I have now reviewed cookbooks by two of the four Iron Chefs (from Food Network): Mario Batali and Bobby Flay. Cat Cora has two cookbooks out; Morimoto is the fourth Iron Chef with cookbooks on his resume. Cat Cora's recent book, "Cooking from the Hip." Cora begins by noting the theme of this book (Page xii): "Every time you open the refrigerator and your cupboards and put together a meal. . .you are cooking from the hip. With this book, I'm hoping to expand your options, share a few of my tricks, and take you to a place where you feel comfortable winging it, even when guests are coming to dinner." She also emphasizes that cooking gives one an opportunity (Page xii) ". . .to connect with friends and family." Later in her Introduction, she says that (Page xiv): "These recipes are simple to make and offer lots of ideas for pulling in leftovers." I'm not so sure that some of the recipes herein are "simple to make." But, boy, there are quite a few interesting recipes.

The book is organized into four major parts: fast (for quick to make dishes), easy (recipes that are easy to make), fun (neat recipes that produce fun dishes), and phenomenal (special treats!). Finally, there is a section titled "Good to Know," which provides recipes for basic ingredients, such as chicken stock (both phenomenal and fast!) and other stocks, Aioli, Crème fraiches, balsamic reduction, roasted cherry tomatoes, and the like. Let's take a look at a few examples. . .

"Easy." Thai chicken salad with cabbage. The dressing is comprised of rice wine vinegar, olive oil, sesame oil, Thai peanut sauce, sugar, and black sesame seeds. Chicken is grilled or poached or roasted. Meanwhile, slice cabbage, grate carrots. Slice scallions for garnish. Finally, shred the chicken and toss the chicken and veggies. Pour on the dressing and toss. And enjoy!

"Fast." I am intrigued by the recipe for Greek lamb and olive burgers with garlic `sauce.' Obviously, instead of beef, one uses ground lamb. The lamb is mixed with such elements as kalamata olives, bread crumbs, chopped onion, chopped scallions, salt, pepper, oregano, and feta cheese. The garlic sauce is created separately, including yogurt and garlic. Cook the limburger, put it on top of the bottom half of a bun, spoon on some garlic sauce and then add tomatoes, lettuce or whatever you want to top this dish off. Sounds yummy! In this section, I am also intrigued with a stir fry dish (pretty straightforward--except that chopped peaches are added to the veggies). This sounds quite interesting. I can't resist mentioning one more example--a serviche, in which seafood is "cooked" in a marinade. Tempting for me to try out!

"Fun." Start off by taking a look at her sushi. Even though I look at the photos, I'm not so sure I could pull this off. But it looks like fun (including replacing fish with veggies). "The Zoran Roll" is named after one of her kids. Then, goat cheese fondue. This sounds awfully tasty.

"Phenomenal."Check out Cora's recipe for Porchetta. The meat is pork loin. Other ingredients: fennel, onion, shiitake mushrooms, garlic, rosemary, basil, egg, kosher salt, pepper, extra virgin olive oil, and red bliss potatoes. Just reading the recipe and thinking about what the end product would taste like is terrific! Mouth watering. . . .

Anyhow, this is a nice cookbook. There aren't a bazillion recipes, but the ones represented here sound tasty; some appear pretty easy to make. I have already dog-eared certain recipes (mainly, those mentioned here) and look forward to trying them out. Bon appétit!

My daughters and two of their friends used this book to create a very tasty meal for their parents tonight. Easy recipes, but with a different flair - in other words, not the same old recipes Mom and Dad use. My oldest is ten, and has an autographed copy - thanks, Cora!

Cat Cora's "Cooking from the Hip" has recipes for every kind of cook. Iron Chef Cora categorizes her recipes as:fast/easy/phenomenal/good to know. She gives essential tips on stocking the cupboard,making different kinds of vinegars and oils,and so on.

Cora has plenty of picnic-friendly dishes,such as farfalle and herb salad with peas,a parmesan,proscuitto,and arugula sandwich,along with lemonade cookies,and Asian steak&spinach salad. It shows how she lives not far from the Wine Country in a Mediterranean climate. Cora spends an entire section on sushi,making the Zoran sushi recipe in honor of her son. She discusses hashes,using salmon hash as an example. Cora is also a fan of watermelon. In her previous cookbook,she had a creative watermelon/feta salad created by her partner Jennifer. In this book,she has watermelon gazpacho.

Finally,Cora makes creative variations on well-known recipes. Her lettuce "gyros" with spicy halibut are in lettuce leaves instead of pita bread. Her "fried" chicken has crushed cornflakes instead of the usual breading.

"Cooking from the Hip" shows that hips don't lie! Bon appetit!