New Book: Mission: Cook!

Our family gets a kick out of Food Network's DINNER: IMPOSSIBLE, in which Chef Robert Irvine is challenged to cook gourmet meals under difficult circumstances. While the show has a bit of a game show element to it, the fun comes in seeing Chef Robert and his sous chefs' creativity under fire. They have an impressive ability to put together elegant meals in just a few hours, utilizing whatever ingredients and cooking methods are on hand.

On the show Chef Robert has done everything from cooking at Colonial Williamsburg to preparing a chuck wagon meal to cooking in a hotel made of ice (which sure presented difficulties insofar as cooking heat melts ice). I think our favorite episode was when they couldn't even start cooking in a pigsty of a frat house at the University of Pennsylvania until the kitchen was hosed down...and I do mean hosed down! What a mess. The episode where he had to round up food from tailgaters at a football game and turn it into a gourmet meal was another favorite.

Chef Robert's intelligence, ability, sense of humor, and British accent -- he was trained as a chef in the Royal Navy -- add up to a fun program.

Robert Irvine has a new book out which is a combination autobiography and cookbook. Should be a fun read.