The author of the New York Times bestselling Cooked, award-winning chef, and star of his own Food Network docu-reality show dishes up his first cookbook, Chef Jeff Cooks. Jeff Henderson's story is familiar: Raised in South Central Los Angeles, he became a successful drug dealer. He made a lot of money. He got caught. But what happened next wasn't the same old story: Jeff changed. He found a passion in prison kitchens and taught himself to cook. Once released, he talked his way into a series of professional kitchens -- almost always having to prove himself by starting as a dishwasher or line cook. His talent was obvious; his work ethic even more so. After rising to the top of the kitchen in some of Los Angeles's best restaurants, he became the first African American Chef de Cuisine in Las Vegas at Caesars Palace and then executive chef at Café Bellagio in the prestigious Bellagio Resort. Now Jeff shows theworld his food and it is delicious. What inspires him? Foods he ate as a child -- Half-pound "Back-in-the-Day" Chili Cheeseburger, Turkey Smoked Collard Greens, Friendly Fried Chicken, Macaroni and Smoked Cheddar Cheese, Cakelike Cornbread with Maple Butter, and Chocolate S'more Bread Pudding -- are here as well as the more elegant, celebratory cuisine he developed as a chef -- Sweet Potato Soup, Barbecued Shrimp Scampi, and slow-cookedMolasses Braised Beef Short Ribs. Cooks will also find lots of great recipes for the grill and plenty of party foods, satisfying salads, quick breads, sides, soups, sweet endings, and more. Featuring over 150 recipes, stunning full-color photographs, tips and techniques, as well as personal outtakes and anecdotes from Chef Jeff's life on the streets, the prison kitchen, and hiswork as a chef andmotivational speaker, this is much more than a cookbook -- it is a larger-than-life American success story and the recipe for how Chef Jeff fulfilled his dream.

Jeff Henderson was just another inner-city black kid born into a world of poverty and limited options, where crime seemed to provide the only way to get out. Raised mostly by his single mother, who struggled just to keep food on the table, Jeff dreamed big. He had to get out and he soon did by turning to what so many in his community did: dealing drugs. But Jeff was no ordinary drug dealer; by twenty-one, he was one of the top cocaine dealers in San Diego, making up to $35,000 a week. Two years later he was indicted on federal drug trafficking charges and sentenced to almost twenty years in prison. Before he knew what had hit him, he was looking at spending most of his life behind bars. The street life had been the only one he'd ever known and even incarcerated he was too hardheaded to realize that no good would come of it. That is, until he was assigned to one of the least desirable prison jobs: washing dishes. That job helped turn his whole life around. It gave him access to the prison kitchen and he became fascinated watching his fellow prisoners cook for the thousands of other inmates and prison officials. Henderson learned to cook in prison. Not cocaine, but food. And his dream was born: Once outside, he would become a chef. It was a tough, seemingly impossible journey for an ex-con. Few chefs would give him the opportunity to cook in their restaurants. And once hired, he endured racism and sabotage in the kitchen. But Henderson refused to accept rejection. Driven by a dream and an unshakable will to succeed, Chef Jeff worked hard to overcome unimaginable adversity and eventually reached the top of his profession, becoming executive chef at Café Bellagio in Las Vegas. Alive with the energy of the streets, the sober reality of prison, and the visceral thrill of being inside the fast-paced kitchens of great restaurants, Cooked is an intense, intimate tale of crime, punishment, and redemption—a deeply poignant story of how the worst wrong can lead to the most extraordinary right.

The smells in the kitchen, the unforgettable flavors—these powerful memories of food, family, and tradition are intertwined and have traveled down from generations past to help make us the people we are today. Soul food is just as wide-ranging and satisfying as soul music. Tavis Smiley’s America I AM four-year traveling museum exhibit and New York Times bestseller Chef Jeff Henderson have joined forces to create the America I AM Pass It Down Cookbook to honor and preserve African Americans collective family food histories and legacies. Over 100, soul-filled and soul-inspired family recipes collected from contributors’ across the country, are featured. Each contribution demonstrates how powerful recollections of food, family and tradition have traveled down to us from generations past to help make us the people we are today. Indeed, history lives at the kitchen table. "What better way to showcase America’s diverse and delicious traditions than through the unifying power of food," says Smiley. Each cookbook contributor submitted a favorite family recipe and a brief accompanying family food imprint story reflecting on the significance of the dish. What makes this cookbook special is that everyone has a favorite family food memory to share—whether it was grandma’s peach cobbler, Aunt Sarah’s collard green soufflé or Cousin Dan’s barbecued beef ribs. Recipes range from traditional southern cooking to the new soulful recipes of twenty-first century cooks. Under the editorial direction of Chef Jeff Henderson, the America I AM Pass It Down Cookbook becomes a prized possession for fans of soulful cooking from the heart.

By twenty-one, Jeff Henderson was making up to $35,000 a week cooking and selling crack cocaine. By twenty-four, he had been sentenced to nineteen and a half years in prison on federal drug trafficking charges. It was an all-too-familiar story for a young man raised on the streets of South Central LA. But what happened next wasn't. Once inside prison, Jeff Henderson worked his way up from dishwasher to chief prison cook, and when he was released in 1996, he had found his passion and his dream—he would become a professional chef. Barely five years out of federal prison, he was on his way to becoming an executive chef, as well as being a sought-after public speaker on human potential and a dedicated mentor to at-risk youth. A window into the streets and the fast-paced kitchens of world-renowned restaurants, Cooked is a very human story with a powerful message of commitment, redemption, and change.

All the incredients that make THE FRUGAL GOURMET one of the most popular cooking shows on television are in this bestselling cookbook, including: a complete range of cooking techniques, advice on kitchen equipment, special hints and tips, exciting ideas for vegetarian meals, PLUS more than100 illustrations of recipes and techniques. "From the Paperback edition."

Presents recipes ranging in difficulty with the science and technology-minded cook in mind, providing the science behind cooking, the physiology of taste, and the techniques of molecular gastronomy.