For more than ten years, Mark Peel has designated Monday nights at Campanile, his James Beard Award-winning Los Angeles restaurant, to be Family Dinner Night: everyone feasts on the same themed, three-course dinner, served family style. Week after week, year after year, diners come back for the warm welcome, the relaxed atmosphere, and, most of all, for Mark Peel's food. Family Dinner Night promises Peel's special takes on popular comfort food dishes; in his hands an old favorite like Veal Parmesan becomes Breaded Veal Scaloppini with Smoked Mozzarella, Parmesan, and Tomato Sauce, and wild mushrooms turn Macaroni and Cheese into something truly memorable. Inventive, enticing, and perfectly satisfying, this is home-style cooking few of us ever thought we could achieve at home. But thanks to New Classic Family Dinners, now you can.In this luscious, inspiring cookbook, Peel shows you how to re-create the most popular dishes from his weekly specials, with more than 200 recipes that will delight your family on a weeknight and wow the crowd on a special occasion. Every single recipe was tested in Peel's own home kitchen-where he's only got one strainer, just like the rest of us, and no kitchen staff to clean up after him. Peel stripped away extraneous steps and flourishes, leaving behind only the techniques and ingredients that guarantee spectacular meals.

Step-by-step photographs make his instructions perfectly clear. Homemade ravioli? No problem! What began as restaurant recipes are now accessible to any home cook.And oh, what recipes. Simple weeknight dishes like Butter Lettuce Salad with Stilton and Walnuts; Spaghetti with Garlic, Olive Oil, and Basil; or Cornmeal Crusted Pan-fried Trout appear alongside more complicated-but worth every second-recipes like Lobster Pot Pie or Lasagne with Bolognese Sauce, Creamed Spinach, and Poached Egg. Desserts are inspired by in-season fruits and Peel's memories of childhood, treats like Peach Melba, Rhubarb and Strawberry Tart, or Devil's Food Layer Cake with White Mountain Frosting. A section at the end shows Peel's Family Dinner Night menus from Campanile, but of course you're free to put meals together any way you like-the possibilities are endless.Once you discover these extraordinary versions of ordinary dishes and learn how easy it is to adapt them for a table for two or a crowd of ten, you'll be inspired to make every night a special family-and-friends dinner night.mark peel is the owner and executive chef of Campanile, a Los Angeles favorite since 1989.

Campanile won the James Beard Outstanding Restaurant Award in 2001 and has been nominated for three other Beard Awards. The restaurant has also won the Nation's Restaurant News Fine Dining Award, the DiRNA Distinguished Restaurant of North America Award, and the International Star Diamond Award for Outstanding Hospitality. Peel lives in Los Angeles with his family.martha rose shulman is the award-winning author of more than 25 cookbooks, including Entertaining Light and Mediterranean Harvest. A regular contributor to Bon App_tit, Food & Wine, Saveur, Cooking Light, and the New York Times, she lives in Los Angeles.