A Chef Nancy Silverton Cooking Demo and a Signed Cookbook Giveaway! #CulinaryCouncil #Macy's

Chef Nancy Silverton

A few years ago, I had the pleasure of attending a cooking demonstration at Macy's with Chef Cat Cora. It was so fabulous to have a front row seat to watch (and sample) food being made from such a talented chef. A few months later, Chef Tom Douglas came to town and I learned all about making crab cakes, plus there was a photo op and a signed cookbook to take home. I never thought I would be so lucky to have a third chance to watch and learn from yet another great chef, this time Chef Nancy Silverton. Chef Silverton is the co-founder of La Brea Bakery in Los Angeles, owner of Pizzeria Mozza and Osteria Mozza, author of several cookbooks, an acclaimed pastry chef, winner of too many awards to mention (a current James Beard Foundation nominee), and she even cooked with Julia Child! It didn't take me long to request the day off from work and get my name on the list....

The bar at Mozza always includes a seasonal acqua fresca (a sparkling non-alcoholic fruit juice drink). Nick, the bartender, created this drink made with kumquats, cucumber, and basil. Very refreshing!

Macy's Culinary Council is made up of a group of very distinguished chefs from around the country that are dedicated to inspiring you to eat, cook, and enjoy food at home, just like they would make it. Chef Silverton demonstrated two salads for us and ended on a sweet note with a shortbread cookie. Both of the salads had a basic Lemon Vinaigrette as a component, yet each salad was completely different. The first, a hearty Kale Salad, was comprised of marinated anchovies, ricotta salata, pine nuts, garlic, olive oil, lemon zest, and red pepper flakes. Between the zesting, and the chopping, Chef Silverton inspired us with little hints. One suggestion: Save the best EVOO for drizzling on things--use a good EVOO for the actual recipe.

Chef Silverton bakes the ricotta salata, imparting a beautiful brown color, a bit of a smoky flavor, and a longer shelf life.

Off to the side, the Macy's staff prepared salads for all of us to try.

My sister was a big help, holding all of the food so that I could take pictures....

The next salad, Sweet Gem Lettuce with Bufala Mozzarella, Cucumber, and Yogurt was a little more delicate, so the dressing had the Lemon Vinaigrette with an added yogurt dressing to better coat the tender leaves. Chef Silverton isn't one for garnishes just for garnish sake...she likes them to be a part of the dish, and to have good flavor. This salad was garnished with chive flowers for looks and for flavor.

It turns out that Chef Silveton is not a huge fan of sweet desserts. She does, however, make a fabulous, not too sweet, ending to a meal with her Rosemary Pine-Nut Cookies. A shortbread dough with polenta in the mix is made up ahead of time so that it has plenty of time to chill. Then, a pine nut nougatine is made up. After the cookie dough is rolled and cut into shapes, a bit of the nougatine is put in the center, along with a couple of rosemary sprigs. The result is a really unique, not-to-sweet, cookie.

Macy's Culinary Council went all out for this cooking demonstration with Chef Silverton. As an incentive, if we spent $35 in the home department, we received in return a free copy of Chef Silverton's book, The Mozza Cookbook (a $35 value) and a $10 giftcard. Of course, I found a few things to buy...who doesn't need a new Silpat every now and then? We also had a chance to have Chef Silverton sign our books...Nice!

As a final, nice touch, Macy's gave me an additional signed copy of The Mozza Cookbook to share with one of my readers. I'm going to make it easy for you to enter--simply leave a comment telling me what your favorite Italian dish is. Please use the Rafflecopter gadget to enter--that way you can leave your email address and no one will see it. :)--then leave a comment as you normally would. Rafflecopter will pick the winner for me at random. I will open this giveaway to residents of the USA over 18 years of age. The winner will be chosen on April 10th.

Do you live near a Macy's? I suggest you check to see if a chef from the Culinary Council will be visiting your city. These events are free and make for such a fun day. I can't wait to see who the next chef will be! Oh--and my favorite Italian dish? Pizza! (I plan on trying out the pizza dough recipe in my new cookbook).

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer: I am a member of the Everywhere Society and Everywhere provided me with compensation for this post about Macy's Culinary Council.  However, all thoughts and opinions expressed herein are my own.

Crab Cakes in Minnesota?....You Betcha!

Crab Foo Yung...so delicious!

I'm going to be honest. I didn't know who Chef Tom Douglas was before I went to see him. I received notice from Macy's Culinary Council about a week ago that there was to be another cooking event, this time at the Macy's downtown. As luck would have it, I had requested the day off from work, so I decided to take a look see. This time Pete came with me (he is still upset that he missed the Cat Cora event) and we met my sister and niece at the store. What a great time we had!

For the uninformed (like me), Tom Douglas is a cookbook author and restaurateur (his restaurants are all in the Northwest, so I guess I don't feel so bad about my ignorance). In 1994, he won the James Beard award for Best Northwest Chef and, here's a fun fact, he was up against Iron Chef Morimoto on Food Network's Iron Chef America--and won! Recently, he partnered with Amazon.com to create an exclusive line of kitchen products to instill "confidence in the kitchen".

The theme of this event was based on his most recent book, I Love Crab Cakes!, an amazing collection of all things crab cake. His first recipe was for Avocado and Crab Salad "Cakes" with Spicy Mayo. Fresh crab salad and avocado slices are shaped with ring molds (he actually uses PVC pipe at home, although you can use tomato cans with the tops and bottoms removed). To finish it off, he topped it with a little salmon roe.

Before things really got started Chef Tom passed around a bowl of crab for us to smell how fresh crab should smell. It smelled like the ocean.

Avocado and Crab Salad "Cakes" with Spicy Mayo

Here's the sample we got. It was lovely.

That the Chef is an advocate for "confidence in the kitchen" was especially evident when he described the kitchen tools he liked to use or that he recommended the home cook to use. His advice was all about comfort, from the type of knife to use (he recommends the Wusthof brand, with a textured handle for comfort) to the best kind of saute pan (stainless steel works best for high heat--just use a scrubby to clean it out). It only makes sense that a cook who feels confident and comfortable will have success in the kitchen.

The next recipe on the agenda was for the Crab Foo Yung....an egg foo yung made with fresh crab, but without the gelatinous gravy that you find at most restaurants.

This little sample was gobbled up fast.

All the while our Chef was cooking, he was keeping us engaged and interested. At one point, he asked us which chef from the Macy's Culinary Council was our favorite so far. Like an idiot, I shouted "Cat Cora". He made some amusing comment about her popularity and then my husband shouted out that his favorite chef was Tom Douglas! We all know that was the right answer----he called Pete up front and center, grabbed one of his cookbooks, signed it and practically gave Pete a big kiss. LOL

Pete makes his way up to see Chef Tom.

Pretty risky stuff---the chef's wife was in the audience.

The last recipe of the event was the absolute best, in my opinion----Mr. Joe's Tomato Gravy Crab Cakes with Smoky Bacon. Chef Tom brought us back to his childhood where his next-door neighbor, Mr. Joe, used to invite the family over and serve toast smothered in a tomato gravy--canned tomato sauce and bacon grease. The Chef grew to like this so much, that he uses it to this day.

As cliche as it sounds, it just doesn't get much better than this. Pete is bound and determined for me to learn how to make this one!

In the end, Chef Tom left us feeling like we could make all of these great recipes in our own kitchens with no problems at all. A light hand with the crab, the right equipment, fresh ingredients and confidence are really all we need.

Chef Tom Douglas and me. I can't wait to travel to the Northwest to dine in one of his restaurants.

Macy's was kind enough to offer me a $25 gift card to share my thoughts about Tom Douglas' demonstration. I think I'll put it toward a cookbook when the next chef comes to Macy's and then have a giveaway. What do you think?