Another TV chef's eclectic and unintimidating mix of American and international dishes, from blackened fish and apple pandowdy to Mandarin chicken salad and Irish coddle--with a fair share of hybrids such as Alamo burgers in pita bread and ratatouille made with V-8 juice. The collection is put together for people who need explanatory notes on basil, Parmesan cheese, Creole cuisine, or the history of coffee; and though it's more discriminating than TV's recent Hour Magazine spinoff (p. 1598), it's similarly skippable.