The Cook With Me Recipes Alex Guarnaschelli Recommends People Start With

Alex Guarnaschelli is many things: a mother, an Iron Chef and a "Chopped" judge, to name a few. The Food Network star is also the author of three cookbooks, her most recent being "Cook With Me," which was released in October 2020 (via Barnes & Noble). Per her website, the book is filled with a variety of recipes, some of which she learned from her food-loving parents, while others she discovered on her own over the years. In her own words, Guarnaschelli described her latest work as "a road map to who I am as a cook, parent, and daughter," and ultimately says that the recipes inside are "the evolution of me."

If you have been able to get your hands on Guarnaschelli's latest cookbook, you may be overwhelmed with where to start. Do you start from the beginning and slowly work your way through the entire collection page-by-page similarly to what this food blogger is doing with Ina Garten's recipes? Or do you thumb through it and find the most intriguing meals that have you salivating just by seeing the ingredients listed on the page? 

Recently, one Twitter user found themselves in this exact dilemma after getting their own copy of "Cook With Me," and decided to go straight to the source herself to figure out what recipe to start with in Guarnaschelli's latest release. Here's what the "Chopped" judge suggested.

With 150 recipes in between its front and back covers, it can certainly be hard to determine what to cook first from Alex Guarnaschelli's most recent cookbook, "Cook With Me." However, Twitter user @neorevolut1on came up with a brilliant plan and decided to call upon the author via social media for some advice. "I finally got #CookWithMe and I don't know where to start! Help @guarnaschelli," the user tweeted, also sharing that they would specifically be interested in a "good complementary combination."

The chef came to the rescue just a few days later, tweeting back in response with the suggestion that the fan "start with a sheet pan dinner or a chicken dish" before adding another sweet message: "enjoy the book."

Looking for an even more specific answer? The chef's Sheet Pan Pork Chops, which call for a unique and surprising ingredient, is a simple recipe from "Cook With Me" that can be made in 35 minutes, per Parade. There's also her Sticky, Finger-Lickin' Chicken — a barbecue chicken recipe that she told Parade was inspired by the same one her mother used to make. Yum!