ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, May 1, 1996 TAG: 9605010017
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: NEW YORK
SOURCE: CAROL DEEGAN ASSOCIATED PRESS
Miss Piggy, star of the feature film ``Muppet Treasure Island'' and ABC's prime time series ``Muppets Tonight,'' stepped into the kitchen for her latest role - as cookbook author.
Miss Piggy, who refers to herself as Moi, said that when she was approached to write the cookbook,``Moi thought: Why not? If Oprah can do it ...''
She added, ``Moi just loved writing this cookbook. Not only did I get a chance to spend time with Moi's many fabulous friends, but I finally found where the kitchen is in my house.''
Miss Piggy asked more than 50 of her closest celebrity friends to contribute recipes to the cookbook, ``In the Kitchen with Miss Piggy'' (Time-Life Books, $17.95).
Contributors include Bryant Gumbel of NBC (sweet corn succotash), talk- show host Larry King (tuna health salad), actor John Travolta (lobster and three sauces) and actress Elizabeth Taylor (spicy chicken).
A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the cookbook will be donated to Citymeals-On-Wheels in New York and other Meals-On-Wheels programs in cities throughout the country. These programs deliver meals to the housebound elderly.
The cookbook also includes recipes from people who really know their way around a kitchen: chef Pierre Franey and cookbook author and well-known do-it-yourselfer Martha Stewart.
Other new cookbooks
``Chez Panisse Vegetables'' (HarperCollins, $32.50) is a collection of recipes by chef Alice Waters and the cooks at her Chez Panisse restaurant in Berkeley, Calif. The recipes range from corn bread stuffing and spicy carrot salad to eggplant caviar and beet chutney.
The cookbook also offers detailed information about the seasonal availability, proper look, flavor and preparation of vegetables, from popular vegetables like corn, tomatoes and carrots, to the more unusual selections like chard, amaranth greens and sorrel.
Each recipe in ``Moosewood Restaurant Cooks for a Crowd'' by the Moosewood Collective (John Wiley & Sons, $34.95) serves 24 or more. The restaurant is owned and managed by a group of 20 people in Ithaca, N.Y., and it is known for its mostly vegetarian fare.
Julee Rosso's ``Fresh Start'' (Crown, $30) contains four weeks of daily menus featuring 200 low-fat recipes, including onion soup, crisp Waldorf salad, barbecued chicken and deep dark chocolate custard.
Rosso was co-author of ``The Silver Palate Cookbook'' and ``The Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook,'' and original co-founder from 1977 to 1988 of Silver Palate, a gourmet take-out and catering shop in New York City.
Also of interest
The ``Easy Entertaining'' series from CollinsPublishers San Francisco premieres with ``Finger Food'' and ``Dips, Salsa & Spreads'' ($16.95 each). Each book features a collection of recipes from the publisher's ``Beautiful Cookbook'' series.
The ``Flavors of Bon Appetit'' (Conde Nast Books-Pantheon, $25) features recipes for entertaining that have appeared in the magazine throughout the year.
``The Eating Well Dessert Cookbook'' (Eating Well Books, $15.95) is filled with 150 dessert recipes including blueberry torte, frozen fudge bars and blackberry skillet cake.
``While the Pasta Cooks'' by Andrew Schloss with Ken Bookman (Macmillan Reference, $22) contains ``100 recipes so easy you can prepare the sauce in the time it takes to cook the pasta.'' Schloss is also the author of the new cookbook, ``Cooking with Three Ingredients: Flavorful Food Easy as 1,2,3'' (HarperCollins, $17).
From the Williams-Sonoma Kitchen Library: ``Ice Creams & Sorbets'' (Time-Life Books, $17.95), with recipes by former Chez Panisse chef Sarah Tenaglia. Among the recipes: orange ice cream with truffles, dark chocolate gelato and strawberry-rhubarb sherbet.
LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO:by CNB