MAKE IT EASY CHEFS SIMPLIFY IN NEW COOKBOOKS.

Byline: Natalie Haughton Food Editor

You've picked up a well-known restaurant chef's cookbook - and the lobster dish in the photo looks fabulous. You'd love to re-create the recipe at home, but once you glance at it, you quickly change your mind. Just too complicated and too involved.

For many years, the majority of home cooks have relegated chefs' cookbooks to the coffee table or the back of the bookshelf. While many of the pages make for good browsing with lots of beautiful color photographs, the recipes are mostly too long, complicated and ambitious to prepare in the home kitchen. These are dishes designed to be prepared and eaten in restaurants.

But chefs' cookbooks started to become more home oriented three or four years ago. And many of the latest are more user-friendly and less intimidating for home cooks.

``Chefs have learned,'' says Ellen Rose, owner of the Cook's Library in Los Angeles, a store with more than 125 different chefs' books among the 7,000 food-related titles. In several of the latest volumes, restaurant chefs are cooking casually in their home kitchens instead of the restaurant's, continues Rose.

``We hand-sell chef books - and have to show people they are not scary. They (recipes) are being tested in home kitchens now, and that's what's different.''

Wolfgang Puck, Los Angeles celebrity chef/restaurateur (Spago, Vert) and Food Network show host, admits that when he began writing cookbooks back in the '80s, they weren't designed for home cooks.

``I was always trying to impress the people I worked with - or other chefs in other restaurants.''

But he's changed his approach, offering more simple recipes for the home cook who shops at the supermarket. Rather than a restaurant-prepared veal stock, for example, he may suggest a hoisin sauce. This all started two years ago when he began giving televised cooking lessons to home cooks while demonstrating his kitchen equipment on the Home Shopping Network.

``This is the way I would cook at home,'' Puck says.

In his recently released ``Wolfgang Puck Makes It Easy: Delicious Recipes for Your Home Kitchen,'' (Rutledge Hill Press; $34.95), Puck shares simple, delicious ideas with a twist for success for any cook.

``Buy the best ingredients, don't screw them up, and you'll have the best food,'' says the chef whose greatest passion is to find quality ingredients from small producers.

``My goal (with this book) is for people to go into the kitchen and not be overwhelmed by the recipe.''

The book, which came out in November, has already sold 120,000 copies - more than any of his other five cookbooks.

Puck isn't the only chef taking this approach. In his new volume, ``Alfred Portale Simple Pleasures: Home Cooking From the Gotham Bar and Grill's Acclaimed Chef,'' written with Andrew Friedman (William Morrow; $34.95), Portale ``shares more than 100 recipes that anyone can make regardless of culinary skill, budget, or available time.'' Unlike his first two books, which were geared to showing home cooks how to be home chefs, this one takes a simpler approach. ``Seek out the best-quality ingredients possible, then coax out as much flavor as you can through cooking and seasoning,'' says Portale.

Interesting ingredients - like farro (a nutty-flavored grain), preserved tuna, ras el hanut (a Moroccan spice blend), grapeseed oil, smoked paprika, preserved lemons, Israeli couscous - can give recipes an edge, add an element of surprise and impress.

Lidia Matticchio Bastianich, author of the recently released ``Lidia's Family Table: More Than 200 Fabulous Recipes to Enjoy Every Day - With Wonderful Ideas for Variations and Improvisations,'' with David Nussbaum (Alfred A. Knopf; $35), notes that the philosophy behind her books (this is her fourth) and her syndicated public television shows ``is how to translate recipes for home cooks and how they can capture the beauty of the flavors of Italy without being Italian or a chef.

``These recipes have my profile, but they are not my inventions,'' says the owner of four restaurants - Felidia and Becco in New York and Lidia's Kansas City and Lidia's Pittsburgh.

``I empower (cooks) to feel good with ingredients, good techniques, knowledge of prime seasonal ingredients and give (them) a sense of direction with a good basic recipe and then hope they will go in the kitchen, have fun and make that recipe their own.''

Martin Yan, owner of the Yan Can restaurants (in Rancho Santa Margarita and Northern California locations) and the host of more than 1,800 public television cooking segments, brings Asian food into the home kitchen with 150 recipes in ``Martin Yan Quick & Easy'' (Chronicle Books; $24.95). With shortcuts such as pre-made sauces (plum sauce, sweet and sour sauce, chili sauce, etc.), all of the recipes can be cooked in less than 30 minutes.

Many of the chefs' books have tips and substitutions sprinkled throughout the pages.

``Like a painter, cooks can make their own palette,'' says Bastianich.

Natalie Haughton, [phone]

natalie.haughton(at)dailynews.com

CURRIED CHICKEN SATAY WITH FRESH MINT-SOY VINAIGRETTE

CHICKEN SATAY:

2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin 

2 tablespoons peanut OR vegetable oil

MINT-SOY VINAIGRETTE:

2 large egg yolks, beaten

1/4 cup rice wine vinegar

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander 

1/2 cup regular OR roasted peanut oil (roasted available in specialty stores and some supermarkets)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Soak 2 dozen 6-inch bamboo or wooden skewers in water 30 to 60 minutes. With a sharp knife, cut each chicken breast lengthwise into 12 long, thin strips. Thread 1 strip onto each of the skewers, weaving the skewer back and forth along the length of each chicken strip. Arrange on a large platter or baking tray.

To prepare marinade, in a small bowl combine curry powder, pepper, salt and cumin. Spoon oil over chicken strips, turning to coat evenly, and then evenly sprinkle dry ingredients over them on both sides. Cover platter or tray with plastic wrap and marinate in refrigerator 1 hour or longer.

Prepare the Mint-Soy Vinaigrette: In a food processor fitted with a steel blade or in a blender, combine egg yolks, vinegar, mint, soy sauce and coriander. With motor running, slowly drizzle in oil and continue processing until smooth. Transfer dressing to a bowl, season to taste with salt and pepper, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate.

Preheat a hinged indoor grill or panini maker, following manufacturer's instructions, or preheat a broiler, outdoor grill or stovetop grill pan. Grill skewers, in batches if necessary, until cooked through and nicely browned, about 2 minutes total on a hinged grill or panini maker, or 2 minutes per side under broiler, in a grill pan, or an outdoor grill. If using an indoor grill, take care the skewers don't prevent the grill or panini maker from closing properly.

Serve skewers immediately, passing vinaigrette for guests to drizzle over their own skewers or to use as a dip. Makes 24 skewers, 8 to 12 servings. You can serve these with rice for an easy dinner.

From ``Wolfgang Puck Makes It Easy,'' by Wolfgang Puck with Martha Rose Shulman.

ASIAN STEAK SALAD

MARINADE:

2 tablespoons orange OR mandarin marmalade

1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger

1 garlic clove

Kosher salt

1/2 cup wine vinegar

1/4 cup fresh orange juice

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

GINGER VINAIGRETTE:

1 medium shallot, chopped

1 (1/2-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and minced

1/3 cup almond OR extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon dark sesame oil

1/2 cup seasoned rice wine vinegar

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

SALAD:

2 (8-ounce) New York steaks

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 pound shiitake mushrooms

4 cups mixed baby salad greens

For the Marinade, combine marmalade, ginger, garlic, salt to taste, vinegar and orange juice in a saucepan. Reduce over low heat to 1/2 cup. Remove from heat and cool. Stir in olive oil and set aside.

For the Ginger Vinaigrette, in a bowl mix together shallot, ginger, almond or olive oil, sesame oil, vinegar and salt and pepper to taste. Adjust seasonings as necessary and set aside.

For Salad, prepare a medium-hot grill. Brush steaks with some of Marinade and season with salt and pepper to taste. Grill steaks to medium rare and set aside in a warm spot.

Heat butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Saute mushrooms until just tender, 3 to 5 minutes.

Toss salad greens with Ginger Vinaigrette, adding any collected meat juices to dressing. Season mushrooms with salt and pepper. Mound salad greens in center of 4 dinner plates. Slice steak thinly on the diagonal and fan the slices around one side of the greens. Arrange the mushrooms decoratively on the opposite side. Serve immediately. Makes 4 servings.

NOTE: If you have leftover steak, omit the marinade, slice the steak as directed and toss with the dressing.

From ``Wolfgang Puck Makes It Easy,'' by Wolfgang Puck with Martha Rose Shulman.

BLACK OLIVE, ORANGE, PINE NUT AND RAISIN PASTA

1 pound uncooked capellini OR other thin dry pasta such as spaghettini or linguine

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

5 plump garlic cloves, sliced (about 1/3 cup)

1 1/2 cups oil-cured black olives, pitted and chopped into 1/3-inch pieces

1/2 cup golden raisins

3 tablespoons fine long threads of orange zest

2/3 cup fresh-squeezed orange juice

1 cup pine nuts, toasted in a dry pan

Hot water from pasta cooking pot

Salt

1 tablespoon chopped fresh Italian parsley

Heat a large pot of salted water to boiling. Five minutes before starting sauce, plunge pasta into boiling water. Pour 1/3 cup olive oil into a large skillet, add garlic slices and place over medium-high heat. Cook about 1 1/2 minutes, shaking pan, until garlic starts to color. Add olives and stir with garlic. Cook another 1 1/2 minutes, shaking pan occasionally, as olives sizzle and caramelize. Add raisins and cook, stirring, 1/2 minute. Stir in orange zest, and cook, stirring, 30 seconds or more, until sizzling.

Carefully pour in orange juice (it will sizzle). Stir to moisten everything. After 20 seconds or so, stir in toasted pine nuts; stir to moisten. When orange juice has nearly evaporated, ladle in 2 cups boiling pasta water. Boil and stir sauce 3 minutes or more (while pasta is cooking). When sauce is reduced by half, stir in 1/4 teaspoon salt. Taste; add more salt if necessary. Stir in another tablespoon olive oil. Reduce heat to keep sauce hot until pasta is ready.

Finish sauce and pasta together in skillet, adding a little more pasta water or reducing it as necessary. Stir in parsley. Remove from heat; toss in a final tablespoon of olive oil. Makes 3 to 4 servings.

From ``Lidia's Family Table,'' by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich with David Nussbaum.

THREE-ALARM FIRECRACKER CHICKEN

MARINADE:

2 teaspoons regular soy sauce

1 teaspoon dark soy sauce

1 teaspoon cornstarch 

CHICKEN:

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts (cut crosswise into 1/2-inch strips)

SAUCE:

1/3 cup ketchup

1/4 cup chicken broth

1 tablespoon chili garlic sauce

1 teaspoon sugar

TO COOK:

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 fresh jalapeno chile, cut into thin strips

8 small dried red chiles

1 red bell pepper, seeded and julienned

1/2 yellow onion, thinly sliced

Combine all Marinade ingredients in a bowl, add chicken and stir to coat evenly. Let stand 10 minutes.

Combine all Sauce ingredients in a small bowl; mix well.

Place a stir-fry pan over high heat until hot. Add oil, swirling to coat sides. Add fresh and dried chiles; cook, stirring, until dried chiles begin to brown, about 15 seconds. Add chicken, bell pepper and onion; stir-fry until chicken is no longer pink in center, 2 to 3 minutes. Add sauce and bring to a boil. Stir evenly to coat chicken and serve. Makes 4 servings.

From ``Martin Yan Quick & Easy,'' by Martin Yan.

CAPTION(S):

5 photos

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) GOING PRO

Chef's cookbooks make it easy for home cooks to impress

(2 -- color) Wolfgang Puck prepares Asian Steak Salad in his kitchen at home.

(3 -- color) ASIAN STEAK SALAD

(4 -- color) CURRIED CHICKEN SATAY WITH FRESH MINT-SOY VINAIGRETTE

Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer

(5 -- color) THREE-ALARM FIRECRACKER CHICKEN

From ``Martin Yan Quick & Easy,'' Chronicle Books