Journey to the Today Show

It all started with meatballs. Or in my case, a meatball. 

A long-time and loyal viewer of NBC’s “Today Show”, I was intrigued last Fall when they announced a Meatball Madness Recipe Competition. Three lucky viewers would be flown to New York to present their creations for Celeb Chef, Bobby Flay to judge. So I put on my culinary thinking cap and came up with a Thanksgiving Dinner Meatball. This softball-sized baby had ground turkey, stuffed with mashed potatoes and cranberry, wrapped in crispy bread crumbs and served with an herbal-citrus gravy. Thanksgiving dinner in every tasty bite! So I grabbed my trusty 35mm camera, snapped off a photo and submitted it with my recipe to the “Today Show.”

Thanksgiving Dinner Meatball

About three weeks later, I got a call from a “Today Show” producer who said that I was on the “short-list” for their Meatball Madness segment and wanted to see if I would be available to fly to NYC. Of course I was! This was very exciting, only until I never heard back. Oh well, such as a life as an aspiring foodie.

Right after the holidays, they announced another “Today Show” viewer competition, only this time it was their Pot Pie Cook-off.

Okay, I’ve never made a pot pie before, but I’m gonna do this! Going traditional, would most definitely go unnoticed, but I also didn’t want to go too “out there” either. A friend suggested a hot dog pot pie. A hot dog pot pie, judged by Iron Chef Bobby Flay? I’m thinking no.

I decided it would be a twist on tradition. Having grown up on my family’s cattle ranch in Northern California, I was quite familiar with country-style-meat-and-potatoes kind of cooking. And a pot pie is certainly that, especially chicken. But what can I do to make it unique? I’m a big fan of roasted garlic, so that’ll be a place to start. What can I do with the chicken that’ll make it stand out? Ah yes, smoked chicken. That’s the ticket. I’m going to make a Hickory-Smoked Country Chicken Pot Pie. Chef Flay is a big fan of grilling and smoking, so I thought I was on to something.

I spent the better part of a Saturday experimenting until I came up with my recipe. A head of garlic (yes, an entire head, work with me here) oven-roasted in olive oil, then the cloves are puréed. The chicken breasts and thighs are smoked in my handy-dandy stove-top smoker (ironically, a gift from the friend who suggested I go with hot dogs) and along with roasted veggies, Mexican crema (sour cream for us gringos) a little lemon juice, the garlic and a savory garlic-thyme crust, garnished with pink Himalayan salt and cracked black pepper — my Pot Pie was complete.

I grabbed the camera, snapped a couple shots and typed up the recipe. Did I mention how much work it is to accurately transcribe a recipe? You actually have to indicate measurements, cooking times, portions, yadda, yadda, yadda. This is why I don’t bake, it’s too precise! But I digress.

Hickory-Smoked Country Chicken Pot Pie

I sent the whole kit-n-kaboodle to the “Today Show” and went on with my life. I honestly figured the odds of me getting contacted again were slim to none. But as fate would have it, I got a call from “Today Show” producer, Sarah. After several phone calls over several days, they were booking my travel to the Big Apple to be on my favorite morning news show!

I arrived in NYC the afternoon before our segment was scheduled to air for a rehearsal of sorts at NBC. I met my fellow competitors, Lindsay, from Kansas City and Kiira, from Washington. DC, as well as producer Sarah, and our food stylist (yes, we had a food stylist) Deb. We went over the presentation and what we would be doing on the air. Deb and her staff would prepare each of our recipes to be presented on the show. Wow, not only do I get to be on TV, other people will be making my food. How cool is that?

On the day of the segment, 7 a.m. rolled around quite early as my body was still on California time, but after a healthy dose of coffee, I was ready to rock-n-roll. I arrived at the studio for hair (hair?) and makeup and hung out in the green room (which, isn’t really green, BTW). I wore my Oxford salmon-colored (okay, it’s pink) shirt. and they outfitted us with these cool “Today Show” aprons.
About thirty minutes before our segment, we were taken to the studio to do some teasers. We met Bobby Flay and went over our recipes. Bobby was very kind and encouraging. He and I had a chance to chat for a bit, and I found him quite charming. Al Roker had just finished an interview with Martin Scorsese, so we were up next. I wasn’t nervous, there was only going to be about 6 million people watching.

Left to right, "Today Show" host Carl Quintanilla, Yours Truly and Iron Chef Bobby Flay

In Five, Four, Three, Two... and we’re live! Substitute Host, Carl Quintanilla was handling the segment along with Chef Flay. First up was Lindsay, with her Kansas City Steakhouse Pot Pie. It looked really good. Next was yours truly with my Chicken Pot Pie. I began describing my creation and Bobby asked me why I garnished the crust with Pink Himalayan Salt. I told him because it matched my shirt! My, salmon, uh, pink shirt.  That got a chuckle out of everyone, and I went on to demonstrate how I finished the pie. Then it was Kiira’s turn with her Herb-Roasted Pork Pot Pie. Her’s also looked good.

After tasting all three of our creations, Bobby was about to crown the winner. Did I want to win? Of course, who doesn’t like to win. But I already got a free trip to New York and was appearing on National TV, that was pretty awesome as it was.

(Drumroll please) And the winner of the “Today Show” Pot Pie Cook-off is... Kiira and her Herb-Roasted Pork Pot Pie. Well, sh*t! But hey, I’m a good sport, and I congratulated her and then watched as Carl, Al Roker, Ann Curry and Natalie Morales each dug into our pies. Too bad I didn’t get to taste any of them, including mine because of the speed in which they do their segments on live TV. When we went to commercial I snapped off a few photos with the on-air talent and then was off to the Greenroom where I had to reluctantly return my cool “Today Show” apron.

As they say, it’s an honor to be nominated and that certainly applies in my case. My recipe was selected out of several thousand submitted, and I got to meet and appear with a lot of great people I have admired for years.

Back in L.A., I’m anxiously awaiting the next “Today Show” competition. Maybe the third time will be the charm, right?