Cucina Testa Rossa

Cheesecake Anne with Passion Fruit Crème Anglaise and Berries

Growing up, my Italian grandmother always made the most delicious, light-as-a feather cheesecake for most every holiday. It was truly like eating a cloud, lighter than any soufflé. I had visions of this recipe hailing from the hills outside of Rome where my grandmother was from, being passed down from generation to generation, visions of nonas in housecoats and aprons with these secret recipes tucked in the big deep pockets... 

When I returned from cooking school and France, I finally had the confidence to give it a try so I called my grandmother for the recipe. "Oh, it's the Sunset recipe," she said matter of factly, not realized that she'd just knocked the wind out of my Roman cheesecake sails.

I immediately called my very good friend and mentor, Jerry DiVecchio, who was the food editor at Sunset Magazine for 42 years and asked her about said cheesecake. "Oh, Cheesecake Anne? Is that the one?" Well, Anne is her daughter who I have been friends with since the mid-80s when we were living in the Marina getting thrown out of the Paragon, but I digress... so yes this is Cheesecake Anne and yes, this is the cheesecake of my childhood, from Sunset Magazine, not from the hills outside of Rome. Buon gusto! 

Cheesecake Anne - by Jerry Anne DiVecchio (Sunset 1973)

Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups Graham cracker crumbs
• 2 tbsp butter
• 3 - 8 oz Philly cream cheese packages
• 6 egg yolks  
• 6 egg whites  
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tbsp flour
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 tsp lemon juice (plus lemon zest of 1 lemon)
• 1 tsp vanilla (or vanilla paste)
  
  
• 1 cup crème anglaise (NYT recipe) – keep chilled
• 2 tbsp passionfruit purée (Perfect Purée Napa Valley)
• 1 cup raspberries
• 2 cups ripe strawberries, halved with green leaves intact
• 1-2 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp Grand Marnier

Make crust:

1. Wrap an 8 or 9" springform pan with removable bottom on the outside with foil to minimize water seepage from cooking in water bath.
2. Soften/melt butter and combine with crumbs
3. Press into bottom of the pan and chill until set

Make batter:

1. Beat cream cheese with egg yolks until smooth.
2. Beat in sugar, flour, sour cream, lemon juice and vanilla.
3. In separate bowl, whip egg whites until they hold short distinct peaks, then gently fold whipped egg whites into cream cheese mixture.  
4. Pour batter into cheesecake pan with chilled crust.
5. Place cheesecake pan into a larger pan with about 1 or 2 inches of water.  This prevents the top from cracking or if it does crack, it will "heal" as it cools.
6. Bake in a 325F degree oven for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until center of cake no longer appears soft and is lightly browned. 
7. Let cool at room temp for 2 hours before cutting or chill before serving if you prefer a creamier consistency. 

To plate with berries:

• 30 minutes before serving, cut strawberries in half and place in a large shallow bowl with raspberries and top with sugar and Grand Marnier. Toss very gently so as to not break up the raspberries. Lightly cover with parchment so it won’t dry out. Take out Crème Anglaise.
  
  
• To plate, place the cake on a platter and remove the ring. Gently, with a long offset spatula, slide the cake off the bottom of the springform. Slowly pour the Crème anglaise onto the cake from the center and let it run over the edges. Gently scoop up the berries with a slotted spoon and mound it on the cake starting on the outside and working in. You can drizzle some Grand Marnier around after all the fruit is on. Bon appetit.  
  
  
• NOTE: to make this gluten free, omit the crust and the flour and add 1 whole egg to the egg yolks (so 6 egg yolks + 1 whole egg). You can also bake in individual ramekins and serve, topped with the crème anglaise and/or berries or dust with powdered chocolate or powdered sugar or all of the above ;) 

 

13th Annual Most Beautiful Easter Eggs Ever

I love our Easter Egg tradition and can't believe we've been making them for 13 years! 

The instructions are here but we've learned a few things over the years. We add 1 cup of distilled white vinegar (not 1/4 cup) and we simmer for about 45 minutes (do not boil!). We also wet the silk and cotton with water using a spray bottle so the material lays flat against the egg so less air pockets, decreasing blank spots on the egg. 

Here are a few more, close up. We are constantly amazed at the detail that transfers to the eggs, and so much more fun than the old PAAS box! Enjoy...

         

        

SUNDAY SOUL SUPPER IS LIVE!!! 💙👩‍🍳🙏🍳🧘‍♀️

I AM SO EXCITED TO ANNOUNCE THIS! I've wanted to do this for a long time and, well, now is the time! ⏰

Welcome to SUNDAY SOUL SUPPER! A little mindfulness, a minute meditation and a whole lotta' cooking!

I've always loved BIG SUNDAY DINNERS with friends and family coming together to break bread 🥖 and share stories of the week and of life. Around the table 🪑 is where memories are made, and friendships are formed 🤝

With Sunday Soul Supper, cook along with me online, ask questions in real time, then sit down for a beautiful, healthy, delicious meal, together w friends & family 🍽

This Sunday, April 10th, we'll be spatchcocking 😳 a chicken 🐔 together! It's easy and as fun to make as it is to say! I am pairing the chicken with Stag's Leap Rosé 🍷 thanks to Mimi Gatens of Treasury Wine Estates who will be here to tell us all about this delicious wine 😋

So sign up ✅ grab an apron 🥼 - and a chicken 🐔 - and let's get cooking! 👩‍🍳👨‍🍳

"A tavola non si invecchia mai 😊 Diventi solo felice.”
You never get old at the table. You just get happy.

CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS

 

 

 

Join me in My POWER Kitchen to COOK. EAT. HEAL!

please take a moment and click on my picture below to watch a brief video introduction
to my new cooking course, The POWER Kitchen! 

In 2022, I am reclaiming my health! I'm not counting points or south beach keto'ing or any other fad diet. I am focusing on radical self-care! Real care focused on overall health - mind, body, soul - so to that end I am launching my new cooking course, The POWER Kitchen, to teach people WHAT to eat and HOW to cook it to heal. World-renowned doctors and mindfulness leaders and fitness experts will be joining me to explain exactly what certain illnesses are and what we should eat (and not eat!) to heal our illnesses and maintain overall great health! Bon appetit!

Click here for more information >>

Champagne & Seaweed

Yes, you read that right, Champagne and Seaweed! If you think about it, some of the best pairings with champagne are fried, salty, crunchy food. Fried chicken, popcorn, french fries, and now....seaweed. Its salty, crunchy, earthy umami! 

Jeff Harding, that handsome guy above and wine director at The Waverly Inn in NYC, and I are hosting a cooking and champagne pairing on his IG LIVE this Saturday May 22 at 10am PT! 

If you'd like to cook along, channel your inner mermaid and join us!
Here are the recipes and places to find these savory seaweed. 

• Watermelon Salad with Lime, Mint and Nori - Superfood Seagreens
• Caramelized Onion Wakame Onigiri - The Spruce Eats
• Soft Scrambled Tamago - Food52
• Nori and Sesame Avocado Toast - Food52
• Furikake - Just One Cookbook 
  
  
• Good Eggs - Seaweed
• Strong Arm Farm

Jeff's bougie furikake popcorn ;)

Sea you Saturday! 

COOK. EAT. DANCE. LOVE! Valentine's Day Dinner and Dancing

Valentine's Day Dinner + Dancing  |  Saturday, Feb 13  |  4pm to 6pm PT

Hard to believe that Valetine’s Day is right around the corner! With indoor dining closed, you can still create a romantic, fun evening at home. Grab your galentine, valentine or bestie for a fun evening of sparkling cocktails, delicious dinner, decadent dessert and delightful dancing!

Cocktails, wine pairing and cooking led by Classically-trained chef and Certified Sommelier Laura Pauli. Salsa Dancing led by world renowned, award winning fitness expert and dancer extraordinaire, Manuel Velazquez.

Le Menu

Starter: 
Champagne Cocktail
Dungeness Crab Salad
 

Main Course:
Filet Mignon with Red Wine Blue Cheese Sauce
California Cabernet or Bordeaux Blend
 

Dessert:
Chocolate Grand Marnier Truffles
Sauterne or Moscato d’Asti/Muscat

Dancing:
Salsa, Mambo, Cha Cha and Rumba!

Sign up now to receive:

• Ideas to decorate your table for festive evening
• Detailed recipes
• Shopping list
• Equipment list
• Step-by-step checklist for set-up prior to cooking
• Links to buy wine, equipment and specialty food

Does not include: food, equipment
Live: All classes hosted live on Zoom.us to a limited number of students 

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Grab your whisk and your dancing shoes, we'll see you on the interwebs!  

Let's Get Healthy in 2021!

South Beach Keto | Jan 10 to Feb 28, 2021 | Sundays 10am to 12pm PT

Let's GET HEALTHY in 2021!  I don't know about you, but I am.... 

• Struggling to work off the extra pounds!
• Tired of yo-yo diets that never work!
• Not exercising enough (read: at all)!
• Eating too much turkey, stuffing and holiday baking!
• Losing count of quickly abandoned resolutions!

Please join me – I’ll be doing the program along with you! – in this realistic, healthy, long-term approach to revitalize your health with my South Beach Keto Cooking Program!

This class will follow Dr. Arthur Agatston’s philosophy, research and book, “The New Keto-Friendly South Beach Diet: Rev Your Metabolism and Improve Your Health with the Latest Science of Weight Loss”.

As we learn and cook together through Phase 1 and Phase 2 of his book, you will:

• develop life-long habits of healthy eating and cooking
• learn the techniques behind the recipes
• meal plan for the week
• learn tips and tricks to transform your meals
• receive recipes, shopping list and equipment list

All to make cooking fast, easy, healthy and – most importantly – fun!

You’ll learn how and why things work and the importance of the right ingredients, tools and techniques. Cooking for one or ten, we’ll talk about way to use a recipe in different ways, tips on how to make-ahead, store and freeze. You will also receive preparation instructions so plenty of time to gather your ‘mise en place’ and be ready to cook.

After nine months in quarantine and a cholesterol test later, I need to rejuvenate my health, get my LDLs down and get my movement up. So let’s channel our collective group power and all focus on rejuvenating our health together in community!

CLICK HERE for more information on this program >>

 

NEED A GIFT? COOKING CLASSES! WINE CLASSES!

please click on this picture to see all the cooking & wine classes >>

Salsa y Salsa v5.0 ~ Our Last Holiday Salsa

This is our last Friday of Salsa y Salsa (y Cocktail!) with Laura y Manuel!

   
 

THIS Friday, Dec 18 @ 5-6pm PT - Salsa y Salsa v5.0: REGISTER

• Cocktail: Laura's Cranberry Martini Explosion (it's actually Pierre's recipe, more on that on the zoom!)
  
  • Ingredients: cranberries, sugar (use *half* the amount in the recipe!), oranges, ginger, vodka
• Salsa: Pomegranate Jalapeño Confetti Salsa
  • Ingredients: pomegranate, cucumber, red onion, jalapeno, cilantro, lime juice
• Salsa: Manuel Velazquez, award-wining dance instructor & professional dancer will teach us all how to salsa! Ay caramba! 
  
  

We are SO looking forward to salsa-ing all together again on the interwebs very soon! This is our LAST FRIDAY, so please come share some holiday cheer and learn a move or two.  

Besos y un gran embrazo,
Laura y Manuel xo

Salsa y Salsa v4.0 ~ Vodkas y Latkes

Bienvenidos to our weekly Friday Funday, Salsa y Salsa (y Cocktail!) with Laura y Manuel!! Each week, together we will all make a cocktail, a salsa and learn a new Salsa dance. Ay caramba!

This week, though, is a little different. Oy vey, you say?! This week, to celebrate Hanukkah, it's Vodkas y Latkes! We'll be drinking Vodka martinis and making Latkes and learning about this tradition and meaning behind it from my new MEA bestie, Lisa Carmel. So please sign up below! 

      
 

THIS Friday, Dec 4 @ 5-6pm PT - Vodka y Latkes y Salsa y Salsa v4.0: REGISTER

• Cocktail: Vodka Martini
  
  • Ingredients:  vodka :
• Latkes: NYT Latkes or Kitchn Latkes by Lisa Carmel
  • Ingredients:  potato, onion, egg, matzo or breadcrumbs, canola oi
• Salsa: Fresh Apple Salsa (or Applesauce) + Sour Cream
  • Ingredients: tart apple, onion, cilantro, lime, jalapeño, poblano, ginger, simple syrup, walnuts, sour cream
• Salsa: Manuel Velazquez, award-wining dance instructor & professional dancer will teach us all how to salsa! Ay caramba! 

We are SO looking forward to salsa-ing all together again on the interwebs very soon! We'll be hosting these every Friday, so come work of all the holiday cookies and then join us for one last salsa.  

Besos y un gran embrazo,
Laura y Manuel xo

Salsa y Salsa v3.0 ~ Bourbon Cider Cocktail + Winter Salsa

We're Back! Every Friday it's Salsa y Salsa (y Cocktail!) with Laura y Manuel!

     
 

THIS Friday, Dec 4 @ 5-6pm PT - Salsa y Salsa v3.0: REGISTER

• Cocktail: Bourbon Cider Cocktail
  
  • Ingredients:  bourbon, sugar, bitters, hard cider (dry), maraschino cherry, orange  
• Salsa: Winter Salsa with Pomegranate, Chipotle and Orange
  • Ingredients:  pomegranate, onion, orange, chipotle chili in adobo, plum tomatoes, cilantro, cumin, lime, olive oil  
• Salsa: Manuel Velazquez, award-wining dance instructor & professional dancer will teach us all how to salsa! Ay caramba! 

We are SO looking forward to salsa-ing all together again on the interwebs very soon! We'll be hosting these every Friday, so come work of all the holiday cookies and then join us the rest of the year.  

Besos y un gran embrazo,
Laura y Manuel xo