Nathalie Dupree Cooks Everyday Meals from a Well Stocked Pantry: Strategies for Shopping Less and Eating Better

Beard Award-winner Dupree (Southern Memories), author of numerous cookbooks and star of five televised cooking series, here turns to pantry basics, tutoring cooks in the craft of transforming shelf staples into quick and nutritious meals. She simplifies key concepts with the use of visual elements: each recipe is coded according to its main ingredients, with icons signifying its origin in the vegetable bin, international pantry, herb garden, on the dairy shelf or elsewhere. Dupree acknowledges the effort required to stock a home pantry, due in part to cost, but recommends starting with ``bomb shelter'' basics (an exploding pan is the icon thereof). All cuteness aside, this cookbook is meant for working people whose schedules don't permit them to shop daily. And so, Dupree's omission of time estimates for preparation of dishes and of detailed shopping lists is puzzling. Moreover, few cooks would agree with her that bacon is a ``nonperishable'' pantry item or that refrigerated eggs keep well for three months. Some recipes look overly familiar: her ``Artichoke Nibbles'' resemble a popular party appetizer dating from the '50s, and others-hummus and oven-barbecued pork tenderloins-are commonplace. However, side dishes, such as orzo with lemon, capers and herbs, and black-eyed pea and jicama salad, are both imaginative and simple. (Feb.)