Black Pepper

When you want chicken, and you want it snappy - which is to say just about every time you want chicken - these pounded cutlets are just the thing. They're quite thin, so "snappy" refers to how quickly they cook; lots of black pepper also gives the dish some snap, and you should feel free to add more. Turning up the heat at the end will give them a crisp brown parmesan crust, which is almost as lovely as eating the golden crunchy skin on a whole roasted bird, the one you might have otherwise spent 1 1/2 hours slaving over, before wasting the leftovers.

Simply Organic By Jesse Ziff Cool The Organic Food Shopper's Guide By Jeff Cox Wiley / 2008 / $17.99 This green and white paperback, small enough to tuck in your reusable market bag for reference, is a more practical guide to the nuts and bolts of buying organic foods. It's organized by item, and each has easy-to-spot information on its season; buying, storing and preparing it; and how much it benefits you to seek out an organic version. There's a handy section on how and why to buy organic wine, and a resource guide for learning more.

Panini Express 70 Delicious Recipes Hot Off the Press Massimo's Italian Kitchen Authentic One-Dish Meals From a Seasoned Chef By Massimo Capra Sellers Publishing / 2007 / $22.95 Both Maxine Clark and Food Network chef Massimo Capra highlight oodles of inventive risotto dishes in their tomes. Capra's Risotto With White Asparagus, Black Pepper and Wild Strawberries and the one with shrimp scampi and zucchini look delicious. The Red-Beet Risotto I made was vivid in color but tasted bland.

This dish came about out of necessity. We first had it at my sister's house when she and my nephews decided to cancel restaurant plans at the last minute and let Aunt Donna prepare dinner based on groceries at hand, which included a bag of quick-frozen tilapia fillets. We loved the quick-fix results, based on the tube of grits my sister described as an impulse purchase from Trader Joe's "to see how it works." Grits and polenta lovers understand how perfection can be achieved by balancing the smooth, chewy texture of this nearly bland starch with the savory bite of seafood.

Cooking With All Things Trader Joe's By Deana Gunn and Wona Miniati The Take-Out Menu Cookbook By Carla Snyder and Meredith Deeds Running Press / 2007 / $19.95 Here we get the flip side to the semi-homemade, dinner-in-a-snap dream: the promise that you can make your favorite takeout foods from scratch. The result, we're told, will be cheaper and more healthful versions of takeout classics, like Kung Pao Chicken, gyros, Pizza Margherita, enchiladas and satay. There's also more highfalutin fare.

I am exhausted by the demands of our New England winters. What I do to get over the late-winter blahs is entertain. Nothing fancy. In fact, this is the season when I pull out my comfort-food recipes and invite friends over for laid-back gatherings. Braised short ribs are quintessential comfort fare for this time of year. Rich and satisfying - yes, even fattening! Nothing is better on a cold winter day than short ribs cooked until they are falling off their bones. This recipe for barbecued short ribs was suggested to me by my friend Matt Sunderland, a talented chef in my area.

The Complete Whole Grains Cookbook By Judith Finlayson Betty Crocker Whole Grains Easy Everyday Recipes Wiley Publishing / 2007 / $19.95 This is a practical book that would be particularly useful to a novice cook who's trying to eat better. Pluses include a user-friendly explanation of how to decipher information about grains on supermarket labels; nutritional information with each recipe; and a heading that tells you how many whole-grain servings are in a serving of each recipe. The Savory Millet and Potato Stew we tried made a quick, basic, one-pot meal that was very low in fat. kate.

If my husband and I were to name our favorite cities, New Orleans would be right at the top of our list. Our ties to the Crescent City are deep. Growing up, we visited often because we had grandparents who lived nearby, then we spent our college years at Tulane and Newcomb. We have many fond memories of celebrating Mardi Gras on Bourbon Street, and now, many years later, we still check the calendar to find out when Fat Tuesday falls. I am planning to host a Mardi Gras party next week, and already have the menu chosen.

I'll never forget dorm chili debates during my freshman year at Stephens College in Missouri. My classmates from Texas were horrified with the concept of including tomatoes and beans in a chili recipe. This was a culture shock for me, having grown up with black-bean chili made with ground chuck, hot peppers and tomatoes. A suitemate from upstate New York introduced me to this version, made without meat. It changed my attitude. Since then, I've tweaked the spices and beans several times.

Crowd-Pleasing Potluck By Francine Halvorsen Park Avenue Potluck By Florence Fabricant and the Society of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center Rizzoli / 2007 / $35 Peek inside the recipe boxes of some of New York's society mavens, many of whom donated their recipes to this book. For those of us cooking in Baltimore, it's a comfort to know that the upper crust of the Big Apple aren't serving potluck dinners much different from ours (although they do seem to have nicer silverware).