Home Food: 44 Great American Chefs Cook 160 Recipes on Their Night Off

What do professional cooks serve up for dinner in the privacy of their own kitchens? Polling the 44 chefs associated with 42 top restaurants around the country, from Alice Waters of Chez Panisse to Sylvia Woods of the eponymous Harlem soul-food establishment, Shore and Townsend transcribe irresistible menus. Recipes reflect regional tastes, from the determinedly eclectic cuisines of northern California and the Pacific Northwest (e.g., basil crepes filled with shiitakes, spinach and Gruyere; a cocktail calling for vodka and wasabi) to Southwestern (a chili-cured beef fillet served with ``cowboy beans''). Perhaps the most appealing menus are those faithful to a single heritage, for example, Italian, Japanese or Mexican. Recipes are garnished with sidebars containing cooking and shopping tips, but anyone wanting to follow the entertaining habits of celebrity chefs had better be a serious cook--versed in technique and willing to scour farmers' markets for purslane, to comb specialty shops for Indonesian chili paste or red miso and to allocate funds for caviar, sushi-quality tuna and the other high-ticket ingredients frequently called for. Photographs and two-page profiles of the chefs add personalizing touches to each of the menus. (Mar.)