January 23rd Round-Up!

Thank goodness it's Tyler Florence Friday!

We would like to welcome our new participants this week, Leanne from Enjoying My Favorite Things, and Joanne from Eats Well With Others. So good to have new friends to cook with!
This has been quite a week for the world, let's celebrate with good friends and good food, shall we?




First we have Reeni of Cinnamon Spice and Everything Nice, crowned queen of sweets! She made Tyler's Upside Down Apple French Toast, and oh what a decadent treat it is! I am going to need a second cup of coffee with mine, please.




Pam from Sidewalk Shoes made Roasted Root Vegetables with Honey, Balsamic Vinegar and Goat Cheese. I think I am in love. Pam adored the candy like quality that roasting brought out of the veggies and the addition of the balsamic and goat cheese made them a memorable treat of a side dish.





Megan from My Baking Adventures was on a roll this week with three dishes from Tyler. Apparently once is not enough when it comes to Tyler Florence.. *ahem*. Megan made Shepherd’s Pie, Braised Escarole, and Lemon Pudding Cakes as part of a week long birthday feast for her father. This is a good family to be a part of, in case you were looking for one. Well fed.
Above you see the shepherd's pie that her daughter helped her make - a great dish for a crowd.





Lemon Pudding Cakes .





And Braised Escarole with Garlic and Lemon - a great choice for lemon lovers!

Kim from Stirring the Pot made three Tyler dishes this week as well! Kim is working through one of Tyler's new books, Stirring the Pot. (Well, you didn't think it was the other book, did you?)
She made Parker House Rolls and found them light, fluffy and delicious. I have made these before too, and I have to agree on that one!

Kim stayed warm with this Pot Roast Risotto, and was happy to have a chance to use her new risotto making skills that she learned from Williams-Sonoma. Well done!

For a burst of freshness, Kim made this Crunchy Jicama, Mango and Cucumber Salad. She was happy to have a reason to try jicama, new for her, and was thrilled with the results.

Karen of Something Sweet by Karen made these Big, Fat, Chocolate Chip Cookies. Karen has been trying to concentrate on dinners lately, but these were calling her name.... and speaking of calling, Karen is more than willing for a Tyler 911 call. Well, who wouldn't be? Let me know how that goes!

Joanne from Eats Well With Others made Pork Tenderloin with Chimichurri Sauce and Sweet Potatoes with Honey Butter. A warming comfort meal if there ever was one! Healthy and delicious, Joanne has a real winner here.

Deb from Kahakai Kitchen was another gal offering up multiple servings of Tyler this week, and who could blame her?

She whipped up Tyler's Peppered Salmon with Creamy Chickpea Dressing and Fresh Greens. Another healthy feast that's big on flavour.

Leanne from Enjoying My Favorite Things was delighted with the way Tyler's White Chocolate, Cranberry and Macadamia Nut Cookies turned out. These should be just the thing to pry her hubby away from his Little Debbie fixation.

Andrea from Nummy Kitchen whipped up these Sweetheart Buttermilk Biscuits. She used a heart shaped cookie cutter to give these delicious biscuits a loving touch. Andrea is a sweetheart herself, with one lucky family.

And lastly we have my own offering. Over at Living in the Kitchen with Puppies, I made Tyler's Shrimp Scampi with Linguini. I couldn't help it, it looked so good when others did it. I made it extra garlicky and spicy, mmmm...


Announcements!
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There is still time to submit your Tyler Florence Fridays avatar design. The creator of the chosen avatar will receive one of Tyler Florence's new cookbooks, generously supplied by Tyler's publicist. (Please send us an email with your design attached and "TFF avatar" in the subject line). Email information is on the sidebar. Your friends and family are welcome to submit as well.
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Don't forget you have until the end of the month if you want to participate in Megan's Challenge and make those luscious Spinach and Cheese Calzones. Get the details on our once a month bonus dish, right here!

January 16th Round-Up!

Yep, its Tyler Florence Friday time again and time to share some delectable Tyler recipes (both Tyler and the recipes are pretty delectable in my book). What a great turn out this week!  First off, lets give a warm TFF welcome to three new Tyler Florence Friday members: 

• Karen of Something Sweet by Karen
  
• Kim of Stirring the Pot
  
• Paula of the Passionate Caterer 

Let's start off the round up with one of our newest members, Karen, from the appropriately named, Something Sweet by Karen. Karen was looking for something a little different from her norm and Tyler's recipe for Roasted Pears with Blue Cheese and Walnuts fit the bill. Although blue cheese and walnuts are not flavors she is normally a big fan of, Karen liked the way the pears toned down the blue cheese and how the flavors complimented each other. 

The pear and blue cheese combo also works when made into a crostada  as Andrea at Nummy Kitchen discovered with this recipe for Pear Crostada with Honey, Blue Cheese and Almonds. Andrea found it fun and easy to make and most importantly, delicious!  She also did a little research on the difference between crostadas and galettes which you can read about on her post.  This recipe gets two thumbs up from Andrea.

Cheese plays a big role in our next recipe, selected by Reeni at Cinnamon Spice & Everything Nice. Tyler's Salami Filled Fabulous Focaccia is stuffed with Mozzarella and Parmesan along with salami and grilled onions and peppers. Tender bread stuffed with wonderful goodies, Reeni says it would make a great appetizer or side for a stew or soup or even a main dish if you increase the amount of filling.  She will be making this Fabulous Focaccia again!

Megan's here from My Adventures in Baking with a double dose of Tyler's recipes.  First is a delectable Chicken Francese, chicken cutlets dredged in flour and eggs, browned and served with a lemon sauce.  If that wasn't yummy enough, she followed it up with Tyler's decadent Rocky Road Brownies, piled high with chocolate and marshmallows.  (I think my dinner invite got lost in the mail!)  Both of these recipes were hits with Megan and her family.

Also in a chocolate mood is Susy from Everyday Gourmet. With freezing temps and school closed for the day, what better way to make the kids happy and behaved than Tyler's My Big Fat Chocolate Chip Cookies?  A great success and hit with everyone for their chewy texture, this recipe joins Susy's "Top 3 Chocolate Chip Cookies" list. (Although she does recommend baking a few at a time for portion control) It's always nice to have helpers when you bake!

Raquel at Love to Bake! is back for her second week of TFF. She selected Tyler's Spaguetti Alla Carbonara as her pick this week. She LOVED it and ate so much she decided to start a diet the next day.  Even Raquel's husband got into the act by taking the picture.  Since this recipe has had a couple great TFF reviews now, I need to mark this one to try myself.  

Kristen from locallcfoods is also back for her second round up and chose to make Tyler's Thick Pork Chops with Spiced Apples and Raisins. Both the brined chops and the spiced apples were hits with her family. She decided to accompany her pork with Tyler's savory Corn Pudding (a hit as well) and some homemade bread sticks.  Kristen made some changes and would do a couple of things differently, which you can read about on her post, but overall was happy with her choice this week.

Pam from Sidewalk Shoes decided to treat herself to Tyler's delicious and decadent New York Strip Steak with Brandied Mushrooms and Fresh Thyme.  Everyone deserves a reward like this one!  Pam did have one BIG complaint about this recipe--it was just TOO good!  She did manage to survive this rich, savory dish thank goodness.  If Pam and Natashya (who also tested this recipe on a previous TFF) both loved this recipe, it's definitely one for "to make" list!

Another brand new TFF member, Kim from Stirring The Pot, is such a Tyler fan she created her blog to cook through his cookbook of the same name. Now that's dedication!  She made Tyler's Roasted Acorn Squash Stuffed with Cheese Tortellini for her and her Mom. They loved the pasta and cream sauce and it was a good introduction to acorn squash for them. Kim likes the creativity of this vegetarian dish and its another recipe that now has two positive reviews from TFF participants so you can bet it is delicious!

Natashya from Living In the Kitchen With Puppies unleashed her carnivorous impulses this week with some finger licken Tyler's Ultimate Barbecued Ribs. With a temperature of -28 degrees Celsius, (Yikes! Not exactly BBQ weather!) Natashya used her oven and broiler to full advantage to make this dish. Served with celery sticks, blue cheese dip and beer, it was the perfect pub-style dinner to share with her husband (Natashya recommends these deliciously messy delights be consumed with someone you know and love--who doesn't judge you for the sauce dripping from your chin!).  

For my pick this week I was looking for some lighter healthy recipes and found them in Tyler's Swordfish Baked in Foil with Mediterranean Flavors with I paired with his Tabbouleh. The swordfish was incredible, moist, delicious and with the foil packet, so easy to clean up. I loved this recipe! The tabbouleh was good, fresh and filling, just a bit too much lemon in it for me (strange because I really love lemon), next time I will use less lemon so more of the herbal mint and parsley flavor stands out. Both of these dishes were so satisfying, they didn't feel like low-fat, a big win in my book!

Another terrific Tyler Florence Friday! What could be better than ending the week with a bunch of delicious recipes tested by your fellow bloggers! Writing this round up has made me hungry!  If you have not joined Tyler Florence Fridays but want the freedom of picking your own Tyler recipe each week, shoot us an email and get the details. (Email info is on the sidebar).  

Announcements!

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There is still time to submit your Tyler Florence Fridays avatar design. The creator of the chosen avatar will receive one of Tyler Florence's new cookbooks, generously supplied by Tyler's publicist. (Please send us an email with your design attached and "TFF avatar" in the subject line). Email information is on the sidebar. Your friends and family are welcome to submit as well.

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Don't forget you have until the end of the month if you want to participate in Megan's Challenge and make those luscious Spinach and Cheese Calzones.  Get the details on our once a month bonus dish, right here!

January 9th Round-Up!

Good Friday, all!

We have made it through another week, thanks in part to good friends and good food.

This week we welcome two new participants to Tyler Florence Fridays, Kristin from locallcfoods and Raquel from Love to Bake. So nice to have new friends to cook with.

We are happy to announce that Pam from Sidewalk Shoes is the January winner of a new Tyler Florence cookbook, provided by his very own publicist. Congratulations Pam!

Now, let's get on to the food, shall we?

The holidays are behind us, we have a great turn out this week.

The first dish is a Salt and Pepper Salmon from Nancy of The Dogs Eat the Crumbs. Nancy was thrilled to find a ten minute main when she looked up salmon and Tyler on the internet. The results were fantastic - the only drawback? No leftovers for the pups. Ah well, maybe next time.

Next we have Andrea from Nummy Kitchen with a Peanut Butter Jelly and Banana Panini for the kids. Just in time for Elvis's birthday too! The King would approve, as did the children.

Reeni from Cinnamon, Spice and Everything Nice made a beautiful and low(er) fat Fettuccine Alfredo with spinach fettuccine. Reeni is a girl after my own heart as this has to be one of my favourite dishes. I figure the lighter version means I can eat twice as much, don't you?

Susy from Everyday Gourmet made a Bone-In Pork Roast with Apple Reduction. She is just about to serve it to some friends but couldn't help sampling some in the kitchen. Susy found the roast very tender and was especially fond of the glaze.

Pam from Sidewalk Shoes made Tyler's Ultimate Oven Fries, a dish I have had my eyes on as well. The fries are taken to a new level with Parmesan cheese and flat leaf parsley - what could be better than that?

Next we have one of the most beautiful cheesecakes that I have ever seen. Raquel from Love to Bake made Tyler's Ultimate Cheesecake. I think Raquel and Reeni could go into the cheesecake business together.

One of our newest participants, Kristin from locallcfoods made Potatoes Gratin from Tyler Florence's Real Kitchen. As this was a hit with 3 out of 4 of the children, it goes down as a great success! No picture this week, but stay posted for more great dishes in the future!

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Megan from My Baking Adventures made Tyler's Spinach and Three Cheese Calzones. These calzones are the challenge of the month, and Megan has graciously prepared them to show us how easy and delicious they are! For more on Megan's Challenge, click here.

For Tyler Florence Fridays, Megan made Molten Chocolate Espresso, truly an expression of decadence! Megan is now enjoying her new status to SuperMom of the Millennium as voted by her molten chocolate loving family.

Deb from Kahakai Kitchen made a very healthy version of Dolmades, Stuffed Grapevine Leaves. She made them resolution friendly by using brown rice and found that they made very good movie going fare! And you were just going to have popcorn...

Finally we have my own, Natashya from Living in the Kitchen with Puppies. I made Tyler's Osso Buco with Gremolata - a wonderful one pot meal with the zesty zing of citrus rind. This one was a definite husband pleaser, and one I will make again.

Announcements

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There is still time to submit your Tyler Florence Fridays avatar design. The creator of the chosen avatar will receive one of Tyler Florence's new cookbooks, generously supplied by Tyler's publicist. Please send us an email with TFF avatar in the subject line. Email information is on the sidebar. Friends and family are welcome to submit as well.
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Read all about Megan's Challenge, our once a month bonus dish, right here!

Megan's Challenge!

Had enough dessert to last you a lifetime?
Our new monthly event, Megan's Challenge, is offering up Spinach and Three Cheese Calzones for our January recipe bonus.
Our monthly bonus recipe is optional, you can post at any time of the month, just send us an email with the link - in the same manner you would for the weekly round-ups. If you need more information about playing along with TFF, look for email information on the sidebar.
We will do a round-up in the beginning of the next month, along with the announcement of the new challenge.
Feel free to make whatever changes you like to the recipe - we look forward to seeing how everyone does!

Spinach and Three Cheese Calzones

Dough:
1 package rapid-rising dry yeast
3/4 cup warm water
1 tablespoon sugar
3 cups flour
1/4 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
Egg wash
Cornmeal, for dusting

For Dough: In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a dough hook, bloom the yeast by combining it with warm water and sugar. Stir gently to dissolve, then let stand 5 minutes until foam appears. Turn mixer on low and slowly add the flour, 1 cup at a time. Pour in 1/4 cup olive oil and add salt. When the dough starts to come together, increase the speed to medium. Stop the machine periodically to scrape the dough off the hook. Mix until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl, about 10 minutes.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and fold over itself a few times. Form dough into a round and place in an oiled bowl, turn to coat the entire ball with oil so it doesn't form a skin. Cover with plastic wrap or damp towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 45 minutes. Test the dough by pressing 2 fingers into it. If indents remain, the dough is adequately risen. When ready, knead the dough gently and divide in 4 balls. Sprinkle the rounds lightly with flour, cover, and let rest for 15 minutes. This will relax the dough, making it easier to stretch. In the meantime prepare filling.

For Calzones: Place a pizza stone in the oven and preheat to 400 degrees F. If you don't have a stone, simply grease a baking pan. Roll or spread the dough discs into 10-inch circles, leave the dough slightly thick so that the filling will not ooze out. Spoon a quarter of the filling onto 1 side of the dough round and brush the outer edge with egg wash to help form a seal. Fold dough over to enclose the filling and form a large turnover. Roll up the edges with your fingers to close tightly and prevent leaking. Cut a few slashes in the top to allow steam to escape during baking and brush with egg wash. Repeat with remaining rounds. Sprinkle a pizza peel (or prepared baking pan) with cornmeal and carefully transfer the calzones. Bake directly on pizza stone for 25 to 30 minutes until golden brown. Let the calzones rest 10 minutes before cutting to allow the cheese to set. Serve with basic tomato sauce if desired.

Filling:
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound baby spinach, washed and dried
Salt and pepper
15 ounces ricotta
1 cup grated Parmesan
1/2 cup shredded fontina
1 egg 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

For Filling: In a saute pan, heat oil over medium heat. Add garlic and cook 2 minutes until lightly browned. Add the spinach, season, and continue to cook until wilted, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a colander and squeeze out the excess liquid. If necessary, drain the ricotta in a sieve to remove excess moisture also. Calzone filling should be fairly dry, because it may leak out or make the dough mushy. Combine spinach, cheeses, egg, and pepper in a large bowl.

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There is still time to submit your Tyler Florence Fridays avatar design. The creator of the chosen avatar will receive one of Tyler Florence's new cookbooks, generously supplied by Tyler's publicist. Please send us an email with TFF avatar in the subject line. Email information is on the sidebar.

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Next week:

January's random draw for one of Tyler's new cookbooks!

January 2nd Round-Up!

Hope everyone had a wonderful and Happy New Year.  (I know we all ate well!) Can you believe it's 2009 already?!  Where does the time go?   It looks like we have some delicious Tyler Florence recipes in our round up today so let's get started!

Let's get warmed up with a great breakfast provided by Natashya from Living In the Kitchen With Puppies and Tyler's Cherry-Poppyseed Muffins. Natashya and her husband tumbled out of bed New Year's Day to enjoy these moist, flavorful muffins with their morning coffee and then tumbled right back to bed for a nap.  Sounds like a pretty great way to spend the day to me!

Now for some pupus to whet our appetites.  Pam from Sidewalk Shoes has us covered here with some incredible, finger-licken, Ultimate Chicken Wings with Curry Lime Butter. These look so good I may not be able to move beyond them.  Pam thought the wings were good but made lots of notes on ways she would improve them (check that out on her site) and when she located the recipe online at Food & Wine, low and behold Tyler had made all the same modifications. Great minds must think alike!

Adding to the delicious appetizers is Andrea from Nummy Kitchen.  We missed her the past couple of weeks but she is back with bells on and a delicious, warm Feta Cheese Fondue with Walnuts and Parsley.  Andrea made this for New Year's Eve, doubling the recipe to fit her Rival Electric Fondue Pot (I really want to go through all her cupboards and gaze at all her gadgets don't you?!).  She also added some extra Feta and plans on using the leftovers as a pasta sauce--yum!

Heading us into dinner with seafood and pasta is Reeni from Cinnamon Spice & Everything Nice with Tyler's scrumptious Shrimp Scampi with Linguine. Reeni found it a perfectly delicious way to use up lots of leftover shrimp and the ultimate comfort meal.  That makes two great reviews on this dish so I am definitely going to try this one--I think I am as big of a garlic and olive oil fan as Reeni is.

Next up we are happy to have Nancy from The Dogs Eat the Crumbs back at TFF.  She made some luscious looking Pork Tenderloin with Chimichurri. Her daughter made a special request for pork tenderloin and seeing the rave reviews this recipe received, Nancy decided to try it with excellent results. Her daughter A.L.E. made the chimichurri marinade with some still bravely growing oregano from the garden.  This is a keeper recipe for Nancy and her family.

Megan from My Baking Adventures was hard at work on her post-holiday fridge and freezer clean out when she discovered a pound of ground beef and found the perfect Tyler recipe to use it up; Ultimate Sloppy Joes.  Her husband David joined the fun and chopped all her onions with his new Christmas toy, a multi chopper (check out the cute picture of him in action on her post!) Both he and the kids really loved this recipe.  Mmm...I am craving sloppy joes now!

This week, I went for a really light and delicate recipe...NOT!  My choice, to use up some unusually inexpensive lamb shanks I bought was Tyler's Lamb Shank Stew with Russet Potato Top. The flavor was great, I loved the barley and how tender the shanks were but not so much the potato topping, which turned out a bit dry despite the basting with an incredible garlic-parsley butter.  A good recipe but not my all time favorite so far.  If I make it again, I'll make some modifications to the topping or omit it and have the potatoes (with that lovely compound butter of course) on the side. 

Another great collection of Tyler's recipes!  A little something for everyone there I think.  If you want to join in with a fun and flexible group and choose your own Tyler Florence recipes to make, come join us.  It's really easy to participate, you just need to send an email to tylerflorencefridays@hotmail.com  (Make sure you put TFF in the subject line and that you leave your name and your blog URL so we can get back to you and add you to the blogroll).

Announcements!

Don't forget, we are still looking for a fun avatar for everyone to post on their blogs so if you have some talent (or know someone who does!), submit your design and if it's picked, you could win one of Tyler's Cookbooks! (Don't forget to put TFF and "avatar" in the subject line of your email)

Also, beginning in January, we are announcing an optional group recipe challenge, selected by our lovely, co-hostess for TFF, Megan of My Baking Adventures.  We will be announcing her pick and the details of the challenge in the next couple of days.

Here's to a happy, healthy and delicious 2009 to everyone!