A Taste of the Mountains Cooking School Cookbook

Grounded in classical French cuisine, influenced by nouvelle, this is an affable, nondogmatic, very American, venturesome work by the food-and-wine columnist of Boston magazine, who is also the chef-instructor of the New Hampshire cooking school of the title. Each of the 53 lessons is directed at both novice and experienced cook and is structured to teach a specific basic techniquetrussing a duck, wielding a piping bag, boning and pocketing chicken breasts or disgorging and roasting eggplants. Then a ""master recipe'' is presentedchicken breast stuffed with bacon and smoked cheese or eggplants Nimoises. Following this, a generous number of variations employ the technique at the heart of the lesson, giving free range to the know-how imparted. The running notes on food history and lore are authoritative and interesting. As an example of the evolving ``new American cuisine,'' this is an impressive cookbook. Illustrations. November