Just a quick post because I’m excited—I won a cookbook contest over at Cooking with Amy, and I’m going to be getting a copy of Masaharu Morimoto’s new book, Morimoto: The New Art of Japanese Cooking. We’re fans of Morimoto’s work on both the original Iron Chef and Iron Chef America; his food is always so beautiful and creative, and I can’t wait to get a look at some of the recipes he includes in the book!

Update 9/15/07: My book arrived today, and we had a blast looking through it. The photos are gorgeous—makes us wish we had a coffee table to keep it on. The recipes, as expected, are for the most part beyond my skill set, made with hard-to-find ingredients and equipment, or are just too, um, challenging for my persnickety palate. Strawberry squid ice candy, no thanks. But that didn’t make the recipes any less fun to read, especially since we recognized more than a few from both the Japanese and American versions of Iron Chef. And I was pleased to find a number of recipes that actually did seem accessible for someone like me, so you may well see a Morimoto recipe or two make its way to the blog in days to come. Thanks so much, Amy, for hosting this fun contest!