CUISINE ECONOMIQUE

TV-chef PÇpin's cookbooks have ranged from the imposing two- volume The Art of Cooking to The Short-Cut Cook (1990), which stooped to unimpressive quickie concoctions using frozen convenience components. This entry emphasizes economy of time as well as money, and some recipes are recycled with minimal change from the last book, but the instant ingredients are gone and some sense of style prevails throughout the eclectic collection. Despite the title, the food is not necessarily French: dishes include ratatouille, pot-au-feu, and a good variation on French garlic soup, but also grits and cheese soufflÇ, corn pancakes ``tempura,'' and a hot chile with beef and kidney beans. With some novelties and much familiar fare, this doesn't differ notably from a whole class of existing collections of smart, appealing, unintimidating recipes; but the combination of flair and realistic demands, plus the author's name recognition, gives it an edge. (Forty color illustrations—not seen.)