TITLE: Autumn: From the Heart of the Home by Susan Branch (Little, Brown and Co., $25.95; 128 pages).
GENERALLY SPEAKING: Autumn is more than a cookbook. It includes recipes and tips for decorating, gifts, entertaining and holidays. Perfect for a Martha Stewart wannabe.
NEAT IDEA: Enlarge old photos of friends and family on a copier. Use as place cards or place mats.
SAMPLE RECIPES: Roasted Fall Vegetables with Caramelized Onion Sauce, Pecan Spinach Toss, Wild Mushroom Ragout, Corn Pudding, Indiana Ham and Sweet Potato Soup, Cranberry Apple Crisp, Indian Pudding and Toasted Snowballs in Chocolate Sauce.
FOR: Anyone who enjoys seasonal cooking, crafts and entertaining. Some recipes are one-pot dishes that make cleanup easy. The recipes are suitable for any skill level. There are basket ideas for hostess gifts, table decorating ideas for entertaining, and much more.
UNIQUE FEATURES: The sketches and pastel watercolors make Autumn charming. Just reading through it makes you want to start cooking and get crafty. Delightful quotes throughout are funny and inspiring. For example, this one from the late humorist Erma Bombeck, "If a man watches more than three football games in a row, he should be declared legally dead."
BEST ADVICE: Read recipes thoroughly before beginning preparation. The author uses numerous abbreviations. The text is written in a fancy script and can be difficult to read.
TITLE: Jacques Pepin Fast Food My Way by Jacques Pepin (Houghton Mifflin Co., $30; 240 pages).
GENERALLY SPEAKING: Pepin has taught millions of Americans to cook. This cookbook is a companion to a PBS series Pepin hosts. Most recipes require a lot of preparation - dicing, chopping and more - so be sure to plan.
SAMPLE RECIPES: Smoked Trout Salad with Horseradish Cream, Egg and Tomato Gratin, Corn and Hominy Chowder, 30-Minute Cassoulet, Almond Cake with Berries, Rhubarb and Berry Crumble, Tomato and Mozzarella Fans.
FOR: People who have time to cook and couples who enjoy cooking together. It has recipes two people can make while they enjoy good conversation and a glass of wine. This book is not for picky eaters.
UNIQUE FEATURES: The make-ahead tips. Many recipes include them, and some dishes can be made from two hours to a few days before serving. Pepin adds a personal note to some recipes, including memories of his mother's cooking and childhood food stories.
SPECIAL EQUIPMENT: Pressure cooker. Many recipes are prepared in it.
MOST UNUSUAL INGREDIENT: Dried tree ear mushroom. It is commonly used in Chinese cooking and can be found in Asian markets.
BEST ADVICE: You need a well-stocked pantry with items such as herbes de Provence, chestnut puree and almond paste.
TITLE: The Great American Sampler Cookbook: Recipes from the White House and Congress by Linda Bauer (Taylor Trade Publishing, $19.95; 309 pages).
GENERALLY SPEAKING: President Bush, Vice President Cheney and various legislators share recipes. All 50 states, plus Guam and Samoa, are represented. Representatives from Missouri submitted the largest number of recipes, 35, with virtually all from Sen. Christopher Bond. Lots of the recipes are regional: New Mexico shares specialties such as tortilla soup and bisochitos; Sen. Mary Landrieu's oven jambalaya hails from her home state, Louisiana.
SAMPLE RECIPES: Kentucky Jam Cake, Oklahoma Mud, Arizona Baked Beans, Lemonade Pie, French Mints and Vidalia Onion Soup. President Bush's contributions include President's Guacamole, Cowboy Cookies and Mexican Bananas Foster. Representatives from Florida share Greek Salad, French Silk Pie, Corn Dodgers and Daisy White Cake, among others.
FOR: This cookbook may be the one place the political parties can come together. The recipes are relatively easy to prepare and use ingredients you probably have in your refrigerator and pantry.
UNIQUE FEATURE: The recipes are indexed by category (appetizer, salad, etc.), politician and state.
POLITICALLY CORRECT: The author is a former Capitol Hill intern. Her extensive world travels led to a career as a food and travel columnist. She is also a teacher and educational administrator. All royalties from the cookbook will be donated to literacy programs.
Stuffed Pork Chops with Sweet Potatoes and Apples
4 large sweet potatoes
2 tablespoons canola oil
6 2-inch-thick pork chops
Salt and pepper
Stuffing (recipe follows)
8 large green apples
1 cup golden raisins
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Peel potatoes, halve them and boil them until about half done. Set aside. Heat oil in large skillet and brown chops on both sides; salt and pepper. Remove from pan and cool. Make stuffing. Cut a deep slit in the side of each chop and fill with stuffing. Put chops and potatoes into large baking pan. Peel, halve and core apples; arrange in pan with chops and potatoes, and sprinkle on raisins. Sprinkle each apple with cinnamon. Cover pan tightly with foil. Bake 50 minutes and serve.
Source: Autumn: From the Heart of the Home by Susan Branch (Little, Brown and Co., $25.95).
Stuffing
1 stick butter
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 celery ribs, chopped
1/2 cup minced parsley
2 cups plain, dry bread crumbs
Salt and pepper
Melt butter in skillet. Add onion and celery, and cook slowly until soft. Add parsley, bread crumbs, salt and pepper. Mix well and correct consistency with more bread crumbs or butter.
Makes 6 servings.
Source: Autumn: From the Heart of the Home by Susan Branch (Little, Brown and Co., $25.95).
Thirty-Minute Cassoulet
1 tablespoon good olive oil
About 1 pound rolled shoulder ham (also called daisy ham or Boston butt), tough outer skin removed
About 3/4 pound hot Italian sausages, cut into 3-inch pieces (about 6 pieces)
4 bratwurst sausages (about 1 pound)
1 cup diced whole button mushrooms
3/4 cup diced onion
2 tablespoons crushed garlic (about 4 cloves)
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1 bay leaf
2 151/2-ounce cans cannelloni beans, drained and rinsed under warm running water
3/4 cup diced tomato (1 large, plump tomato)
1/2 cup water
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh parsley
Tabasco sauce, accompaniment
Dijon-style mustard, accompaniment
Heat olive oil in a large skillet and add ham and Italian sausage. Cover and cook over high heat 7 to 8 minutes, turning occasionally. Add bratwurst, mushrooms, onion, garlic, thyme and bay leaf. Mix well and cook for 5 to 6 minutes. Add the beans, tomato, water and pepper, bring back to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and boil gently for 5 minutes.
At serving time, discard the bay leaf, cut the ham into slices and the sausage pieces in half, and arrange the meat on a platter with the beans. Sprinkle parsley on top. Serve with Tabasco and mustard.
Makes 4 to 6 servings.
Source: Jacques Pepin Fast Food My Way by Jacques Pepin (Houghton Mifflin Co., $30).
Texas Sweeties
From Rep. Rod Paul
Cookies:
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 cups sugar
3 eggs, beaten
1 tablespoon almond extract
31/2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
Glaze:
Confectioners sugar
Milk
Almond extract
Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and extract. Mix and add remaining ingredients. Form dough into 11/2-inch balls and place on greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes. Combine ingredients for glaze. Glaze cookies when cool.
Makes 3 dozen.
Source: The Great American Sampler Cookbook: Recipes from the White House and Congress by Linda Bauer (Taylor Trade Publishing, $19.95).
