One of the most inclusive cookbooks capturing San Diego County’s famed chefs and their prized recipes was released last week by restaurateur Ingrid Croce. A mainstay in the local fine-dining scene, she has devoted the past 20 years to raising culinary awareness in San Diego while serving up tributes to her late husband, recording artist Jim Croce, at Croce’s Restaurant & Jazz Bar.

The San Diego Restaurant Cookbook: Recipes from America’s Finest City highlights the bounty of nearly 270 restaurants through historical perspectives, chef biographies, crisp photography and recipes indigenous to San Diego kitchens that many consumers thought were unobtainable.

“The book was a labor of love for the community. It took me off the planet and away from my restaurant for about seven months,” says Croce, who is also a board member for the San Diego Restaurant Association and considered the mother of San Diego’s annual Restaurant Week.

With more than 7,000 restaurants currently dotting the landscape countywide, Croce adds that the restaurants featured in the book “selected me” after she sent them questionnaires as to how they established themselves. Croce then visited those who responded, saying with a chuckle, “I’ve been to every bathroom at each restaurant, but I didn’t have time eat at all of them. An enormous amount of field work went into this.”

Gathering recipes tailored to serve only four to eight people was the biggest challenge, she notes. “Many chefs had to translate their recipes from 30 to 40 people down to only several servings. And I asked initially for recipes that they used during last year’s San Diego Restaurant Week – or will be using in this month’s Restaurant Week, scheduled from Jan 15 to the 20th.”

In dozen or so cases, the restaurateurs defied the parameters, choosing instead to reveal recipes that remain specialties of their establishments – the famous mussel bisque en croute from Dobson’s, fresh Maine lobster strudel from Bertrand at Mr. A’s or the oft-requested chocolate soufflé from Thee Bungalow, to name a few. Croce, too, selected a recipe for the book that’s always on her restaurant menu – grilled swordfish with Mediterranean green tapanade.

“There are no personal agendas or critiques involved,” she said. “All of the restaurants get equal play. It’s a very unbiased look at the current dining scene in America’s Finest City.”

The book retails for $29.95 and is available at all local Costcos, the bookstore at Lindbergh Field and the International Visitor’s Center on Harbor Drive. It can also be purchased at www.sandiegorestaurantcookbook.com and www.croces.com.

Below are sample recipes from restaurants featured in the book.

Olive oil to cover pan

3 carrots, peeled and chopped

1 onion, chopped

3 whole Main lobster culls split in half (with claw meat removed and poached for garnish)

3/4 quart port wine

1/2 sprig fresh rosemary, chopped

1/2 cup tomato paste

2 quarts heavy cream

Salt and pepper to taste

In heavy saucepot, heat enough olive oil to cover bottom of pan. Add carrots, onion and lobsters. Cook on medium heat until lobster shells turn bright red. Deglaze pot with port wine and reduce by two-thirds. Add rosemary and tomato paste. Simmer, stirring for three to five minutes. Add cream and simmer for 45 minutes. Strain and season to taste with salt and pepper. Garnish with poached lobster claw meat. Serves six to eight people.

2 pounds penne pasta

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

12 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped

4 ounces salted anchovies

4 green olives, sliced

4 teaspoons capers

4 12-ounce cans peeled tomatoes

Crushed chili pepper to taste

Salt and pepper to taste

Boil pasta for six to eight minutes. In a sauté pan, heat olive oil. Add garlic, anchovies, olives, capers, tomatoes and chili pepper. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Sauté for four minutes, then add penne to warm sauce and serve. Serves six people.