Cool story behind this recipe, which is insanely delicious! Haven’t thought about this in a long time but Jim is making this tonight.
James was one of several chefs, many of whom were already famous, who were asked to contribute a recipe to a cookbook entitled Santa Barbara Culinary Arts: A Taste of Santa Barbara’s Culinary Bounty.
James had graduated from culinary school several years prior to the time time this book was published by the Santa Barbara Culinary Arts Group, which is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the inspiration, education, and celebration of culinary professionals and individuals passionate about the culinary arts.
This cookbook just recently became available on Amazon at:
At the time, James had worked for two years at the world famous Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite National Park as Pantry Chef. He was responsible for all starters, hot and cold. This means he and his staff made all of the pate’s, soups, terrines, salads, and mouses’. He also ran room-service and meals for the Pub. He had also been the celebrity chef for the Annual Santa Barbara Yacht Club Regatta. But he REALLY became a good cook when he moved to Portland with a girlfriend. Cooking on a budget, cleaning your own kitchen, and shopping moved him to become an incredibly sensible cook and sensitive to the real value of good food.
He was asked to contribute to the cookbook while he was the VP of Operations for il Fustino. Don’t read too much into this title, we owned il Fustino, and while he got a fancy title on a business card, (very impressive while meeting ladies in the bar) we, in exchange, got access to a fantastic chef.
Buy the book, it makes a great gift. All the recipes are fantastic. James is on page 66/67, Cumin-and-coriander Grilled Lamb Chops. Gotta go Jim’s in the kitchen and it smells great!!!
