THE ITALIAN COUNTRY TABLE, by Lynne Rossetto Kasper, Scribner, New York. 1999, 416 pages, $35.

Lynne Rossetto Kasper really spoke to me in her new book. Her definitive style of cooking: seasonal, good-quality ingredients used simply and well, and prepared with love. Her message was music to my ears, and even more exciting to my palate.

Kasper’s style of writing is very chatty and knowledgeable, and for you armchair cooks, you’ll find “The Italian Country Table” a fascinating read. For those eating cooks like me, you won’t be able to wait to get into the kitchen.

In her recipe for Mother’s Broth, Kasper relates how buckets of this deep- and full-flavored chicken “stock” nursed her now 89-year-old mother from near death after major surgery. She offers practical, cook-to-cook advice, and suggestions for other simple soups made with Mother’s Broth.

One recommendation, Anpristomac, or the playful translation from Italian, Tummy Opener, I used as a prelude for an intimate four-course luncheon, testing the here-in-Maine workability of Kasper’s recipes. It certainly had my guests clamoring for more.

For our second course, not wanting to repeat the chicken theme, I took her suggestion and prepared Grilled Chicken Pieces in Sicilian Mint Sauce with 4-ounce tuna steaks. The tuna was delicious, mouthwatering, almost spalike, and it was so easy to prepare. I served the steaks with pasta and a simple sauce of fresh tomatoes lightly sauteed with chopped onions in olive oil.

I often serve a salad made with fruit as the dessert course for my family. Prepared with a “perfectly ripe” melon, Cantaloupe with Black Pepper, Oil and Vinegar is, as my kids will attest, “almost like candy.” Kasper pairs this salad with goat cheese and suggests it as a lovely opening to a special meal, or a natural for buffets.

Because I often like to end intimate meals on a chocolate note, I tried Chocolate Coins. Kasper says, “These tiny, intense cookies are packed with chocolate and pine nuts, while a little rum gives them a pleasant bite.” She suggests serving them with vanilla ice cream. I chose to conclude with just espresso. The cookies were addictive but very crumbly. So far this has been the only recipe I couldn’t get to work just right.

“The Italian Country Table” is bursting with stories about history, eating, and a love of home. This book will spend plenty of time both at my kitchen table for delicious eating and beside my bed for delightful reading.

Grilled Chicken Pieces in Sicilian Mint Sauce

Chicken

4 large chicken breasts, boned and skinned

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Shredded zest of 1 medium lemon

1/2 teaspoon oregano

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black

Pepper

Salt

Mint Sauce

1/4 medium red onion, minced

1 clove of garlic, minced

3 tablespoons red or white wine

Salt and fresh pepper

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

Generous pinch of sugar

1/4 cup tightly packed fresh mint finely chopped

Toss the chicken with the oil, lemon zest, oregano and pepper. Marinate in the refrigerator 1 to 6 hours.

About 30 minutes before cooking, stir together the minced onion, garlic, sugar, salt, pepper and vinegar. Let stand 20 minutes, then whisk in the oil. About 15 minutes before serving, heat a heavy gridded skillet over medium-high heat. Saute the chicken, sprinkling it with salt. Turn the pieces as they pick up color and immediately reduce the heat to medium-low.

Continue cooking about 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the chicken is barely firm when pressed; be sure there is no sign of raw meat. Transfer it to a serving platter. Stir 3 tablespoons of the fresh mint into the sauce. Taste for seasonings, then spoon over the chicken. Sprinkle the remaining mint over the dish just before serving.

Cantalope with Black Pepper, Oil and Vinegar

1/2 of 2 1/2- to 3-pound melon, seeds removed

Several pale green leaves from the center of a head of curly endive

Dressing

Salt and fresh ground pepper

2 teaspoons fruity extra-virgin olive oil

2 teaspoons white wine vinegar

2 teaspoons snipped fresh chives or scallion tops

With a melon baller, scoop out 1-inch balls for the melon and turn into a medium bowl. Line an 8-inch white serving plate with the greens. Sprinkle the melon with salt and pepper to taste. Gently toss with the oil, then the vinegar. Spoon onto the greens, scatter the chives over the melon and serve.

Chocolate Coins

2 1/2 cups (11 ounces) pine nuts, toasted

1 cup sugar

2 tablespoons unbleached all purpose flour

Generous pinch of salt

5 large egg yolks

1/4 cup dark rum

2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted

3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper or butter and flour it. (The cookies bake in three batches. Spooning out the dough onto three sheets of parchment paper makes the process easier.) In a food processor, grind 1 1/2 cups of the pine nuts with the sugar and flour to a fine paste. Add the salt, egg yolks, rum, melted chocolate, cocoa and vanilla and process until combined. The dough will be very soft.

Turn into a bowl and stir in the remaining pine nuts. Drop the dough by half-teaspoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheet, spacing the cookies half-inch apart. Bake the first batch for 12 minutes. The cookies will be soft when pressed. Remove from the oven and cool the cookies completely on the parchment paper on a rack. Set another parchment sheet of cookies on the cookie sheet and bake; then the final batch. Store in airtight containers at room temperature up to a week.