Posted on: Wednesday, March 16, 2005

FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Feasting on three new cookbooks

By Wanda A. Adams
Advertiser Food Editor

Cookbook hoarders, you know who you are — the ones with cookbooks piled on the floor because you can't fit them all on the bookshelf. They've become a hallway hazard in my home, that's for sure.

Today, a look at a few new local cookbooks. I've noted a couple of points I consider important in a cookbook: what sorts of recipes, whether there are illustrations, whether there's an index and how it's arranged.

• "Pupus ... Plus!" by Sachi Fukuda (Bess Press, spiral-bound, $12.95). Released late last year, this well-made, beautifully photographed book is a sequel to Fukuda's "Pupus: An Island Tradition." She is a retiree who frequently teaches cooking classes. This book branches out into entrees and desserts, many from the Asian tradition. 160 pages. Index alpha by recipe name.

• "Hawai'i Light and Healthy" by Diana Helfand (Bess Press, spiral-bound, $12.95). The MidWeek columnist offers up a variety of lower-fat, higher-nutrition, reader-favorite recipes with nutritional analysis for each, plus a selection of recipes from local restaurants that are distinctly not light and healthy — an odd pairing, but the author explains these as being suitable for the occasional treat. 166 pages. No index.

• Kauai Hospice Ohana Cookbook. (Morris Press, spiral-bound, $10 plus $2 postage). This is the first fund-raising cookbook for the Kauai Hospice and will help to cover costs of care not included in insurance payments. Mostly easy everyday recipes. 94 pages. Index alpha by type of dish. Available: Hospice office, 4536 'Ekolu St.; by phone at (808) 245-7277 or online from www.kauaihospice.org.

Coming in June is "Roy's Fish & Seafood: Recipes from the Pacific Rim" by Roy Yamaguchi with John Harrisson (Ten Speed Press, hardback, $35). The galleys I received recently indicate that this will be a valuable aid to home cooks frustrated by the maze of names by which popular fish types are known and by a lack of information on how best to prepare the different fish. The book identifies the various names of each of the 16 fish found on Roy's menus (English, Latin and often Hawaiian, Japanese or other common names), offers a general description, covers uses, flavor and cooking qualities, suggests alternatives and then goes on to recipes. Eight popular shellfish and crustaceans, including 'opihi, are also profiled.

Follow-up questions: I wrote recently about adding fiber-rich steel-cut oats to your breakfast menu and several readers e-mailed to tell me about an even easier method for preparing the oats. I covered old-fashioned boiling (takes 30 to 40 minutes), microwaving (almost as long), soaking overnight and then quick-cooking. To this, add a great idea: Cook the oats overnight in your rice cooker. Then just warm them up in the microwave the next morning. Lots of folks also said they add other good things to the oats during cooking, such as raisins and other whole grains.