The Burrito Book

It seems only yesterday that cooks were making crepe dishes out of every food imaginable; here Birosik tries the same trick with burritos. Unfortunately, she is not convincing in her attempt to show that dishes like Vindaloo pork and broiled halibut with lemon sauce can gain anything by being wrapped up in tortillas. There are a few interesting items, such as marinated flank steak burritos and pollo fria picnic burritos, a cold snack of chicken, cream and cheddar cheeses and flavorings. Some entries draw on other cuisines, such as marinated Asian pork burritos and dill lamb burritos, with their Middle Eastern flavor. Less felicitous are the whatever's-in-the-fridge improvisations this author seems to favor, such as Thai chicken breakfast burritos, a combination of chicken, scrambled eggs and bean sprouts flavored with chilies, onions, sunflower seeds, peanuts and peanut butter. Leftovers are also fair game, as in a Polish borscht burrito that recycles meatloaf with beets, and a post-Christmas burrito made with yams, onions, raisins, seasonings and whatever fowl was served on Christmas day. Birosik is the food editor of the Sedona Red Rock News (Ariz . ). (Oct.)