cover image What's for Dinner?: 200 Delicious Recipes That Work Every Time

What's for Dinner?: 200 Delicious Recipes That Work Every Time

Maryana Vollstedt. Chronicle Books, $12.95 (320pp) ISBN 978-0-8118-1395-2

Simply presented without undue fanfare or posturing, here's a tidy assortment of dependable recipes suitable for both the novice and the experienced cook from the author of Pacific Fresh. Organized by courses, the selections range from the everyday to dress-up, from comfortingly plain to pleasantly exciting. Chicken breasts, for example, can be simply baked in a variety of presentations: with lemon and tarragon (Baked Tarragon Chicken Breasts), dipped in orange juice and rolled in a coating of nuts and crumbs (Orange-Hazelnut Chicken) or filled (Chicken Breasts Stuffed with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Ricotta Cheese; Chicken Breasts with Spinach Filling and Cheese Tarragon Sauce). Fish are done without fuss in the oven, but finished with zippy sauces such as Lemon-Caper-Dill Sauce or a traditional Remoulade Sauce. Each chapter (including ""Great on the Grill"") contains many standards such as Real Chicken Noodle Soup, the perfect Glazed Meatloaf or Pasta with Roasted Vegetables. Finishing with a flourish, fruit crumbles, cookies and pies keep company with enough chocolate creations to satisfy the dessert-demanding American palate. Vollstedt's recipes form a charming, practical, versatile and high-quality collection, proving that sometimes, when it comes to cookbooks, less can be fully as worthwhile as more. (July)