FRESH EVERY DAY: More Great Recipes from Foster's Market

This follow-up to The Foster's Market Cookbook offers new simple, spruced-up recipes from the author's North Carolina gourmet takeout shops. In the tradition of Martha Stewart, with whom Foster coauthored the previous book and worked as a chef in the '80s, the effortlessly elegant food also reflects Foster's Southern background, with its prevalence of sweet potatoes, cornmeal and black-eyed peas. Flavorful marinades, fresh herbs and seasonal ingredients maximize taste for quick meals on the grill or hands-off roasts. Numerous salsas and sides enliven each plate, and alternatives "for all seasons" to standards, like Twice-Baked Potatoes, Rice Pilaf, and Sautéed Shrimp, provide year-round variety. Desserts are unfussy crowd-pleasers such as Mom's Apple Cobbler with Buttermilk Biscuit Topping, and Individual Chocolate Pudding Cakes. Sidebars on "Basics" and "Tricks of My Trade" share tips on techniques, shortcuts and gadgets. Busy cooks will learn to love leftovers when delicious Slow-Roasted Pork Shoulder is transformed into spicy Green Chili, and Skillet Cornbread becomes rustic Panzanella, an Italian bread salad. This is homey, American food with a kick, sure to appeal to cooks in search of easy ways to revitalize their repertoire. 160 color photos. (May 24)