Would you like to cook the Blue Star’s food at home and dazzle your family and friends? Well, now you can. Blue Star Chef James Davis and writer Molly Wingate teamed up to create a cookbook of the restaurant’s dishes for novice and experienced home cooks. All 74 recipes were tested by home cooks in their own kitchens and received rave reviews. The Blue Star Cookbook: Try This at Home is due to be released in November 2005.

Recipes in the book range from Cuban-inspired Tito Puente Tilapia Tacos, to the elegant, traditional Steak au Poivre; from the restaurant’s favorites such as Swiss Onion Soup, Almond Rosemary Crusted Salmon, House Mashers, and Chocolate Bread Pudding to the delectable Grilled Quail with Tuscan White Beans, Wild Mushroom Loops with Asparagus and Red Burgundy Gastrique, and Just Warm Greek Pasta. Tapas, soups, sauces, salads, and side dishes include Salmon Brie en Croûte, Tortilla Lime Soup, James Davis’s Hollandaise, Bocconcini Caprese Salad, and Saffron Rice. And let’s not forget the Chocolate Espresso Lava Cakes or Buttermilk Brûlée for dessert.

Davis has succeeded in creating a fine dining cookbook that is accessible and practical. He wrote chef’s notes with ideas for preparing and serving many of the dishes. Each recipe has a difficulty rating of one, two or three blue stars. Each includes an estimate of how long it will take to prepare and a list of any out of the ordinary equipment you will need. For each dish, there is a wine or beer pairing. In the back of the book, you will find a list of unusual ingredients, what they are, and what kinds of stores carry each one. You will also find a glossary of cooking terms. Helpful and beautiful photos are placed throughout the book.

Davis hopes novice cooks will gain confidence with these recipes so that they will adopt and adapt them, adding their own special touches. He provides recipes for stocks and sauces that are the bases for other recipes, hoping to inspire experienced as well as novice cooks to start from scratch, putting their love into their food from the very start.

Banker and home chef Cindy Utt had fun time with the Blue Star recipes she kitchen tested, “I have never cooked anything with demi-glace, much less made it from beef broth. I loved learning how to do it, and the Gorgonzola Beef Tips were terrific. Also the Company Salad is to die for, yummm.” Art history professor Richard Agee commented, “These are really good recipes that gave me room to add my own preferences. I enjoyed making them.” Dinner guests asked Molly Wingate, “Is this chili recipe in the Blue Star Cookbook?” Yes it is. Along with a recipe for the beef stock the chili recipe calls for.

For more information about The Blue Star Cookbook: Try This at Home, please contact:
Molly Wingate, Wingate Consulting
“Making writing easier and better.”
719-685-4114, Molly@Wingate-Consulting.com