Back Around the Table

QVC personality Venable follows up his popular Comfort Foods That Take You Home with an expansion of nearly 150 familiar recipes that are easy for home cooks of all tastes and skill levels. Standards like breakfast quesadillas and pasta carbonara mingle with riffs on familiar classics like the Mint Julep (mixed into a slushy version) and a chicken cheesesteak version of the classic egg roll. Chapters on slow cookers and pressure cookers enable owners to find new uses for the items likely bought on QVC, with recipes for Asian pulled pork; and smoked gouda, bacon and pea risotto. Purists may take umbrage with Venable's use of pre-made ingredients such as Velveeta and Steak-Umm chicken strips for the aforementioned egg rolls, but such components are more of an anomaly (readers are asked to create their own teriyaki sauce for grilled teriyaki pork phops, for example). That's not to say there aren't a few misses%E2%80%94the red velvet milkshake, which incorporates the titular cake mix with ice cream, cream cheese, chocolate syrup and whipped cream sounds questionably. Fans of Venable and home cooks in search of a reliable set of standards will find a lot to like in this practical, accessible collection. (Oct.)