TIPS FROM LINDA CARUCCI

• When grilling marinated meats, blot all excess marinade before grilling. Otherwise, the meat will steam instead of sear, and you'll miss out on a flavorful, charred crust.
  
• Mild olive oil may be substituted for butter or shortening in cakes, but use ¼ cup less oil than the amount of butter called for in the recipe.
  
• Buy imported pasta instead of domestic brands. Italian pasta is made with hard wheat, which makes it difficult to overcook.
  
• To prevent sheet cake from doming in the center as it bakes, and to achieve an even, flat surface, spread batter out from the center of the pan, up into each corner and out along the sides. It's OK if the batter is concave in the center when you slide the pan into the oven; gravity will even things out as the cake bakes.

Besides demonstrating surefire techniques and ingenious shortcuts, she dispensed a wealth of wisdom culled from 20 years as a teacher and chef. It was just a smattering of what's packed into her new book, Cooking School Secrets for Real World Cooks (Chronicle Books, $22.95). The book, her first, was inspired by students in her four-week basics class in San Francisco.

"They wanted a go-to guide, the one book that they needed," Ms. Carucci says. So in the afterglow of her IACP award, she wrote the book that brings the cooking school experience to the home kitchen. The result is what she calls "my life's work of what I know."

Few chefs share Ms. Carucci's instinct for what home cooks need to know.

That connection with "real world cooks" has been her ticket to success as a teacher and author.

"I figure out the student's frame of reference," she says.

"A lot of chef terminology doesn't mean anything to home cooks."

Take the terms "salt to taste" and "adjust seasonings." In her book, Ms. Carucci guides you through these crucial steps with examples.

In class, it became a live demo. She coaxed maximum flavor out of an earthy roasted bell pepper spread called muhammara by tasting and tweaking the seasonings repeatedly.

The pomegranate molasses lent too much acidity, so she tamed it with sugar. The cumin was lost, so she added salt — just enough to bring out the spice, but not enough to make the spread salty.

Ms. Carucci's preparation of Grilled Boneless Leg of Lamb With Pomegranate Marinade was another revelation.

Instead of grilling the whole leg, which is difficult to cook evenly, she cut the butterflied leg into three pieces along the natural separation lines.

It's not rocket science, not even butchery. Yet who would've thought to break the cut down into manageable chunks? Suddenly, leg of lamb is no more intimidating than burgers.

Ms. Carucci didn't put fresh garlic on the lamb: "It will burn on the grill, and taste acrid and bitter."

For garlic flavor, she used garlic powder in the marinade. "I'm not a food snob," she declared.

But she is discriminating. Eschewing a common grocery-store brand, she opted instead for Whole Foods Market's garlic powder. After passing the bottles around for a side-by-side sniff test, the class grasped the wisdom of her choice.

Garlic powder isn't what you'd expect a chef and former culinary school dean to push. But Ms. Carucci prides herself in offering more than just chef secrets.

"A lot of what's in my book is what they don't teach in cooking schools," she says. And the recipes were tested by home cooks across the country, to ensure that they are accessible to anyone, anywhere.

"I wanted this book to reach as many home cooks as possible. That's why I made it a paperback."

Her connection with home cooking stretches back to her youth on a Connecticut dairy farm, where she helped her Italian grandmother cook for the dairymen.

Later, she attended the California Culinary Academy, where she eventually served as dean. She also did her share of chef stints, including one as a private chef for the Strauss family (of Levi's fame).

These days, besides teaching classes for home cooks, she serves as the Julia Child Curator of Food Arts at COPIA: The American Center for Wine, Food & the Arts in Napa, Calif.

Despite her focus on home cooks, Ms. Carucci has won the praise of top chefs such as Thomas Keller (of The French Laundry) and Charlie Trotter, who wrote glowingly of her cookbook.

"It means so much to me to be recognized by these chefs," says Ms. Carucci, who attended culinary school with chef Trotter.

"It validates the work I do to teach home cooks what they need to know."

Zucchini-Olive Oil Snack Cake with Lemon Icing

1 ½ cups raisins
1 ½ cups golden raisins
About 2 cups apricot brandy, dark rum, orange-flavored liqueur, or hot water
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½teaspoon fine salt
3 large eggs
1 ½ cups sugar
1 cup mild-tasting extra-virgin olive oil
3 cups shredded, unpeeled zucchini, about 1 3/4 pounds
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup toasted walnuts, chopped (see note)
Icing (recipe follows)

Directions:

Measure all raisins into a 4-cup liquid measure. Add enough spirits or hot water to cover raisins. Cover and set aside for 20 minutes to 24 hours (the longer the better). Preheat oven to 350 F. For a thin snack cake (to eat out of hand), butter an 11x16-inch rimmed baking sheet. If you prefer a denser cake, butter a 9x13-inch baking pan. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, beat eggs lightly. Add sugar and stir to combine. Whisk in olive oil, zucchini and vanilla extract. Add egg mixture to dry ingredients, and stir to combine. Strain raisins, reserving soaking liquid for another use. Add raisins and nuts to batter, and stir just to combine. Pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, cake springs back when touched in the center, and cake begins to pull away from the sides of the pan, about 45 minutes for the 11x16-inch pan. If using a 9x13-inch pan, bake 50 to 55 minutes. Transfer cake (in the pan) to a cooling rack, and cool to room temperature.

Leave cake in the pan and spread the top with icing. To prevent the icing from "cracking" when you cut the cake, score the cake into bars or squares before the icing hardens. After serving, cover any remaining cake with plastic wrap and store at cool room temperature for up to 3 days, in the refrigerator for 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 1 month. Makes 12 to 14 servings, depending on size of pieces and pan size.

Icing:
With a zester or the small holes of a box grater, remove the zest (yellow part only) from 2 lemons. In a medium bowl, combine 2 teaspoons of the zest (reserving the rest for another use) with 1/4 cup lemon juice and 1 tablespoon mild-tasting, extra-virgin olive oil. Sift 2 cups confectioners' sugar into the bowl and stir to combine. Cover icing with a piece of plastic wrap placed directly on the surface (to prevent a crust from forming), and set aside until cake is cool.

Note: To toast nuts, preheat oven or toaster oven to 350 F. Place nuts in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Toast nuts until golden brown and fragrant, stirring occasionally, for 6 to 10 minutes, depending on the size and type of nuts. Transfer toasted nuts to a cool plate and set aside to cool completely.