Last night I headed to the Cellar Kitchen at Macy’s Herald Square to attend a cooking demonstration for the Macy’s Culinary Council.

Chef Nancy Silverton, co-owner of Mozza in Los Angeles was there to demonstrate her recipe from The Macy’s Culinary Council Thanksgiving Holiday Cookbook and her latest cookbook Mozza.

Although I was seated in the front row, the Samsung TV overhead made it easy for everyone in attendance to get a great view of the demonstration.

Although Mozza is actually three restaurants, every night its the mozza bar where you can usually find Chef Nancy Silverton.

She’s a West Coast native but back in 1982, she was in New York as a chef for Maxwell’s Plum and lived on 57th and First.  She talked about the culinary offerings back in the 80s and what supermarkets had readily available for those who wanted to cook with mostly fresh ingredients.

Her first recipe to demonstrate was the Stracciatella with celery and herb salad and celery leaf pesto. It was a wonderful springtime salad. During this demonstration, Chef Nancy talked about her home in Umbria and making basil pesto when she arrives for the summer. She also talked about the different olive oils and timing of their release.

Using a sandwich press, Chef Nancy made one of my favorite things … fettunta. I’m not a fan of dipping bread in poor quality olive oil at restaurants so a fettunta is my preferred way of having bread and olive oil.

This is the stracciatella she made using a local (as opposed to imported) Vermont burrata.

The recipe from the Macy’s Culinary Council Thanksgiving and Holiday Cookbook used turkey, feta, almonds, radicchio, arugula, and frisee.

Chef Nancy Silverton signed copies of her latest book and the Macy’s cookbook after her presentation.

If you haven’t visited Macy’s Cellar Kitchen for a demonstration you should put it on your to do list. It’s always nice to learn a few new ideas in the kitchen.