Super Bowl Treats from the Today Show

Check out my buddy, Chef Edwin Bellanco (of New York City's Morrell Wine Bar and Cafe) cooking up Super Bowl treats on the Today Show.

Way to go, Ed! Clevelanders Represent!

Lentil Soup with Spicy Sausage

This is a delicious one pot meal for winter. It makes A LOT of hearty soup and keeps wonderfully in the refrigerator so you can enjoy leftovers all week long as the snow falls outside. If you cannot finish the entire pot in your first sitting (and unless you have 8 friends to help you, or that many stomachs you won't ) make sure to place the spinach in each individual bowl instead of in the entire pot or the leaves will wilt too much.


Lentil Soup with Spicy Sausage
Adapted from Bon Appetit

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound hot turkey sausage
1 large onion, chopped
2 large carrots, peeled, chopped
2 large parsnips, peeled, chopped
2 large celery stalks, chopped
2 1/2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning blend (or a combination of any suitable dried herbs you have on hand: sage, oregano, basil)
1 pound lentils
3 quarts low-salt chicken broth
1 5 ounce package spinach leaves

Heat oil in dutch oven over medium high heat. Remove sausage from casings in small bits and cook until browned, stirring occasionally. Add onion, carrots, parsnips, celery and herbs. Cook until onion is translucent and vegetables begin to soften, stirring often. Add lentils; stir to coat. Add broth and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until lentils are tender, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

If serving entire soup immediately, add spinach to dutch oven and stir in before ladling into bowl. If not, add spinach to each bowl and stir in to each serving.

Eat and enjoy!

Breakfast for Dinner: Tomato Poached Eggs

I found inspiration for this dish from a recipe in my "to-make" file one night when I wanted to use only items I had in the fridge and pantry. It's simple, rustic and will warm you up on these cold winter nights!

Tomato Poached Eggs
4 servings

2 tablespoons olive oil
1/3 cup sliced green onions (yellow onions would be fine here too)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
1 28 oz can (or 2 14.5 oz cans) whole plum tomatoes, undrained and coarsely chopped
4 large eggs
4 thick slices of crusty bread
1/2 cup of hard cheese (pecornio or parmesan)
optional (if you have it) : 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat until it shimmers. Add onions and garlic to the oil, cook 3 minutes or until fragrant. Stir in 1/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper and tomatoes. Bring to boil.

Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Stir occasionally.

Reduce heat to low. Crack one egg at a time over tomato mixture, spacing about 1 inch apart. Sprinkle eggs with remaining salt and pepper. Cover pan and cook 5 minutes or until eggs are cooked to desired doneness.

Place one slice of bread in each of 4 bowls. Spoon about 3/4 cup of sauce over each serving. Top each with one egg, approximately 2 tablespoons grated cheese and 1 1/2 teaspoons basil.

Eat and enjoy!

Santa keeps me cooking

I must have been good this year because Santa brought me lots of cooking accessories, implements, and appliances!

Looks like homemade waffles are on the menu for New Year's Day!!


This is an old timey cookie mold. It's almost too pretty to use, though, and will be just kitchen decoration at least for now.


I asked for these tools. The peeler because my old one is just too dull. I discovered that while attempting to peel a pile of potatoes for latkes earlier this month. Uf. The sharp grater is perfect for harder things, like nutmeg. And since, after tasting the intense flavor of fresh grated nutmeg earlier this month I vowed to never purchase ground nutmeg again, I desperately needed this to stick to that promise.


Isn't this cute? Since I often have to wear an apron when we're hosting friends for dinner, it's wonderful to get one that's just as pretty as a party frock. Detail of the front pocket below. Thanks, Mom!



I was so excited to unwrap Thomas Keller's "Ad Hoc At Home." It's a surprisingly large tome for a casual, family style cookbook, but since having the Heirloom Tomato Salad and Buttermilk Fried Chicken at Ad Hoc restaurant in Napa (while dining next to Mr. Keller himself!) I've been dying to recreate them at home. Coming up on New Year's Eve, Fried Chicken!!


Lastly, my mother gifted me her very own, well loved copy of Julia Child and Simone Beck's "The Art of French Cooking." I was most touched by this hand-me-down since Christmas is all about family traditions, particularly of the edible kind. My mother is an excellent cook and hostess. I continue to learn from her and will treasure her cookbook treasures!

Spicy Sweet Potato Casserole

These sweet potatoes have a spicy thai twist that had all our Thanksgiving guests happily licking their lips and guessing what the tasty magical flavorings were. I'm making them again this week to go with our Christmas ham.



Fiery Sweet Potatoes
Adapted from the New York Times

Time: About 2 hours

5 pounds sweet potatoes

1 cup lite coconut milk

1 tablespoon Thai red curry paste

1/2 cup brown sugar -dark or light

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 teaspoon salt.

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Bake potatoes on a baking sheet until very soft, about 1 hour. When cool enough to handle, peel and mash.

Heat coconut milk with curry paste over in a heat proof bowl in microwave until warm. Stir until combined. Mix coconut milk mixture, half the sugar, half the butter, and salt into potatoes. Keep warm until ready to serve, or cover and refrigerate up to two days.

At least 30 minutes before serving, heat oven to 425 degrees. Put potatoes in a baking dish, cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Uncover potatoes, dot with remaining butter and sugar and broil until brown and crusty on top, checking often to prevent scorching.

Yield: 10 to 12 servings.

Pear Upside Down Cake

When I saw this Mark Bittman recipe for Pear Upside Down Cake in last week's New York Times, I knew I had to try it even though the other resident of my home dislikes (hates?) pears. Bittman wrote that he meant this dessert to be a cross between tarte tatin and upside-down cake, which it is, though, for me, it's simply a more fancy, more adult, more complex version of the traditional (and my dad's personal favorite) pineapple upside down cake in all its caramelized sweetness.

Surprisingly, it got raves from my pear-hating husband, who compared it's moist sweetness to tres leches cake, and our bridge buddies. It's easy enough to make on a weeknight if you have some time to spare and would be perfect to serve for brunch as well as dessert. And speaking of, it would be a very good substitute for pie at your Thanksgiving table for any crust-phobic amongst you. Make sure to use the best pears and highest quality maple syrup you can get your hands on. Happy fall baking!


Maple Pear Upside Down Cake

Time: About 90 minutes

11 tablespoons butter

3/4 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

3 medium sized pears (I used a mix of bartlett and bosc) peeled, cored and thinly sliced

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 large eggs

1 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup milk (skim is fine)

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a small pan over medium heat; add maple syrup and brown sugar and cook, stirring, until sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil and cook for another 2 minutes; remove from heat and set aside. When mixture has cooled a bit, pour it into a 9-inch baking pan and arrange pear slices in an overlapping circle on top (a double layer of pears is fine!)

2. In a mixer, beat remaining 8 tablespoons butter and the sugar until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and eggs, one egg at a time, continuing to mix until smooth. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt.

3. Add flour mixture to butter mixture in three batches, alternating with milk; do not overmix. Carefully spread batter over pears, using a spatula to make sure it is evenly distributed. Bake until top of cake is golden brown and edges begin to pull away from sides of pan, about 45 to 50 minutes; a toothpick inserted into center should come out clean. Let cake cool for 5 minutes.

4. Run a knife around edge of pan; put a plate on top of cake and carefully flip it so plate is on bottom and pan is on top. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Yield: 8 to 10 servings.

Pear in the raw

Use a melon baller for quick and easy core removal

Mmmmm browny sugary

Pear slices pinwheeled

Not so pretty right side up

Quite nice upside down!

Rules for Restaurant Servers

There's an interesting what not to do for waitstaff on the New York Times' "You're the Boss" blog.

As a lover of New York City tap water and also of saving a few $$, my favorite has to be #6 Do not lead the witness with, “Bottled water or just tap?” Both are fine. Remain neutral.