Hashcapades continued its media streak with a TV appearance on KATU AM Northwest. Hosted by Dave Anderson and Helen Raptis, this morning show staple in Portland was the perfect launching pad to sling some hash and promote my cookbook. With just over a week’s notice, I was a bit nervous, wondering which hash I would create and how best to stage a live hashcapade. Let’s take a behind-the-scenes look at what it would take to pull it off…
First of all, Janice Bangs, Producer/Reporter for KATU, explained the logistics of a typical food segment and sent links to several appearances by local foodies and chefs. I would have about 5 minutes on air to explain what hash is and how to make it. Wow – I could spend hours on the topic, so preparation was in order! Thankfully, AM Northwest has a clever mobile kitchen “skid” where I could prepare my hash in advance for a “teaser” shot and stage prepped ingredients. A few days in advance of the show, I prepared a detailed list of what I would need to bring and sketched out the hashcapade flow (new song by Enya?).
My first panic moment occurred when I realized I didn’t bring any olive oil. Are you kidding me? (script fail!) Undeterred, I scoured the kitchen set and found a bottle of oil for sautèing the onions and frying an egg. The night before, I had roasted the potatoes and diced the smoked salmon so they would be ready to simply heat up. In about 10 minutes, I assembled the Smoked Salmon Hash money shot – huzzah!
Now I was ready to wait for my segment, about 35 minutes into the show, but it was still an hour away. So, I wandered around the set to familiarize myself with the the lighting, the robot cameras and the kitchen skid staging area. I took a few photos, knowing a blog post was waiting to be written.
As Dave and Helen launched into the show, I watched their on-screen banter and marveled at the calm confidence and humor they exuded. Dave was especially funny when describing his parking difficulties – taking up too much parking space. Next, Jim Barry showed off some interesting consumer electronics, followed by Krista Colvin with helpful kitchen organizing tips. Before I knew it, my turn had arrived!
Dave would be my guide and I intended to have him test his knife skills by dicing potatoes. After Dave introduced me, I talked about how Hashcapades was born and quickly went through the ingredients. Uh, oh, second panic moment! The ramekin containing the salmon still had wrapping on it, wasting several precious seconds, but I just kept the banter going. We joked about Dave not following rules with the parking as we sliced potatoes and I commended him for not cutting himself – he was a great sport. In what seemed like seconds we were down to the final minute as Dave and I scrambled to assemble the final dish. Helen came over to sample our creation and Dave declared it a success – yay!
See the full video of my Hashcapades TV debut and tell me what you think. Special thanks to Mary Rarick, Krista Colvin and Janice Bangs for helping Hashcapades get on Portland’s TV map and to Dave and Helen for being excellent hosts!
Happy Hashcapades,
Clark
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