Cookin’ up some comfort

If complicated culinary concepts like “pancakes” and “tuna melt” give you a headache, you’ll appreciate the huge, full color pictures that adorn every other page of George Duran’s new cook book, Take This Dish and Twist It. Duran’s book offers creative twists on classic comfort foods like “Pepperoni Pizza Soup” and “Cuban Sandwich Casserole.” The accompanying images are so appetizing that they might make you forget that many of the recipes call for cheddar cheese, Cap’n Crunch, and the microwave. A few token exotic dishes like “Strawberry Arugula Salad” and “Coconut Lentil Soup” attempt to balance out the largely lowbrow offerings, but ultimately seem out of place next to “Meatballs on a Stick” and “Coq au Cola.” The book isn’t totally useless, it’s just designed for a specific customer—say, someone who really likes hot dogs, or needs a recipe to cook a hamburger. While it’s not going to be the last cookbook you’ll buy (hopefully), if you’re not counting calories, you may as well impress your frat brothers with “Shovel of Chevre” and “Deep Fried Cheesecake Nuggets.”