The Next Food Network Star ... Season 7!

Last year, I wanted to audition for TNFNS but I didn’t find the application online until the deadline had already passed. I am not making that same mistake this year!! I downloaded the applications, all eleven pages of it, and am sitting down to start working on it … gender? F; nickname? No thank you; food industry experience? hmmm does being a waitress/hostess in college count?? If I were an ingredient I would be __________ because _________ … and now we get to the tough questions requiring self-reflection, ugh!!

While I ponder my “culinary point of view,” I scroll through the 10 pages of legal yaddayadda to figure out what I’m signing up for and notice a simple sentence that states I may be asked to develop 30+ original recipes “on the spot” if I get invite to NYC for a final interview with producers so to start preparing. FUGH! Well, as I sit and think about this (and abandon my application for a moment), I dig out my handwritten recipe book where I try to remember to write down new dishes I create on the fly: 1, 2, 3, 4 … 38. WOW! I had no idea that I’d come up with that many, well no that’s not true, I knew I had that many in my repertoire, I had no clue I’d written that many down in my book! (Thank you Aunt Vicki for the wonderful bridal shower gift btw)

Ok, now I’m obsessing: do the 30 original recipes need to be all entrees or should it be entrees paired with sides or are sides separate “recipes” according to the true definition? I’m going to guess that sides are a separate recipe for now, but prepare for the worst. Dinner tonight is my chicken and black bean enchilada casserole and it is not written down in my book but it is an original recipe I made up one day when I didn’t have a whole lot of ingredients in the house but Dan wanted Mexican. I’ve enlisted the help of Dan to try to write down what I use and how much I use when I create these on-the-fly recipes based upon the contents of my cupboards and fridge. One more recipe added to the book! This is doable, I can do this, I can be a tv chef!!! Well, once I figure out my culinary point of view that is …

Chicken and Black Bean Enchilada Casserole
1lb skinless/boneless chicken breasts
2 cups fat-free ricotta
1 cup fat-free sour cream
2 cups reduced fat shredded cheddar
1 can black beans
2 cups salsa
3 jalapeños, diced (or a 4oz can of diced green chiles)
1 onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1tsp chili powder or fajita/taco seasoning
1tsp cumin
½ cup fresh chopped cilantro (or 2tsp dried)
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
8 corn tortillas, cut into quarters

Lightly dust both sides of the chicken breasts with salt, pepper and chili powder; bake until cooked through then shred and set aside in a bowl.

Sautee onion and garlic in the olive oil until onions are clear, add to the bowl with the chicken. Drain and rinse the black beans.

In a separate bowl, mix the ricotta, sour cream, jalapeños, cumin, cilantro and some more salt and pepper.

In a deep casserole, pour 1 cup of the salsa then spread to cover the bottom; top with half of the tortillas then half of the ricotta, half of the black beans then finally half of the chicken. Top the chicken with the remaining salsa and half of the shredded cheese then repeat layers: tortillas, ricotta, black beans, chicken then remaining shredded cheese.

Bake at 350 for about 30-40minutes until heated through all bubbly. Let it cool/set for about 10min before serving.

ONE DOWN, SEVERAL MORE TO GO!! Now back to some deep self-reflection, booooooooooo

if i had my own tv show

Most people don’t know this about me, but I’m not so great in front of an audience. Put me at the head of a table and ask me to conduct a meeting and I’m fine, as long as you let me stay seated. Put me at a podium, standing on stage, in front of an audience that is staring at me and I will freeze!! I’ve been told that I hide it well externally, but I don’t believe that for a second. Internally I feel like I am on fire, I constantly pan the room looking for the nearest exit and the clearest path towards it so I waste no time getting out the door and away from the scary audience when I’m finally done presenting.

this is my adorable nephew evan, the pic makes sense when you get to the last paragraph

In the fall of 2002, my siblings and I were on the Weakest Link. The audience was behind us and in total darkness, but I still felt their presence. The lighting on set was such that I could really only see the host, cameras/crew and my siblings, but I knew everyone behind me was staring at me, waiting for me to give the wrong answer. And really? Did I really miss a Britney Spears question on national tv?? That aside, I think my true downfall was that no one was standing there by my side. My closest sibling was only 2-3 ft away but at her own podium which made it feel like it was 2-3 football fields away. Even worse was the after-interview: just me, the camera, and two of the staff egging me on to make a nasty comment about one of my siblings. If you’ve ever seen the show, and no I won’t show you if you haven’t seen it, I was awful!!

In contrast, my sister and I were on VH-1’s very short lived series Motor Mouths and I wasn’t the least bit nervous. It was just us, alone in a car filled with hidden cameras, singing along to the cd they gave us, with me trying to get her to make a fool out of herself and eat a Slim Jim. I was totally fine, because I had my sister, an ally, sitting there right beside me through the whole thing. The episode only aired once, and I do not have a recording, but I did so much better. I was at ease, relaxed, totally as if the cameras weren’t there … until the last and final moments when all these people jumped out at us to tell my sister the jig was up and that she’d just been filmed for national tv. When that happened, I nearly sh*t, but so did she so I looked fine in comparison.

Therefore, if I had my own cooking show, I would want to have guest “stars” on all the time. Not true stars in the sense that they are in movies or are on tv (although that would be nice), but rather I’d want to have the people who have starred in my life and who would make excellent co-hosts to help me feel more at ease. If I had my nearest and dearest there with me, Dan flanking the stage and a friend or family member standing there with me to chat in front of the cameras while I cook, then I’d be a-ok! I think for my first episode, I’d want my dad to be there. After all, he’s the one that first taught me to cook; making E.T. shaped pancakes on Sunday mornings. My first episode would be “It’s all about family” with my dad and maybe my nephew Evan there too. We would make pancakes together, buckwheat of course, and dad could demonstrate how to make the perfect dunkin’ egg. We’d talk about how much fun we had on Sunday mornings, making breakfast for the family then going out and spending the day playing sports or ice skating on the frozen lake. I could give my quick lesson on the importance of a good, healthy breakfast to fit in line with my show’s theme, Evan could roll his eyes.

After we clean up the pancakes, Evan and I could make some chocolate chip cookies, a staple I recall from my childhood that went great with hot chocolate after a long day of playing out in the snow and over which we often recounted stories from our day. My aunt Jill makes the absolute best chocolate chip cookies in the world so she may have to be there so Evan can do a side-by-side taste comparison of Jill’s regular cookies vs. my healthy whole wheat ones. Even if he chose Jill’s, I wouldn’t mind, I’d just be having a fun time in the kitchen with family. And I must admit, I wouldn’t be surprised if Jill’s cookies were the winner, I think I’d choose them too!

My overall theme to my 1st season would be quick & easy, healthy family meals. I’d close out my episode by reminding my virtual tv audience that I believe a kitchen makes a home and that no matter how busy you are, if you follow my recipes you will never be too busy to spend family time, in the kitchen together. Then maybe the camera would pan over to Evan’s adorably chocolate covered smile (seriously, how cute is that kid?) and he could say “bye!!” I’d give everyone a hug and whew! first episode over.