The Itty Bitty Kitchen Handbook: Featuring 100 Recipes

A resourceful cook will tell you that almost anything (except perhaps, a 25-pound turkey) can be cooked in a small kitchen. But not every cook thinks such a feat is possible, and for him or her, this book will shed some very useful light. A Manhattan apartment-dweller and art historian, Spring lays out the basics of small-kitchen cookery: order, naturally, is of utmost importance. Think like a small-sailboat galley slave (the author grew up on a 36-foot catamaran where the kitchen consisted of a camp stove, ice chest and bucket) and optimize space, he says, by, for example, keeping dish cupboards and cutlery drawers as close as possible to the sink to create economy of motion while washing dishes. In chatty and fun prose, Spring covers every aspect of cooking in a small space, from stocking it with the right ingredients and tools (with suggestions of how much cutlery and utensils you need) to understanding which appliances are really necessary (toaster ovens can be terrific but aren't indispensable, while blenders can do the work of mixers and food processors, making them particularly valuable). Recipes are creative and well within the capabilities of basic cooks; they include Toaster-Oven Meatloaf and Sautéed Cutlets Marsala. (Mar.)