Eat This Book ... And How!

I bought Tyler Florence's latest cookbook, Eat This Book (Cooking with Global Fresh Flavors) nearly a year ago when it was first released. I finally got around to trying a recipe from it yesterday. That's the one problem with having a burgeoning cookbook collection … I don't get around to them as often as I should. There are worse problems to have.

Eat This easily combines the sensuality of Nigella Lawson's prose and the "nakedness" of Jamie Oliver's cooking style. Mouth-watering food porn throughout, the chapters are broken down by Eat, Devour, Nosh, Consume, Taste, Savor and Lick the Plate Clean. Sign me up!

He prefaces each recipe with a short description noting where it came from or why he loves it so. That's one of my favorite parts of cookbooks … discovering the history of a recipe, what the chef thinks of it, and finding out why he chose it. Oftentimes, that little paragraph alone will entice me to try a recipe out.

For the first recipe, I chose Tyler's Panzanella. Being part-Italian, I've made Panzanella a variety of ways before, but until Tyler's version, I hadn't seen a recipe that included capers or anchovies. Not being a fan of anchovies unless they're cleverly disguised, I dove right in nonetheless; all in the name of research, folks. While making the Panzanella, one of those slippery suckers leapt out of the tin and onto my hand - yuck. It took a bit of doing to get the anchovies and garlic mashed together (ever tried to mash anchovies before?), but the taste is very subtly in the background, so I wouldn't hesitate to do it that way again.

A salad bursting with clean, crisp flavors, loaded with fresh vegetables, versatile enough for a weeknight side dish or weekend entertaining and it's simple to put together to boot - what more could you want?

Tyler found this recipe in an old, out-of-print Italian cookbook and made it often when he was a 19-year-old chef at a small Italian restaurant.

"I fell in love with the sheer simplicity of the recipe. Panzanella was one of my first experiences of how truly simple great Italian food can be."

Panzanella not your thing? The book covers everything from Toasted Almond in Chile Oil, Sauteed Feta and Portuguese-Style Salt Cod Fritters to African Chicken with Green Olive Sauce, Grilled Fat Pieces of Squid and Summer Tomatoes, Slashed and Stuffed. You're sure to find something that speaks to you.

A sentence on the dust jacket sums this cookbook up beautifully … "Packed with the excitement of a culinary wanderlust fulfilled and all the comforts of coming home again, Eat This Book proves there's really no reason to eat out when the food from your own kitchen can be so delicious." I'm certainly hooked - now it's your turn. Happy eating!

Panzanella
Recipe courtesy Tyler Florence
1 French boule, or loaf of round Tuscan bread, torn into bite-size pieces
Extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves
3 anchovy fillets
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Juice of 1/2 a lemon, or as needed
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon capers, drained
2 roasted red bell peppers, shredded by hand
1/2 pint red cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 pint yellow cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
1 seedless cucumber, peeled and cut into ½ inch cubes
1/2 bunch of basil, torn into largish pieces
1/4 cup celery leaves, torn into largish pieces

Preheat the oven to 400F. Toss the bread chunks with 1/4 cup oil until the bread is wet with the oil. Spread the bread on a baking sheet and bake until the bread begins to brown, about 10 minutes. While the bread is going, make the dressing. Use a large knife to chop and mash the garlic, anchovies, and salt to a paste on a cutting board. Scrape it into a large mixing bowl, add the lemon juice, vinegar, oil, salt, pepper, and stir together. Add all of the rest of the ingredients and gently stir. Taste for seasoning. Finally, add the toasted bread and toss it all together. Taste it and season one last time with salt, pepper, and lemon juice.

Yield: 4 to 6 servings