I want you to appreciate the courage it took for me to review this new, sumptuous, mostly European cooking title while suffering through a strict diet. Just inserting this CD-ROM in the drive could add 3,000 calories.

This title is stuffed with information fo kitchen vererans and bunglers alike. "Elle" will teach you to prepare Avocado Sainte-Marguerite or just to poach an egg, and for a thrifty price. But it is more for those who want to get right to work in the kitchen than for those who want to linger over elaborate computer graphics, historical backgrounds, etc.

There's a 2,000-recipe database from 40 countries, everything from appetizers to salads to entrees and desserts. And you can select among them in any of several ways -- alphabetically, preparation time, appropriateness to social occasions, or by their basic character (fish, meats, soups, etc.) The CD also designates 100 of the recipes as classics recommended by the Elle Magazine staff.

The recipes are largely continental -- quail with thyme and deep fried frog legs, etc. -- but there also are recipes for more familiar fare, such as American leek and potato soup, delicatessen pork chops, the American equivalet of fish and chips.

Each menu includes a color photo of the finished dish, an estimate of the preparation time, a "tip" on prepraration, an ingredients list, the recipe itself and a recommended wine. You can print out the recipes and take them right to the kitchen counter.

Each printed recipe has words in red, usually cooking terms like "devein" or "saute," which you can click on to get their definitions -- a boon for the culinary challenged.

What I especially like are the smooth, seamless, instructive videos that teach you to accomplish 26 tasks, including how to whip cream, sweat onions, prepare artichokes, julienne carrots and make puff pasteries. The videos can be expanded to full-screen and even include a fascinating tutorial on how to poach an egg-- one I found very enlightening. You don't just use water, it seems.

Anyway, you can also select entire menus by occasion and/or season. Under the "Company's Coming" heading, for example, you can sleect among four menus. One of them is Avocado Sainte-Marguerite, followed by Country Rabbit terrine, then apricots covered with meringue. For dining "Al Fresco" one of the selections includes marinated red or green peppers, grilled leg of lamb, green beans a la Provencal, and frozen apricot souffle. Some picinc.

Four cooking clods like me, there's also a very useful, though less than encyclopedic, glossary where one can learn the meanings of ccoking words and phrases, from "al dente" (who I always thought was probably a famous American chef) to "whisk," which is not just a detergent, it turns out.

My only advice is that the color photos of each of the 2,000 recipes only look appetizing at your 24-bit color setting Windows 95, the highest resolution. At lower resolutions, they can appear less than delicious. The quality of the videos is good.

Bon appetit.

Reprinted with permission of The San Diego Union Tribune