Paperback cookbook Taste of Newport includes nearly 200 recipes from some 50 area eateries.

The season’s perfect coffee table book may well be a paperback cookbook.

But with nearly 200 recipes and almost 300 pages of color photos of food, chefs and restaurants, Taste of Newport fits the bill not only as a pretty book but also as something useful in the kitchen and very tempting to pick up and read.

Some 50 Newport area restaurants, caterers, bakeries and chocolate shops contributed recipes to the book. Recipes from the personal collection of the late Doris Duke are also included, such as Apricot Salad and Brisk & Bittersweet Chocolate Ice Milk.

The cookbook was commissioned by Child & Family to mark the 25th anniversary of the agency’s annual fundraising event, Taste of Newport. All proceeds from the cookbook benefit the social service agency that has been operating since 1866.

The book begins with appetizer recipes which include soups, salads, chowders and starter courses with lots of seafood as a primary ingredient. There are entrée recipes as well as many dessert selections. Nearly every recipe is pictured with a small photo, and larger ones dot the books to tempt the reader. The recipes, as a group, are elegant and well-thought out and will make for special dishes in any home cook’s repertoire.

But what I liked just as much were the profiles the restaurants or shops grouped in a section at the end of the book. Most of the chefs are also featured in portrait. There are photos of the dining rooms, fun facts about each eatery as well as basics such as hours and Web sites. There’s also food photos of the recipes shared with reference numbers to the pages.

So, for instance, if the Clarke Cooke House is your favorite spot, you can easily see the four dishes shared by chef Ted Gidley.

Eateries that shared recipes include: 15 Point Road, 22 Bowen’s Wine Bar & Grille, 180 Degrees Restaurant, Asterisk, American Mussel Harvesters, Bay Voyage Inn, Blackstone Caterers, Belle Mer, Billy Goode’s, Black Pearl, Boat House Restaurant, Castle Hill, Café Zelda, Canfield House, Clarke Cooke House, Cory’s Kitchen @ Sweet Berry Farm, Destination Chocolate, DeWolf Tavern, Everyday Gourmet, Fine Catering by Russell Morin, Fluke Wine Bar & Kitchen, Goodies by the Sea, La Forge Casino, Lucia Italian Restaurant, Max’s Market, Mooring Seafood Kitchen & Bar, One Bellevue Restaurant at the Hotel Viking, Perro Salado, Pier 49 Seafood and Spirits, Pronto, Salvation Café, Sambar, Sardella’s, Smokehouse Café, Spark, Spiced Pear Restaurant, The Cookie Jar, The West Deck, Trio, Tucker’s Bistro, White Horse Tavern, Wicked Natural Company and Windward Restaurant at the Newport Hyatt.

Like a coffee table book, Taste of Newport has a price tag to match. Published by America House Communications, it costs $39.95 plus $8 for shipping. Books can be ordered online at www.childandfamilyri.com as well as through the mail at Child & Family Taste of Newport Cookbook, 24 School St., Newport, RI 02840.

But like a fine coffee table book, you get what you pay for and there is a lot to enjoy in Taste of Newport.

Here are a few recipes from the book to try.

BRICK ALLEY CRABCAKES1

BRICK ALLEY CRABCAKES

3 pounds lump crabmeat

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

1 1/2 cups crushed Ritz crackers

2 eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce

1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice

1 1/2 teaspoons Old Bay seasoning

1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1 cup mayonnaise

Combine the egg, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, Old Bay seasoning, Dijon mustard, Tabasco and mayonnaise in a bowl. Place the crabmeat, parsley and Ritz crackers into a separate bowl. Mix very lightly to combine. Add the wet ingredients to the crab mixture and combine lightly. Portion into 5-ounce cakes and pan-fry until brown on both sides.

Serves 12.

—From Brick Alley Pub & Restaurant and chef Gary Mathias

PECAN-ENCRUSTED CHICKEN WITH PEACH-APPLE RELISH1

PECAN-ENCRUSTED CHICKEN WITH PEACH-APPLE RELISH

4 single boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 cups chopped pecans

3/4 cup fine bread crumbs

1/2 cup mayonnaise

For the relish:

1 small red onion

2 cloves garlic

1 small sweet red bell pepper

1 teaspoon fresh thyme

1 tablespoon mustard seed

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

2 cups chopped peaches

1 cup chopped apples

1/2 cup chicken stock or broth

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix pecans and bread crumbs, season with salt and pepper. Spread the mayonnaise on both sides of chicken until fully coated. Press nut mixture on the chicken breasts.

Grease an appropriate baking dish or sheet pan and bake chicken at 350 degrees for about 20 to 30 minutes, depending on size.

For the relish, sauté onion, garlic and red pepper until soft, then add thyme and mustard seed and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes. Deglaze with cider vinegar and reduce (simmer until liquid is half gone). Add apples, peaches and chicken broth. Simmer and stir until applesauce-like. Serve with chicken.

Serves 4.

—Recipe from Cory’s Kitchen and chef Steve Cory

POMEGRANATE-GLAZED PORK CHOPS OVER ROASTED BUTTERNUT SQUASH RISOTTO WITH SAUTÉED KALE1

POMEGRANATE-GLAZED PORK CHOPS OVER ROASTED BUTTERNUT SQUASH RISOTTO WITH SAUTÉED KALE

2 cups pomegranate juice

1 cup sugar

1 medium butternut squash, roasted and diced

1 cup chopped white onion

4 ounces white wine

8 ounces butter

1 cup shredded Reggiano-Parmigiano

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 cup Arborio rice

3 cups chicken stock

6 ounces kale, chopped and blanched

1 teaspoon chopped garlic

2 teaspoons melted butter

2 (12 ounce) pork chops

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

For the pomegranate glaze: Place sugar and pomegranate juice in saucepan over medium heat and reduce until consistency is thick syrup.

Risotto: Melt butter in a large pan and sauté onions until translucent. Add rice and stir 2 minutes. Add wine and stir until fully absorbed. Add stock 6 ounces at a time and stir until stock is absorbed and repeat until rice is al dente. Then stir in roasted butternut squash, cinnamon and Parmigiano.

Kale: Add blanched kale to a sauté pan with garlic and butter and sauté until garlic is fragrant.

Pork Chops: Season both sides of the pork chop with sea salt and pepper and place on a grill and sear. Brush pork chops with pomegranate glaze and finish in a 375-degree oven until cooked medium well.

Serves 2.

—Recipe from Everyday Gourmet and chef Peter Liberati

IRISH RAISIN BREAD PUDDING1

IRISH RAISIN BREAD PUDDING

1 loaf white bread, slices cut into quarters

8 eggs

5 additional egg yolks

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1 1/4 cups whole milk

1 1/4 pounds of sugar

5 tablespoons brown sugar

14 ounces raisins

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Place the cut bread into a baking pan. Distribute raisins on bread evenly, pushing slices apart.

Mix remaining ingredients and pour over bread, pushing bread down to soak.

Fill a second larger pan 1/4 full with water. Place bread pudding pan into water bath and put into oven. Bake at 375 degrees for 1 1/2 hours or until toothpick inserted into center of pudding comes out clean and top is evenly browned.

(If top is brown and pudding is not done, cover with foil and continue cooking until done.)

Serves 8.

—From La Forge Casino and chef Nicholas Violette

gciampa@projo.com