Turn Up the Heat with G. Garvin

By JULIETTE ROSSANT Plenty of chefs go by their first names. You know them: Emeril, Daniel and Mario or Lidia. How many do you know who go by just an initial? How about "G"? "G" for Gerry. Gerry Garvin that is. AKA "G. Garvin." What is G all about? He is the face of cooking on TV One. His show, Turn Up the Heat with G. Garvin has made him a huge celebrity chef in the African-American community. To go with the show is a new cookbook of the same name: Turn Up the Heat with G. Garvin (Meredith 2006) is full of fun, light recipes for anyone who likes to cook. He mixes wisdom about life earned by working hard growing up in a single parent family in Atlanta. His mother and family instilled the love of fresh, well-prepared food. This book is full of wisdom handed down to him: So please remember the rules so greatly stated by my friend and barber, Shawn Porter. #1: God first, and family, for without whom we are nothing. #2: Exercise your mind and your muscle, as you can only go as far as your mind and body will allow. And #3: Supersize your hustle. You cannot be stopped. Under no circumstances is failure an option. If you can imagine it, then you can make it real. Let no one stand in the way of your future. (p. 7) G. Garvin is all about empowerment through food. The cookbook includes black and white snapshots of G. Garvin in front of a TV audience, cooking, buying ingredients or looking cool. There are also additional color photos of his dishes by Robert Jacobs. A chapter called Family Style, is full of Southern comfort food G must have grown up with in Atlanta. He has hearty recipes for Fried Chicken (p. 52), Collard Greens with Smoked Turkey Bacon (p. 53), Southern Fried Steak with Gravy (p. 62) and Gumbo (p. 72). There are also lighter dishes of Penne Rigatta with Chicken and Asparagus in Pink Sauce (p. 57) and Lemon-Pepper Salmon (p. 68). No recipe has an individual recipe introduction, but there are introductions to chapter, with more words of wisdom from G: Whatever you do, trust these words: family means one thing ––for all our shortcomings, love won't yield. (p. 42) There are also helpful hints for novice cooks explaining what bouquet garni means, or warning cooks not to rinse pasta after it is cooked. On the opposite end of the spectrum of G's fancier dishes is a chapter called "Building a Great Dish." G compares a dish to a great song or a well-dressed woman: She then ties a beautiful shoulder shirt around her waist and maybe adds a shawl. Finish off with an open-toe Jimmy Choo, a scarf in her hair and gorgeous jewelry. When she enters the room, it's simple but beautiful. In the same way, you build a great dish from the bottom up. Every ingredient has its own identity and comes together for one amazing experience. (p. 153) That's G. Garvin! His Herb and Black Pepper-Crusted Tuna Tataki wth Wasabi Cream Sauce is on the facing page. It's a dish that draws its flavor from different fresh herbs, the wasabi with sour cream. The recipes in the chapter are presented separately, but with protein facing starch and vegetables on the facing page. So, though he is not instructing anyone to cook the recipes together, he is suggesting pairing Roasted Short Ribs (p. 158) with equally rich Goat Cheese Potatoes (p. 159) or Blackened Veal Chops (p. 160) with Oven-roasted tomatoes and White Bean Ragout (p. 61), which both use some of the same ingredients. G. Garvin de-mystifies and simplifies cooking. Few of his recipes have more than four steps. Working through the book means going from very simple to more complex dishes – perfect for someone just getting confident about cooking – who also needs some comforting thoughts along the way. Book details: Publisher Amazon.com Previous articles: G. Garvin: MegaFest Star [Cookbook Reviews - complete] Technorati Tags: superchefblog, Juliette Rossant, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, blogging, food blogging, cookbook reviews, G. Garvin --> back to Super Chef