ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, November 20, 1996 TAG: 9611200012
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 8 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: BOOK REVIEWS
SOURCE: PAT DAILEY, CHICAGO TRIBUNE
Food trends come and go, but a mastery of the basics remains a mainstay of good cooking. In this collection of new cookbooks, inspiration comes from the basics. The recipes open a world of successful cooking and also reflect some of the new directions in American cuisine.
Is it possible to minimize the pressures of home entertaining? Award-winning food writer and cooking teacher Elaine Corn gives an emphatic "yes.'' In her newest book on basics, "Now You're Cooking For Company: Everything A Beginner Needs To Know To Have People Over" (Harlow & Ratner, $24.95, hardcover), Corn provides the help and advice everyone needs when it comes to entertaining guests for dinner. She gives a refresher course for seasoned cooks as well as plenty of clear instruction for beginners. She answers your questions before you ask them. She counsels on all aspects that come into play when guests are coming: cleaning the house, making shopping lists that work and demystifying the all-important but sometimes elusive formula for timing the courses of a meal. Her 120 recipes guarantee success for every level cook, whether you're feeding a flock for the holidays, a brunch or a special dinner.
Beans, the most basic of staple foods, are also one of the oldest, with a genealogy that goes back to the Bronze Age. Brooke Djony gives us 75 globe-spanning recipes in her latest book, playfully titled, "Full of Beans." (HarperPerennial $12.50, paperback). A complete bean repertoire for appetizers, soups, salads, scrumptious main dishes, stews and chilis are within these pages.
Sharon Tyler Herbst, an award-winning author of 10 books on food and wine, a regular guest on "Good Morning America" and a recognized food authority, satisfies our appetites for modern versions of our favorite standbys with her latest two books: "The Food Lover's Guide to Meat & Potatoes" and "The Food Lover's Guide To Chocolate & Vanilla" (William Morrow & Co., Hearst Books, $18 each, hardcover).
Most of us grew up in a meat-and-potatoes environment, and Herbst explores these fundamental foods with some different but delicious recipes. A wonderful smoky spiced brisket and apples recipe cleverly combines two familiar culinary techniques: grilling to smoke and brown the meat followed by oven braising to fully cook the meat and develop flavors.
The succulence and flexibility of Herbst's ginger mango pork loin's lively seasonings make it a star at the dinner table. When I followed the author's suggestions and tossed slices of it with a vinaigrette and mixed lettuces for a special lunch, it won applause from everyone.
The spud has hundreds of types in its family tree and is also America's most popular vegetable. Herbst gives us recipes for soups, a vegetarian chili and a nicely soft potato-chive Focaccia.
In typical fashion, Herbst gives extensive (but not textbook-boring) tips and information on buying different cuts of beef, lamb, pork and veal.
The companion book, "The Food Lover's Guide to Chocolate & Vanilla" is well worth having as a source of fail-proof techniques for handling these favorite basics. Herbst brings the best of all sweet worlds together in her luscious recipes. One of my favorites, Chocolate Seduction Mousse Cake, results from the union of two recipes, Devil's Delight Chiffon Cake with Black Magic Mousse.
In "Breakfast All Day" (William Morrow & Co., $22 hardcover), Edon Waycott convinces us that that most basic of meals, breakfast, has no hourly limitations. She explores traditional breakfast ingredients and creates worldly dishes: Eggs made into an oven-cooked vegetable-studded frittata and a Provencal sweet spinach tart with pine nuts. Other delectable main-course options include turkey and sage sausage patties, smoked salmon roll and ham and sweet potato hash. The final chapter is devoted to drinks and shakes, from Almost Orange Julius to Mom's Breakfast To Go, a frothy yogurt, bran, orange and mango drink that gives an energy boost to all ages. |- DOLORES KOSTELNI, SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES
We fret about meat and relegate it to a limited spot on the Food Guide pyramid. Paradoxically, though, we continue to enjoy steaks, chops, roasts, ribs and burgers, affording them all the status due something that long has symbolized a prosperous country.
``The Great American Meat Book,'' a new cookbook by Merle ``The Butcher'' Ellis (Alfred A. Knopf, $30), comes along at an opportune time, finding legions of avid meat-eaters who are at a loss when it comes to identifying, selecting and preparing the cuts that whet appetites. Some cooks have never learned, while others find themselves flummoxed by grades, cuts and names that have changed since they first learned the rules. Butcher shops largely exist in memory and books dealing with meat are increasingly scarce. This fall, more than 25 new vegetarian titles appeared on bookstore shelves, joined by only a handful of meat books.
Ellis, author of a syndicated newspaper column on meat cookery and the son of an Iowa butcher, knows the trade from consumer and professional angles and is nimble enough to bounce between the two perspectives. He instructs users in the nature of the beast without getting bogged down in too much detail. And just like the neighborhood butcher of old, he offers a wealth of common-sense information.
The book has six chapters: beef, pork, lamb, veal, innards and sausage. Poultry and game meats didn't make the cut, however, leaving a bit of a gap. Having narrowed his field, Ellis packs a fair amount of information into each chapter. Learn, for example, that prepacked trays of beef stew meat are not the best choice for stew. Ellis suggests rump or chuck roast instead. He offers guidelines for preparing both lean and fatty cuts, explains what a country ham is and where to get the real McCoy and how offals can be prepared so they're not so awful. Pork chops, which don't have the benefit of USDA grades, can be hard to select. Ellis guides readers to seek chops that are lightly marbled with fat, pinkish-gray with a thin border of creamy white fat and not too small.
The text is peppered with historical anecdotes and meat-related lore. Brief lessons on cowpokes, chuck wagons, hot dogs, shepherds with their ever-faithful sheep dogs, and Rocky Mountain oysters add colorful dimensions to the history of meat in America.
Although 300 recipes eventually unfold, it is revealing that Ellis offers basic beef stew as the first one. His version, shown here, is simple, homey and well-designed. So are most of the others. Recipes such as pork scallops in sour cream sauce, Chinese-style green pepper steak, Greek lamb, Philadelphia pepper pot and Italian sausage casserole come right from the heart of America, where meat and potatoes still reign.
Recipe for: BASIC BEEF STEW
LENGTH: Long : 115 linesby CNB