Table for three, and pull up a high chair please! Tyler Florence's ultimate dining experience will include a baby food option at his three Bay Area restaurants set to open this Summer and beyond. While the concepts of the celebrity chef's first (and subsequent) eateries — San Francisco's Wayfare Tavern, El Paseo in Mill Valley, and Rotisserie & Wine in Napa — are not tot-centric, Florence told us yesterday that he plans to have his own baby food, Sprout, available to parent patrons who bring in their children.
The father of three — Miles, 14, Hayden, 3, and Dorothy, 2 — launched his organic foods for the small set a year ago. Florence said that while most of his competitors "steam the entire fruit or vegetable with skin and seeds and then puree it," he uses techniques like roasting to caramelize produce and bring out the natural sugars. The result is delicious, pure food. It's the difference, he says, between a chef's approach and "those who create most baby foods — a food scientist and a marketing person." Florence's "lab" is his home kitchen, where he perfects all his appetizing entrees from roasted bananas and brown rice to pasta with lentil bolognese using fresh ingredients and a blender. And, while Florence is conscious that it is parents purchasing their children's food, Sprout pleases pint-sized palates. His daughter eats four to five pouches a day. To see what the future holds for the chef, read more
The James Beard Awards may be over, but the culinary accolades continue as award show season soldiers on. Today, the nominees for this year's Daytime Emmy Awards were announced, and the list included a number of notable culinary programs and food figures.
PBS and Food Network each have two shows that'll compete head-to-head for the title of Outstanding Culinary Program. For Public Broadcasting, it's America's Test Kitchen and the new travel show, Gourmet's Adventures With Ruth; for Food Network, the shows are Giada at Home and Tyler's Ultimate.
Vying for the Outstanding Lifestyle/Culinary Host award are a number of Food Network stars — Bobby Flay, Ina Garten, Paula Deen, and Giada De Laurentiis — as well as Martha Stewart for her syndicated talk show. Food Trip With Todd English, Eric Ripert's Avec Eric, and De Laurentiis's Giada at Home are also up for honors in outstanding directing.
I'll be rooting for new shows Avec Eric and Gourmet's Adventures With Ruth when the winners are unveiled on June 27. What cooking shows will you be cheering on?
Food Network favorite and father of three, Tyler Florence has been cooking up something for kids — his baby food line! The celebrity chef's Sprout entrees (12 packs for $14) are organic and made from fresh, pure ingredients. The dishes come in eco-friendly pouches that convert into bowls and are free of preservatives, sugar and starches. The tot-friendly concoctions sound a bit more appetizing than what is already on the shelves at the market. They include roasted bananas and brown rice, pasta with lentil bolognese, oatmeal with roasted cinnamon applesauce, peach rice pudding, roasted pears and apricots, sweet peas and garden green beans, sweet baby carrots and sweet potato and white beans.
Stay tuned for our review. We'll let you know if Tyler has created the ultimate in baby food and surpasses our current favorite, Ella's Kitchen!
Food Network's gearing up for Summer with more than just a grilling special. On Memorial Day, it will premiere The Cooking Channel. Earlier this year, the new network and successor to Fine Living revealed its lineup would include new titles from Rachael Ray, Bobby Flay, and Emeril, along with little-known talent from abroad. Today, it announced the rest of the shows that'll debut May 31.
The primetime space will include Drink Up!, a cocktail class with Darryl "Dr. Mixologist" Robinson; Foodcrafters, a behind-the-scenes show with Food Network's Aida Mollenkamp; and Foodography, a cultural look back at famous foods with Mo Rocca of CBS Sunday Morning. There'll also be the likes of Cupcake Wars, a (you guessed it!) cupcake challenge, and the tentatively titled Food Trucks, a street food faceoff hosted by Tyler Florence.
During the day, the Cooking Channel will air Indian Food Made Easy and Caribbean Food Made Easy; reruns of Julia Child's Galloping Gourmet; and Cook Like an Iron Chef with Michael Symon. Also coming later this year to Food Network: another Next Food Network Star and The Next Iron Chef 3. While some of the shows don't seem original — Foodcrafters sounds a lot like Road Tasted, and Foodography sure reminds me of The Secret Life Of... — I'm excited about the new cooking programs featuring Indian and Caribbean cuisine. What will you watch?
The other day, a friend and I were watching Tyler's Ultimate: Pizza on Food Network. He made two amazing looking pies, and one of them had thinly sliced potatoes on top. I was shocked when my friend, a total foodie, said, "I've never had pizza with potatoes on it." Thus, it's time for her — and you! — to enjoy the delectable world of potato pizza. Usually pizzas that are topped with potatoes are not the tomato sauce kind, but more like the flatbread seen here. Combined with herbs, leeks, and Gruyère, the potatoes work surprisingly well on pizza dough. It's a simple yet satisfying meal, so get the recipe now.
On Friday, I hightailed it up to Sonoma County for Pigs & Pinot, an annual event held by renowned chef Charlie Palmer to benefit Share Our Strength and the Healdsburg School. A Taste of Pigs & Pinot brought hundreds of guests to the Hotel Healdsburg, all of whom were prepared to sip some serious Pinot Noir in between heavenly bites of pork. A dizzying array of pork dishes, stellar Burgundies and Pinots, and a star-studded chef lineup easily made Charlie Palmer's charity event the party of the season. Feast your eyes on the food that was served when you keep reading.
Whether it's custard that won't set or brittle fleur de sel caramels, we've all had failed cooking attempts. But when disaster strikes while closely following a recipe, it poses the question: Whose recipes can be trusted? And whose cannot? Most religious recipe followers seem to have culinary experts they've come to trust. For example, I find it hard to pick on anything by famed perfectionist Thomas Keller. Same with any cookbook that's been tested over and over again, like those from the late Sheila Lukins. And I've never been able to find fault in a recipe from Tyler Florence or Ina Garten. Whose recipes have you counted on time and time again?
