Iron Chef Cat Cora to display her culinary skills at Market District stores

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review - Pittsburgh, PA, USA - The way Cat Cora writes is a far cry from how she behaves on TV.

As the first and only female chef on Food Network's "Iron Chef America," Cora -- a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in New York state -- practices what she describes as "extreme cooking." "It's a ton of pressure," she says, "like a sporting event, right down to the very last second. It's really a show that people take seriously, but it's entertaining, too."

But extreme cooking is hardly reflected in the 39-year-old's two cookbooks, the latest of which is "Cooking From The Hip: Fast, Easy, Phenomenal Meals," co-authored with Ann Krueger Spivack (Houghton Mifflin, $30) and released last month. Cora, founder of the nonprofit Chefs for Humanity, will share cooking secrets and tips and sign copies of her books on Saturday at Giant Eagle Market District stores. The events are free and open to the public.

In "Cooking From The Hip," Cora features menu-based chapters of recipes that meet many of the needs of everyday home cooks, from fast meals to feed the family to elegant fare suitable for guests. Recipes for entertaining, however, aren't so fancy that they require hours of shopping, preparation and cooking.