Considering any dish cooked in a covered pot (from a plain-old skillet to a smoke-filled wok) as fair game gives Linda and Fred Griffith a wide range. Using it to good advantage, they provide folk cooking that feels timely in dishes like a well-paprika'd chicken fricassee, a brilliantly simplified cassoulet, and a sensibly oven-baked risotto. Mostly, this book contains wintery simmered and baked dishes that appeal to meat eaters, though the Ragout of Mushrooms, Shallots, and Leeks and Five Bean Chili will please vegetarians. Unexpected dishes like tea-smoked scallops and a creamy rutabaga soup, along with creative versions of more pleasantly mundane dishes make this an interesting book. The Griffith's chatty, casually informative style make it a pleasure, too.