Books that Cook

By ELLEN FOLKMAN

© St. Petersburg Times, published February 14, 2001

Restaurant recipes you can cook at home

Staffmeals from Chanterelle

By David Waltuck and Melica Phillips

$29.95, Workman Publishing

"Good food and plenty of it" is the slogan on the staff sweat shirt at New York City's Chanterelle restaurant. Staffmeals from Chanterelle brings that motto into the kitchens of home cooks.

Chef-owner David Waltuck's new cookbook is packed with recipes for the meals Waltuck serves his staff each day before his restaurant opens. His goal with this collection was "to find a way to capture the more lighthearted stuff done at the restaurant for the staff -- something that's doable for the home cook."

Waltuck has done just that. Most recipes, such as Eggplant Parmesan, Apple Oat Crisp or Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic, are simple. They have limited ingredients and easy-to-follow instructions.

There are also recipes that require more effort such as Singapore-Style Curried Rice Noodles, which includes numerous ingredients and much prep work. Recipes such as this or Beef Filets with Star Anise are better made on the weekend when time may not be an issue.

A big plus here is all the informative boxes scattered throughout each chapter. Lots of cookbooks offer this type of help, but there is so much to know about cooking that these tips don't get old.Staffmeals from Chanterelle explains such ingredients as lemongrass, tahini and ginger and also instructs how to save a separated butter sauce, clean squid and double cut corn.

If recipes with an Asian essence inspire you, this cookbook is perfect. There are more than 25 from which to choose. Recipes such as Sesame-Crusted Fish Fillets with Ginger-Garlic Sauce, Vegetable Lo Mein and Thai Duck Curry use such traditional Asian ingredients as nam pla or Thai fish sauce, kaffir lime leaves, ginger and soy sauce. Be aware that some ingredients may be available only in specialty markets.

Don't be discouraged if Asian is not your style.Staffmeals from Chanterelle offers such home cooked comfort foods as Macaroni and Two Cheeses and Meat Loaf, Italian Style and runs the gamut to more elusive meals like Braised Tripe all Fiorentina or Oxtail Stew with Olives.

If your family enjoys a variety of flavors within one recipe or has an extensive palate, Staffmeals from Chanterelle will be a welcomed addition to your cookbook library.

Buffalo kabobs, anyone?

The Lewis & Clark Cookbook with Contemporary Recipes

By Teri Evenson, Lauren Lesmeister and Jeff Evenson

$19.95, Whisper'n Waters, Inc.

You may think that a cookbook entitled The Lewis & Clark Cookbook will be full of unpleasant or complicated recipes. After all, these men explored in a time when the only thing worse than the mosquitoes was the food! However, you'll be pleased to find numerous recipes for good cooking at any level of experience.

The Lewis & Clark Cookbook, a good gift for the hard-to-buy-for cook, is filled with more than 150 recipes, 74 quotes from the journals of Lewis and Clark and photos of 24 pieces of art from that period.

Most of the recipes are contemporary but use some of the ingredients the explorers may have had access to on the trail, including buffalo, corn, potatoes and sunflower seeds. In fact, buffalo is mentioned in a number of journal entries, and an entire chapter is devoted to it. (There is also a chapter dedicated to elk and venison.)

The buffalo recipes include Maple Marinated Buffalo Kabobs, Buffalo Strip Steak and Discovery Hash. If you've never prepared buffalo, don't worry; "Tips on Cooking Buffalo" is at the beginning of the chapter. It is the only chapter with cooking tips. (Check with a butcher shop for availability of buffalo meat.)

There are lots of other things to try, including Crab Stew, Cheese Biscuits or Two-Gun Blackberry Dessert.

With the exception of the chapters about game, most ingredients are simple and readily available.

A number of recipes would be great for picnics or potluck dinners, such as Peppered Bean Salad or Grandma's Picnic Potato Salad.

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