For cooks of a certain age, "The Silver Palate Cookbook" was a kitchen staple, as much as sugar and salt. So it is with much sadness that we report that co-author Sheila Lukins, has died of brain cancer at age 66. Lukins wrote "Silver Palate" with Julee Rosso in 1982, and it has sold more than two and a half million copies, according to Publishers Weekly. The cookbook introduced readers to dishes like Chicken Marbella, which, in classic Silver Palate style, used everyday ingredients—capers, olives and prunes—to add new, refined flavors to a dish, PW said.

Workman editor Suzanne Rafer called Lukins "a woman who changed the way the home cook cooks," noting that Lukins excelled at "taking what restaurant cooks were starting to do, and picking up on the new flavors that people were starting to enjoy in restaurants, and translating them into vibrant, interesting, easy to make dishes. This is a woman who glorified the noble prune and had us all eating Chicken Marbella—still."

That's a dish I know well -- my wife makes it all the time, and it's delicious. I asked for her perspective on Lukins and she wrote: "I follow that [Choicken Marbella] recipe exactly (with the possible exception of increasing the quantity of prunes) and have made other yummy things from the original Silvar Palate cookbook. ... The "Comforting Conclusion" section is among my favorites with a bread pudding recipe that is the best ever and so simple to make -- also follow that one exactly with fool-proof results."

Here's more from the New York Times obit.