by Molly O'Neill
One of the best food columnists around, The New York Times Magazine's O'Neill wasn't content to churn out just another cookbook. Instead she has whipped up a cast of fictional characters—a famous Manhattan caterer, a documentary filmmaker, a no-nonsense tax lawyer and a Park Avenue matron among them—who form a food group to discuss the basic problem of cooking for company in the harried '90s: so many dishes, not enough time. Tracking the members' adventures as they give dinner parties that are absolutely fabulous—but slightly health-conscious and easy to manage for people who tend to careers and families—O'Neill presents 150 recipes from the simple to the sublime. There's a plebian winter stew elegantly complemented by white bean cakes with goat cheese and by a pistachio-pear strudel; for summer, a Cambodian hot pot and vanilla-scented sauteed fruit; and a fall buffet of Afghani breads with fennel and orange, Stilton-walnut rice balls and lobster shepherd's pie. In O'Neill's hands, cooking for company is a challenge, not a chore. (Viking, $27)
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