This recipe, taken from a rather endearing episode of Food 911 shows Tyler giving a cooking lesson and useful shopping tips to a sweet aspiring 12-year-old boy. Fuzzy warm tv stuff and a great recipe to try with your children.

6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley leaves
1 cup milk
4 thick slices firm white bread, crust removed, cut into cubes, about 2 cups
2 pounds ground beef
2 pounds ground pork
1 egg
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus more for serving
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 pound mozzarella cheese, cut into 10 (1-inch) cubes
2 cups heated Sugo Sauce, recipe follows
1 pound dried spaghetti
8 fresh basil leaves

Heat 3 tablespoons oil in an ovenproof skillet over medium heat; cook the onions, garlic, and parsley until softened, about 10 minutes. Scrape out onto a plate and allow the mixture to cool; set the pan aside. Pour the milk over the bread into a medium bowl and let it soak while the onions are cooling. Combine the meats in a large bowl and add the egg and Parmesan. Season with salt and pepper. Squeeze the excess milk from the bread and add the bread to the bowl along with the cooled onion mixture. Using your hands, gently combine all the ingredients until they are thoroughly mixed. Don’t overmix or the meatballs will be tough. Divide this mixture into 10 pieces and form them into patties. Place a mozzarella cube onto each patty and bring up the sides around the cheese to form a ball completely enclosing the cube.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Heat the remaining oil in the skillet over medium heat and brown the meatballs on all sides, about 10 minutes. Put them into the oven and bake until the meatballs are cooked through, about 15 minutes.

Cook the spaghetti in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente, about 6 to 8 minutes. Drain the pasta and put it onto a large serving platter. Pour on half the Sugo Sauce and mix well. Place the meatballs over the spaghetti and garnish with the basil leaves. Serve immediately along with the extra sauce and Parmesan.

Sugo Sauce for Sergio:
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 bunch fresh basil leaves, hand torn
1 cup pitted Alfonso olives
2 tablespoons capers, drained
1 (28-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, drained and hand crushed, liquid reserved
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Pour the olive oil into a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, and half the basil and cook until soft, about 10 minutes. Add the olives, capers, and remaining basil. Carefully add the tomatoes (nothing splashes like tomatoes) and about 1/2 cup of the reserved liquid; cook until the sauce is thick, about 15 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.

Yield: 2 cups

Technorati Tags: Tyler Florence, Kids Recipe, Spaghetti, Pasta

If you haven’t seen this episode from the Food 911 show, it shows Tyler Florence patiently showing an elderly lady from Orlando how to make his perfect lasagna. The main problem with hers was a drippy, sloppy quality (despite her homemade “gravy”), which Tyler of course remedied, creating a multi-layered perfection which stood firm yet juicy.
Be warned though, this is a lasagna that takes quite a bit of effort and time, but well worth it in the end.

1 pound dried lasagna noodles
Olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, sliced
2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh oregano, chopped
3 bay leaves
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 pound ground Italian sausage
6 ounces tomato paste, (1 can)
30 ounces ricotta cheese, (2 containers)
1/4 cup Italian flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
2 tablespoons fresh oregano, chopped
Salt and black pepper, to taste
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
4 cups tomato sauce, prepared
1 pound mozzarella cheese, shredded
Grated Parmesan and mozzarella, for topping

Cook the lasagna noodles in plenty of boiling salted water until pliable and barely tender, about 10 minutes. Stir with a wooden spoon to prevent sticking. Drain the noodles thoroughly, coat with olive oil keep them moist and easy to work with.

Coat a large skillet with olive oil. Saute over medium heat, onion, garlic and herbs. Cook 5 minutes. Brown beef and sausage until no longer pink, about 15 minutes. Drain fat into a small container and discard. Stir in the tomato paste completely. Set aside to cool.

In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta, parsley and oregano. Stir in beaten eggs. Add Parmesan, season with salt and pepper.

To assemble the lasagna: Coat the bottom of a 13 by 9-inch pan with a ladle full of tomato sauce. Arrange 4 noodles lengthwise in a slightly overlapping layer on the sauce. Then, line each end of the pan with a lasagna noodle. This forms a collar that holds in the corners. Spread 1/2 of the meat mixture over the pasta. Dollop 1/2 of the ricotta mixture over the meat, spread to the edges with a spatula. Sprinkle 1/2 of the mozzarella on top of the ricotta. Top with a ladle full of tomato sauce, spread evenly. Repeat with the next layer of noodles, meat, cheeses and sauce. Top last layer with noodles, sauce and shredded mozzarella and Parmesan. Tap the pan to force out air bubbles. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 1 hour. Remove from oven. Let lasagna rest for 30 minutes so the noodles will settle and cut easily. Cut into 2-inch squares and serve.

Bright eyed and bushy-tailed Tyler is the kind of guy you wouldn’t mind to be your daughter’s prom date. He’s earnest, clean cut and the type who makes lasagna and apple pie - very Americana.

I first saw Tyler on TV with his Food Network show, the mildly annoying Food 911, where Tyler would come to “rescue” ordinary folk’s meals and cooking dilemmas, large canvas bag in hand (emblazoned annoyingly again with “911″). I dont know if it was the drab looking kitchens he always seemed to visit or the lack-luster people whose meals he saved, or even his own overtly keen persona - whatever it was, the show was not his best in my opinion.

But this was obviously not the public opinion as the show apparently did very well, and Tyler’s contemporary “honest” American style described as “real kitchen cooking” took off with the masses.
To be fair to Tyler however, he has evolved somewhat, at least with his shows’ sense of style. I have not seen “How to Boil Water” yet (please, couldn’t he have thought of a more clever name?), but I have seen Tyler’s Ultimate, and it was a lot better than 911.

Born in 1971, Tyler was educated in the culinary arts in South Carolina, moving to New York in 1992. By 1998 he opened and became executive chef at the critically Cafeteria, which went on to winning Best New Restaurant in New York’s Time Out magazine.

He made his television debut as early as 1996, with a few guest appearances on the Food Network. Aside from his own shows, the affable young Tyler has hosted other Food Network shows, as well as made appearances on E!, Rosie and the Today’s Show. He has also written two cookbooks - Tyler Florence’s Real Kitchen and Eat This Book: Cooking With Global Fresh Flavours.

Ferran Adria’s recipes are so un-mainstream that it is virtually impossible to find one your kitchen at home could handle, or even one actually written down for that matter.

Well, I did manage to find one online, which luckily was adapted for home cooking. Perfect for a very special occasion - a real show-off piece if there ever was one.

Try it out if you dare!

Ferran Adria’s Apple Caviar

Ingredients:

* Apple Juice 1 ¼ pounds golden apples

* Apple Reduction ¾ pound Granny Smith apples

* Caviar 8 ounces Apple Juice
* ½ teaspoon Alginato
* 1/8 teaspoon citric acid

* Calcium Chloride 2 cups water
* ½ teaspoon calcium chloride

* Garnish 4 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and very cold
* ½ teaspoon cinnamon
* 3/8 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

Method:

For Apple Juice:
Wash and core apples and cut into quarters. Purée apples and pour liquid into a tall and narrow container. Freeze about 30 minutes so that the impurities solidify and rise to the top. Remove from freezer and extract impurities with a skimmer. Strain juice and reserve.

For Apple Reduction:
Wash and core apples and cut into quarters. Purée apples and pour liquid into a tall and narrow container. Freeze about 30 minutes to solidify impurities, which will rise to the top. Remove from freezer and extract impurities with a skimmer. Strain juice and place over medium heat until reduced to caramel consistency.

For Apple Caviar:
While cold, mix 1/3 of juice with Alginato in blender until Alginato has dissolved. Heat mixture to 205°F, then remove from heat and stir in remaining juice. Add baking soda and stir to dissolve. Strain and freeze until service.

For Calcium Chloride:
Dissolve the calcium chloride in water and reserve.

To Serve:
Purée Granny Smith apples and freeze in a very tall and narrow container 5 minutes. Fill 4 syringes with apple solution. Release one drop at a time into Calcium Chloride and cook 1 minute in water. Strain and rinse caviar in cold water bath. Drain and add 2 teaspoons of Apple Caviar. For each serving, put ¾ ounce of caviar in a cylindrical mold, season caviar with a little Apple Reduction, cinnamon and 3 drops vinegar. Seal and serve.

Last year over 400,000 people asked from reservations at El Bulli, Ferrán Adrià’s restaurant just outside Barcelona. I’m not sure how many actually got a table, but as the famous restaurant is only open 6 months of the year, it couldn’t have been all of them.

And its not surprising, because in 2006 it was awarded top position as the world’s best restaurant. “El Bulli” rose from 2nd to 1st postion this year in the “Restaurant Top 50″, booting The Fat Duck in England from the top of the prestigious list.

All this fuss is because of the “Salvador Dali of the kitchen”, culinary genius Ferrán Adrià who has brought unexpected creativity to his food. His inventive use of “culinary foam” and “molecular gastronomy” and play on texture and flavour are what makes him an alchemist-chef (which is actually his goal), and one who definitely has a sense of humour and irony too.

Born in Spain in 1962, Ferran began as a dishwasher in the party isle of Ibiza, and laid his roots in traditional Spanish cooking. He joined El Bulli in 1982, and transformed it into an unknown eatery into what is now what gourmets call the best restaurant in the world with no less than 3 Michelin stars.

El Bulli opens from April to September each year, leaving Ferran to use the rest of his time to travel for inspiration, research and for experimenting and perfecting new ideas at his workshop in Barcelona, El Taller.

Although I love to cook and actually dont mind labour-intensive recipes (if I have the time on that particular occasion that is), I must admit that I’ve never really made the effort to do a proper “dip”.

And I’m not talking about a salsa, hummous or cheese spread-type thing, but the sort of dip that one usually purchases with a big bag of chips, with the idea that an evening of full-on couch potato sloth is on the agenda.

Here’s Rachel’s version, which involves much less guilt than the bottled variety, for snobbish as well as health reasons -as you serve this one with raw veg as well.

French Onion Dip and Chips

1 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, a turn of the pan
1 tablespoon butter
2 medium onions, quartered lengthwise then very thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 cube beef bouillon
1/2 cup water
Black pepper
1 teaspoon ground thyme, 1/3 palm full
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce, eyeball it
2 cups sour cream
8 ounces cream cheese, softened in microwave for 20 seconds on high
Pinch salt, optional
2 tablespoons chopped chives, 5 to 6 blades

Chips:
2 sacks chips (recommended: Onion and Garlic flavor Terra brand Yukon gold chips or other specialty chips of choice)
2 large carrots, peeled then very thinly sliced on a heavy angle
1 very firm medium sized zucchini, very thinly sliced on a heavy angle

Place a medium skillet over medium to medium high heat and add the extra-virgin olive oil and the butter. Melt butter into oil then add onions and garlic cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add bouillon cube to the pan with 1/2 cup water and cook until it “melts” coats onions, stirring frequently, 3 minutes. Season the onions with pepper, thyme and Worcestershire sauce. Remove from heat and transfer to a plate to quick-cool a bit.

In a medium bowl, mix together the sour cream and softened creamed cheese using a rubber spatula. Stir in the onion mixture until completely combined, add salt if necessary and adjust your seasonings. Serve at room temperature or chill. Garnish with chives.

Pack up chips as-is. Season the veggie chips with salt and pack up with a paper towel to capture excess moisture in a plastic food bag. If serving at home, salt vegetables in single layer, let stand 5 minutes then pat dry. Arrange chips and vegetable chips around dip and serve.

When I saw this book written by 30-minute-meal-maker Rachael Ray, I immediately thought of those travel guides used by backpackers. When I lived in London in my college days, backpacking friends would pass through the city and stay at my flat, and every single time they came with a copy of “Europe on $20 a Day”.

So back to Rachael’s $40 take, which is less of a travel guide and more of a companion to her tv show of the same name. In the show, Rachael packs her bags and bids goodbye to her sunny kitchens at the Food Network and travels in search of the best eats for $40 a day.

Although Rachael travels the world in search of gourmet meals on a tight budget, most of the venues are in the southern Atlantic coast and Northeastern parts of the US. Abroad, she does visit obvious foodie countries like France and Italy.
There are a few recipes of pretty basic recipes (think clam chowder and french toast), and although the book does not have an index (my other bone of contention with her “30 Minute Meals” cookbook), the restaurants are grouped geographically which makes things somewhat simpler.

In general, this book picked up mixed reviews. Most of the people who bought it were fans of the show (or of Rachael) anyway and thought the tips and photos to be great - but if you were expecting a recipe-worthy cookbook or a concise travel guide to restaurants, you’d probably be disappointed.

I have nice large peice of fresh, firm white fish, as well as some squid from the market this morning. So, I thought the time was right for Floyd’s fish soup.

Here’s the recipe:

An Italian Fish Soup

2 kilos firm fleshed fish (filleted, strips), assorted seafood such as squid, prawns, mussles etc.

Olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

2 sticks celery, chopped

1 small carrot, chopped

2 kilos tomatoes, skinned, chopped

3-4 anchovy fillets, chopped

handful chopped parsley, basil

2-3 cloves chopped garlic

1.4 litres hot water / fish stock

1. In a large saucepan, saute the celery, carrots and onion in olive oil until soft.

2. Add tomatoes and anchovies until tomatoes have melted. Keep stirring, add herbs and garlic.

3. Add hot water or stock and bring to a boil.

4. Add squid if using, simmer 20 mins. Add rest of fish/seafood, simmer another 20 mins.

5. Ladle into hot bowls, serve.

My favourite thing about Keith Floyd are his television programmes where the chef, despite being somewhat soused, proceeds to cook in the most amazing locations - in the middle of a busy street in Ho Chi Minh, bundled up on a sleigh in the arctic or my favourite - amid gawking ostriches in the African wilderness. And in the latter, the cooking was interrupted by the hungry ostriches who decided to eat the ingredients and what Floyd was cooking.
There’s been a lot of not-so-good press about old Keith lately - his inclination to drink (a common English pastime anyway), financial troubles and so on. But the fact is, the man’s cookbooks sell very well ( I have a couple, and they are among my favourites), and his shows are among the most entertaining in the tv cooking show world.

Born in 1943, Keith learned the fundamentals of solid, old fashioned British cooking and the importance of fresh ingredients through his parents, simple country folk who cooked well. He gave up journalism and joined the British army, later entering the catering world through a variety of odd jobs - including vegetable peeler, barman and dishwasher.

He then opened a string of restaurants over the years, all of which had disastrous results. By a stroke of luck, Keith was offered a role as presenter on the BBC and gained popularity quickly, becoming the celebrity chef he is today.

His cookery shows span the world -and Keith can be seen in the most far flung places of the globe from India to America, Africa to Australia. All part of the charm of this old English chap travelling the world and enjoying food, and why not, drink.

Fishcakes were one of the first things I learned how to cook - its so simple to do and the ingredients are usually at hand in the pantry or fridge, making it the perfect reliable standby when you’re feeling unimaginative. All it really is is fish (fresh or tinned) and mash, coated with breadcrumbs.

Quintessentially English, you can pretty much find fishcakes in most cafes and pubs around the UK. These days, there are other versions - like the spicy Thai type served with a cucumber dipping sauce, or with salmon and capers coated in matzo meal.

Delia’s original recipe from “How To Cook” was served with the traditionally English accompaniment, parsley sauce. My version below uses Delia’s as its foundation, but I’ve adapted it to my family’s tastes - which includes it being served with a cheat “Aioli”. Recipe also provided below.

Fishcakes With Aioli

4 medium potatoes - peeled, quartered - boiled and mashed
1 large slice of fresh tuna (or a tin of pink salmon) - de-boned and skinned.
Butter, olive oil
3 tbsp. capers
2 tbsp. chopped cornichons
Fresh parsley, chopped
2 large cloves garlic, crushed
1.4 cup mayonnaise
2 tbsp. plain yoghurt or creme fraiche
Lemon juice
Bread crumbs/ matzo meal
Egg, beaten

1. Grill the tuna with a little olive oil, season.

2. When tuna is done, sprinkle with lemon juice, chop into smallish peices.

3. Add fish to the mashed potatoes, with a little olive oil to moisten.

4. Add cornichons, capers, more lemon juice, parsley. Season to taste.

5. Form into patties, dip in beaten egg, roll in breadcrumbs or matzo meal. Chill in fridge.

6. Mix mayo with garlic, a squeeze of lemon juice, pepper, yoghurt. Chill in fridge.

7. Cook patties until golden brown, serve scattered with some capers and parsley, with aioli alongside for dipping.