Tyler Florence switches things up in 'Test Kitchen' (w/video)
If you think of Tyler Florence as the cook next door, the guy you can count on for classics like burgers and onion rings, you may be surprised by his latest effort, "Tyler Florence: Inside the Test Kitchen."
This time, Florence is switching things up from down home to high tech in a book that stands out from the crowd with its notebook-style binding and iPad-generated photos. The burger? It's still there, but now it's served on "instant bread" buns made with iSi siphons, specialty kitchen equipment, that in this case are used to inject carbon dioxide directly into the batter. The onion ring, meanwhile, has mind-melded with a french fry for something Florence calls a "fronion."
We asked Florence to explain just what a fronion is and share a few more insights into his test kitchen.
AP: You're known for traditional, comfort food, but in this book you whip out the high-tech tools. Is this a new direction for you?
Florence: I've always been a passionate, wildly curious cook. The platforms that you have seen me in before are just the tip of the iceberg of my range, not only as a cook, but as an award-winning restaurant owner, an inventor, a cookbook writer and also a parent. My early career crafted as the guy next door is only part of the picture, one that is very black and white in scope. Our new position is to go deep and challenge conventional cooking that in a lot of ways intimidates home enthusiasts. Inventing a bread that doesn't require yeast to rise was one of our discoveries this year, and the process is way easier than baking bread. Modern kitchen tools like an iSi siphon are going to seem as common place as a microwave.
AP: What went into the making of this book?
Florence: We had four people working on the book almost full time and the book took a year and a half to make. So if I had to do the math on that, it would be 13,140 hours. It was supposed to be released last year, but we just weren't ready yet. I've never spent this long writing a book, even my first book back in 2001. The content speaks for itself. I feel it's my best, most personal book.
AP: Was it tough reinventing so many familiar dishes?
Florence: Some days we wanted to give up because what we wanted in a certain recipe began to feel impossible. Or going through the complete cooking process, which in some cases took hours, only to find out we could have made it better at the beginning felt frustrating. But every time we got so close to nailing a certain texture or technique that we were inventing, it was enough to keep pushing. I've never had a better time with my staff making something that felt this important.
AP: You really went all out on Thanksgiving, from the cranberry loaf to the spatchcocked turkey with the stuffing tucked under the skin. What inspired you?
Florence: The funny thing is that entire chapter was a last minute add-in. We felt that looking at most of the completed manuscript, we needed about 10 more great, iconic recipes. It happened to be last November, so we just jumped into Thanksgiving. My Instagram feed blew up as we were posting pictures. If someone picks up the book for one recipe alone, it's the turkey. I think it's a real game changer.
AP: And, finally, the "fronion." Talk us through the team's process in solving the french fry/onion ring dilemma by coming up with an onion ring inside a french fry.
Florence: We made onion rings for a week. They were ... I wouldn't say boring, but everything we had certainly tasted before. One day we got take out lunch from a burger place and I grabbed a french fry and an onion ring and tasted both and that started it all. We liquefied french fries into an amazing onion ring batter and created the "fronion" it's a French fry crusted onion ring. You've got to see it to believe it. Mind blowing.
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Online: http://tylerflorencetestkitchen.wordpress.com/
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SUPER-FAST ROAST TURKEY
"The Thanksgiving turkey is the centerpiece of the meal, but despite its being cooked every year for generations, it still causes anxiety. The annual conundrum? Getting a flavorful turkey that also looks good — and the rest of dinner — on the table before the grandparents fall asleep," Tyler Florence writes in his new cookbook, "Inside the Test Kitchen."
"The first thing we realized was that stuffing the turkey only makes things harder: if you stuff your turkey, you create a very dense material for heat to travel through, and by the time the stuffing is hot in the center, the breast meat of the turkey is totally overcooked. Instead, we piped the stuffing between the skin and the breast. That way, you still get flavorful stuffing while protecting the breast.
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