Professional Home Cooking

What do great chefs cook on their night off? Personally, I would have thought they would have ordered in instead of taking the busman's holiday of more food preparation, but thankfully I was wrong.

The food prepared is simpler, perhaps, than the dishes served in their restaurants, but is no less tasty for that. Racks of lamb and pork loin seem to be favorites for main dishes, although several of the chefs supply vegetarian offerings instead. Each chef offers a full menu, with main dish, sides, occasionally an appetizer, and always a dessert. (They get a trifle complicated around the dessert area, but it's hard to argue with the deliciousness of a souffle or empanados rellenos.) Each is illustrated by a wonderful black-and-white photograph of the chef, usually with his or her family.

To make you feel better about buying another cookbook, this one was compiled by the associate directors of Share Our Strength, a nonprofit hunger-relief organization, and a percentage of the proceeds from this book goes to help feed the hungry. Always a good deed.

Trial by Fire:

Although it was difficult to make a decision, I settled on Rick Bayless' meal, although I left out the soup (although it sounded yummy, I would have been the only person that would have eaten it). So no Soup of Mexican Greens, Tomatillo, and Tomato. But plenty of Chipotle-Glazed Country Ribs, Drunken Beans with Tequila, and Rustic Apple Pie and Brown Sugar and Cinnamon. This is great party food.

Chipotle is simply roasted jalapeno--roasting stretches the heat of a raw jalapeno into layers of smokey flavor. The rib sauce combines that richness with the sweetness of honey, spikes it with dried chili peppers and garlic, and then adds unusual (but complementary) notes of cinnamon, cloves, and black pepper. A great sauce that I imagine would be equally good on chicken.

I don't know if anyone can actually get drunk off of the 1 1/2 tablespoons of tequila called for in the bean recipe, but the beans certainly seem to appreciate it. Made meaty by bacon slices and a ham hock, tempered with yellow onion and cilantro, these peppery beans would be a delicious accompaniment to any Southwestern menu.

What makes this apple pie different from mom's? The addition of a 1/4 cup of lime juice instead of the squeeze of lemon usually called for. Unusual, but it harmonious, and a great way to keep the Tex-Mex feel continous until the end.

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