May 29th Round Up!...June Challenge Annoucement, and a Proposition...

Good Tyler Florence Fridays everyone!

May is fading slowly away and June awaits with warm weather, BBQs, and summer vacations.
Our pal George emailed us this video of Tyler giving a grilling demonstration at the Coca-Cola Quarter-Mile Cookout on the monster grill over Memorial Day weekend. Seems like we are giving Coca-Cola a lot of free press, we just want to invite them to give back! Feel free to donate prizes to hard working Tyler Florence Fridays participants, Coke!

Ok, lets check out the gorgeous dishes that our friends have cooked up this week, shall we?

Our first yummy dish comes from Reeni of Cinnamon, Spice and Everything Nice.

Says Reeni: I first had cold sesame noodles when I lived in Tucson. The gourmet sandwich shop where I worked made them extra spicy and kept them extra cold. They were perfect when it was 108 outside and just the thought of hot food made my stomach rumba. Never having made them myself I looked to Tyler for some help. I found what I was looking for in his Cold Sesame Noodle recipe that is heavy on the peanut butter and flavored with soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, chili sauce and rice wine vinegar. My free jar of organic, natural Peanut Butter from the kind people at Once Again Nut Butter(thanks, Food Snob!) came in handy. Do you ever wish for a natural Peanut Butter that didn’t need to be stirred? This is it. And it comes in an old-school glass jar. How can you not love it? I’m convinced this super creamy peanut butter made my spicy noodles especially delicious. Next time a heat wave hits you know where to find me. Standing in front of the open fridge with a fork in my sesame noodles.

Arlene from The Food of Love made Tyler's Curried Chicken Salad this week. She made a few adjustments to the recipe to make the salad more healthful and would tweak it again in the future by decreasing the amount of lemon juice. 'That said, it was a delicious salad, filled with contrasts, and was as satisfying over lettuce as it was as a sandwich.'

Welcome to our newest member, Beth of The Seventh Level of Boredom. Beth made Tolan's Pregnancy Pasta, Pancetta Carbonara with Fresh Baby Spinach. The liberal use of garlic, and a doubling of the Parmesan made this dish a real winner at Beth's house, well done!

Jenny of All Things Edible went to the opening of the Ottawa Farmer's Market and came home with lovely Red Cheiftain potatoes to make Tyler Florence's Crispy and Creamy New Potato Pie.
Says Jenny: My outside texture didn't work too well, most of it stuck to the pan, despite the oil on the bottom of it, but it was alright. This "pie" was very good, tasty, and simple to make, even on a busy weekday...I'm calling this one a winner.

This week Karen of Something Sweet by Karen was ready to get the cookout started. She chose to make Grilled Chicken with Peach Barbecue Sauce and Tolan’s Mom’s Potato Salad, both from the book Tyler’s Ultimate. When Karen realized that she was out of propane, her George Foreman grill came to the rescue. Says Karen: The Peach Barbecue sauce was AMAZING. It was sweet, smoky and had a fresh flavor burst from white wine vinegar. I was so happy with it I’m not sure I’d bother looking for any other BBQ sauce recipe to try out this summer.

This week, Kim from Stirring the Pot decided to chose a recipe based on necessity, she chose Tyler's Wonderful White Bread so that she could send packed lunches with her husband and daughter. Says Kim: The bread was golden tan on top and just looked marvelous. This bread has the same texture of good quality sandwich bread you are familiar with, except it is fresh and homemade. This recipe is a total keeper and I'm quite sure I will be making it often!! All of Tyler's baking recipes are a surefire hit with me.

Michelle of Big Black Dog made this Chicken Paillard with Creamy Parmesan Salad dish, complete with a bad breath warning. If you can call garlic breath bad, I think it's sexy.. on some people.. ok, me. She served it with a bottle of De Bortoli Petite Sirah, but somehow forgot to invite yours truly, although garlic and wine are some of my best friends...

Says Michelle: I am not much of a salad person but there are a few salads that I thoroughly enjoy and one is a good Caesar Salad. I know Tyler calls his salad Creamy Parmesan but it's really a darn good Caesar! And you will most definitely have some wicked breath after enjoying it. Just spread the goodness around and make sure that everyone at the table gets their fair share!

Over at The Dogs East the Crumbs, Nancy made Tyler's Smashed Fingerling Potatoes with Peas and Onions. Nancy is tackling her freezers this week, establishing a new relationship with the appliances and using up some long-time residents. Says Nancy: After tasting his portion, my husband stated, "That Tyler, he knows how to make good food." And that's high praise coming from a guy who would take rice or pasta over a potato dish any day.

And me? I gotta love any dish that we can eat 3 days in one week (and not be tired of it) and even more, one that helped me thaw my relationship with my freezers.

Pam from Sidewalk Shoes, caught up in the whole giddiness of summer vacation, made Tyler's Marinated Chick Peas. Pam found them quick and easy and liked that they can be made from everything found in your pantry, and, after adjusting to her own tastes and palate, she quite liked them.

Megan of My Baking Adventures had an unusual two-fer this week. She made Tyler's Red Onions Roasted With Balsamic and Honey, which, although she accidentally scorched a few.. and her pan.. she found pretty darn great.

Megan also tried Tyler’s 3-Way Pancake, Waffle and Muffin batter again, this time with muffins. She cut down on the sugar, subbed in some whole wheat flour, and added chocolate chips.

Says Megan: You know what? These were GREAT! Even better than before. The kids have eaten them every single morning.

Deb of Kahakai Kitchen made these adorable Stuffed Baby Eggplant (with Buffalo, Lemon and Mint) this week that I find almost too cute to eat.. almost. Deb found some baby eggplant at the Thai market, and went to Tyler for a great recipe to use them in. They were great served with some leftover Israeli couscous and raita, and would likely benefit from a little boost in the spices to satisfy Deb's (and mine!) love of big flavour.

And over at Living in the Kitchen with Puppies, I made Tyler's Mac and Cheese with Peas and Bacon. While it didn't live up to Ina's Adult Mac and Cheese, it had classic kid appeal and was very popular in our house, even though I snuck in whole wheat elbow noodles.

A very successful round-up indeed, you guys are great!

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Now, on to Announcements...

Remember to submit by Noon, Eastern US/Canada time, with a medium sized picture and the links to your post and site, check the guidelines if you forget the details, thanks! If you are too late for one week's round-up, there is always the next week.

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And by popular demand...

Seems that the TFF peeps miss the monthly challenge, so, just for you, Megan has picked out a seasonal challenge for the month of June, Summer Rolls with Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce.

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Ingredients
3 ounces Vietnamese cellophane noodles, cooked according to package directions
2 cups bean sprouts
2 carrots, julienned
1 large beet, julienned
1 fresh red chile, cut in circles
2 handfuls fresh cilantro, hand-torn
3/4 cup chopped unsalted peanuts
2 teaspoons dark sesame oil
1 lime, juiced
Sea salt
20 (8-inch) round rice paper wrappers
40 mint leaves

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Directions
Put the cellophane noodles, vegetables, cilantro and peanuts in a large bowl; toss with sesame oil and lime juice to give the filling some flavor; season with salt and pepper.
Pour 3 cups of hot, not boiling water in a large shallow bowl. One at a time, immerse the rice paper wrappers in the hot water for 10 seconds to soften, then place on a slightly damp towel. The rice paper is very delicate, don't soak them any longer or they will break apart. Keep them covered while you work to prevent them from drying out and curling.
To form the rolls, lay a rice paper wrapper on a flat surface. Grab a small amount of the cellophane and vegetable mixture and lay it across the bottom third. Use less filling than you think you should, if you overstuff the wrapper it will tear. Carefully fold the bottom of the wrapper up to cover the filling. Fold in the left and right sides, then tuck and roll it over once. Lay 2 mint leaves on top, then tuck and roll it over to close the whole thing up like a tight cigar. The mint leaves should show through the transparent rice paper. Arrange the finished rolls on a platter and cover with a damp towel.

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Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce:
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1/4 cup hot water
2 tablespoons sugar
1 lime, juiced
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon red chili paste, such as sambal
In a blender, puree the rice wine vinegar, fish sauce, hot water, sugar, lime juice, garlic, and chili paste until combined. Pour into a small bowl and serve with the summer rolls.
Yield: 1 cup

As usual, feel free to play with the recipe, submit your Challenge by June 30th for the round-up. I have actually made these before, and they are very light and tasty!

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And a question or two for the TFF peeps...

Reeni was kind enough to send me a blurb about her post this week, as I am suffering from the Blogger/Internet Explorer conflict that seems to still be going on and am not able to open some sites.

I enjoyed having her paragraph to use, and want to extend the opportunity to others who might wish to write their own piece for the round-up. Just submit it with your photo and links. We may edit for length or content (but probably won't).

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That being said, we were also considering the possibility of making this site open for posting by members, much as the old Daring Bakers was when it was on Blogspot.

Please let us know on the comments or email as to your opinions on this or other subjects. (Be kind, we cry easily.)

Ok, that's all I can think of, have an awesome weekend!