By Hans Rueffert, cookbook, $24.95 plus $6 shipping and handling. Available exclusively at www.hanscooks.com

In 2005 Hans Rueffert of Jasper, Georgia competed in the first season of the Food Network’s incredibly popular special series, "Who Wants to Be the Next Food Network Star". Hans placed third, and went back home to his wife and children and resumed his job as chef for his family’s business, the Woodbridge Inn. Shortly thereafter, on the day before he was to turn 33, Hans learned he had gastric cancer which led to the removal of half his stomach and a portion of his esophagus. Just one year before, he had lost his beloved sister Sonja to cancer.

Hans fought back against his disease, and in the process developed the intense appreciation for life experienced by those who have come so close to losing it. Seventy pounds lighter, he returned to public television and now he has written a high end soft cover cookbook that showcases his love for food, those who grow it, and those who consume it, but this is a bit more than a cookbook. With wry humor Hans talks some about his ordeal and offers his philosophy on cooking which is experiment, enjoy, share, and eat healthy.

There is much here for foodies like grilled quail with fig-chipotle BBQ sauce, tilapia en papillote, and smoked trout cakes with horseradish dill sauce. There are numerous German recipes like frittaten suppe, strips of crepes with a simple chicken vegetable soup ladled over them. Hans made this lovely soup when he appeared on the Food Network. There are also many recipes that the average home cook can easily manage like a splendidly sloppy Monte Christo sandwich, an especially moist cranberry orange cake that is a must for me next fall, and a Vidalia onion marmalade that looks irresistible. Hans’s advice is to use the very best and freshest local ingredients you can manage no matter what you’re making. The many photographs are spectacular and were taken by Hans and his wife Amy.

From the book I tried a savory bread pudding flavored with garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, multi-grain bread, and cheese and enhanced with shredded zucchini. This bread pudding can be made in a 9x13 pan or in muffin tins. The proportion of ingredients was a perfect blend, and this dish is particularly desirable for its ease of preparation and reasonable cost. I used the muffin tins. The result was moist, dense, and flavorful mounds of bread pudding. The presentation is lovely with the vivid red and green of the vegetables. This pudding would be an ideal meatless lunch or a unique side dish to a paillard of chicken or broiled fish. I made a simple tart lemon cream sauce to drizzle over the puddings. It was delicious. This recipe is a keeper, suitable for a dinner party or anytime.

These recipes are hip, healthy, and unique. My own philosophy is that if I find just one recipe that becomes a family favorite, the cost of a cookbook is worth it. This cookbook has exceeded my expectations.