Cook Club: Tyler Florence's Real Kitchen

OCTOBER COOK CLUB: TYLER FLORENCE'S REAL KITCHEN

FINAL SCORE: 3.975

TOP SCORING DISH: Hong Kong Crab Cakes with Bok Choy

October Cook Club brings us Jasmine's cookbook pick of TYLER FLORENCE'S REAL KITCHEN cookbook. How could she after all resist that cutie -- plus she loves him on the Today show and she has been wanting to make that french toast with caramel apples (see photo above!) for quite awhile.

As always, every cook scored their dishes on a scale of 1-5 (5 being the best) and these scores are averaged to come up with the cookbook's final score. Will Tyler's cookbook beat Giada's from last month? Check it out below.

By category this month -- listed under: 
Appetizers / Cocktail Party, Main Course, Side Dish, Breakfast


APPETIZERS / COCKTAIL PARTY
Anjali's Teriyaki Chicken Wings with Sesame and Cilantro
Score = 3.5

I picked this recipe beause I have always wanted to make my own wings. It seems so easy! And I have to say, it was. While the ingredients list is lengthy (as Asian recipes often are), the preparation was straightforward. I admit, I cheated multiple times.  Instead of using storebought hoisin sauce, I made my own (so easy!), and I used honey instead of sugar. I think both these modifications did alter the final result, but not in a negative way. And I totally forgot the cilantro garnish!

And about the final result ~ it was good! I made the wings for a party and everyone seemed to like them. I will say that while they were good, I generally prefer my wings to be more creatively flavored, so next time I would want to try some fun, crazy ingredients.  I will also say that I do not know why grapefruit juice was used, as I could not taste it at all!

Overall, I would give it a 3.5 and I would make it again, with a twist. ;)

Lisa's Vietnamese Shrimp Rolls with Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce

Score = Rolls (3.5) and Sauce (4.5) = 4

My recipes (Hong Kong Crab Cakes with Baby Bok Choy and the Vietnamese Shrimp Rolls with Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce) had an extensive ingredient list and required much labor. My husband and I prepped and cooked for two hours straight in order to create these dishes.

When we cook, we try to find all ingredients at our local Harris Teeter. We were unable to find rice paper wrappers, so we substituted soy wrappers instead. The preparation for this dish was exhausting. Alone the rolls were ok (see above, the inside of the roll!), but with the sauce they were incredible. The sauce was extremely easy to make and would be a great accompaniment to any spring roll. We will use this sauce in the future, but we will try to find a less tedious recipe for the spring rolls.

Michelle's New England Clam Chowder
Score: 3.5

I would use more clams if I remade this because it didnt have enough of that New England clam chowder flavor. Also, it was incredibly watery. I would cut down on the water from the start of the soup. Finally, I would also add more potatoes to thicken up the soup. I plan on trying this again, with my modifications! I'll let you know how it is!

MAIN COURSE

Jackie's Lemon Chicken with Smashed Broccoli
Score = 3.5 (Chicken was great, the smashed broccoli not so much)
Earlier this year as part of Tyler Florence Fridays, I cooked up two recipes from this book as well.  I figured that I would integrate them in here (the more recipes the merrier!).  Check out the full review with the recipe here.

The chicken here was the star of the show for me. Not only did all the chicken's herbs and lemony-ness perfume our house deliciously (and I'm sure, wafted out of our house to tantalize the noses of our neighbors), the chicken itself was also wonderfully moist and flavorful.  I was rather indifferent to the smashed broccoli. Although I love broccoli, the smashed broccoli though didn't appeal to me as much.  I just think I'm more of a crunchy broccoli type of girl.

Jackie's Meatloaf with Tomato Relish
Score: 4
One of Mr. J's favorite dishes is MEATLOAF.  Over the years, I've tried making different recipes for him, some which were big hits, some which were not so much.  Tyler's recipe touts this meatloaf as one of the most moist meatloaves you'll try -- it is also the recipe he used when he used to work at Cafeteria in NYC.  I had never made a meatloaf where you put together a tomato "relish" to incorporate into the meat mixture -- this gave it a lot of great flavor.  The tomato relish was a mixture of tomatoes, red peppers, and more...  Although I did enjoy the flavors, the texture for me was a bit "meal-y" -- Mr. J loved this though, so I'll bump up the score a little bit.  Plus it had bacon on top (we used turkey bacon) -- and how can you go wrong with that?

Lisa's Hong Kong Crab Cakes with Baby Bok Choy
Score = 5

We halved this recipe, which significantly reduced the cost of this dish as jumbo lump crab can be extremely expensive. The crab cakes were flavorful! The sauce for the bok choy was salty and sweet – the perfect combination. As seen, we plated the bok choy separately from the crab cakes. However, we quickly realized that the incredible bok choy sauce needed to be on the crab cakes. We would recommend plating the bok choy and sauce over the crab cake. We will most definitely make this dish again!


SIDE DISH
Amanda's Roasted Carrots with Orange Brown Butter and Sage
Score: 4

The carrots had a good flavor. Two of my dinner guests who do not usually like cooked carrots said they liked these, so I consider this recipe a success ;-) I used baby carrots instead, which are a little sweeter than regular carrots. I think the orange butter was a little more difficult to taste for this reason. Overall, I liked this recipe and would make it again. It was very easy and low maintenance. My parents roast vegetables all the time, and really want to try this recipe, so I have a feeling I will be experimenting on them over the holidays!

Amanda's Braised Red Cabbage with Apples and Dill
Score: 3.5

Again, a very easy recipe to make. The most difficult part was the chopping, and even that did not take very long. I think the dill was a very interesting choice. It gave the cabbage a different flavor, one which I'm still not sure I'm fond of. My parents have a braised red cabbage recipe that is VERY yummy, so that might have been influencing my palette ;-)

Jackie's Creamy Polenta with Parmesan and Black Pepper
Score: 4.3
I've always been a big fan of polenta -- so versatile!  Mr. J actually picked this out to go with the meatloaf, but we never got around to making them together.  Which actually worked out quite well -- this recipe makes a very large pot of polenta, perfect for several days.  The first day, we had it on the side with chicken.  The second day, we had it as the main dish but with bacon (yes, that turkey bacon reappears) crumbled on top.  I LOVED the flavors of the polenta -- the parmesan cheese comes through very nicely and I love black pepper so I cranked quite a bit in it.  Mr. J added in some Worcestershire sauce and horseradish, which added in another layer of flavor.  The polenta did not turn out very "creamy" -- I think next time I would add a bit more heavy cream to it.  Although my arm hurt after making this (nearly 30 minutes of whisking!  I need to work out more...), definitely would make again!

BREAKFAST

Elaine's Blueberry Scones with Lemon Glaze
Score: 4
These scones turned out nicely in the end but there were a few hurdles to overcome. The recipe called for heavy cream and in the London supermarkets sell single, double, and double extra thick cream - I went for the double cream as the extra thick really was super thick.

When it came to actually putting the dough together, I followed some advice I read about freezing the blueberries so that you don't end up with purple dough. That worked like a charm but as this was the first scone dough I had ever made I wasn't sure what the consistency was supposed to be like. The dough wasn't coming together with the amount of heavy cream called for in the recipe and there wasn't any guidance either on what to look for so I just used more until I was able to form round mounds instead of the triangles suggested. The lemon glaze was super easy to make and was a really good addition. The lemon smelled very strong but wasn't too overpowering for the scones since they were so rich.

Jackie's Coconut Bread
Score: 3.9
Here's the other recipe that I made earlier this year for Tyler Florence Fridays!  Check out the full review and recipe here.

I love to bake and in this recipe, Tyler references trips to Sydney, Australia, one of my favorite places in the world. In particular, he talks about a breakfast place in Darlinghurst called bills. Bill Granger is the chef at bills and he is a chef that I’ve always wanted to sample his food...

The coconut bread turned out nicely... It was admittedly a bit dry, a little bit more dry than I would have preferred.  But the flavors of the bread were great. The coconut is not overpowering -- more subtle hints of the coconut. The lemon zest actually comes across fairly strong, so next time, I would probably cut back a little on the lemon zest. I think that this would also be fabulous with chocolate chips (but really, almost anything is better with chocolate chips!) mixed into the batter. The bread keeps well for at least a week (we took Tyler's suggestion and wrapped it up tightly and placed it in a plastic bag).

Jasmine's French Toast with Caramel Apples
Score: 4.5 (4 from Jasmine, 5 from her hubby)

I made the Croissant French Toast and Caramel Apples. They were really sweet and really filling and really good! I thought that the recipe would be pretty simple and easy (the recipe said that it would only take 30 min). The recipe took me, ummm....an HOUR! The hardest part: the caramel apples. Who knew that caramel apples were so complicated? Lucky for them they are so delicious. We even had some left over and my husband wants to use the sauce as a topping for ice cream! All in all, I would give this recipe an 4 (husband gives it a 5...as usual).

Thanks to all of you who participated!  This next Cook Club entry won't be posted until January ... we'll be spending a solid two months (with all the holidays!) on one cookbook... now which one is it?  Wait to see in January!

TFF: Herb and Lemon Roasted Chicken with Smashed Broccoli and Garlic

My second Tyler Florence Friday post! The same week that I baked up the "taste of summer" coconut bread, I also made Tyler's herb and lemon roasted chicken with smashed broccoli and garlic. This recipe came from Tyler's book, "Real Kitchen." I pass on the same word of advice that Mr. Florence gave me (through his book, of course) -- give yourself plenty of time to marinate the chicken. It'll make the chicken that much more flavorful. This is definitely a full meal in itself -- no need for any starch on the side!

THE RECIPE: Herb and Lemon Roasted Chicken
1 1/4 hours to make + 5 hours to marinate
Serves 2

Ingredients:
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Zest of 1 lemon, peeled in big strips
4 garlic cloves, smashed
4 fresh thyme sprigs
2 fresh rosemary sprigs
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh chives
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh tarragon
1 lemon, sliced in paper-thin circles
2 bone-in chicken breasts, 8 ounces each, skin on
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup Chicken Stock
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

What to do:
Start by marinating the chicken because it will take the longest. To infuse the oil with flavor and create a base for the marinade, combine the olive oil with the lemon zest, garlic, thyme, rosemary, and bay leaves in a small pot and place over very low heat. You don't want to fry the herbs, just steep them like you're making tea. When the oil begins to simmer, shut off the heat and let it stand for 10 minutes. Pour the fragrant oil, solid pieces and all, into a bowl and put it in the refrigerator to cool.

Combine the chopped chives, parsley, and tarragon in a small bowl. Stuff 2 lemon slices under the skin of each chicken breast, along with half of the mixed chopped herbs. Put the chicken in a resealable food storage bag and pour in the cool herb oil, turning to coat really well. Toss in the remaining half of the chopped herbs, seal the bag, and refrigerate at least 5 hours or as long as all day.

Remove the chicken from the refrigerator about 15 minutes before cooking so it won't be too cold when it goes into the pan; cold chicken takes longer to cook.

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Put a cast-iron (or regular ovenproof) skillet over medium heat. Drizzle the bottom of the pan with a 2-count of olive oil and heat until almost smoking; this will keep the chicken from sticking. Season the chicken with a fair amount of salt and pepper and put it in the pan, skin side down. Cook for 5 minutes or until the skin begins to set and crisp. Flip the chicken and brown another 5 minutes. Flip it yet again, so the skin side is down, and transfer the entire pan to the oven. You want the chicken to render its fat and the skin to crisp up.

Roast the chicken for 20 to 25 minutes or until cooked through.

Transfer the chicken to a platter and keep it warm while preparing the pan sauce. Pour out all but 1 tablespoon of the rendered chicken fat and return the skillet to the stovetop. Add the chicken stock and lemon juice and cook over medium heat, scraping up the flavors with a wooden spoon. Cook the liquid down to a syrup, about 5 minutes. Stir in the butter to smooth out the sauce and turn off the heat.

RECIPE: SMASHED BROCCOLI

Ingredients
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Pinch of red pepper flakes
5 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
1 bunch broccoli, about 1 pound, including stems, coarsely chopped
1 cup Chicken Stock
1/4 cup plain yogurt
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

What to do:
While the chicken is in the oven, move on to the broccoli.

Heat the olive oil in a medium pot; add the red pepper flakes and garlic. Throw in the broccoli and toss to coat in the garlic and oil. Pour in the chicken stock, cover, and let the broccoli steam for 10 minutes.

When it is quite soft, pulse the broccoli a few times in a food processor, or better yet, use a handheld blender if you have one. The broccoli should be partly smooth and partly chunky.

Stir in the yogurt to give the broccoli some body and season with salt and pepper.

Spoon the smashed broccoli onto 2 plates, lay the chicken on top, and drizzle with the pan sauce.

Results/Comments:
The chicken here was the star of the show for me. Not only did all the chicken's herbs and lemony-ness perfume our house deliciously (and I'm sure, wafted out of our house to tantalize the noses of our neighbors), the chicken itself was also wonderfully moist and flavorful.

To maximize what I already had in my pantry, I used dry bay leaves and dry chives (instead of fresh) for the chicken, which turned out well.

I was rather indifferent to the smashed broccoli. I actually love broccoli, and growing up, it was one of the few vegetables that I wanted to eat! The smashed broccoli though didn't appeal to me as much. I don't think there is anything I would change about the smashed broccoli -- I just think I'm more of a crunchy broccoli type of girl. The red pepper flakes (which I love) and garlic though were excellent flavor pairs for the smashed broccoli.

So cheers to another Tyler Florence recipe! Now to explore the next possibilities... I'm thinking maybe Thai Green Curry Chicken or maybe that brisket Tyler made on "Tyler's Ultimate..." I'd like to get a brisket in anyways before it starts to get too warm out!

Tyler Florence Fridays: Coconut Bread with Pineapple Butter

Last week, I came across “Tyler Florence Fridays,” a blog set up by Deb of Kahakai Kitchen, Megan of My Baking Adventures, and Natashya of Living in the Kitchen with Puppies, to bring together foodies who love Tyler Florence and love his equally tasty food. Every week, TFF participants cook up (or bake up) one of Tyler’s recipes from either his cookbooks or online recipes from one of his Food Network shows. TFF then posts, every Friday (as per the name!), a round-up of everyone’s dishes for the week. Just a way for us to sample Tyler’s recipes without having to try every single one of them and to find ones that we want to try and make ourselves!

I have a number of Tyler’s cookbooks and thought that TFF was the perfect opportunity and reason for me to break them out. So for my first week in “Tyler Florence Fridays,” I decided to go with something from one of my favorite meals – brunch! And so I tried Tyler's Coconut Bread with Sweet Pineapple Butter.

I love to bake and in this recipe, Tyler references trips to Sydney, Australia, one of my favorite places in the world. In particular, he talks about a breakfast place in Darlinghurst called bills. Bill Granger is the chef at bills and he is a chef that I’ve always wanted to sample his food – when in Australia, I often found myself in the cookbook section of the bookstore, paging through one of Bill’s cookbooks… In any case, bills serves up a coconut bread similar to the one here in Tyler’s cookbook, so I decided I had to try it. (Plus, Mr. J nearly salivated on the book when he heard about it).

So here it is, from Tyler’s “Real Kitchen” cookbook: Coconut Bread with Sweet Pineapple Butter.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted, plus more for greasing pan
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Zest of 1 lemon, finely grated
1 1/2 cups of unsweetened coconut milk
1 1/2 cups shredded coconut, toasted

What to do:

Preheat the oven to 275. Grease bottom and sides of a 9x5 inch loaf pan with butter. In a large bowl, mix the flour with the baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. In another large bowl, whisk together melted butter with the brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, and lemon zest. Pour in the coconut milk and whisk together. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold everything together with a spatula until you have a smooth batter. Gently fold in the shredded coconut until evenly distributed. Pour into the prepared loaf pan and set it on a cookie sheet. Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of the bread. Rotate the pan periodically to ensure even browning. Cool the bread in the pan for 20 minutes or so; then when cool enough to handle, remove the coconut bread to a cutting board and let it cool completely before slicing.

Thoughts/Results:

The coconut bread turned out nicely... It was admittedly a bit dry, a littel bit more dry than I would have preferred (I didn't get to make the actual pineapple butter that Tyler suggested as an accompaniment, although I think that would have given it a great flavor complement and make the bread less dry... I made a version of pineapple butter but it didn't set up very well!). But the flavors of the bread were great. The coconut is not overpowering -- more subtle hints of the coconut. The lemon zest actually comes across fairly strong, so next time, I would probably cut back a little on the lemon zest. I think that this would also be fabulous with chocolate chips (but really, almost anything is better with chocolate chips!) mixed into the batter.

The bread was a big hit with Mr. J. He brought some to work and although it crumbled quite a bit before he made it to work, he devoured it. The bread keeps well for at least a week (we took Tyler's suggestion and wrapped it up tightly and placed it in a plastic bag).

Cheers! Thanks to TFF for having me as part of this group! (I actually made a second Tyler Florence dish this past week, but will wait to post til next week :))