WHAT GETS YOU COOKING? 

Macy’s 12 episode podcast series starring Tyler Florence will inspire you with delicious recipes and you have a chance to win a trip for two to San Francisco for a $2500 kitchen shopping spree with Tyler Florence in the Macy’s Keeps America Cooking Video Contest!

This contest sponsored by Macy’s to win a trip to San Francisco to shop with Tyler Florence on a $2,500 shopping spree and a hosted podcast linked to his series.  Nicole from M80 productions contacted me to let me know and asked me to share this with you all too. All you have to do is make a video cooking one of your favourite recipes and share it on the site to be entered to win. The deadline is  April 3, 2009.

Details here at the M80 newsroom or here at  www.macys.com/keepitcooking

Contest overview:
The “Macy’s Keeps America Cooking” contest will be based completely off of user-generated video submissions and viewer-rating of their favorite video or recipe. Entrants are asked to create a video based on an original recipe that demonstrates “What gets you cooking? Is it the magical people in your life? Or the fresh ingredients at your local market?” Each video should be 2 minutes or less, and, similar to how Tyler ends his podcasts with “From my Mill Valley kitchen to yours, Macy’s keeps it cooking,” submitted videos should also end with the line “From my (location) kitchen to yours, Macy’s keeps it cooking!”

Prizes
- The Grand Prize Winner of the contest will receive:
o a trip for two to San Francisco to cook with Tyler
o shopping spree with Tyler for new kitchen products using Macy’s gift of a $2,500 gift card
o a feature spot on their own Macy’s Keeps It Cooking podcast that will show them cooking with their new Macy’s kitchen products
- Nine runner-up winners will also be selected and will each be awarded with a $1,000 gift card from Macy’s
- If winners include mention of what they like about their local Macy’s or macys.com in their videos, they will also receive an additional $500. Winners will be selected on or around April 30, 2009.

Now for this week’s Tyler Florence Fridays:

This is a busy week for me- my son, Ryan, is coming home on leave tomorrow and things are a bit stressful and hectic at work so I went the easy route with Tyler this week.  If you look through his book “Dinner at My Place” you’ll find lots of little helpful recipes for sauces, seasonings and dressings- bits and bobs, odds and sods. This Creamy Pesto Dressing is what I made using his Creamy Dressing Base on page #244. 

For most salads our standard dressing in house is very similar to the French Vinaigrette he gives on the same page -except I add more shallots and usually use Sherry vinegar. I rarely buy bottled salad dressings- they are just so easy to make at home and so much better than a stale sauce in a bottle. Tyler’s base is a great jumping off point for any number of variations when you are craving that type of dressing.  add roasted garlic, salsa, fresh or dried herbs, pesto, roasted peppers, pureed roasted veg, fresh veg, or any other flavour your little heart desires.

The base is basically equal parts mayonnaise and sour cream with a little fresh lemon juice, salt and pepper to brighten and round out the flavour. If you have time make your mayo (I think there is a good recipe in “Stirring the Pot”) homemade- if not Best foods/Hellman’s would be my choice.  When you’re in a time crunch adding 3 Tablespoons (or to taste) from a bottle of prepared Basil pesto makes a quick dressing. It’s not a bad dipping sauce for artichoke leaves or roasted asparagus either.

Let’s check out the other TFF offerings here!

xo

I’m back on the TFF bandwagon this week and the recipe I’m serving up is from “Stirring the Pot”, by Tyler Florence -page #200- Amaretto Brownies.  I am a big Tyler cookbook fan so far- I’m sure I’ll be finding more of his recipes to love as we go along.

I actually made these this morning before leaving for work- so they are cooling and waiting to be cut when I go home for lunch today. I did sneak a taste though -and they were full of chocolaty- Amaretto goodness.

I am a complete brownie slave- they are my absolute favourite treat- the one I refuse to give up no matter what. Because of this, I have my favourite brownie recipe memorized and just make variations to it according to my mood.  So what I’m getting at is that I respect Tyler enough to go outside of my comfort zone and give his a try. These use alot more ingredients than my usual but then again they are a lot thicker. I’m curious to see what they are like in the middle when cooled- so I’ll update on that later… and I don’t know if I’ll make the chocolate whipped cream he serves with these yet- I love the darkness of the brownies by themselves.

Now let’s go on over to the Tyler Florence Fridays site to get a list of the other TFF recipes presented today…

Update: the verdict- yummy- we ate them all and they were very good and might be nice for a change-up in future… but I still prefer my regular brownie recipe. xoxo

Today for Tyler Florence Fridays I made a completely easy recipe- very suitable for a slacker like me. “Hello- McFly?!!?”

The recipe I threw together is “San Marzano ‘Quick’ Salsa” from Dinner at My Place by Tyler Florence- an excellent cookbook that I highly recommend.

I’ve never actually made salsa from canned tomatoes before and this was so easy I have to admit it felt like a bit of a cheat. But this is great for when tomatoes aren’t in season and you need a quick salsa for a dip or condiment.  All you do is combine a large can of drained tomatoes with some red onion, a bit of Serrano chile, lime juice, cilantro, olive oil and salt and pepper. Whiz it in the food processor and adjust the consistency with some of the tomato juice reserved from the can when draining- for that purpose. I used crushed organic Tuscan tomatoes that I had on hand instead of whole San Marzanos but I think it was just as good.

You’ll have it made before you can get the chips out….. and better than a jar any-day.

Check out the other Tyler delights over at the TFF site always an event!

xo

I recently joined a group of bloggers over at Tyler Florence Fridays hosted by Deb of Kahakai Kitchen, Megan of My Baking Adventures, and Natashya of Living in the Kitchen with Puppies. I really enjoy Tyler’s recipes and cookbooks and one of the best things I like about this group is that you choose your own recipe to make from any of his books each week. This week I chose Roasted Acorn Squash Stuffed with Cheese Tortellini from “Stirring the Pot”, page 78.  I give the dish and the cookbook both an enthusiastic thumb’s up.

I had been planning on making this already so I was good to go. The recipe is delicious and would be a good vegetarian main course for a dinner party. The presentation is lovely and appetizing.  You roast an acorn squash half until tender and stuff it with cheese tortellini in a garlic, parmesan and thyme white sauce, cover with more cheese and a couple of sage leaves and roast the whole thing a bit more until bubbly and scrumptious. My only changes in future will be to try to reduce the fat -maybe by using evaporated skim milk instead of the heavy cream for the white sauce. Otherwise it’s a keeper- a good combo of flavours and it feels a treat to eat. I served it with a fresh spinach salad and a glass of Sauvignon Blanc and it was a great meal.