Tyler Florence: Stirring the Pot & Dinner at My Place

By JULIETTE ROSSANT Tyler Florence is a busy man. He owns a kitchen retail shop in Mill Valley. Last September, he became the Dean of Culinary Studies at COPIA (see "Tyler Florence: Dean of COPIA"). He stars on Tyler's Ultimate and appears on other shows on the Food Network. Yet, he still had time in 2008 to turn out not one, but two cookbooks--and a good thing, too, after COPIA filed for bankruptcy last month! You can't keep too busy these days... These are both fan books, full of photographs of Tyler and food. Stirring the Pot (Meredith 2008) announces on the cover that it contains more than 100 irresistible recipes, "unconventional wisdom on kitchens and cooking," and "roast, sauté, grill, bake: top techniques for great taste." That sounds like a lot to expect from a paperback cookbook, but Tyler delivers. This is a very useful, well-organized cookbook for the beginner cook, one who has plenty of common sense and already knows a thing or two about cooking. Tyler strives for Jamie Oliver's colloquial "Hey, you …" kind of speech that is meant to be unintimidating. He writes: "Let's talk about the pantry" (p. 16). He does not cover any subject in depth: it is a general overview of how to organize a kitchen and how to prepare uncomplicated dishes. Part One covers the kitchen at a rather quick pace. Tyler's idea is to encourage you to make you refrigerator, pantry, and freezer more user-friendly by throwing out useless, half-eaten food, and replacing it with the kind of ingredients you'll need for his recipes. He has tips on wrapping and freezing a chicken properly (p. 22) and freezing pasta for a kid's quick snack (p. 25). A section on cookware plugs Tyler's own line, the Tyler Florence Food Tools Hard-Anodized line - but not where to find it (p. 31). The following knife section goes over various kinds of knives from Japanese to German, covering the plusses and minuses. (Perhaps Tyler doesn't yet have his own line). In a very helpful section, Tyler goes over sharpening in simple steps (pp. 42-3). Part Two goes over techniques and introduces recipes that use the technique. This approach isn't entire new, but it is unthreatening and easy to understand. The first technique "Roast": Have you noticed that giant steel appliance anchored to your kitchen wall? Well, that's your oven and it's for roasting, not storing pots, pans, and old VCRs. (p. 53) The recipes include hearty beef dishes like Bacon-Wrapped Roast Beef with Yorkshire Pudding and Gravy (p. 54), Slow Roasted Beef Ribs with Mushroom Stroganoff (p. 58) accompanied by photo by Squire Fox showing how to put the dish together or what you are striving for. The Sauté section actually includes a dish with liver, Calf's Liver with Pancetta, Sage and Mashed Potatoes (p. 94) I know, you hate liver! If you can tell me the last time you actually had it, I'll let you slide. (p. 95) If you do like liver, this recipe is a winner. Tyler's second book, Dinner at My Place (Meredith 2008), is about "my favorite recipes and menus for family and friends" comes with Tyler and his toddler son on the cover. This is a book full of photos of Tyler, his wife, kids, and friends. It's organized around theme nights or dinner parties from Crab Season (p. 10) to his wife Tolan's Birthday Dinner (p. 42) to Sunday Night by the Fire (p. 210). If your needs happen to fit one of his themes, perfect! It is also a book geared towards West Coast dining. It's hard to find Dungeness crabs all over the country, especially live and kicking. So, if you don't have any, try the Ultimate Lasagna Bolognese (pp. 22-3) in the same chapter, full of vegetables, pork and beef, and fresh pasta. Tolan gets Filet Mignon with Blender Bearnaise, Bacon and Brussels Sprouts Hash and a Birthday Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting and Cointreau Carrots (pp. 45- 53). There are perhaps too many pictures of Tyler's hands spreading frosting, or the carrots inside the blender, or the dinner guests – but this is a fan's book, for someone who adores looking at Tyler and his life. Previous articles: Tyler Florence: Camp Cuisine Joachim Splichal Mammoth Mountain Mogul Tyler Florence: Tyler's Ultimate Tyler Florence: New Year Buzz Christmas Coffee; Tyler Florence and Senseo Tyler Florence: Eat This Book [Cookbook Reviews - complete] Technorati Tags: superchefblog, Juliette Rossant, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, blogging, food blogging, cookbooks, cookbook reviews, Tyler Florence --> back to Cookbook Reviews --> back to Super Chef