Behind the Scenes of "Private Chefs of Beverly Hills:" Chef Sasha's Baklava and Grilled Watermelon and Halloumi Cheese Recipes

Tonight's episode of Private Chefs of Beverly Hills holds a special place in my heart for two very important reasons.

Reason Number One: the day we filming it, I discovered why our outstanding art department smokeshow, Trent, looked so familar to me. That's right, ya'll, he's Trent Ford of "How to Deal" fame.


You remember "How to Deal," don't you? It's from Mandy Moore's prime "Walk to Remember"-"Candy" days and it co-starred Tropical Trent. See! That's him on the DVD cover.

Reason Number Two: We filmed the episode the day before my birthday.

At the end of the shoot, totally oblivious to what they had in store, the producers and crew surprised me with a birthday cake that was a replica of the Tahitian Vanilla Cake from last season, probably the most contraversial item ever featured on the show (and, yes, I am still proud of it).

Carried out by Chef Stuart, who led everyone in a Happy Birthday serenade, I was so shocked and deeply touched, I turned fuschia and burst out laughing, which quickly moved to tears.

It was a moment I will never forget. I know I'm a loud, gregarious, roaring Leo, but the truth is, I'm tough like a cream puff and stuff like that means the world to me.

Grilled Watermelon and Halloumi Cheese “Croutons” with Herbs, Feta and Arugula

makes four servings
4 slices sweet seedless watermelon, with rind
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese, preferably sheep’s milk
1/2 cup baby arugula
1 tablespoon fresh mint, chopped
2 tablespoons cilantro leaves
2 tablespoons Italian parsley leaves
1 teaspoon fresh oregano, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 tablespoon red wine vinegar
Zest of one lime
1/4 cup Halloumi cheese, cubed
Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Heat a grill pan over high heat until very hot.

Sprinkle each slice of watermelon with salt and a pinch of sugar and grill quickly on each side, just until grill marks show and the fruit is lightly caramelized, about 1 minute per side. Arrange on serving plates and sprinkle with crumbled feta, salt and pepper. In a small bowl, toss fresh herbs and arugula with olive oil, vinegar, lime zest, salt and pepper. Place small mounds on top of grilled watermelon and feta. Just before serving, heat a small skillet over medium-high heat and quickly sauté Halloumi until golden and crispy. Garnish each plate with Halloumi cheese croutons and serve immediately.

Rose Water and Orange Blossom Baklava
makes 16 servings

1 pound walnuts, lightly toasted and roughly ground in a food processor or blender
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 package phyllo pastry
1 cup unsalted butter, melted

Syrup:
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 cup honey
Zest of one lemon
1 teaspoon Rose Water
1 teaspoon Orange Blossom Water

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine walnuts, cinnamon and sugar and set aside. In the bottom of a greased 9 by 13 pan, place one layer of phyllo and brush liberally with butter. Repeat six more times, buttering each delicate layer, until you have 7 layers of phyllo. Spoon 1/3 nut mixture over phyllo and top with 5 more individually buttered sheets of phyllo. Repeat the process two more times and finish with 7 layers of phyllo. Brush final layer with butter and bake for 50 minutes, until golden brown.

While baklava is baking, make syrup by boiling all ingredients together for 10 minutes.

Remove baklava from oven and pour syrup over it. Cut into squares or diamonds and serve.

Post-Halloween Purging: A Diet and a Dating Site

You know Spring Cleaning? Well, I'm Fall Purging. It's time to clean, cleanse and turn over some new leaves.

When I was younger, Halloween was my favorite holiday. These days, Thanksgiving tends to trump it, but I still have mad love for any institution that mandates diabetic-coma levels of sugar consumption.

Because I've been crazy busy, for the second year in a row I was unable to pull together my dream costume (Richard Simmons), but I did manage to rally for Underwood Farms' Harvest Festival with Ana and Kyle.

In the arts and crafts section, between their namesake pumpkin butter and zesty bean soup mix, Ana found a conspicuous addition. Ummm, which of these things (though delicious) is not like the other?

Between the bluegrass stage and the haywagon, we ducked into the corn maze, which was extra muddy thanks to a little nighttime rain...

But that didn't stop us from conquering it...

Maze complete, we rewarded ourselves with some kettle korn and this amazing homemade orange cranberry bread...

Which kind of made me feel like a heffer, which this cow is, despite the horns. A beautiful Scottish highlander heffer.

The next day was actual Halloween and this year it felt less festive than usual. Maybe that was because I've been so overworked and exhausted lately. Maybe it's because I just wasn't in the mood. Or maybe it's because I didn't have anyone to celebrate it with. You know you're a sad single lady when your idea of a Halloween portrait involves you and your pet holding a mini pumpkin.

No matter how foxy Swayze is in this photo, and, let's be honest, he is dead sexy, after taking it, I realized my life had taken a turn toward all those awful Cathy comic cliches, so easily poked fun at. Single lady, in her 30s, with a cat and no man.

"It's not so bad," I thought to myself, as I packed up some baked goods and Chinese food to visit the Molnars, my friends who are married with a baby, only realizing upon arrival that I was once again the third wheel to one couple and one family.

Feeling a bit worse for the wear, I met up with Rachel and struck out for West Hollywood's Halloween parade where drag queens rule the streets and freaks come out in droves. There would surely be safety in this crowd of 500,000...

But wouldn't you know it, in this throbbing sea of half a million, I saw the last guy I dated. With his new girlfriend.

Salt meet wound.

And that was when I decided it was time to make some changes.

Change #1: I need to lay off the sweets for a little while (she types after finishing a box of Munch 'n' Crunch). No more eating my feelings. The last thing I need right now is to be chubby and single.

Change #2: Despite my serious reservations and previous failures on JDate, Match.com and Salon Personals, I signed up for an online dating site today. Since only one man in a year asked me out on a date, I need to Wu-Tang Financial this ass and diversify my bonds by making myself more available.

Of course, it's only been 12 hours and already I'm regretting it. The very first match the site offered me was a guy I've actually noticed several times at my favorite Starbucks. We've spoken a few times, exchanged names and smiles, and I've started working there more often in the hopes of seeing him. "This is fate!" I thought when he popped up. So I sent him a brief message. Hours later and he's since been on the site, looked at my profile, read my message and not written back. Burn! Such an internet BURN!

So now I'm sitting on my couch, Swayze on my lap, being haunted by two other former hookups (long story), thinking, How can I make myself feel better?

And here's what I've decided: I'm gonna cleanse.

None of this ridiculous maple syrup and cayenne nonsense. I'm just going to eat clean, organic food for the next few days. No mas Red Bull. No mas sugar. No mas Munch 'n' Crunch. Just fruits, vegetables, broths and water.

I'll start tomorrow with my favorite quinoa breakfast cereal and hopefully by week's end I'll be happier, healthier and a little less emotionally bruised.

Oh, and change #3: I just deleted all my exes' numbers from my phone. Because, really, who needs those anyway?

Keep it Clean Quinoa

makes 4-6 servings

2 cups water
1 cup organic red quinoa
1 tablespoon maple syrup or honey
1/4 cup walnuts
1/4 cup almonds
1/4 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup raisins
pinch of salt

Rinse quinoa well and place in a medium sized pot with all the rest of the ingredients. Bring to a boil over high heat. Cover and reduce to simmer. Cook until water is absorbed and quinoa is al dente (about 15-20 minutes).

Serve warm or cold with a splash of almond or soy milk

Bingo, Bango, Bongo: It's Trick-or-Treat Brittle!

Girrrl! Don't get me started on how much I love Bingo!

Whenever I'm in Northern California visiting my folks, I try to make it to the local JCC game where I once took home $250 bucks thanks to a kite formation. I even went on Bingo America, hosted by Patrick Duffy, who I noticed was a fan of Crocs, and won $6500 a few years ago.

Bingo is the jam!

So why don't I go more often? Especially when there's Hamburger Mary's "world famous" drag queen game around the corner from my place? It was a wrong that needed to be righted. So this pre-Halloween week, I grabbed Mario and Rachel and got ready for some B-I-N-G-O f-u-n.

From the moment I landed this sexy dobber, it was game on!

And by the second round, I'd won! What did I win? A bingo set (which happens to be my second one), a slew of candy and some bubbles.

Not to be excluded, Rachel scored tickets to the ballet and Mario took the night's top prize, a Kindle, a picnic set, and a little spanking...

Inspired by the candy in my prize pack, I went home and tried out a new recipe that I totally fell in love with. A spin on my new favorite, Bar Stool Brittle, this is Trick-or-Treat Brittle and, as our Bingo host would say, it's fiiiiierce.

It combines salty goodness, like potato chips, pretzels and peanuts, with sweet yummies, like chopped up Snickers, Reese's Pieces and Peanut M & M's or any other candy you have leftover from Halloween. Betcha can't eat just one...pound.

Trick-or-Treat Brittle

2 cups white sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
pinch salt
1/2 cup water
4 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 cup Munch ‘n’ Crunch or Cracker Jacks
1/2 cup pretzels
1 cup potato chips, lightly crushed
1/2 cup chocolate covered pretzels
1/2 cup white chocolate covered pretzels
1 cup Halloween candy, chopped (i.e.: Snickers, Baby Ruth, 3 Musketeers, M&Ms, Reese's Pieces, Whoppers)

Grease a large cookie sheet and sprinkle with crushed potato chips, chocolate and regular pretzels and half the candy.

In a high-sided skillet over medium-high heat, combine sugar, corn syrup, salt and water. Stir and cook until sugar is dissolved and begins to turn a light amber color, about 7-10 minutes or until it reaches 300 degrees (for those of you with a candy thermometer).

Remove pan from heat and quickly stir in butter and baking soda. The brittle will instantly change; bubbling up, becoming caramel and releasing steam. Be very careful and work quickly.

Pour brittle over chips and pretzels on cookie sheet. Drizzle with Munch ‘n’ Crunch, and remaining candy.

Allow brittle to cool and snap into pieces.

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