MEITUS: What's cooking in smaller cookbooks

By Marty Meitus, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published September 16, 2008 at 3 p.m.

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It's beginning to look a lot like the holidays - at least from all the cookbooks crossing my desk. For a short while, I thought the cookbook market had slowed down, but nope, apparently everyone wants a piece of the cookbook pie.

And a big pie it is - more than a $500 million category, according to publishing industry consultant Andrew Grabois on the Web site beneaththecover.com.

According to Bowker's Books in Print, 1,956 cookbooks were published in 2006 (the latest figures), down somewhat from 2005 (see, told you so) but still a very healthy segment of the book-buying market. Twenty-five hardcover cookbooks made various best-seller lists for that year.

With close to 2,000 new cookbooks to choose from, it's likely that people will fall back on "name" cookbooks. Hence, more people are likely to flock to Jamie Oliver's new book, Jamie at Home: Cook Your Way to the Good Life (Hyperion, $37.50) and overlook the family-friendly The Good-To-Go Cookbook by Kathleen Cannata Hanna (Storey Publishing, $16.95). Which is neither a good nor bad comment on Oliver, although I could live without some of his "artistic" photos like the creepy bugs on cabbage. Rather, it's the idea that it doesn't give the "little guy" much of a chance.

So, to give that little guy or gal a chance, I've selected a few new ones to pique your interest.

* Bistros and Brasseries, John W. Fischer and Lou Jones, The Culinary Institute of America (Lebhar-Friedman Books, $29.95). Lovely pictures of classic dishes, from potato cakes to smoked salmon sandwiches to omelettes, with classic bistro recipes to match, including L'Hamburger.

* Hip Kosher, Ronnie Fein (Da Capo Press, $16.95). There's been a surge in interest in kosher cooking, and Fein picks up on that trend with a clever title and 175 recipes in this paperback book. The recipes are straightforward and interesting enough for the new or experienced cook; you'll find a couple of them on 12.

* The Fawn Brook Inn Cookbook Hermann and Mieke Groicher (Johnson Books, Boulder, $27.50). This cookbook is right from our own backyard of Allenspark, where the Fawn Brook Inn began in the 1920s. The Groichers, who came from the Greenbriar, bought it in 1979, taking sole ownership in 1985. It's the kind of down-home book that yields some recipe treasures, with family pictures sprinkled in.

Apparently 30 percent of the published cookbooks in years past fall into the general purpose category. I think they determine that percentage by weight.

So far, the all-purpose cookbooks I've seen are large compendiums such as The Taste of Home cookbook(Reiman Books, $29.95) and The America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book (America's Test Kitchen, $34.95), both in three-ring binders. They'll be vying with Frozen Desserts (Francisco J. Migoya, The Culinary Institute of America, Wiley, $60), Secrets of the Red Lantern (Stories and Vietnamese Recipes from the Heart, Pauline Nguyen, Andrews McMeel, $40) and Beyond the Great Wall (Recipes and Travels in the Other China, Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid, Artisan, $40) for the title of heavyweight champions of the year.

I'll let you know how they are in the cooking arena, as soon as I find a crane to lift them.

Pan-Roasted Persian-Spiced Chicken With Fruited Rice

Serves 4

4 bone-in chicken breast halves or whole legs

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice or 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

* Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Rinse and dry the chicken parts. Heat the olive oil in a saute pan over medium-high heat and cook the chicken, turning pieces once, for about 8 minutes, or until the skin is browned.

* Sprinkle the chicken with pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice or cloves and cayenne. Place the pan in the oven. Roast for 12 to 16 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through (an instant-read thermometer should read 165 degrees).

* Place chicken on a platter and serve with Fruited Rice (see recipe).

- Hip Kosher, Ronnie Fein

Nutritional information per serving: 155 cal., 8 g fat (1 g sat), 49 mg chol., 0 g carb., 20 g pro., 0 g fiber, 56 mg sodium.

Fruited Rice

Makes about 3 1/2 cups

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 stalk celery, chopped

2 cups cool, cooked rice

1 tart apple, peeled, cored and chopped

1 cup chopped, mixed dried fruit such as apricots, raisins, figs or prunes

1/4 cup chopped almonds, lightly toasted

1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste

1 1/2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves

* Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Heat the vegetable oil in an ovenproof saute pan over medium heat. Add the onion and celery and cook for 2 to 3 minutes or until slightly softened.

* Remove the pan from the heat. Add the rice, apple, dried fruit, almonds, salt and thyme. Mix ingredients thoroughly.

* Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until hot and lightly crispy.

- Hip Kosher, Ronnie Fein

Nutritional information per serving: 351 cal., 13 g fat (1 g sat), 0 mg chol., 55 g carb., 5 g pro., 6 g fiber, 337 mg sodium.

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