Bert Greene's Kitchen: A Book of Memories and Recipes

Followers and fanciers of Greene ( Greene on Greens ) will almost certainly appreciate this posthumous biography-cum-cookbook: Schulz, a friend, has put together a selection of Greene's newspaper columns from The New York Daily News that reflect the late gastronome's eclectic views on all and sundry--family, holidays, people, travel and, of course, food. Regrettably, though, only die-hard fans will have the stamina to wade through the seemingly endless anecdotes. (The best of these, about the untimely demise of Greene's catering career, is buried in the back of the book, and involves a hilarious incident with a parsimonious employer, a salmon mousse of her making and a hapless Siamese cat.) Readers who opt to skip the memoirs and search for the recipes won't be disappointed; there are roughly 150, from quick cranberry-peach preserves to Russian cabbage borscht to a salad tribute to Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman. None have appeared in previous books. Greene was a firm believer in the fresh-ingredients, made-from-scratch school of cooking, and his wide-ranging recipes are well-written and easy to follow for anyone with minimal cooking skill. Illustrated. (June)