Wild Living with Sunny: episode 1

Sorry dial-up users…I’ve entered the world of videoblogging. This is the first, in what I hope to be a once-every-other-week show, about wild foods and sustainable lifestyle topics. This first show has all sorts of flubs; like forgetting you can’t shoot vertically (sorry Chef Bob it cuts your head off when rotated back to horizontal), not being able to stop the acid-trip-looking rotation once I got it going, crazy background noise, etc. But, that only leaves room for improvement. I’ll continue to post on the blog, but am excited to spend more time working with video. FYI, this website is best viewed using Mozilla/Firefox web browser.

My good friend Chef Bob, highlighted in this video, started cooking at 7 years old. His transylvanian gypsy grandmother let him start playing around with flour and by the time he was 9 he was carrying around application materials for the CIA (Culinary Institute of America) – which he later attended. He currently calls himself a ‘Chefalebrity’, and works as a private chef in Malibu. I’m excited to work more with him on wild and local food recipes…he is definitely a man of flavors. Here is his recipe for the dish highlighted in the video.

Acorn ‘n Sagebrush Chicken

3 chicken breasts, cut in 1” pieces
4 T acorn flour
1 t California sagebrush, dried
1 t hot red pepper powder
1/4 c olive oil
1 c yellow onion, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 c cleaned artichoke hearts, cut in 2” pieces
1/3 c carrots, chopped
3 c CA sagebrush chicken stock
1/2 c zinfendel, or red wine
2 t acorn flour
salt & pepper to taste

Cut chicken in 1” pieces. Place in medium sized bowl and mix in acorn flour, california sagebrush, and hot red pepper powder. Put oil in large soup pot and put on medium-low heat. Carmelize the dredged chicken for a few minutes, and then add your onion and garlic. Let this cook until the onions and garlic become translucent, about 4 minutes, and add the artichoke hearts and carrots. Stir for about a minute and add chicken stock. Let this mixture simmer on low, covered, for about 25 minutes. Liquid should be reduced and you can then pour in the wine. Let cook for about 5 minutes, then sprinkle 2 t acorn flour on top. Mix in with desired salt & pepper and serve.

Please leave a comment about the film. Let me know what you liked or didn’t. I’m hoping to take the show on the road in the future, traveling to other parts of the country to highlight folks doing wild food, as well as other sustainable lifestyle stuff. If you have an idea for a future show, know someone doing something cool to highlight, or otherwise have suggestions, please leave a comment or pop me an email.