My Beverly Hills Kitchen

October 15, 2012
From his Hollywood Hills kitchen, Hitz, entertaining guru and home shopping personality, writes a cookbook combining his penchant for Southern hospitality with Cordon Bleu training. For hosts who want down-home quality in upscale styling and for whom a party is time to “give the people what they really want ,” this first cookbook shows how, with signature comfort food dishes that make Hitz the favorite party boy of the fabulous L.A. scene. More than a nostalgic look at the Southern fare of his childhood, these recipes are genteel and sophisticated enough for entertaining, promising simple-to-prepare “tantalizing menus.” Hors d’oeuvres, like cheese puffs and straws, crab tarts, and fried green tomatoes, get the party started. Erlinda’s Exquisite Short Ribs and a Carolina barbecue pulled-pork recipe are joined by refined recipes for quail, lobster, salmon, shrimp, and osso buco. A variety of soufflés and basic French sauces appear along with plenty of pecan and bourbon-splashed desserts. For aspiring dinner hosts, Hitz provides guidance: “Kitchen Notes” offer advice about ingredients, cookware, and timing for successful entertaining. A final chapter outlines seasonal dinner party menus. Hitz challenges fad diets of the L.A. scene, yearns to transform cooks into confident entertainers, and boldly echoes the elegance of the Southern tradition.

September 15, 2012
Hitz has made a name for himself in the culinary landscape of America's most luxuriously renowned city, Beverly Hills. Heir to a Coca-Cola fortune, Hitz early on felt comfortable around the famous. Partnership in a successful Atlanta restaurant introduced him to daily life in the food business. Moving to California, he feted his new neighbors with the southern food he had learned from the family's cook, overlaying it with sophisticated sensibilities absorbed at Parisian culinary school. His tables became a hit with Beverly Hills' social set, and he fed such fashionable luminaries as Nancy Reagan, Nan Kempner, and Betsy Bloomingdale, serving them elegantly presented southern fried chicken, she-crab soup, gussied-up grits, and hummingbird cake. His recipes lend themselves to entertaining and will attract anyone looking for dinner party menu inspiration. The book is peppered with photographs of the author, his California celebrity friends, and his stylish cooking.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)