Meatballs, Meatballs, Meatballs! (Hungry & Healthy)

Hey there! Crazy title for a blog, but before this week is over, my life will involve 3 different types of meatballs. I'll start in reverse ...

This Saturday's new episode of Cooking for Real - Hungry and Healthy features my go-to catering recipe for chicken meatballs. I never really had a standard menu when I catered, I did just what the word means ... I catered to the client. So many times I'd get the request for things without beef or pork and one of those requests was for meatballs. You know the kind you get at saaaaay an after work happy hour buffet? Drowned in barbeque sauce with toothpicks for utensils? Well, that's how I served them when requested, in a homemade BBQ sauce with a flame beneath to keep 'em warm and bubbly. Fast forward to the present and I still make them, just without all the drowning. I team my Zesty Chicken Meatballs with a pesto I love, my Collard Green Pesto with Linguine. I absolutely love pesto. First off, pesto is fresh, simple and tasty. Plus, there are so many variations that you don't get locked into just one style. Variety is what I like in food. I actually made some pesto Wednesday for a tomato tart recipe I hope to share with you soon. Take a look ...
Ever have a tomato tart with pesto? This week was my first time having the two together, but when I got some really pretty and fragrant basil this week and my tomatoes were perfect for roasting, I woke up with a brainstorm. Don't you love a foodie brainstorm when you get it? Even better when it turns out tasty and pretty, huh? I really do hope you like the recipe, I plan to pitch if for the next season of Cooking for Real.

Anyway, Saturday's pesto isn't the one I teamed with the tomatoes for the tart, but it's great where I put it, with some wheat pasta. It's really such a strong pesto with crazy personality from the collards that it works wonders with the sturdy chew and earthy flavor of wheat pasta. Finishing the meal off is a quick dessert drink I call a Blackberry Gin Fizz Float. I'm a sucker for dessert and it's even better when it's portable and spiked. Of course, this is just as good without the gin, but give it a go if you like spirits.

Now for the other two meatballs ...
No, these people aren't meatballs :-), but they made some! That's Carla from Season 5 of Top Chef and 2009 Tony Award winner for leading actor in a musical, Kiril Kulish. If you know the story of the Billy Elliot production on Broadway, you know he isn't alone with his award. It was given to 3 performers for the same role. How does that happen? Well, because they are minors starring on Broadway, they can't work a full week, so three performers shared the starring role and they each performed about 3 times a week. Take a look at the video of the boys accepting the award, pretty cool. So, anyway that picture above is of Kiril and Carla cooking away at the True Child charity event I told you about Monday. I saw Carla at a party earlier this year in Miami, but she was surrounded by so many people, I couldn't stop to say hi. I'm usually good at being a silly fan lol, I love to gush and tell people how much I like them, but that night I failed. It's really neat to then work with her and get to tell her in a more professional manner and not at a bar, lol. I loved her happy personality on the show and she was such a show in person at the event. Cool chick. The other two Tony Award winners that share the title with Kiril were there cooking as well and I managed to catch them all while snapping pics of the cook off.

That's Top Chef Season 5's Fabio plating his meatballs with Tony award winner Trent Kowalik looking on with an event sponsor/teammate. Both teams had mystery ingredients and two of them were chips and Cheetos, so both teams decided to hide those ingredients in the ground beef and make some meatballs. Fabio served his with some creamed collards and Carla's team served them solo with more dishes on the side. Here's Fabio explaining his teams' dishes.

Look close and you can see the 3rd Tony Award winning Billy Elliot, David Alvarez in the background. I was mad I didn't think to take my own picture with them when I got home, but when I looked at my other shots, I was happy to realize I managed to catch them all solo. I must say all three of these guys were so kind, humble and I just feel they are all poised for greatness. Whatever they choose to do in life, I think they already know it's possible, you just have to work towards it. Their parents must be really proud. I was on the panel of judges with Top Chef Season 3 winner, Hung Huynh, a live auction winner and another chef, whose name I forgot ... I know very wack of me, but I'm only human :-(. Good thing is we raised money for the charity and the cool thing is we all left full of food. Both versions of the snack-pack meatballs were good, but Carla's were sooooo tasty that they eclipsed every other dish and drink both teams submitted, combined. Word. Makes me feel like I need to put some chips in my meatball recipe teeheehee ... until then, I hope you enjoy my version of meatball goodness, with a healthy kick - no fried cheese snacks or greasy chips involved. That's Cooking for Real, this Saturday May 8th, 2010 @ noon on Food Network!

Enjoy the weekend, and remember if you miss the debut Saturday, you can always catch it Monday at 4pm and other episodes throughout the week at the same time! Plenty of time to hang out with me while I cook for real so we can eat for real :-).

I've been eating ...

Hey there! I've been on the road a bit so I haven't checked in for a couple of days. I left Detroit so full of midwestern goodness! Take a look ...
That's my favorite bowl of chili. I got it in my old neighborhood in Detroit at National Coney Island. I've talked about this chili on Cooking for Real when I shared my recipe for Interstate Chili and I think I've mentioned it here before. It is soooo good. If you can believe me, it melts in your mouth. No joke. I like mine topped with onions, cheese and a squirt of mustard. They even threw in an extra scoop of ground beef on top. That's just how they served it to me when I visited with my bff last week. She was nice enough to drive past my old place on the way to eat and I got out to snap a pic ...
I almost didn't recognize it when we drove by because the current owner cut down all the shrubs :-(. I used to get out there on a Saturday morning and trim them with my electric trimmer thingy. Such zen time, they were so pretty and green. Ever do that? Drive past your old place and get a lil misty? I don't get that much because I move so much, but to see my old place without the greenery made me a bit sad. Luckily I had 3 scoops of this in my belly ...
That's the sundae they sent out after my chili at National Coney Island. I didn't order it, but things have a way of finding themselves at my table these days and it's hard to refuse ... almost seems rude. So, woe is me, I had to power through some vanilla ice cream suffocated by gooey fudge syrup and pastry, it was soooo hard :-( ... can you hear the sarcasm, cuz it's there. :-) Thanks to the guys and gals over there, they fed me hot chili on many frigid Detroit days. It was nice to go back.

I also went to Michael Symon's Roast and didn't snap a pic at all. Wish I had, it was great, but I was there catching up with 4 friends from Detroit, so there wasn't room to say ... "hold on! lemme take a photo!". We were all just chatting and talking about the good ol days. Rest assured, the food was gooood! I actually enjoyed the drink menu as well and suggest a lemony fruity drink called "No Name" and if you like a dirty martini, he has something on the drink menu called a "Hot Dirty Bird" with Cholula and olive brine that I had and loved as well. I started with the beef tartare and ordered the bacon wrapped trout for an entree with the roasted cauliflower on the side.

I also had some soul food while I was in Detroit, but I couldn't tell you where it was from, my bff showed up two days in a row with it at my hotel room and when faced with hot fried catfish, you don't ask questions, but you do take pictures. :-)
It was soooooo crispy! And you can tell, even though it was fried, not a bit greasy. That's when you know the oil was at the right temp. Good stuff! I only ate one filet and ate greens and mac on the side.

Well, I Just wanted to let you know what I've been eating while on the road. I'm back in Brooklyn now and today I have another event with True Child. Remember, I just did a cook off with them last week in Chicago? Just as we wrapped the event coordinators asked if I would help out with the event here in NYC. I have the time and love goal of the organization, so I said why not! This time I'm judging the food instead of cooking and the event is tonight at the I.C.E. in Manhattan. Here are some pics from last week's Chicago cook off ...

My weapons of choice in the kitchen, the 10"-wide and a smile :-).
That's Dale (Top Chef), Myself and Natalie, Chef Chris Lateano, Casey (Top Chef) and Carlos. Dale and Casey were both runner's up on the same season of Top Chef and have done this event for the last couple of years. Natalie was the kid chef for the ladies. She takes part in another local charity, Common Threads, that Chef Art Smith runs. He is such a joy in person and it was so neat working with one of his students. Next to us is a local chef at helm of South Water Kitchen, Chris Lateano. He was introduced as the winner of Bacon Fest 2009, so I knew I had to give his place a try. The next morning, I checked out his place for brunch and enjoyed it before I hit the road to Detroit. The Chilaquiles were grrrrrreat! I usually like green sauce, but his was red and I didn't care a bit! Ok, next to Chris is Casey, runner up from Top Chef. She's opening a restaurant in Texas soon. Next to her is Carlos, another kid chef from Common Threads for the guys team. Here are us girls planning away with Natalie leading the way ...
We only had 5 minutes to plan, then we all dug into our secret ingredients ...

30 minutes later we were done and the judges had the guys edging us out by a tight margin. It never really felt like a competition, but tonight when I judge ... I'm leaning towards the ladies to avenge Natalie's loss! Just kidding! I'll be fair. If you are headed there tonight, stop and say hi! I don't bite!

OH WAIT! I forgot to share a quick touristy shot I took in Chicago ...self explanatory ...

She's soon ending her show and it takes years to get tickets, so I guess this is as close as it gets to being on the Oprah Winfrey Show, eh? Luckily my bff lives down the street and didn't think I was corny for wanting a picture. Oprah is responsible for her quitting the texting and driving craze, which I was happy to hear before our road trip to Detroit! Good stuff!!! Ok, hope you are having a great Monday so far!