COOK'S CORNER A FLAVORFUL SAMPLING FROM A CAROLINA FAVORITE.

Byline: Natalie Haughton Food Editor

It's always fun to get a taste of what prepared takeout food markets in other cities are offering customers. In her first volume, ``The Foster's Market Cookbook: Favorite Recipes for Morning, Noon and Night'' in 2002, Sara Foster, founder and owner of Foster's Market in Durham and Chapel Hill, N.C., shared her most requested customer recipes.

Now she returns with her recently released ``Fresh Everyday: More Great Recipes From Foster's Market'' (Clarkson Potter; $35) written with Carolynn Carreno.

Tailored for home cooks, the book's 200 seasonally inspired recipes, featuring bold seasonings and flavors, are designed to save time without compromising quality. Foster includes tips, tricks and shortcuts (some learned from mentors, co-workers, her mother and other family members) - and encourages cooks to use their instincts and have fun cooking. Her ``think outside the recipe'' notes suggest how to adjust recipes to your liking, using what's on hand or seasonal or substitute ingredients.

``I want you to feel free to cook using these recipes as guidelines and inspiration, not strict rules,'' she writes.

Her tempting creations - ranging from Corn and Sugar Snap Pea Salad With Blue Cheese Vinaigrette, Spicy Pad Thai Salad and Roasted Tomato Sauce With Basil to Crab Cakes With Cajun Aioli, Dark Chocolate Souffle Cake and Port Roasted Apricots - are the kind of vibrantly flavored food that most of us want to eat. Much of it can be simply prepared. Some of Foster's dishes are grown-up, comforting versions of childhood favorites.

A handsome, colorfully illustrated volume, packed with info, it makes you want to run into the kitchen and get cookin.' Give your summer menus and beyond a lift with the trio of dining options that follow.

RUSTIC TOMATO CONCASSE

Concasse is a simple summer tomato sauce with the tomatoes cooked just enough so they are warmed through and begin to break down. Classic concasse calls for peeled and seeded tomatoes, but this is a shortcut version that takes about 10 minutes, start to finish. It freezes well, so it's a great way to cook the overload of tomatoes in your summer garden.

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 small onion, minced

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 pounds tomatoes, cored and seeded

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

8 fresh basil leaves, cut into thin strips

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cook 3 to 4 minutes, until translucent. Add garlic and saute 1 minute, stirring constantly to prevent browning.

Stir in chopped tomatoes, add vinegar and continue cooking about 5 to 6 minutes, stirring constantly, until tomatoes begin to break down and give off juices.

Remove concasse from heat. Stir in basil and season with salt and pepper. Use immediately or refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 1 week. Toss with pasta or spoon over grilled fish, chicken or vegetables. Makes about 4 cups.

TUSCAN TUNA AND WHITE BEAN SALAD WITH SUN-DRIED TOMATOES

3 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

Juice of 2 lemons

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves

1 teaspoon chopped rosemary

1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes

1 (15 1/2-ounce) can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained OR 1 3/4 cups dried beans, cooked until tender

2 (6-ounce) cans solid white tuna packed in water, drained

10 roasted garlic cloves, peeled

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

4 balsamic roasted tomatoes (roast plum tomato halves, drizzled with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and a little fresh rosemary, cut side down, in a preheated 400-degree oven, 30 to 35 minutes until soft and shriveled)

Whisk olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar, parsley and rosemary together in a small bowl. Add sun-dried tomatoes and let them marinate 10 to 15 minutes in vinaigrette to soften. Place beans, tuna and garlic in a medium bowl. Add vinaigrette and sun-dried tomatoes, season with salt and pepper and toss gently to mix. Cover and refrigerate to marinate for at least 1 hour or overnight. Serve at room temperature with balsamic-roasted tomatoes on top. Makes 4 servings.

ROASTED PEACH HALVES WITH CRUMB TOPPING

These are best served warm, just from the oven with vanilla ice cream or chilled heavy cream.

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, plus more for greasing the skillet

3 ripe peaches, peeled, halved and pit removed

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1/4 cup rolled oats 

1/4 cup chopped pecans

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

Lightly grease bottom of a 6-inch ovenproof skillet with butter. Place peaches in skillet, cut side up. They should fit snugly enough to stand upright. If not, cut a small slice off rounded bottom of each peach to give it a flat surface to rest on.

Stir flour, sugar, oats, pecans, cinnamon and salt together in a small bowl. Add butter and work it into mixture using a pastry blender or your fingers until dry ingredients are no longer visible and mixture is combined but still chunky. Sprinkle crumb mixture in cavity and mound it on top of each peach, pressing lightly to keep crumb mixture in place.

Bake peaches on center rack of a preheated 350-degree oven, 25 to 30 minutes, until topping is golden brown and peaches are bubbling around edges. Let rest about 5 minutes before serving. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or chilled heavy cream. Makes 6 servings.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1) TUSCAN TUNA AND WHITE BEAN SALAD WITH SUN-DRIED TOMATOES

From ``Fresh Everyday''

(2) no caption (book: ``Fresh Everyday: More Great Recipes From Foster's Market'')