Make It Super Simple with G. Garvin

By JULIETTE ROSSANT It is Black History Month, so Super Chef decided to take a look at what innovative African American celebrity chefs are doing. TV One's G. Garvin has a big heart. He is leading the way to lighter, healthful cooking for his largely African-American audience. Sprinkled throughout his new book, Make it Super Simple with G. Garvin (Meredith 2008) are photographs of his four-year old daughter cooking and beaming for the camera. His message is clear: cooking lighter and faster is better for your family: There's nothing like a conversation with a child who says she is no longer a baby and whose favorite questions are, "Why" and "But, why?" These are very special, very simple times. This is what I call life. This is what I live for. This is what I'm giving you in this book, Make is Super Simple. It's hard to argue with her cute face. Like Emeril Lagasse, G. has his own spice line. He starts off his book with a David Letterman-Top 10 Super Simple Cooking Secrets (p. 34) that includes number nine: Spice It Up Seasoning blends are wonderful because you can use them to heighten the flavor of almost any dish with just one measure. I have several of my own blends on the market, including G's Salt Seasoning, Garlic Salt, Lemon Pepper Seasoning, Blackening Spice, BBQ Spice and Poultry Seasoning. You can order them at www.chefgarvin.com. In fact, many of G's recipes don't call for his spice blends, or he adds the spice blends to other spices such as Pan-Seared Blackened Pork Chops (p. 23), that calls for garlic powder, onion powder, his blackening spice, fresh chopped garlic and shallots along with two types of beans. The first chapter contains recipes for very quick dishes – with plenty of light chicken and pasta fair. Then lunchtime recipes with fun sandwiches like Grilled Veggies, Sopressata, and Goat Cheese Sandwiches (p. 69) plus plenty of soups – all of which would be good for dinner as well. The next chapter is Workin' It Out: Healthier Dishes that includes a chicken salad (without mayonnaise) in a red wine vinaigrette (p. 85) One suspects that G. is planning a diet cookbook next. He doesn't stick to Southern or Soul food type fair but ranges across the globe. There's Asian influence in Vermicelli with Sautéed Carrots, and Chicken in Asian Dressing (p. 86) and French Halibut en Papillote (p. 92) – simple doesn't mean simplistic in G.'s book. The only thing missing in Make it Super Simple is recipe notes. How did he come up with the ideas in each recipe? What part could be skipped in a pinch? How would he put together a menu? But these 200 recipes are inspired – and this book should get a much wider audience then his African American fans. Previous articles: Turn Up the Heat with G. Garvin G. Garvin: MegaFest Star [Cookbook Reviews - complete] Technorati Tags: superchefblog, Juliette Rossant, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, blogging, food blogging, G. Garvin, Black History --> back to Super Chef