"This roast chicken looks perfectly sober," quips a photo caption for Drunken Chicken, adding a sense of humor to an otherwise stuffy text. Willan (La Varenne Pratique; Anne Willan's Cook It Right) teams up with the American Center for Wine, Food & Arts to offer us both recipes made with wine and wines to accompany those recipes. This high-concept book suffers a bit from too-much-of–a-good-thing syndrome (Drunken Chicken requires two types of wine and brandy in the marinade). Nonetheless, an extremely helpful introduction explains the ins and outs of tannins, evaporation and the chemistry of cookware. Many recipes are Willan's own and have a distinctly French feel, such as Stuffed Quail with Raisins, Fennel and a Walnut Pesto, Coquilles St. Jacques Parisienne and Taillevent's Spiced Veal Stew with Red Wine. Other less labor-intensive recipes come from vineyards in places like Livermore, Calif. (Lentil and Portabella Mushroom Stew with Arugula), or from Willan's acquaintances, such as Laura Calder's Grown-Up Cottage Pudding with Chocolate Wine Sauce and Randall Price's Spiced Red Cabbage. Those looking to replicate the Cook It Right
experience will be disappointed: for Poached Eggs in a Red Wine Sauce the only guidance on egg poaching is to drop the eggs "into the places where the liquid is bubbling." A brief chart in the back lists American wines and some European counterparts, and recipes contain information on varieties and regions. 150 color photos not seen by PW. (Nov.)
