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A chef celebrates cities
REVIEWS BY SYBIL PRATT
By Joanne Weir Simon & Schuster, $35 320 pages, ISBN 0743246632
Two reasons to chicken out
In
The Chinese Chicken Cookbook: 100 Easy-to-Prepare Authentic Recipes for the American Table renowned Chinese cooking authority and author
Eileen Yin-Fei Lo has gathered traditional, classic and modern recipes, some slightly modified for contemporary kitchens, along with her personal
notes and observations, fascinating bits of history, tradition, folk tales and chicken mythology. She first advises readers on the essential
tools, techniques (equally applicable to other cuisines), ingredients and basic recipes essential to the Chinese kitchen. Classic whole chicken
dishes, the celebratory centerpieces at Chinese feasts, such as the famous Chicken Baked in Salt, start off the recipes. Small dish
appetizers including Shanghai Drunken Chicken and Diced Chicken Wrapped in Lettuce Leaves (a favorite of mine) follow. Then on to chicken
in soups, with rice or noodles, in dumplings and buns and worked in a wok "every which way" with indispensable explanations of the hows
and whys and dos and don'ts of the well-executed stir-fry.
By Eileen Yin-Fei Lo Simon & Schuster, $24 256 pages, ISBN 0743233417
By Mary Ellen Evans Broadway, $17.95 240 pages, ISBN 0767913787
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We're in luck—Weir is back. Joanne Weir that is, the award-winning chef, cooking teacher and author
who took us through California's wine country in two previous books and her PBS cooking series. Now, we're
doing the metropolitan scene in her new Weir Cooking in the City: More Than 125 Recipes and Inspiring
Ideas for Relaxed Entertaining. Joanne's city is
San Francisco, that fabulous foodie Mecca, ever-infatuated with wining and dining. But Joanne doesn't
limit herself to one city; she wants to open our urban eyes and taste buds to the almost infinite
variety of choice and diversity in the modern cities of our American melting pot. And she understands
that even though many city dwellers cook in cramped kitchens, they still want to entertain at home,
far from the madding crowd. So, follow Joanne through the neighborhoods; then, with her good guidance,
make the dishes that dazzle, that satisfy yearnings for the simple and the sophisticated, in your own
kitchen. For starters, Joanne shines her bright city lights on planning for impromptu gatherings or
more formal candlelit dinners and on setting up the "essential city pantry," with its Latin, Asian
and Mediterranean variations. Then it's on to the recipes: Phyllo Pizza with Feta and Tomatoes;
Gravlax with Spring Salad; Soy-Marinated Flank Steak paired with Wasabe Mashed Potatoes; creamy
Caramelized Oranges with Rice Custard. In Joanne's city, street smart now means eat smart—and
well.
Support your 
The most obvious reason to chicken out is chicken itself. Whether fried, stewed, steamed, sautéed, roasted, poached, broiled, baked,
braised, barbecued, grilled, ground, minced or sliced; in stocks, soups, salads and sauces; whole or in pieces, warm, hot or cold; it's the
universal, affordable favorite. My two new reasons are two new cookbooks that focus solely on this venerated, versatile bird with a culinary
nod to the eggs it so graciously offers.
Moving to the other side of the globe, we get the Gallic take with Mary Ellen Evans'
Bistro Chicken: 101 Easy Yet Elegant Recipes with a French Flair. Bistros are often staffed by only a husband and wife working in a
tiny kitchen, so the food must be prepared rapidly or be at its peak when rewarmed. That style adapts well to our over-scheduled,
time-challenged lives, whether for a weekday supper or a company dinner. Each recipe, from luncheon and firsts to main courses—roasts,
casseroles, braises, stews and the quickly sautéed or grilled—are accompanied by a truc, French for a trick that clarifies the cooking
process. You might try simple, sleek Chicken Cutlets with Capers, a succulent Casserole-Roasted Chicken drizzled with pan juices, or an
unusual Curried Chicken Clafouti. As promised, it's all truly easy and elegant, and sure to please our American palates. Why did the chicken
cross the road? To be included in these paeans to poultry!