My hats off to you, Tim Byres. Your restaurants are doing well, you just married a lovely lady, and now you have a cookbook called “Smoke” coming out in April. Oh, and let’s not forget about that little Food and Wine Magazine’s Best New Chef award last March. Yeah, you know what I’m talking about.
I remember reading Mike Hiller’s interview with you about your upcoming cookbook long, long ago. Remember this?
“I’ve been working on this cookbook since last year,” Byres told [Hiller]. “I want to demystify things people think they can’t do themselves, like canning, pickling, jarring, preserving, and cooking from scratch. Then I’ll also show you where it’s okay to take a short-cut when you’re cooking from scratch.” For example, Byres says he’ll include a recipe for a spice rub that mimics the smokey accents of a wood fire, “in case someone doesn’t have the time to cook over a fire.”
“A main focus will be wood-fired cooking and making from-scratch dishes with American roots. But this is definitely not going to be a barbecue book,” Byres insists. “That’s not what Smoke is about.”
Additionally, look for chapters on recreating a backyard garden. Says Byres: “I’ve learned so much from our garden (at Smoke) that I have a lot to say about how to do it right and ways it can go wrong.” – EscapeHatchDallas.com
Anyhoo, I’m very excited about the April release. Your Facebook told me I can get one at Smoke Restaurant or at my local bookseller, so that’s where I’ll be once this dreary weather goes away.