The Martha Stewart Cookbook: Collected Recipes for Every Day (U)

The ultimate Martha Stewart recipe collection. All the recipes from Martha's original books more than 1,400 in all have been gathered into one convenient reference book for everyday use in the kitchen. Publishers Weekly Stewart assembles her previous nine collections in one volume. New material is included in sidebars (``I have been making pastry crusts since I was a little girl'') and some recipe headings (``Guests cannot believe that someone has actually stuffed a snow pea!''). Abundant among the more than 1600 recipes is the sort of labor-intensive company fare that Stewart is known for, like the nine recipes (plus more suggested variations) in ``Hors d'Oeuvres'' for seeded and filled cherry tomatoes, or Pumpkin Pot Pies, in which the meat from herb-roasted Cornish hens is combined with vegetables and a Cognac sauce and cooked inside hollowed-out, three-pound pumpkins that are capped with puff pastry crusts. There are, however, simple dishes such as grilled Chicken Paillard and Pencil Asparagus with Lemon; others draw on ethnic and regional cuisines, such as Saffron Couscous and Soba Noodles with Cucumbers. Line drawings illustrate some difficult techniques; ``Entertaining a Crowd'' offers recipes for pasta parties, tempura ftes and clambakes. (Nov.)