A tantalizing trio for epicures

If someone asked you to cook a three-course meal for four people and not spend more than $20, you might be tempted to say, "Whaddayu crazy? I don't cook on a shoestring, I cook on a stove!"

REVIEWS BY SYBIL PRATT

It can be done, as more than 50 well known chefs have proven by taking that small sum, shopping and then cooking a fine meal on the CBS Saturday Early Show's segment called "Chef on a Shoestring." Now, the recipes from this popular segment have been collected to benefit Share Our Strength, one of the nation's leading anti-hunger organizations. Chef on a Shoestring, written and edited by Andrew Friedman, not only has a theory -- "It's possible to cook deeply satisfying food on a very low budget" -- it has the recipes (over 120) that allow you to turn that theory into reality in your own kitchen.

The cutbacks here are in dinero not dinner; these purse and palate pleasers are elegant and enticing, as stylish as the chefs who made them. Just sample a few and you'll be laughing -- and feasting -- all the way to the bank: Mario Batali's Mushroom and White Bean Bruschetta; Bobby Flay's Saffron Risotto; Michael Lomonaco's Chicken Fricassee; Aaron Bashy's Pork Spareribs with Polenta; Erica Miller's Chocolate Banana Terrine. Savory savings for the New Year!


From Nick's heart to your kitchen

You know all about the three R's. Now, with a little help from Nick Stellino, you can learn all about the three P's -- Pasta, Pizza and Panini -- the tasty triumvirate of la cucina Italania that sparks Stellino's passion. You'll find all this in his aptly titled new cookbook, Nick Stellino's Passione. Nick loves life and he loves food -- and he wants you to share his joy in cooking, eating and improvising.

Most of the recipes here were prepared by millions of Italian home cooks and professionals; the traditions go back in time, rooted in many regions, and there are as many variations as there are cooks. So, look at the recipes, make them Nick's way, then add something special and make them your own. The pastas he offers are wonderfully hearty and comforting, from a seductively simple Linguine with Red Clam (you'll never open a can of clam sauce again) to an elegant Pasta with Spinach, Gorgonzola and Prosciutto Sauce. Take-out pizzas will become a distant memory once you start making these divinely delicious discs in your own oven -- get a pizza stone, choose a recipe for Pizza Margherita, Sausage and Goat Cheese or any of the other creative combos and you're in business. Panini are sandwiches a la Italiano -- super snacks that can become midday meals or standout suppers with the addition of soup or salad. Nick's mix of the traditional and original takes these quickly assembled, easy to make treats to new heights.


Tasty travels

The hot, sour, salty and sweet dishes of Southeast Asia, served traditionally, and in a profusion of fusion, are becoming increasing popular and trendy here, a major influence on our own cooking scene. Award-winning authors Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid, whose passion is eating their way through the more exotic parts of the world and gathering their food finds, personal reflections and glorious photographs into extraordinary cookbooks, traveled in Southeast Asia for years, observing, sampling and savoring this uniquely wonderful fare. Hot Sour Salty Sweet: A Culinary Journey through Southeast Asia, their third book, makes the tastes, textures and traditions of this fascinating part of the world accessible and irresistibly inviting.

The authors followed the Mekong River south from China, through Laos and Thailand to Cambodia and Vietnam, exploring local food in small towns and villages and finding the common creative genius, the distinctive palate, that threads its way through the complex mix of cuisines and people, just as the river threads its way through the jigsaw puzzle of countries and terrain. They've arranged more than 175 recipes from different parts of the region into chapters on sauces and salsas, simple soups, salads, mainstay rice and noodle dishes, stir-fries, stews and curries made with seafood, chicken and meat, all brightly flavored, redolent with Southeast Asian spices. To this they've added over 150 exquisite photos, travel stories and anecdotes that introduce us to the people they met and the places they saw.


Sybil Pratt has been cooking up this column for more than five years.

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