Virginia Bentley Ckbk

In her third look at homestyle food, the author of Bentley Farm Cookbook offers 300 basic, facile, everyday recipes. Batter bread, chicken breasts with grapes, parsnip soup and almond-herb pilaf will reward novices with a feeling of achievement. Relying at least partially upon packaged ingredients, sherry chicken, party peas and instant seafood Newburg are even simpler. There are few challenges or surprises for experienced cooks. Responding to modern diet preferences, vegetable dishes are well represented and a very few recipes, such as banana bread and a fat-free white sauce, attempt to reduce sugar and fat. Dishes that utilize spices other than salt and pepper are seasoned with a light hand; even the chili recipe is quite mild. The unconventional typeface, a facsimile of a dense handwritten text, makes the book slow to read and troublesome to consult while cooking. Illustrations. (April 10)