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Put the eclectic flavors of South Florida -- the "New American Riviera" -- on your own kitchen table with pair of new cookbooks from a Fort Lauderdale chef.
Michael Bennett, top toque at Bimini Boatyard, dishes the tricks and techniques of his "Caribb-ican" cuisine in his just-released In the Land of Misfits, Pirates and Cooks, then continues exploring the melding of Caribbean and American cuisines in the soon-to-debut Underneath a Cloudless Sky.
The books are the product of four years of traveling the Caribbean and soaking up
its culinary heritage before taking over the Boatyard's kitchen in
2008. In addition to putting a more healthful spin on Caribbean-esque
cookery, the books serve up a roster of sauces, marinades, glazes, mops,
and rubs that can be matched to a variety of meats, fish, and poultry.
As Bennett puts it, "These recipes are open to experimentation and
are only limited by the vastness of your imagination. I organized the
book so you don't think you have to use a certain sauce with a certain
entree. The recipes are separated in a multitude of combinations --
with your taste buds being the only decisive restriction."
Misfits and Sky are both available here, as well as at Amazon.com, Johnson & Wales, Epicure Market in Miami, and L'Hermitage in Fort Lauderdale.
