Nation's celebrity chefs turn up the heat to offer eclectic range of dishes

Gannett News Service

For the 11th-hour Santa, here is a selection of stocking stuffers now available in most bookstores and Internet shopping sites:

"The Minimalist Cooks Dinner," by Mark Bittman. Broadway Books. $26.

Love to cook but don't think you have the time? Mark Bittman's got the answer for you. Bittman's latest release follows the same pattern set in his New York Times column and his award-winning cookbooks: stripped-down, elegant, workable recipes. Few of the 100 or so recipes in this slim tome take more than one hour's worth of preparation and cooking time — not even a loaf of bread. Yes, with yeast. And we're not talking macaroni and cheese here. Try the Pasta Alla Gricia (30 minutes); the odd-sounding but delicious Baked Eggs with Onions and Cheese (30-40 minutes); Scallops a la Plancha (20 minutes); or the Cassoulet (40 minutes). Bittman also offers suggestions on wine and side dishes, tips on making the recipes work and advice on how to make most of the recipes a little more upscale. There are no desserts, and no photos, but Bittman's recipes are so solid that you don't need pictures. If you follow his directions, it's going to taste great.

"How to be a Domestic Goddess," by Nigella Lawson. Conde Naste Publications, $35.

Written by one of England's top food writers and TV cook-show hosts, "Goddess" is a must have for the domestically challenged. Her Zucchini Cake probably tastes better than it sounds, but I settled for the carrot cupcakes after mother couldn't find her recipe. They were absolutely scrumptious. This nearly 400-page bible will make baking and canning fun for grownups and kids alike. Which recipes beckon? Well, the ones for number shaped cookies, mince pies, Snickers and peanut butter muffins, Christmas Cake, brandy butter and iced rum sauces, Swedish glogg and baklava. But you'll likely have the most fun with the final chapter, which details how to preserve fruits and pickle vegetables. The rhubarb schnapps seems particularly enticing.

"One Potato, Two Potato" by Roy Finamore with Molly Stevens. Houghton Mifflin, $35.

If you thought you knew it all about what to do with potatoes — think again, and again — at least 300 times. That's the number of superb and creative potato recipes that Finamore, cookbook editor at Clarkson Potter and Molly Stevens, a food editor and author of "Williams-Sonoma New England," are treating readers and cooks to in this volume. Going way beyond mashed and fried, the authors include gems such as Sweet Potato Chocolate Cake, Potatoes Roasted in Salt (with sour cream and salmon roe), Spanish Potato Omelet and Indian Potato Cutlets. Try 'em, you'll love 'em.

"Blue Plate Specials & Blue Ribbon Chefs" by Jane and Michael Stern. Lebhar-Friedman Books, $24.95.

Brought to you by these leading traveling foodies and aptly subtitled "The Heart and Soul of America's Great Roadside Restaurants," this book will serve nostalgia buffs and home-cooking fans alike. From shiny diners to greasy spoons to quaint mom-and-pop bistros, the Sterns take us on a culinary journey — with recipes — from Mississippi to Minnesota, Connecticut to California, New York to New Mexico — and more.

"Bobby Flay Cooks American." Hyperion, $34.95.

Got cable? Get the Food Network? Then you've probably seen Bobby Flay. (Am I the only person who likes to cook who hasn't got a TV show?) Flay is a nice-looking, personable young man who sure knows his way around a grill. Watch his show, "Hot off the Grill," and see him keep a dozen foods cooking simultaneously, seemingly cool surrounded by all that heat. In fact, a previous book, "Boy Meets Grill," is a brilliantly titled must-own for the serious backyard barbecuer.

In this new effort, Flay takes you through sections titled: Soup and Chowders; Brunch Dishes, Sandwiches and Tacos; Salads and Appetizers; Corn, Pasta and Rice; Fish and Shellfish, Poultry; Meat; Sides; Desserts; Thanksgiving.

And these goodies to test your palate and the strength of your Independence Day groaning board: Slow-barbecued Texas brisket with bourbon barbecue sauce; grilled lobster tails with tomato-cilantro vinaigrette; lobster claw and potato salad with horseradish-mustard dressing; crunchy three-cabbage slaw; toasted coconut custard pie, with a brulee crust.

And, maybe best of all: Frozen Watermelon Martinis.

"The Dessert Bible," by Christopher Kimball. Little Brown and Company, $29.95.

Dessert chefs will appreciate Kimball's diligence in testing and retesting hundreds of recipes in his attempt to perfect formulas for cookies, cakes, brownies, frostings, filling, pies, souffles, puddings, custards and frozen desserts. His efforts are our gain as there are recipes for more than 300 desserts and each is accompanied with tips for what can go wrong.

But he goes a step further by providing tips, techniques and shortcuts on such things as calibrating an oven and the best way to make a baking pan nonstick. There is even a buyer's guide for kitchen equipment that rates prices for things like mixers, food processors, dough scrapers and wooden spoons. He actually rates brands of nutmeg.

Check out the "Fruit Pie for Idiots" — a recipe that tells us "in Europe, there is a tradition of simply rolling out dough, topping it with fruit, folding up the sides and then baking." Voila!

"Nuts," by Tina Salter. Ten Speed Press, $29.95.

If you are nuts about nuts, this cookbook might bring you out of your shell. Produced by Diamond of California, a collective created by the California Walnut Growers Association, this book puts nuts in entrees, side dishes, appetizers, salads and desserts. Some recipes were created by well-known chefs like Charlie Trotter, Mollie Katzen and Jacques Pepin.

There are common dishes such as pecan sticky buns, classic walnut brownies and banana-nut bread. Then nuts appear where one might not expect, such as crab cakes with almonds and romesco sauce; roasted sweet corn salad; chicken, pecan and wild rice casserole; sweet-potato ravioli in walnut-sage brown butter; and pan-seared pork medallions with ginger-pear-pecan sauce.

Some of the recipes include photos of the dishes. Many of the recipes have long ingredient lists, but they include basics such as water, salt and pepper, and herbs and spices. The recipes spell everything out in detail so any cook with basic skills could produce the dishes. With its variety of recipes, this cookbook would make a nice addition to kitchens of cooks everywhere.

"Lidia's Italian-American Kitchen," by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich. Knopf, $35.

By now, even the most squeamish must have tried squid: calamari fritta appetizers are about as ubiquitous these days as buffalo wings and deep-fried potato skins — even in nonItalian restaurants. OK, it's time to move on and conquer another plateau: scungilli (conch).

There are two good recipes in this book for the strange little creatures that reside in those big shells — the shells in which you can hear the ocean. Bastianich, who is being featured in a new, 52-part cooking series on PBS and reminds me a little of my dear departed Italian grandmother, Filomena Figliuolo, tells you how to make scungilli, both hot and cold: a tasty, spicy conch salad; and scungilli with linguine in marinara sauce. Both are delicious.

If you are lucky enough to live near an ocean, you probably can buy fresh conch, out of the shell. If not, hunt for the frozen variety in your supermarket or specialty store. Caution: these babies can be tough, if you're not careful.

Both recipes call for simmering the scungilli until tender, about 30 minutes. But be careful. They can go from tough to tender back to tough really quickly; and even if you cook them perfectly, fork tender, slice them thin for the best texture.

One grouse: The book is far too stingy with the color photos — only 16 of them.