A Great Holiday Gift for the Chef in the Family: Top Secret Restaurant Recipes

Now, I love to cook and have been told I'm pretty darn good. However, sometimes you do have to become creative when it comes to changing up the weekly menu. So, I was browsing one day at Barnes and Noble and came across this book called "Top Secret Restaurant Recipes" by Todd Wilbur. I was familiar in the past with copy cat restaurant recipes from some Internet sites that use to be free however, some recipes you have to pay for now. And, some of those recipes did work. However, some of the recipes did not. Apparently, this is Todd Wilbur's second book. I guess I'll have to find that first one to get some new restaurant recipes.

To date, I have tried four recipes from this book, and I must say it is the first time I have not had to tweak a recipe to have it come up to my standards. The recipes I tried were Red Lobster's Cheddar Bay Biscuits, Original Pancake House Apple Pancakes, Outback Steakhouse Honey Wheat Bushman Bread, and P.F. Chang's Chocolate Torte. Top Secret Restaurant Recipe would be a great Holiday gift for your favorite chef in the family or for someone who is starting out cooking.

Some recipes could be more challenging for the newbie chef. However, the way Todd Wilbur writes out his narrative, he applies simplicity to the recipe that makes you feel you can handle it. He breaks it down so well that it is easy to understand.

To give you an idea of the restaurants and their recipes, I'll jot a few down here for you:

Applebee's Baked French Onion Soup
Applebee's Bourbon Street Steak
Benihana's Japanese Onion Soup
Benihana's Ginger Salad Dressing
Bennigan's The Monte Cristo
California Pizza Kitchen California Cosmo (can't wait to try this one for Thanksgiving)
Bufflao Wild Wings Buffalo Wings and Sauces
Carrabba's Chicken Marsala (this sounds like mama use to make)
The Cheesecake Factory Mini Crabcakes
The Cheesecake Factory Original Cheesecake
Chevy's Garlic Mash Potatoes
Chili's Salsa
Chili's Southwestern Eggrolls
Hard Rock's Coleslaw
Hard Rock's Pig Sandwich
Olive Garden's Minestrone
Olive Garden's Pasta E Fagioli
Olive Garden Lemon Cream Cake
Mimi's Café Corn Chowder
Joe's Crab Shack Blue Crab Dip
Outback Steakhouse Kookaburra Wings
Ruby Tuesday's Cream Mashed Cauliflower
Romano's Macaroni Grill Penne Rustica
T.G.I.F Broccoli Cheese Soup
T.G.I.F. Pecan -Crusted Chicken Salad
Tony Roma's Baked Potato Soup
Waffle House Waffles

Now, these are just a few. There are many more. The one thing I'm going to do for the Holidays is let everyone in my family pick a different recipe. It would be a great way of bringing the family together by cooking together. That's what it is all about, creating memories!