Tyler Florence's Real Kitchen: An Indispensable Guide for Anybody Who Likes to Cook [Hardcover]

Tyler Florence (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 25, 2003

Bold. Unfussy. Irresistible. Real.

That’s the kind of food that comes out of Tyler Florence’s kitchen. With a culinary sensibility refined in some of New York’s most high-profile restaurants, and a down-home practicality gained as the cooking guru of Food 911, Tyler cooks food that’s fresh, flavorful, and totally doable. In Tyler Florence’s Real Kitchen, he’ll show you how to cook simple meals that taste amazing, from comfort-food to classics to vibrantly new dishes.

Tyler’s long-awaited first cookbook stays true to his cooking philosophy—use great, simple ingredients and then let the natural flavors speak for themselves. He offers can’t-miss recipes for all the crowd-pleasing dishes that you crave—cold fried chicken, a perfect meatloaf, or drop-dead lasagna. Tyler’s bold, uncomplicated style even makes sophisticated food easy, with recipes like Pan-Roasted Sirloin with Arugula, Sweet Peppers, and Olive Salad or Steamed Mussels with Saffron and Tomato. He’ll show you how to get a great meal from the grocery bag to the table with the least fuss and the most flavor, or how to throw a barbecue with the best burgers (spiced up with horseradish and Havarti cheese) that your friends have ever had. From weekend brunch (including Soft Scrambled Eggs with Salmon and Avocado and an assortment of dim sum) to quick weeknight dinners for two (like Hong Kong Crab Cakes with Baby Bok Choy), and a selection of great party food and cocktails, this is a cookbook you’ll use again and again and rely on for every occasion.

With helpful notes on essential pantry staples and a list of the kitchen equipment you really need, Tyler Florence’s Real Kitchen is a fresh, creative exploration of just how fun (and delicious) your cooking can be.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In what seems to be a bid to become a U.S. version of Naked Chef Jamie Oliver, Florence (who was chef at New York's Cafeteria and hosts his own cooking show) aims for a casual attitude. While organization is loose amorphous chapters on backyard cookouts and Dinner for Two sit side-by-side with highly focused ones on making your own sushi many of the recipes themselves are clever. Sage-Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Dried Plum Sauce features a tasty sauce made with red wine and prunes cooked until soft, and Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Miso, Orange, and Sesame would make a great snack as well as a tasty side dish. The author darts from one subject to the next and often combines flavors unexpectedly, as in Grilled Salmon with Watermelon and Black Olive Salad and Horseradish Burgers with Havarti and Tomato Remoulade. Sometimes Florence's claims that the best cooking is easy, casual and quick are belied by recipes such as the one for Blue Cheese SoufflE with Chamomile-Fig Compote that requires creation of a bEchamel sauce, not to mention the notoriously tricky soufflEs themselves. Florence's tone is light throughout, but readers may be turned off by airy pronouncements (It's often been my experience that many of the cleanest, best flavors are very simple ones) that under closer inspection are fairly meaningless. Others may roll their eyes at his off-color or immature remarks (a man of Thai ethnicity pulls out a karate move when asked to share a recipe; the flavors of a Green Curry Chicken are mental).
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Tyler Florence's cooking show on television's Food Network, where he rescues people from stovetop disasters, has an avid following. These fans will snap up copies of Tyler Florence's Real Kitchen, where their master shares his own recipes. Florence's recipes range widely from Chinese dim sum to rich, cheese-laden lasagna. He pleases vegetarians with a pan-fried tofu "steak" and a high-piled muffuletta sandwich with layers of roasted vegetables. Florence's prosciutto-wrapped, cheese-stuffed figs can easily be the hit of any cocktail party. His recommendations for stocking a pantry call for so many staples that only those with substantial storage space can possibly stock them all. Mark Knoblauch
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Clarkson Potter; 1 edition (March 25, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0609609971
• ISBN-13: 978-0609609972
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 1.1 x 10.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (57 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #113,888 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Don't if you're not already at least a good cook., October 6, 2004

By 

PDT "Penster" (Burbank, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tyler Florence's Real Kitchen: An Indispensable Guide for Anybody Who Likes to Cook (Hardcover)

I've tried recipes from virtually every cook/chef on the Food Network but Tyler's recipes are the only recipes that have consistently turned out good, if not great. His show Food 911 has provided several staples in our household which are very easy to cook and prepare, due to the nature of the show.

With that in mind, I decided his book would be an excellent idea to buy and quite frankly, it is. The recipes are wonderful, savory and enjoyed by everyone - even kids. But I do have to agree with what some of the reviewers are saying, which is that you do need to have a little cooking know-how with this one to make it effective. I can see how someone who isn't very comfortable in the kitchen can make mistakes - perhaps Tyler's logic was that since it's the printed page, he could afford to make it a little more complicated as opposed to a tv show.

All in all though, if you're comfortable with your kitchen skills, by all means, this is a GREAT recipe book to keep in your kitchen.

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring, unpretentious cooking, November 28, 2005

By 

bonjanqi (Pennsylvania, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tyler Florence's Real Kitchen: An Indispensable Guide for Anybody Who Likes to Cook (Hardcover)

Simply put, this book is the reason I enjoy cooking today.

Other reviewers have claimed, correctly, that the ingredients may be difficult to find for certain recipes, or that the instructions may occasionally be complicated, even confusing.

These claims are true, but I want to say as respectfully and humbly as I possibly can that these reviewers may be missing the point of Tyler's cooking, which is to create a child-like (and I mean that in a very positive way) curiosity and passion for food, and to make meals that are so delicious that you'll forget your own name while savoring the flavors.

Tyler cooks for excellence. He doesn't want to make just pork chops; he wants to make the best pork chops you've ever had in your life. And the recipe in this book, "Thick Pork Chops with Spiced Apples and Raisins," will make the best pork chops you've ever had in your life, guaranteed.

The recipes are hard but far from impossible; some of them are time-consuming, but over time they get easier and easier. I don't even need to look at the recipe for the pork chops any more, and considering how many ingredients there are, that's an accomplishment.

But that's the beauty of these recipes - they're so consistently excellent that you'll keep coming back for more, and as you do, you'll start picking up the little things that make up each flavor, and before you even realize it, you'll find yourself a better cook than you ever were before, excited about food rather than just stuffing something down your throat three times a day.

Before I read this book, I couldn't tell the difference between thyme and sage, or anything else leafy and green. Now I don't even have to look; my nose can tell the difference immediately.

Again, I don't mean any disrespect to the other reviewers who didn't care for this book, because it isn't for everybody. But if you want to be genuinely excited about dinner again, or if you want to inspire a really healthy love for food amongst your friends and family, then I recommend this book. Tyler loves food because he loves life, and it shows.

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fairly easy to prepare delicious recipes, March 6, 2005

By 

RF (Berkeley, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tyler Florence's Real Kitchen: An Indispensable Guide for Anybody Who Likes to Cook (Hardcover)

This book is quite easy to follow for the novice like me. I've been a huge fan of Tyler ever since watching him on Food Network on the now cancelled Tyler's Ultimate show. I prepared a meal for a group of my friends that went over so well that everyone still asks me for his recipes. I made the meatloaf, garlic mashed potatoes, creamed spinach, chocolate cake, and the "wow wow" cocktails. Everything turned out incredibly wonderful the first try. The portions are huge which is good if you are making food for a party. His definition of party is probably around 6-10 people, while I made all that food for only 4 friends. We had leftovers but everyone was happy about that. If you plan to prepare the exact menu I did, it may take at least 2-3 hours to prepare everything. I have a small kitchen so that did slow me down. You can also make the chocolate cake one day ahead and it will still taste great the next day. I went to a food demonstration hosted by Tyler a few months ago and he is obviously a very nice and friendly man and definitely shows his love for cooking. The pictures in the book are very nice and this would make a great gift to any food fans. Wonderful pictures of Tyler in the book are an added bonus!