!! 10am Food Network!!

Don't forget the repeat on Monday at 3pm!!! And catch seasons of Cooking for Real you may have missed the rest of the week at 3pm on Food Network!!

Ever want to look at the full catalogue? Click Sunny Anderson recipes by season

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Friday, August 19, 2011

New Cooking for Real Saturday!! Quick and Easy!

Hey there! There's a new Cooking for Real on the way, but really quick let me show you what's in the pipeline and do a lil backspin to the AC Food and Wine festival! Yup, it's been weeks but it's still on my brain because I thought I took more pics but couldn't find them, until I remembered they were in my other phone :-) ..That's DJ Sonatra, he has killed my Sunset Sliders party two years in a row, and I mean the good kinda kill :-). Then I went from one great crowd motivator at the pool to the next ...
That's DJ Ed Smooth. He had the crowd dancing on the stage after the fashion show at Sweet &n Stylish. And he did it all with just music, no hyping on the mic, nothing crazy, just killed it!!! Again, the good kill :-).

Here I am at the step-and-repeat at my Sunset Sliders party. The funny thing is it just sat there most of the party because I was walking around saying hi and taking pics, then I said to myself "hmm, maybe people want a pic of me against the step and repeat?" So, I walked over to it, and I got my repeat-on :-). Soon after a line formed and people with candids, also walked off with pics that looked a bit more official...
Then, the next morning there was a lunch I went to for some clients that do business with Food Network. Breakfast and drinks were served, but the best part was meeting an un-crowned sandwich king aka Jeff Mauro. He's now the winner of the latest Food Network Star and his show starts this Sunday at 1130am!! Tune in, he is HILARIOUS!! I couldn't stop giggling and he was only on the microphone for like 5 minutes. I also saw some clips of his show while I was at the network for meetings this week ... looks real cool. Not just in the studio stuff! Here he is striking a pose...
Really happy for him, met his wife too, she's a sweetie! Yaaaay!! Jeff Mauro the Sandwich King!!! Also around for the weekend were other contestants from the show, this is my fave to pick on ...
It's Chris and he's a handful!! I pick on him cuz I love him, as you could see from the judges on the show, there is a quality about him that makes you wanna get him in line like a little kid, but to me it's part of his charm. Wish him much success! Ok, then some friends I met right here on the blog came out for all the fun ...
That's Jen on my left and her girl with the red hair (totally forget your name!! but I know you will remind me in comments :-) ) and the 3 ladies on my right, I just met that night! We took this pic at Guy's Cheesesteak battle. Check out my favorite one from the purveyors...
It was meaty, it was spicy, it was juicy, it was cheesey and I was tipsy. lol. So, I can't remember where I got it from. Very upset cuz I have a Philly visit on the way and would totally revisit this place. I hope to learn in comments from someone reminding me the name of the place lol. Can you tell I had plenty of wine? Actually there was a drink infused with jalapenos at that event and I had a few. Ok ... back to the biz at hand ... a new Cooking for Real is on tomorrow morning (unless you are reading this late and it's today, Saturday. Orrrrr, you are reading it really late and you missed it, in that case it reruns this Monday at 3pm) :-) Ok ...

I call it Quick and Easy and it is truly just that. Everything on the menu has minimal ingredients and prep, starting with my Baked Zucchini. Just zucchini, an herb, some bread crumbs, a spice, cheese, olive oil, salt n pepa :-). Then on the other side of the plate is my Grilled Sweet Potato Wedges with Maple Butter. Seriously, this one is all about the compound butter. It's great on pancakes, biscuits, to saute fruit for ice cream. If you don't have allspice, cinnamon or nutmeg or both work. Seriously good and easy. For the main, my favorite thing to do to grapefruit, the once diet fruit of my youth ... meaning my mom was on the diet and I had to figure out how to make it work for me as a snack. I always start with brown sugar :-). I kept it savory this time and marinated some chicken then grilled it for my Grapefruit Grilled Chicken. It's the pic from the top of the post :-). The marinating part is the longest, the chicken grills up in 2-3 minutes on each side. See, quick and easy :-). Then I wash it all down with a drink we had at this year's AC Food &Wine Festival, my Bourbon Cider Twist. People ask all the time how I come up with things, for the drink. Well, I took a swig of the bourbon and it burned lol. That started the party, but I decided I'd like to sip it. So I added some apple cider from the fridge door. It was a bit sweet, so I added a twist of lime. Quick and easy ... truly what I do at home. I cook and drink, for real :-). So tune in tomorrow morning!!

Cooking for Real!!! Season 10 @ 10am!!! Food Network!! Quick and Easy!! Tell a friend. Turn the TV to Food Network before you go to sleep so you can wake up with food :-). Ok, I leave you with a sign of things to come from my test kitchen ....Those are my Banana Beer Fritters, someone on twitter suggested I call them Drunken Monkey Fritters ... I kinda like it, but I'm a sucker for alliteration and I like the word "beer" so .... Then I made a Zucchini and Roasted Tomatillo Soup.
It was great hot and now on the 5th day in the fridge, it still tastes great and passes the "slurp test". Really hard to do when fat is involved, has to be just enough to roast, but not so much that a could soup will tighten, you know? So anyway, it passes the test and will hopefully make it on a future show!! If you are new to the blog, look around at some of the food pics, they start here and you see them eventually on the show :-).

Ok, don't forget ... new Cooking for Real Saturday mornin' 10am Food Network!


Check my new website!! SunnyAnderson.com

Saturday, August 13, 2011

New Cooking for Real Saturday!! Beefin' with Pork!

Hey there! I'm very proud to announce another new episode of Cooking for Real today on Food Network!! First, how was your week?!? Mine zoomed by and I cooked plenty, for real :-) Here's a pic of my latest faves...


That's a quick ice cream topping I made using pumpkin pie spice. It is becoming one of my favorite spice blends in the kitchen. Great for sweet and savory cooking. I still have some of the topping upstairs, gonna put it in some pastry and fry it soon. Then the fist pics are an Italian flavored sandwich stacked with flavor, and although it's not a classic muffaletta, I stacked it like one and it has the curb appeal of one when topped. It all came together in my freezer, the round par-baked focaccia simply looked better than the white pullman loaf. I can't wait to share the recipe and the inspiration with you. Kinda like today's new episode of Cooking for Real ...I call it "Beefin with Pork". What's Beef? Well, you can ask Talib Kweli and Mos Def aka Blackstar or take it back a little further and listen to Notorius BIG. But "beef" is just a way to express distaste with something or someone. So, with my love of words, the title popped in my head when I got a request from a friend for BBQ that had a distaste for Pork. Well, they were beefin and so was I, I like pork :-). So today, I have a menu based on some friends coming over for a bite and had to make everyone happy. Those are my Honey BBQ Oven Short Ribs up there before the ride in the oven. I can't express enough how easy it is to make these and the payoff is exponential based on the work you put in. Great weekend eating :-). I always take pics of recipes as I develop them, for fun and for work. Sometimes I see ingredients in pics I forget to add to the recipe, so it's good for checks and balances. Here's a preview of the Quick Bacon-Cheddar Biscuits ...
I promise, if you've never made a successful biscuit from scratch ... YOU CAN DO THIS! I promise. I don't wanna say it's fool-proof, cuz smart people make biscuits, but ... it's reeeeeally easy. Give it a try and add ingredients the next time around if you want! Now here's the other side dish ... my Creamy Potato and Proscuitto Salad.
The potato salad was a perfect compromise, I served it with the proscuitto on the side for the people beefin' with pork that day :-). Anyway, I take these pictures and hold on to them for my reference when I'm going over my recipes, but I also use these pictures on the set to assist the culinary staff. Usually for the sake of time many of my recipes are prepped in advance by the team, some times parts and sometimes in the case of things that take hours like a slow roast, the whole thing is done because we can't wait hours for it to finish while we are taping. The recipes, the photos and my verbal instruction get the team on the same page as I am in my home kitchen. It's such a team effort to make everything on Cooking for Real authentic to my home process and it's ease. Just a lil behind the scenes :-)

Thanks for watching! Tell a friend or tweet a friend :-)

All new Cooking for Real at 10AM est - Beefin' with Pork! Food Network!

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Friday, August 5, 2011

Workin' for the weekend!

Hey there! Some pics from the AC Food and Wine Festival!! It's been such a lovely week ... Thanks to every one that came out!!! We were sold out at both Sunset Sliders and Sweet and Stylish!!! Here's some flicks ...That's me at the VIP Dinner. Each year they ask me to come out as a surprise guest during a jillion course meal. I always ask to look at the menu before I choose what I'm making so it's not a train wreck on the tongue. This year I made my Quick Apple and Sweet Potato Soup. It's great hot or cold, but that night it was great not even made ... lol. The heat on the burner just wasn't cutting it, so I walked through the steps and then walked through the crowd. Some people watch Food Network Star and they say things like contestants not getting all the equipment or ingredients for a challenge would never happen and I say it happens all the time. It's no biggie if you ask me, the show must go on!! Ok, here's half of the VIP crew ...Then, just like last year, there were these really cool angle-perspective wall drop thingys lol ... click the link and see the ones that were still here this year. This one below was the only new addition, totally had to take the pic!Then, Saturday night after the Sunset Sliders party I headed over to my other shin-dig Sweet and Stylish, take a look at the crowd...
Can you tell this is a really fast post for me? I'm in a rush to head out to the Mets game. I'll tweet a pic @SunnyAnderson. Check out The Neely's on Pat's birthday! This is at their event on Saturday, really good brunch and music!!!
These are the guys in charge of the food for pretty much all the events ...
I have more pics, but I was busy having so much fun at the Sunset Sliders party, that I didn't get many personal ones. If you went and have any pics, comment, I'll get your email and we'll exchange hellos :-). Ok, Thanks again to every one that came out to the entire weekend!! It was so much fun!!!

Don't forget ... ALL NEW Cooking for Real tomorrow!! Season 10 at 10am!! Curry On Baggage!!