Game Day Eats!

Hey, so I told you about this a couple of weeks ago, but right now it's really timely. Guy Fieri and I have some game day stuff for you over on Food Network's website. But before I give you links, I thought I'd give you what you came for ... some behind the scenes.

Usually, before I go to work, the company that is producing the segment or show sends an email with all of the details of the work day on it. It has the address, numbers and information for the places and the people involved with the shoot. Sometimes it's called a "Call Sheet" and on this particular one, a familiar name popped up, in an unfamiliar capacity ...
See who that is? It's Noah Starr, former computer dude over at Ask Aida and sometime host of the FN Dish. Anyway, look at him wielding the camera! He helped produce and shoot the videos along with a full team of cool folks. I enjoyed working with him and we have plans to work together again in the future. Just thought I'd show you how multi talented he is.

Check for the videos we shot, some are goofy, but there are actual recipes and tips along the way. We were just trying to provide a smile with some great game day tips. Ok, check the Big Game page and enjoy some great ideas and recipes from Guy Fieri and I chime in with some stuff as well. I have a Big Game Bash page with recipes and party tips and Guy has a Tailgate Party theme. A lil somethin' for everybody! Remember, I'm all about keeping it easy, so if you have a party planned and need help in the area of ease ... take a look. And Guy is someone that knows how to throw a party, so grill masters and more should check out his page as well. Think about shopping now and prepping, I have some helpful hints for the week before, so this is the perfect time to start planning. Until then ... here's me with my easiest pizza on set.

Guess who's cookin' too?

Hey so, I'm in the recipe planning stage of Cooking for Real at Food Network, but there's so much more going on up there. Just as I was cooking away, I looked up from my chopping and saw a coworker waving hello through the kitchen window. They are in the final stages of taping shows and I asked if I could go check out a part of the set ...

Can you tell which set this is from??
Does this help any?

And yes, I totally stole this post idea from the FN Dish, have you checked it out lately? They have plenty of inside news on Food Network and what goes on behind the scenes.

Alright, take a look and take a guess. No prize this time around, just victory of knowledge. :-) Stick around for the "Julienne-Off!"

Kitchen Time is Back!

Hey there! Well, I say kitchen time is back, like it left ... but it really never does. I'm referring to getting into the test kitchen for another run of Cooking for Real episodes. The pattern is, cook, write, test at home, plan menus, pitch, write more, test at kitchens, edit, plan, tape, edit, watch. That's the bare bones, leaving out some details. I'm currently in the "test at kitchens" segment of the process. Not everyone one has the same order, this is just the way we do it and it's made for a pretty smooth taping process.

Ok, where to start ... something colorful.
This is in a future show filled with hints of winter and spring ... hence the obvious in season item, the pomegranate seeds. I have to tell you, I went into testing with a completely different salad dressing recipe and there was also another green in there, but after tasting the dressing and making use of an ingredient that was just sitting around, I decided to simplify the recipe even more by removing the missing green. Anyway, I ended up with a better dressing and better salad. Now I have two similar, but very different salad recipes just 2 ingredients apart. I'm going with the one pictured for the show and will tuck away the other for another time. Side note, don't you hate it when your crisper acts up?!

Speaking of kitchen inspirations. This next pic is something we played with in our heads and then spent a day or two figuring out the mechanics. It again was another recipe to begin with and then the servings were too small for the theme of the show and the steps involved were too long. So, I decided to change it and I think egg lovers will really like this. The key is how to make everything crisp, when to add the egg, when to add the toppings, how long, what temp and most importantly, how to make sure the yolk was still nice and ooozy. (totally not a word)

I team this up with some other brunch ideas, but really to me it's a meal on it's own. Only missing a veggie and I can always sprinkle on some parsley or cilantro, eh? :-)

We tape 13 episodes and there are anywhere from 3-4 recipes per episode, so given the numbers and only a few days to test, we run through things pretty fast. That's plenty of cooking and tasting! A few minutes into testing yesterday a camera crew came by to tape us working as part of a tour video. Here's all the fuss around us trying to cook.
The big guy with the brace is Klaus. He's a steady cam operator and actually happens to be my steady cam guy for Cooking for Real. It's always nice to run into co-workers when you aren't scheduled to work together. Klaus is has a crazy resume of work, but one of my fave is he did the steady cam work for a Beastie Boys concert intro. One that I saw before I met him, so pretty neat to work with him and boy do we have fun on set! I'll let you know if the tour video becomes available online, there are some really neat parts of the tour and Joe, the host, knows so much about not only Food Network, but the history of the building and little known facts about Food Network shows. It's neat to see how everything comes together.

Here's a pic of something familiar ...
This is something that will never get old to me, making onion rings. I know I talk plenty about places I grew up and the different cuisines I was privy to as a child, but nothing beats my first paying job at Sonic in San Antonio, TX where I fought to work in the male dominated kitchen. Even still, they wouldn't let me get close to the grill top, I was stuck in prep. Which really wasn't bad. There's a zen-mode you can get into. Plus, skating in a skirt was fun for a day or two and tips were fine, but making onion rings, for some reason never got old. This batter is fool proof and sooooooooooooo flavor-laden -- no ketchup needed. Really. Then I grilled up some ham chops ...
They're sweet, they're sour, they're spicy, they're fast! Have you ever worked with a ham chop? May take a bit of looking, but any ham would work here. I just really love the chop cut. There's a really nice salad recipe in this menu along with one of my popover recipes I hope you give a try if you like to bake.

And I guess I'll end on a sweet note again, but before I do ... stick around for more kitchen pics and last time Santos and I had a Sear-Off ... this time around, it's another challenge and you won't believe the results! Ok, the sweets ...
This is a cookie I called The Best of Both Worlds cookie when I developed it while at HOT 97. It was right after the crazy R. Kelly and Jay-Z stuff that went down at Madison Square Garden, so I had some literal ingredients like nuts, because one of them was craaazy. And chocolate for the obvious reasons. I had a portion of the website just for recipes even back then, so it's nice to pull from my very earliest recipes and use it for the show. Since then, the recipe has grown into so much more and now it's migrated into a completely different cookie. This tastes like trail mix, but it isn't as healthy ... the butter and sugar see to that :-). Here's one ready for it's close up ...

Ok , check back in for more pics and maybe a lil trivia ...

My Stop @ LXTV

Happy Friday!! I stopped by NBC's LXTV studios the other day to share some smiles and recipes. I got to there early to go over the recipe with their staff culinary stylist and then went to the green room area to hang out and chat with people. There I was just chatting away and waiting for my time to go on when something special happened ... a blast from my happy past.

This is Wendy McSwain, head of talent relations at LXTV-NBC.
Why is it special I ran into her? Well, years ago when I was on HOT 97 here in NYC, she worked at MTV. Her title was similar, but basically she did the talent searching and hiring for the network. I was called into her office sometime around 2002 or 2003 and was asked to audition to host a show on MTV2. I went in a few times for call backs and each time, I enjoyed chatting with her more than trying to get the job. Imagine that, lol. So anyway, I did get to fill-in and I hosted a special and some countdown shows for her and MTV2. You may ask, why then did I not pursue television? Well, the answer to that is, MTV2 didn't make me catch the bug. I was already a radio host doing pretty much the same thing and MTV2 was scripted even in the interview portions, I really enjoyed the freedom of expression radio gave me. Anyway, back to Wendy. We kept in touch long after my stint on MTV2, but a few years back she up and left corporate life and decided to see the world and do some good at the same time. Last I knew, she was in Costa Rica teaching kids with an outreach. So, imagine how excited I was to see her in the LXTV green room! She totally gave me my first paying television gig and always told me she thought I had a future in this field. I guess it just took the right thing and timing to make me want it. Anyway, so she's back in the corporate world and while she was away working her dream, I was working mine. What a neat reunion and I'm so happy we reconnected. I really thought I may never hear from her again as she headed out on a different path in life. Incidentally, she also gave LXTV's host Sara Gore, her first gig in television as well.

So, we chatted, then I went on to prepare my Baked Salmon with Blackberry Ginger Glaze & Wild Style Grains n Thangs. I said quinoa before, but we switched it to one of my wheat bulgar recipes. Equally healthy and yummy as well.

Here's Sara, myself and Megan after our segment.
Sara has a stacked resume of hard work and we chatted some before we went on, really love that we have the Wendy link. The other host, Megan, works from like 4AM until 6PM or something, with a nap in the middle, but that's a long day!! And she's a mommy!!! Mom power is fierce! Ok, I have some recipes to work on and some calls to make, just wanted to share. If I get a video link, I'll post it here. Looks like Monday I'll have it.

Speaking of sharing ... if you Tweet, well tweet on over to @VivaTowels and follow em! Retweet, tweet and all of that :-). They just started the page yesterday and there should be some fun tweets and stuff up. Plus, I have some appearances coming up with Viva Towels that they'll update and tweet about over there .. ok, have a great weekend!!!

Catch me on LXTV Today!

Hey there! I just wanted to stop by and invite you to watch LXTV today at 5PM on NBC in NYC. I'll be on around 5:30 to share a salmon recipe great for anyone trying to keep it lean and healthy in these first months of the year. This airs in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and other markets as well. I've looked at the website and maybe this is a sign of me getting old, but it's hard for me to find the schedule page to give you a link to find your local listings and times.

Hope you catch it, I'll also have a quinoa recipe on set and I'll post the links here after the show airs. Other than that ... look at the dissection of a chicken chorizo sandwich I made yesterday. The toast is garlic crazy and I made a slaw to go on the sandwich, there's oozy cheese ... hard to see with my bad photography, but it was yummy and I hope to share the recipe with you soon!

BTW and Didja Know ...

BTW ...

I met the newest member of the Iron Chef America fam yesterday at Food Network. Did you watch the Next Iron Chef? I caught a few episodes, but my 1st impression of Jose Garces' was made at the NYC Wine and Food Festival. Remember when I told you I had a spot under the tents right across from the Iron Chef set up? Well, the first day I went to the festival I met him and tried his dish because EVERYONE back in the kitchen was talking about it. It really was yummy! If you are in Philly, you can catch his flavors at Amada.

We were both at the Food Network studios to tape 2 minute segments for CW 11 and their affiliates. Here we are in Studio B right after I finished my recipe demonstration and before he started his ...

Then I caught a picture while he was prepping his mise en place ...
That ladder is there for the camera man to either get a top view, or for the lighting guy to mess with the lights. I don't know what he cooked because I left so he could concentrate, but I did some recipes for the big game day and some Valentine's Day recipes that should pop up on CW stations across the country and online. If you want some game day ideas, check out my FOOD NETWORK BIG GAME DAY PREP VIDEOS. Guy Fieri has some up on that link as well ... check us out!

and Didja Know ...

Jose Garces has his first battle as an Iron Chef this weekend? Sunday night at 9PM!!!

aaaaand Didja Know ...
A restaurant I love for a cheesy reason will be featured tonight on Best Thing I Ever Ate? It's starts at 10PM!! DVR it and enjoy! If you are interested in any of the places featured on the show tonight, check the Cheesy episode page.

Hope you have a great weekend!!!

Fox was Fun & BTW and Didja Know ...

Hey all! Well, when you wake up daily to a routine and one morning find out you are going to be a part of that routine, it's pretty cool. Yesterday, I did just that and joined the Good Day NY team here at Fox 5 for a cooking segment on air. Sometime early last year my guy got me interested in this morning cast because he knows I like local news, I have watched them ever since, so it was pretty neat meeting everyone.

Here's a look at the segment. While I was getting ready at home I was watching and saw that co-host Greg Kelly was a bit under the weather. Having been through it recently, I packed a little get well soon bag and brought it to him at the station. It had an Air Force coffee mug, 2 green tea packets, 2 ginger tea packets, creamed honey, a plastic spoon and the one thing that got most of the attention ... Courvoisier!

Rosanna was sooooooooooo nice! I gotta tell you, I was really excited to meet them all and can't believe I didn't get a picture with her and Greg. There's always hopefully next time. When the segment was over I headed into the hallway and caught a picture with my favorite goofy weather man, and I say goofy with respect!
That's Mike Woods on the left and on the right is Addison, a meteorologist and aspiring on-camera weatherman. Mike Woods is like me, a broadcaster that moved around a bit until he made it to NYC. I can't stress how hard that is from actually doing it myself, my hats off to him! Matter of fact, if you Twitter, you should follow him, he also posted a picture of us on his site, tell him I said hi and had tons of fun. I'd hang out with him in the Good Day Cafe any morning!

Next, I met the ladies of Pepa's new show and we took a blurry pic :-) ...

That's Kittie, Joumana, Me, Pep, and Jacque Reid. Read more about them here and catch the premiere of Let's Talk About Pep, Monday @1030PM on VH1. Silly note, I actually ran in to Jacque Reid earlier in the week, we have the same dentist!

After this, we all headed down to tape the after show that airs online. As I walked through the newsroom it was neat to see the staff digging into what was left of my food from the cooking segment. Here are the links to the recipes ...

Apple Cider Chicken - great if you are doing the lean meat resolution :-)

Parmesan Herbed Orzo - try wheat orzo and like I said in the video this is great hot or cold, take it to the next level with artichokes and black olives.

Sauteed Broccoli and Almonds - it's so easy it doesn't even seem like it needs to be a recipe. Totally spritz it with lemon if you want.

And here's the web show called Good Day NY Live Online ... you have to do some work to see it. Click the On Demand button in the video border and even though it's January 2010, look in the December 2009 category and click on Thursday Jan 7. It should pop up. It's a bit longer and relaxed ... but the host Kathy starts the show around the :28 minute mark. Pep and her girls are around the :31 minute mark and I start around the :40 minute mark. Enjoy the clickin'!

BTW

Catch me on the season premiere of Best Thing I Ever Ate - Hometown Favorites, tonight on Food Network at 10PM. Many people ask me where I'm from and I never have a good answer. It's because I grew up in the military and moved around so much, I don't really have a place to say. I guess the real answer is the places that were constants and those were the cities my grandparents are from and where I went to high school. We always visited my grandparents during the summer. So, the place I feature tonight is close to my heart and I fell in love with it because every time we went to my dad's home of South Carolina, it was the book end of the trip. We hit this restaurant on the day heading in and the day heading out of town and it always seemed like we'd never left. My dad is on a first name basis with the ladies that cook there and from what I understand they may not get full air time tonight, but let me tell you if, you ever go ... the kitchen is the best kitchen around and I'm not talking about the amazing food. I'm talking heart. Ok, other than that ... if you want to see me not so happy and cry a bit, I remember being brought to tears during this interview, I don't know if they will use the footage, but that should let you know how yummy this food is. It's in my heart ...

and

Didja know ...

On my days off from taping I develop recipes, play video games, grocery shop, run errands and between braising and frying, sometimes I answer some questions. Take a look at some recent interviews.

So What Do You Do, Sunny Anderson, Food Network Host? - Media Bistro

Behind the Scenes on Food TV - Chicago Tribune

Anderson Has a Sunny Outlook on Food, Life and Career - Cuisine Noir Magazine

Food - Interview with Sunny Anderson - Ebony Jet

In the Kitchen: Food Network's Sunny Anderson - Single Minded Women

Ok, don't forget tonight at 10PM!!

Catch Me On Good Day NY on Fox 5 in NYC!

Hey there! I'll be cooking and chatting away on Good Day NY tomorrow (Thursday) morning. I'd tell you what I'm making, but I don't know yet. I made suggestions and now all of the planning people are mulling it over. Hopefully it's a big bowl of chili, I have two official recipes available and the weather up here calls for it. I can't wait to meet the Good Day NY team, they are hilarious and informative. It's my first stop in the morning for news because it's local and the 9A.M. hour is fun to watch.

If you are in the Tri-State area, hope you catch it. If not, you can still catch it on the Good Day NY Live Stream. Speaking of, I'm sure our issues with Cablevision will come up while I'm cooking, so that will be nice to chat about. How neat is it that I was just calling Time Warner Cable to make sure they kept Fox 5 last week and now this week, I'll be on to chat with them about Food Network and Cablevision? Irony is never lost on me. I know some of you are feeling the pinch of not seeing your regular faves, I met a woman yesterday and it was the first thing she talked to me about ... how she missed Food Network on her cable. She actually had the ILoveFoodNetwork website information, but I gave her the number to call as well. It's listed in the blog post below if you'd like to call. I've learned so much more since the debate began. Like, did you know these contracts are for 10 years? That means the rate we were given is 10 years old and to negotiate for a higher rate and lock it in for another 10 years, would cause anyone to pause and make sure it's a deal you can live with.

Ok, I'm off to the dentist and hopefully sometime today I'll learn what I'm cooking tomorrow morning for the team and I'll post the recipe links when I get them.

UPDATE ... so not 10 minutes after I post this I see Good Day NY hosts Rosanna Scotto and Greg Kelly announce that not only will I be on in the morning, but I'll have a chicken recipe to share. So, I guess someone knows what I'm making tomorrow. Teeheehee ... hope you catch it!

Can You See Me Now?

Well, if you are in the Tri-State area and you have Cablevision ... you may not be able to... see Food Network, that is. Have you checked for Food Network on your box? Check HGTV as well. Both channels are now dark for Cablevision subscribers and just in case you wanted to know why ... I have some details.

Let me see if I can make it easy to understand. Basically cable providers pay a fee for distribution rights of cable television signals. These rates are based on so much, but one of the factors is ratings. These fees among others are what we the consumer end up paying for on our cable bill. Food Network has one of the lowest distribution rights fees, but out performs some of the networks with higher fees. So, a network say with less viewers than us, is charging more for access and all Food Network is looking for is an increase. This increase is pennies and from what I understand, it still doesn't bring the network equal with the pack. Just know that Food Network is asking for in an increase, just as Fox did in the previous weeks. Did you catch any of that press?

Well, the way it affects you if you have Cablevision is this ... you can't get Food Network or HGTV now. You are also now paying for channels that you don't get anymore and chances are you are paying for channels you don't even watch. If you are a foodie like me, when you signed up for cable ... Food Network was a must. I'm not just saying it because I work there.

If you happen to be affected by the negotiations you can have your voice heard in two ways ...

ILoveFoodNetwork.com or click the logo ...

(There are more in depth details there and helpful links)

or call

866-695-2378

(Ask for them to give you your Food Network back!) :-)

I actually called a similar number for Fox television last week as a consumer, who knew I'd be making another call just a few days later for my own stomping grounds? Spread the news to your fellow foodies about this. As it stands, it only affects Cablevision viewers in the Tri-State area, but if you are not in that area, you are still affected in so many ways. Check the website or place the quick call. It all counts.