THE SUPPER BOOK

Cunningham, who was in charge of the latest revision of The Fannie Farmer Cookbook (1990), offers a companion to her Breakfast Book (1987—not reviewed)—this one a modest collection of undemanding but not boring dishes for the everyday evening meal or informal company occasion. There's a Mexican-style ``posole salad soup,'' not as odd as it sounds; a flattened chicken fried under weights, a trick borrowed from Italy; lemon crackers, her own invention; and a salad that mixes fresh herbs, a French practice, with—believe it or not—iceberg lettuce. If you know the latest Fannie Farmer, you'll recognize the unoffending sensibility; here, in small format with some autobiographical chat, it can have a comfortable appeal.