Tyler Florence!

I met Tyler Florence!  A while back, Ann and I trecked up to the Macy's at Memorial City Mall where he did a cooking demo for about an hour, and then signed copies of his new cookbook. Can you tell which of us loves him more?


If you are not a Food Network (or Applebee's commercial) watcher, then you may not know who Tyler Florence is.  He has had various shows on Food Network for about 10 years - and I love his current show 'Tyler's Ultimate' where he makes the 'ultimate' version of food classics like mac and cheese. I've made several of his recipes and they are wonderful. I think my favorite of his is the spaghetti and meatballs. I make the meatballs with half turkey (instead of beef) and half pork, and it's still delicious.
 
A few helpful cooking tips I've picked up on from Tyler:
1) fresh herbs are like fresh flowers: Cut their stems and store them in water in the fridge and they will last about a week.
2) roll fresh herbs (like parsely) in a tight 'roll-up' prior to chopping - it makes it much easier!
3) if protein (eggs, fish, etc..) sticks to the pan when you cook it, that means the pan wasn't hot enough when you put it in.  A little butter or oil always helps too.