Tyler Florence's Cookbook

Awhile ago I blogged about Tyler Florence's baby food line, Sprout and his cookbook, Start Fresh.  Well, I found not only the cookbook, but also the baby food.  We found the baby food at Giant Eagle.  I bought a  toddler meal (Sweet Potato and Apple Risotto with Turkey) and a baby food pouch (Peach Pumpkin Pie with Graham).Vince and I gave them a taste test.  We both liked the pumpkin pie.  We were so-so on the toddler meal, but in all fairness, we didn't really get a good taste because soon after I served it, Vince got up from the table and our rotten dog jumped up and pulled it off the table.  (Abby gives it two paws up!)


The cookbook has a lot of the recipes that the baby food and toddler meals come in, which I thought was interesting.  The book is divided into recipe stages, the first just being directions for pureeing single ingredients, the next having just a few ingredients and the next two work for the whole family.  If you would like, you can puree the meal for older babies and toddlers, or serve as is, like I did.  We tried a few of the recipes in the book so I could give a fair assessment of the recipes.  Overall, it was pretty good.  I made Roasted Golden Beets wit Quinoa and Feta, which I really liked, the rest of the family wasn't really into it though, but that was to be expected.  I also made the Chicken with white rice, broccoli, carrots and peas.  The rice went over really well with Ellie, which was a miracle!  I thought the veggies and rice were good, but I guess the chicken was a little dry, which was probably more my fault with cooking it than the recipe.  Last night I made Green Pea Risotto because it's something we've seen on Hell's Kitchen and wanted to try.  This recipe did not disappoint!  It was really good.  Ellie ate a little, Vince liked it and Evan and I had seconds.  This is definitely a dish I'll make again.
 
There are a few other recipes I'd like to try, but after these few, I think I can recommend this cookbook as a good one to try out.  I like how the dishes are family friendly--I could puree just parts for a baby, and tailor most of the dishes to fit all stages of kid and adult.  I also like how whole food they are.  Fresh, whole foods are the only ingredients.  The ones I made were all pretty easy too.  They didn't take a lot of time, the ingredients were "normal" I didn't need to look in a specialty store for anything.  I felt good putting it on the table for my kids.  If you try any of this other recipes in here (there are pictures by the way. I LOVE cookbooks with pictures!) let me know!

Green Pea Risotto:

4C organic chicken or vegetable broth
1C frozen green peas
1C Arborio rice
1 TBSP unsalted butter
1/2 C grated Parmesan cheese (I ran out of Parmesan so I used Nutritional Yeast Flakes--also good!)

Bring the broth to a boil.  Add the peas and cook until bright green, about 1-2 minutes.  With a strainer, scoop the peas out of the broth and set aside.  Puree half of the peas in a blender or food processor.

Toast the rice in a medium saucepan over medium heat until slightly darkened and has a nutty scent 3-5 minutes.  Add the still warm broth 1 cup at a time, waiting until each addition is almost absorbed before adding more.  Stir frequently.

Before all the liquid is absorbed, stir in the butter, both peas and cheese.