I've already covered the fact that I'm a cookbook geek. These recipes LOOK too hard for me! I enjoyed the book, the photography was beautiful and the presentation was impeccable. I just won't use it.
This went back to the library yesterday. We made the crab salad with avocado and the shrimp bisque, and every night Charles and I would have the same conversation:
Me: Do you want the shrimp bisque for dinner? C: Not really... Me: Yeah, me either...
The food wasn't bad, per se, but we didn't want to eat it. Ever.
This book is full of beautiful pictures, and written in a very approachable way. The only reason I didn't give it a higher rating is that I found that many of the recipes didn't come out as tasty as I would have expected from Tyler. A lot of effort goes into most recipes to impart flavor, and many fell short of the desired result.
This is a great companion piece to his tv show of the same name. Tyler Florence takes his favorite dishes (mac and cheese, spaghetti with clams, fried chicken, etc) and kicks them up a notch. The pictures alone are worth the money and the recipes look fairly easy- nothing too pretentious here.
My sister gave this cookbook to my dad for Christmas one year. He must not have tried to make anything from it or he would not have given it to me! I have made several things from it and have not had a failure yet.
The ingredients are all easy to find and the recipes delicious. I've made dishes from it for my dad and he has asked where I got the recipe. I laugh when I tell him they all came from the book he rejected and sent my way!
Many of the noodle recipes I've tired and my family loves them. Now I will say that most of the other recipes are too intricate to make after work. I love Tyler on the Food Network but I have to admit that this was not my favorite cookbook.
One of the our go-to cookbooks in the Hahn household. Never steers us wrong, easy, simple directions and well put together meals that make you look like the pro. Great gift to others who like to cook and are confident in the kitchen.