THE FEAR OF COOKING

Many of my acquaintances make the mistake of assuming that because I write about food I also cook the stuff. I don’t. As for entertaining, if there is a concept more chilling to me than the idea of cooking, it is cooking for other people.

It is a tribute, therefore, to the persuasive power of two new books that I have actually considered firing up the oven and feeding some of the masses to whom I owe dinner invitations.

The slim, pocket-sized Eating In by Betty Fussell (Ecco Press, $8.95 paperback)-designed to be popped into one’s purse or briefcase-is so cunning and irresistible that I had to pry it from the hands of several of my colleagues, who obviously had thoughts of coconut shellfish curry for dinner that night. A shopping list, suggested side dishes, and recommended wines are provided for each recipe and Fussell says each menu makes it possible to have dinner on the table in less than an hour.

Lee Bailey’s Good Parties (Clarkson N.’Potier. $19.95) is a much larger book, filled with gorgeous color photography, but that’s not why I like it so much. Bailey, who personifies Great Good Taste, has written a pleasingly personal account of the way he entertains, including lists of his favorite linens, equipment, and tableware. So even if I don’t get around to carrying it off. Bailey’s winter chicken dinner-yogurt-green pepper-corn mustard chicken. Scottish skillet potatoes, and tangerine mousse with berry sauce-is a lovely thing to contemplate on a nasty January afternoon.