Ever wonder how professional chefs and cookbook authors make food look and taste so good? A new book reveals some of the answers. Chef's Secrets: Insider Techniques From Today's Culinary Masters (Quirk Books, $16.95) answers both big questions, such as how to make a flawless omelet, and small, such as how to detach a stuck cheese wrapper.

Look for it in bookstores and among online booksellers.

Shortbread heaven

When we first tasted Miss Fran's shortbread cookies (above) a few years back, we fell in love with the handmade, buttery-rich, soft-as-a-cloud cookies based on a family recipe. Now they're getting an extra layer of indulgence with a dip in milk, dark or white Belgian chocolate (the latter coats lemon-flavored cookies). A package of about 20 cookies costs $10-$11 at select grocers.

Sweet addition

Karo Corn Syrup, which has been sweetening recipes for more than 100 years, has a new product in its lineup. The company has introduced a corn syrup with brown sugar that is perfect for glazing meats and enhancing the flavor of desserts.

Karo Corn Syrup With Real Brown Sugar sells for about $2.40 and comes in a 16-ounce squeezable plastic bottle.

Ready to roast

Imagine a frozen turkey that doesn't have to be defrosted or cleaned before roasting.

Sometimes dreams do come true. Jennie-O Turkey Store, a subsidiary of Hormel Foods, has developed a method that lets you take the turkey directly to the oven from the freezer.

The turkeys are available in grocery stores nationwide for about $2 a pound. For more information, visit www.jennieoturkeystore.com.

Thoughtful brews

Millstone began selling its Signature Collection of environmentally friendly coffees online last year; now the brews are available in stores. We enjoyed Rainforest Reserve, a mellow and pleasant medium-dark roast that has been certified by the Rainforest Alliance, and Mountain Moonlight, an organic, slightly floral medium-roast brew that's Fair Trade Certified. Each 10-ounce bag of whole beans costs $8.60-$9 at select grocers and millstone.com.

Chocolate with a twist

Tasters loved all three flavors of Guylian Twists: milk chocolate with truffle filling; dark chocolate with orange cream, and a blend of milk, dark and white chocolate with hazelnut praline. The Belgian chocolates are shaped like sea horses, and not just for aesthetic reasons: A portion of the profits benefits Project Seahorse, a nonprofit effort to conserve habitats of the endangered fish. Each 4.3-ounce package of 16-18 chocolates costs about $4 at select grocers.

Spud savvy

Peeler Pal (right) has one of those "as seen on TV"-like names that we tend to avoid, but it earned approval in the test kitchen for folks who aren't handy when it comes to peeling spuds. The rod is inserted in the base of a potato, keeping the holding hand away from the sharp peeler. (It works on other fruits and veggies, too, such as apples.) Both items are dishwasher-safe - though we prefer to wash blades by hand. It costs $5 in the produce section at select grocers or for $3.99-$4.99 online at www.peelerpal.com.

Taking stock of the blue chip market

Blue corn tortilla chips, which continue to solidify their presence in the snack aisles, are no gimmick. The chips are made from blue corn, a variety associated with the Pueblo Indians of the American Southwest, according to gourmetsleuth.com. In addition to their deep color, which we found in our tasting ranged from brown to purplish-black, blue corn chips tend to be thicker - all the easier to load up on guacamole and salsa.

We found 10 brands, with the greatest selection in natural foods stores. Our six tasters were looking for a good corn flavor and crispy texture. We mixed a variety of types in this tasting: fried, baked, organic, low-salt.

Products are scored on a scale of 1 to 9, with 9 being highest. Prices are based on what we paid for them at the supermarket and may reflect sales or discounts from frequent-shopper cards. At right are the winners, with tasters' comments. The remaining chips are listed in order of finish.

And the winners are...

1. 365 Organic Lightly Salted (6.3 points. 10-ounce bag, $1.99; 20 cents per ounce). "Decent corn flavor with buttery overtones." "Great crunch!" "Good flavor but needs more salt."

2. Frontera (6.2 points. 10-ounce bag, $2; 20 cents per ounce). "Rich flavor; satisfying." "Corny goodness, with excellent balance between corn and salt." "Relatively good snap but tastes flat."

3. Bearitos (5.7 points. 16-ounce bag, $3.39; 21 cents per ounce). "Mild corn and tortilla flavor; good salt level." "Deep finish, very pleasing but too salty." "Not as crisp as some."

4. (tie) Fit & Active (baked chips from Aldi); Garden of Eatin' No Salt Added (5.5 points)

5. (tie) Kettle, Tostitos Natural (5.4)

6. Wild Oats Natural (3.8)

7. Guiltless Gourmet (3.5)

8. Trader Joe's Low-Fat (3.1)

Drink your chocolate

Two new varieties of Schokinag Drinking Chocolate - dulce de leche with its caramel boost and chocolate mocha's coffee kick - delighted us with their luscious, intense (and yes, decidedly upscale) flavors, courtesy of real chocolate and all-natural ingredients. The indulgence is matched by ease of preparation: Just stir in milk, then microwave. They can be used in baking and cooking too. Each 12-ounce canister contains 8 servings and costs $10.70-$14 at select markets and online at amazon.com.

All-American heritage

John T. Edge captures two classic dishes from the American kitchen in "Apple Pie" and "Fried Chicken" (G.P. Putnam, $18.95 each). The subtitle for each is appropriately "An American Story." The books read like travelogues as Edge uncovers myriad variations of each dish from region to region. Example: Green with Chile Envy Pie from 78-year-old Scot Robinson, aka Señor Pie, of Albuquerque. The books are sold at some Barnes & Noble bookstores and online at amazon.com.

Sweet compromise

We tend to be skeptical about baking with sugar substitutes, but Equal Sugar Lite (right), a blend of regular sugar with the no-calorie sweetener, offers a compromise. We made two batches of sugar cookies, one with regular sugar, another with Sugar Lite: The latter were sweeter, but more important, the texture was not sacrificed. It has half the calories (8 per teaspoon) of granulated. A 17.6-ounce bag costs $4.20; a 35.2-ounce bag is about $7 at most grocers.

Miniature cucumbers are here

Baby vegetables - artichokes, peppers, zucchini, patty pan squash, beets, celery, little leafy greens - are the stars on many high-end restaurant menus, and now they're finding their way to many supermarkets.

The finger-sized cucumbers are about 2- to 3-inches long and half an inch in diameter. They have thin, light green skins with lighter green stripes. Their tender, thin skins do not need to be peeled before eating.

The vegetable is grown in the Dominican Republic and shipped by Morari Specialties, a Miami grower and shipper of specialty vegetables.

Add to pasta, tuna and chicken; toss into salads, or quarter them lengthwise and put them on a sandwich. They're also great for dipping.

Out of that? Use this

McCormick Spices offers these suggestions for quick flavor substitutes:

- You can substitute 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder for 1 medium-sized clove of garlic or 3 tablespoons dried minced onion or 2-1/2 teaspoons onion powder for 1/2 cup chopped onion.

- When baking, if you need 1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon peel or 1 teaspoon freshly grated orange peel, you can substitute 1 teaspoon lemon or orange extract, respectively.

- If you need 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning, you can use 3/4 teaspoon ground sage plus 1/4 teaspoon ground thyme.

For more information, visit www.mccormick.com.

Cuckoo for hot cocoa

There are a lot of chichi hot cocoa mixes on the market. But confection maker Tiny Trapeze of Hyde Park, Mass., has a new hot cocoa kit that includes a 9.5-ounce bag of not overly sweet malted Valhrona cocoa mix as well as a bag of eight hand-cut, snowflake-shaped, vanilla-flavored marshmallows to float on top.

Six-serving package of Malted Hot Cocoa With Snowflake Marshmallows costs $19.95 plus shipping; available by mail order only. Call (800) 844-8469 or see www.tinytrapeze.com .

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