Once again, Martha Stewart amazes-and perhaps intimidates-with her picture-perfect collection of menus for entertaining. This volume reveals a ""simplified approach,"" Stewart says. Of course, this comes from a woman who, as a working mother two decades ago, made ""pound after pound of sweet butter pate feuilletee, and pressed by hand virtually hundreds of tiny tart shells."" Her North Carolina Barbecue, which features Kitty Murphy's Brunswick Stew, a hearty chicken dish, and Roquefort Potato Salad (""I always buy the real French variety,"" Stewart reveals) stars the daintiest pulled pork imaginable, looking as precious as watercress when piled on soft buns. (Home cooks should not be disappointed when their pork turns out looking a bit less delicate.) The Best Clambake, handsomely photographed on a beach in East Hampton, requires hickory logs and galvanized tubs; Martha also drags to the beach a special grill that ""was made especially for me by an Argentinian polo player."" But for all the labor-intensive Martha-ness about this volume, the menus she describes are both delicious and inspiring. The events featured are high concept (pasta made to order-for 20 guests), but the dishes themselves are relatively uncomplicated. So while it's unlikely that most cooks will want to organize the entire Surprisingly Simple Chinese feast, with its two whole fishes and 14 accompanying dishes, if they take a recipe here and a recipe there from Martha's varied and easy-to-follow collection, they'll create a meal sure to impress almost anyone-perhaps even Martha herself.
