Cook's book: Reviews

You've seen him on television, in commercial spots and a cooking segment on Channel 2's "Morning Edition." You've dined at his restaurants, Kincaid Grill and City Diner. He's probably catered a big party that you've attended. And now, you can read his book.

With local writer Jody Ellis-Knapp, Chef Al has created a cookbook -- "What's Cooking, Alaska?" -- published by Seattle-based Sasquatch Books and now in bookstores.

We recently caught up with Alaska's celebrity chef to talk about his newest creation -- 100 recipes in 183 pages.

Q. When did you find time to write with all of your other responsibilities?

A. I was approached by Jody. She wrote an article about me for (a) magazine ... that's how I first met her. Then she called me up to see if I'd be interested in the book. I didn't really have time to do a book; I'd love to do one, but that's not my forte. So she offered to help out, and I submitted several recipes to her and she cleaned them up.

Q. Had people asked you for a cookbook before?

A. Yes. It had come up, but it was never really a realistic thing for me to write a whole book on my own.

Q. How long did it take to put together?

A. About a year. A few hours a month really. Not a whole lot of time.

Q. What kind of cooking skill level is the book written for?

A. The recipes I put in here are the ones I do on the show. They're all pretty much with a simple style in mind for the simple cook. Nothing too extravagant. It's very straight-forward; a novice cook could do 90 percent of the recipes in there without any problem. That's kind of what I look for when I do a recipe, something most people can produce. Very simple recipes. Very straightforward.

Q. There is an Alaska twist, but some of the recipes seem very Asian-influenced also.

A. There's some fusion in there. The Alaskan twist, actually, was Jody. She was very creative in the titles. You can pull any title out of there: This was beef stroganoff, all of a sudden it's Winter Warmth Beef Stroganoff. Halibut becomes Seward's Bounty. So little twists were put on all of these purposefully to give it that Alaska feel.

Q. What's your favorite recipe in it?

A. Probably the beef stroganoff.

Q. Why that dish?

A. I don't know. I'm more of a beef eater. Something hearty. I think they're good for Alaska -- warm and hearty. There are a few good grilled (recipes), also. There's a really great leg of lamb in here. That's one of my favorites really for the simplicity of it.

Q. You write stories at the beginning of each section. What made you decide to do that?

A. One thing in here, which is unique, is a lot of this was written for a high school paper. I wrote a high school paper about what I thought I wanted to do when I got out of school.

Q. That's interesting. Most people don't follow the path that they picked in high school.

A. I know. For a work experience credit I had to complete the paper. Basically I broke down what I was doing in my job, what it entailed and what I thought a person needed to do to do that job, where I thought it would take me in the future.

Q. They're all your recipes, right?

A. Yes, and most of these were ones done on the show. So we went through 200, 250 recipes I had and picked.

Q. How do you feel about it now seeing it all put together?

A. Oh it's great. I'm ready to start another one.

Q. Oh really, what would the next one be about then?

A. You know, I'm kind of torn between doing one for City Diner -- I think it would be fun; besides the fact I already have the recipes done for the diner -- and one that has more cooking techniques in it, rather than actual recipes. ...

Q. Like a how-to-do-it book?

A. Right. Kind of a picture book. Now it's a matter of time.

Q. Anything else?

A. You know, now that it's out, it's like it hasn't hit me yet that the book's really done. We started on it so long ago. I've done a few catering jobs where I go to the home and they have a stack of books for me to sign, you know, for guests. It's great, you know. To see it, it's a great thing.

• Got a restaurant tip, a new menu, a favorite dish or a chef change? Contact Play editor Josh Niva at jniva@adn.com.

Voracious reading

"What's Cooking, Alaska?" is available at many local bookstores, including Barnes & Noble and Title Wave Books, and at amazon.com.

City Diner: www.citydiner.org

Kincaid Grill: www.kincaid grill.com

Sasquatch Books: www. sasquatchbooks.com