Charlie Palmer's Casual Cooking: The Chef of New York's Aureole Restaurant Cooks for Family and Friends

Chef at several chic New York restaurants, including the highly-rated Aureole, Palmer (Great American Food) adds a most relaxed cookbook to the new niche of easy recipes by top professionals. As Palmer points out, when he cooks at home, he doesn't have a prep staff either, so for inspiration he recalls many of the meals his mother used to make and adds an updated twist with his passion for fresh seasonal ingredients. Decidedly unpretentious, the fare features such perennial favorites as Mom's Chicken Noodle Soup and Great Burgers on the GrillDwhich one can make more dazzling with minced red onion and fresh herbs. In Tuna MeltsDMy Way, Palmer calls for seared tuna steaks on sourdough toast slathered with tapenade and topped with Fontina cheese, and Perfect Roast Chicken (thoroughly rubbed with lemon juice) sounds irresistibly savory. Readers will be thrilled to find that Breast of Duck with Citrus Sauce and Mixed Fruit Chutney is deemed more demanding simply because extra prep time is required. For an informal brunch, Palmer offers Mile-High Shrimp Sandwiches glistening with Blue Cheese Dressing. Desserts are as comforting as Fresh Fruit Cobbler and as clever as Apple ""Pizza"" with Cider Sorbet. (Jan.)