Chefs weigh in on their ultimate 'Last Supper'

On the book shelf: What's your perfect last meal?

It's a question from the same realm as fantasizing about what you'd do if you won the lottery. And now it's a book, with answers provided by 50 of the world's greatest chefs.

Melanie Dunea posed six simple questions, asking the greats of the food world to detail the food, drink, setting, music and companions for their final meal. The answers, along with recipes and photos, are collected in "My Last Supper" (2007 Bloomsbury, $39.95).

Some of the answers are simple -- Gordon Ramsay wants roast beef with Yorkshire pudding and red wine gravy -- others are breathtakingly detailed -- Jacques Pepin begins a lengthy list with a baguette and ends with crepes and Champagne.

This coffee table book is a fascinating and entertaining read.

In the pantry: Powdered peanut butter sounds like something only a person hiking the Appalachian Trail could love.

But PB2, as the new product from Tifton, Ga.-based Bell Plantation is called, isn't aimed just at the hiking set, and has real potential to win over the rest of us.

PB2 is an ultrafine powder made by roasting and pressing peanuts, a process that removes much of the fat found in traditional peanut butter. While you can simply reconstitute PB2 with water, this isn't where the product shines.

Instead, PB2 is perfect for tossing with warm oil or broth and hot noodles for a near-instant peanut sauce. It also can be used in baked goods, giving the luscious flavor of peanut to recipes such as banana bread and sugar cookies.

If you do want to use it on a sandwich, take the label's advice and reconstitute it directly with the jam.

It's not at the stores yet. Look for it online at www.bellplantation.com. It costs $11.96 for four 6½-ounce jars.

On the screen: In an age when sushi is served at 7-Eleven, is anyone surprised it now has come to Saturday morning television, too?

"Sushi Pack" is a tween-targeted cartoon on CBS about "five very brave and very active adolescents who just happen to be four pieces of sushi and a clump of wasabi," according to the show's press materials.

That's right -- sushi superheroes. There's Tako (octopus), Maguro (tuna), Ikura (salmon eggs), Kani (crab) and Wasabi (if you need a definition you've been living under a rock for the past decade). They live in an organic coffee shop.

And yes, there is bad sushi, the Legion of Low Tide, led by Titanium Chef.

The cartoon is heavy on sushi puns, such as: "Heat lamps? But this sushi should never be cooked!" says Tako during a battle with artwork come alive (if you can roll with animate sushi, the artwork won't stretch your suspension of disbelief).

-- Associated Press