Los Angeles personality Cristina Ferrare is passionate about food, cooking, family and friends.
You may recognize her from "Cristina Ferrare's Big Bowl of Love" on the Oprah Winfrey Network, or perhaps from her modeling days in the '70s and '80s, or from her five-year stint as co-host with Steve Edwards on "AM Los Angeles" (in the early '80s). And she was once married to infamous auto mogul John DeLorean.
The latest project for the busy entrepreneur is promoting her new book, also titled "Cristina Ferrare's Big Bowl of Love" (Sterling Epicure; $30). It's filled with 150 recipes, ranging from appetizers, soups and salads to pasta, chicken, fish, vegetables and desserts.
"A lot of it is an evolution of family favorites. It has to do with the new cuisine, how we cook today, living in California and using fresh herbs. It is an eclectic mix of things. Don't complicate dishes; keep them simple," she advises.
"My grandmother taught me to use everything in the kitchen. She never threw anything away. She kept reinventing new dishes with leftovers and shopped for groceries in a way that always allowed for more meals out of the simplest ingredients."
Ferrare has followed her example with new twists. "I can take a 5- to 6-pound chicken and make three meals out of it, feeding four to six people each time." She uses the bones to make chicken broth for soups, sauces and such. "I can also make three meals out of a 6-pound chuck roast."
In her first cookbook, "Cristina Ferrare's Family Entertaining," she took cooks through a whole year of traditional family recipes she grew up on - from New Year's to end-of-the- year celebrations.
This Easter, Ferrare will celebrate with 60 family members and friends at her Los Angeles home. The dishes will be a blend of traditional Italian and Greek food (her husband of 26 years, Tony Thomopoulos, is Greek, and they have a blended family of seven children and four grandchildren). This year both Western and Eastern Orthodox Easter fall on Sunday.
Although Ferrare usually cooks on Easter, this year she is leaving the task to her two daughters - Alexandra, 24, and Arianna, 22, both accomplished cooks - since she returns from her book tour the day before.
On the menu will be several favorites from her book, including a terrific antipasto platter, burrata cheese and heirloom tomato slices, tzatziki, hummus, feta cheese and pita bread triangles along with rack of lamb, Caesar salad, potatoes with onions and rosemary, grilled vegetables, risotto and berry-topped cheesecake.
You can do some preparation in advance, she notes. Make the tzatziki, hummus and salad dressing a day in advance and refrigerate. The red peppers can also be roasted, peeled and marinated a few days ahead and kept refrigerated. Bake the cheese a couple of days in advance and stash in the freezer.
Arrange the antipasto platter attractively an hour or two before the guests arrive. For the tomato and burrata cheese platter, cut the tomatoes in advance, but don't salt until just prior to serving. Also, roast the potatoes, cook the risotto and roast the rack of lamb (it takes only 30 minutes) just before serving.
Avoid serving too many appetizers to guests, advises Ferrare (who refers to them as "appespoilers"), so guests won't arrive at the table full.
Cooking runs in her Italian family, says Ferrare, who was born and raised in Cleveland. "My grandmother and grandfather lived with us and always cooked. My mother is a brilliant cook, too."
She fondly recalls the pesto the family made from the Italian parsley and basil the family grew in their backyard garden. The herbs were chopped by hand with garlic and olive oil, then eaten with pasta. "Our neighbors thought we were crazy growing our own herbs. They had never heard of pasta that was green before (that was in the '50s).
"I loved it when my grandmother made homemade raviolis. It was my job to line them up and count them on a sheet spread out on the bed. Everyone got 10 raviolis (filled with beef, pork, veal, ricotta cheese, spinach, Parmesan, salt and pepper and nutmeg)."
When she was 4, she would hang out in the kitchen, Ferrare says, but her grandmother was always trying "to shoo me out." Finally she relented and gave Ferrare things to do like "peeling vegetables or stirring stuff on the stove.
"I have been connected to food all my life - buying, touching, loving, preparing , cooking and serving it," she adds, noting that she moved to California at age 14.
Her pasta dishes are among her family's favorites, along with her dish dubbed "chicken roasted to perfection."
"The secret is the marinade, which turns into a super-delicious pan sauce that you can pour all over the chicken. Oprah Winfrey had tasted it at a mutual friend's house on Christmas. I use the marinade on everything - fish, turkey, lamb, etc."
A couple of years ago, Ferrare made a turkey with it on the "Oprah Winfrey Show." "After the show Oprah asked me to come up to her office and said, `I'd like you to have a cooking show on OWN."'
To keep trim, Ferrare walks, does cardio and lifts weights. "I'm a huge walker. At this stage in life, I eat what I want but I don't overindulge like I used to." She doesn't have a sweet tooth - "I am more of a salty and cheese person" - but Reese's mini peanut butter cups are her secret junk food or indulgence, she admits. "I could eat 100 of them at a time."
These days, when Ferrare isn't in the kitchen, you might find her involved with her 5-year-old home accessories business, Ferrare With Company, or her recently opened retail shop,
Marquette, in Los Angeles, with partners Brian Thorson and Tim Hosier.
All recipes from "Cristina Ferrare's Big Bowl of Love: Delight Family and Friends With More than 150 Simple, Fabulous Recipes," Sterling Epicure.
ANTIPASTO PLATTER
20 slices sopressata OR Genoa salami
20 slices mortadella
20 slices prosciutto
6 ounces (approximately 1 1/2 cups) Parmesan cheese, cut into chunks
3 roasted red bell peppers, peeled, cut into strips and marinated in olive oil, parsley, garlic and kosher salt
1 cup marinated olives (optional)
2 dozen slices crostini (prepared by slicing 2 loaves Italian OR French bread in 1/4-inch slices, brushing both sides with extra virgin olive oil and baking in a preheated 400-degree oven until golden and crispy, about 15 minutes)
Arrange salami, mortadella, prosciutto and Parmesan cheese on a large platter without overcrowding. Add cheese chunks. Place red peppers and olives in separate bowls and place on the platter. Serve with crostini. Makes 8 to 10 servings.
HUMMUS
1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon cumin
1 garlic clove, peeled
1/4 cup tahini paste
4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon plus a pinch of cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Pita bread triangles, warmed
In a food processor, combine chickpeas, 1/3 cup olive oil, cumin, garlic, tahini paste, lemon juice, cayenne pepper and salt and process until smooth. If mixture is too thick, add an additional 2 tablespoons olive oil and process until smooth. Serve hummus (topped with a drizzle of olive oil, if desired) with warm pita. Makes 2 cups hummus.
TZATZIKI
1 large cucumber, peeled and shredded OR finely chopped
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespooon lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh mint
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh dill
2 cups Greek yogurt
Pita bread, grilled and cut into triangles
In a bowl, combine cucumber, oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, mint and dill; mix well. Add yogurt and mix well. Cover with plastic wrap or place in airtight container and refrigerate at least 2 to 3 hours before serving. Serve with grilled pita bread. Makes 12 servings.
RACK OF LAMB
MINT SYRUP:
1 cup white wine vinegar
6 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup fresh mint leaves
LAMB:
2 racks of lamb, 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 pounds (7 to 8 chops)
4 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Lots of cracked pepper
6 small mint sprigs, for garnish
Make the Mint Syrup ahead of time or even the day before. In a saucepan over medium heat, bring vinegar and sugar to a simmer, cooking until mixture has the consistency of syrup, 8 to 10 minutes. Continue to cook, reducing by half. Remove pan from heat and let cool 10 minutes. Add mint and mix. Cover with plastic wrap and cool about 1 hour. Store in an airtight container in pantry and serve at room temperature.
For Lamb, place the ribs, bone side down, in a roasting pan. Place 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard on each rack of lamb, and rub all over the top with the back of a spoon. Over each rack, sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder and drizzle with 1 tablespoon soy sauce. Divide thyme over the 2 racks. Drizzle 1 tablespoon olive oil over each rack, and crack plenty of pepper over both.
Bake lamb in a preheated 450-degree oven 18 to 25 minutes. Turn on the broiler. Place lamb in the broiler 4 inches from heat source, and broil 2 to 3 minutes, until top is golden and bubbly. Watch carefully so it doesn't burn. Transfer lamb to a cutting board. Cover lightly with foil, and let rest 5 to 6 minutes.
Slice racks into chops by cutting between the bones. Place on a platter, or serve 2 to 3 chops per plate, with the mint syrup on the side. Garnish with a sprig of mint (if using). Makes 6 servings.
GRILLED VEGGIES
1 bunch asparagus (about 12 to 14 stalks), rinsed and bottoms snapped off
2 zucchini, sliced on a diagonal 1/4-inch thick
4 Japanese eggplant, sliced on a diagonal into 1/4-inch-thick pieces
2 red bell peppers, seeded and cut into quarters
1 large yellow OR red onion, peeled and sliced into round 1/4-inch pieces
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Reduced Balsamic Syrup (place balsamic vinegar in a small saucepan, bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium high and cook until vinegar thickens and forms a syrup-like consistency; watch carefully)
French OR kosher salt
Fresh oregano, for garnish
Preheat an indoor or outdoor grill pan until hot. Brush vegetables all over with olive oil using a pastry brush (you can use any combination of vegetables you like). Add vegetables to the hot grill in batches, and keep an eye on them, since some veggies grill up quicker than others.
Arrange grilled vegetables on a platter, and drizzle extra olive oil and reduced balsamic syrup over top. Finish with a sprinkle of salt and fresh oregano. Serve hot, cold, or at room temperature. Makes 6 to 8 servings.
CHEESECAKE WITH FRESH BERRIES
GRAHAM CRACKER CRUST:
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
FILLING:
3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 3/4 cups sour cream, at room temperature
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon vanilla
TOPPING:
2 pints fresh raspberries OR strawberries; if using strawberries, slice in half and lay flat on top of cake
To make Graham Cracker Crust, in a medium bowl stir together graham cracker crumbs, sugar, cinnamon and melted butter until moistened. Using your hands, press crumbs into bottom of a 10x3-inch springform pan. Bake in a preheated 325-degree oven 15 minutes. Cool completely.
To make Filling, in a mixer using paddle attachment, mix cream cheese 2 minutes, stopping twice to scrape down sides of bowl. Add 1 cup sugar in an even stream, and mix 2 more minutes, until light and fluffy. Remember to stop at least twice to scrape down sides of the bowl. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition to incorporate thoroughly, and scrape down the bowl each time. Add 1/2 cup sour cream, lemon juice and vanilla. Beat until well blended. Scrape down sides of the bowl. Pour filling into cool crust, spreading evenly. Lift pan and tap it on counter several times to release any bubbles in batter.
Bake in a preheated 325-degree oven 1 hour, or until top is set. Use a toothpick; if it comes out clean, the cake is done. If it still wiggles in the middle, you need to bake it more. Do not overbake.
While cheesecake bakes, combine remaining 1 1/4 cups sour cream and remaining 3 tablespoons sugar. Spread this mixture over the cheesecake immediately after removing it from oven. Return cake to oven for 5 minutes to set. Cool completely on a wire rack, then cover with foil and freeze overnight.
Remove cheesecake from freezer the morning you are going to serve it. After 1 hour, release and remove the pan sides. Top with berries and serve. Makes 10 to 12 servings.
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