In response to readers' requests to compile the Chef Detective columns into some sort of permanent collection, the people at Midweek Publications and Davon Press (West Fargo, North Dakota) asked me to put together the Crème de la Crème of the past few years, so I started sorting recipes. That was the easy part. The most difficult part of putting this collection together was deciding which recipes not to include. In addition to several of my favorite family recipes, the collection that we have published contains recipes gleaned from the many that I have received, tested, sampled and written about in my Chef Detective columns.