GOOD TASTES.

COOKBOOK: Although the French are a bit out of favor these days, don't let that stop you from taking a look at Los Angeles chef/restaurateur Jean Francois Meteigner's new cookbook, ``Cuisine Naturelle,'' (HP Books; $26.95). It's filled with more than 140 recipes from simple to more complex.

The book, he writes, is not about restaurant food but rather dishes he teaches in his cooking classes and his mother's cooking. A native of Vichy, France, Meteigner came to the United States in 1980, worked at L'Orangerie in Los Angeles for 10 years and opened La Cachette, his Los Angeles restaurant, in 1994. He refers to his style as natural cooking with little fat but lots of flavor, noting that he uses more spices than most French chefs.

Meteigner includes his 10 commandments of cooking, noting that the first five should be followed religiously to achieve greatness in the kitchen: 1. The quality of ingredients is paramount. 2. Prepare ingredients carefully. 3. Master the techniques of cooking. 4. Be sensitive to the temperature of your ingredients (don't overcook them). 5. Degrease liquids as necessary and serve the leanest possible dishes.''

Meteigner hopes cooks will use the book as a guide and reference, add their own touches to recipes and have fun.

- Natalie Haughton

MORE FLAVORED SPIRITS: Flavor is being added to lots of different spirits these days. Bacardi recently introduced three new flavored rums - Razz (raspberry), Vanila (vanilla) and Coco (coconut). They've joined the citrus-flavored Bacardi Limon and the orange-infused Bacardi O. According to industry statistics, sales of flavored spirits have doubled over the past five years, and flavored rums now represent one-third of the rum category.

Try the Razz with tonic or Sprite in a tall glass filled with ice. Give Coco a whirl over ice with some triple sec or pineapple juice. And if it's Vanila that strikes your fancy, combine a little with Ginger Ale or Sprite over ice. Or add to Coke or Vanilla Coke to make the ever-popular rum and Coke, but with a delicious vanilla twist. These new rums will jazz up daiquiris or lend themselves to all kinds of exotic and innovative libations. Experiment with your favorite flavors.

Look for the new flavors in 750-milliliter bottles with a suggested retail price of $12.99 in liquor stores and markets. Other sizes will also be available.

- N.H.

NEW: Finally, a plastic wrap that is sealable! If you've been frustrated by all those plastic food wraps that don't stick and seal, Glad has introduced one that will. Press 'n Seal can form a spill-proof seal on a variety of clean, dry surfaces such as plastic, paper, Styrofoam containers, metal and wood. The wrap unrolls easily, and there's a sticky substance - close to what is found in chewing gum - on one surface. It's the first time it's been used in plastic wrap, says Mary O'Connell at the Glad Products Co. in Oakland.

To use, simply pull, place and press the wrap (around the edge or lip of a container, jar, bowl and the like or folded over around food like sandwiches, meats, pie dough, etc.). You can freeze it (the seal won't break), microwave it and keep things stored in it. It'll also protect against freezer burn - you can say goodbye to double-wrapping.

However, it can't go in a conventional, convection or toaster oven or on top of the stove. It's also feasible to reuse the wrap a few times. You can also use it to line drawers, keep surfaces clean, store and organize supplies and keep tools and small items dry. Look for Press 'n Seal in a 75-square-foot roll at local grocery, mass merchandise and drug stores with a suggested retail price of $2.99.

- N.H.

CONTEST ALERT

Stir up a little something with sauerkraut, winekraut or red cabbage (any amount) and enter Steinfeld's 14th annual recipe contest. Recipes for appetizers, soups, entrees, breads and desserts will be judged on originality, presentation, ease of preparation and appetite appeal. Type or write your recipe on an 8 1/2-by-11-inch sheet of paper, including name, address and phone number. Send entries, postmarked no later than Aug. 1, to Steinfeld's Sauerkraut Recipe Contest, Dean Specialty Foods, 10001 N. Rivergate Blvd., Portland, OR 97203. First-place winner will receive $500; second place $250 and third $100. Each winner will also receive a year's supply of sauerkraut, winekraut or red cabbage.

- N.H.

DINING OUT

If you don't mind ordering at a counter to save money, they just opened Sizzlin' Platter in Encino may well be the right restaurant for you.

With its 10-ounce signature char-broiled steak for $9.95, economy-minded diners receive an accompaniment of potato (baked, mashed or french fries), rice or steamed vegetables plus a starter of soup, salad or coleslaw. And the bonus - at no extra charge - is the house garlic cheese toast.

The same additions come with all the beef, chicken, seafood and combination entrees priced as low as $6.95 for either the hamburger steak or Southern fried chicken.

Top-priced dinners at $18.95 each are both a combination steak and lobster platter and the T-bone steak. On the seafood side, filet of salmon is only $7.95 and baked whitefish $8.95.

Sizzlin' Platter also has nine salads available in half and full orders from $5 to $9. Ten sandwiches and six burgers range in price from $4.45 to $7, and there are even two pastas ($9 and $12.45) and four pizzas ($7.49 to $8.49) on the menu. Children under 11 can eat for $2 (four options), and desserts are $3 or less.

Currently in the process of filling in its $10-per-bottle wine selections, the restaurant is willing to defer corkage fees on brought-in wines as a limited opening offer.

Sizzlin' Platter, 17337 Ventura Blvd., Encino, is open for lunch and dinner from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. Information: [phone].

- Larry Lipson

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo:

(1) no caption (cookbook: ``Cuisine Naturelle'')

(2) no caption (Bacardi Razz, Vanila and Coco)

(3) no caption (Glad Press 'n Seal plastic wrap)