Comments: What do we like so much about this book? Plenty. It's a total mish-mash of content. There are music suggestions for listening when you're working in the kitchen. There is plenty of alcohol. There is even an occasional Bible verse. But somehow or other it’s a great mix of recipes, all stemming from Rick Tramonto's Chicago restaurants, and all meant to be cooked at home for family and friends.

The title is a little bit of a misnomer – this book includes way more than steaks. In fact, the book doesn't even get to steaks until page 118. It starts out with chapters featuring cold and hot appetizers, salads, soups and sandwiches, and fish and seafood before arriving at "steak on a plate" (mostly grilled), followed by a chapter on steak and beef classics. Next comes steak toppers, rubs, and glazes, stocks, sauces, dressings, marinades, and syrups, other meat and poultry, side dishes, and finally, desserts. The recipes are all over the place, from Steakhouse Creamed Spinach to Triple Chocolate Cake with Cherry Ice Cream, from Chicago Italian Beef Sandwiches to Stuffed Leg of Lamb with Grilled Ramp Pesto, and from Stuffed Artichokes with Lemon-Garlic Bread Crumbs to Sweet Corn Bisque with Alaskan King Crab. All of the food looks delicious – we just don't know how so much variety managed to find its way into one book.

Some ingredients are a little challenging and a certain amount of online shopping will be required. There are lots of ingredients and steps in various recipes, but somehow they all seem manageable. Most people will be able to make most of these recipes – and most people will like them a lot.