Strictly Sundays by Joe Fitzpatrick is a gourmet cookbook for the cook that we all want to be. Joe Fitzpatrick is a real estate agent from the Puget Sound area of Washington State. He and his wife of 32 years have three children and two grandchildren. Joe has been called the Blue Collar Gourmet.
The recipes I found in Strictly Sundays remind me of the type of recipes I've seen in gourmet cooking magazines like Bon Apetit with one exception. These recipes all use very familiar ingredients and are written so that your average cook can prepare them without running to a culinary dictionary.
Strictly Sundays has 146 full color, glossy pages including the index. There are six chapters which include Appetizers, Main Dishes, Salads, Soups, Side Dishes and Salsas. The recipes in this cookbook are enticing and the gorgeous color photographs are inspirational.
Each delicious recipe includes a short description to explain the origins of the recipe or to offer a suggestion on serving the recipe. For example, the recipe for London Broil offers, "This meal comes together very well with my olive-tomato topping." The recipe details each ingredient and offers easy to follow, step-by-step instructions for preparing and serving each dish.
There is literally something for everyone in this cookbook. Whether your tastes run to seafood, barbecue, Italian, Mexican or hearty American dishes, you will find a recipe to entice you in the pages of Strictly Sundays.
I love that there are no dessert recipes included in the cookbook. Too many cookbooks over focus on sweets, and I think the focus of any meal should be the main course. Strictly Sundays gets to the meat (and potatoes) of a Sunday dinner to remember.
A few of my favorite recipes included in Strictly Sundays are Pasta Shrimp Salad, Garlic Parmesan Potatoes, French BLT and Crab Cakes with Dipping Sauce. Doesn't that just make your mouth water thinking about it? Now I just have to decide which one to make first!
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