Sally Swift and Lynne Rossetto Kasper are co-authors of the hot new cookbook, “The Splendid Table’s How to Eat Supper.”

I imagine that Minnesotans Lynne Rossetto Kasper and Sally Swift, host and producer of public radio’s “The Splendid Table,” respectively, are Gourmet magazine readers. They probably subscribe to “Food & Wine,” “Bon Appetit,” “Cook’s Illustrated” and “Saveur” as well. Still, I’m thinking they were jumping like a pair of Double Dutch-ers when they opened their mailboxes, flipped through Gourmet’s June issue and read editor Ruth Reichl’s gush-fest over their new cookbook, “The Splendid Table’s How to Eat Supper.”

Seriously, not since Oprah Winfrey endorsed Barack Obama have we been witness to such praise.

“What a cookbook should do is make you want to run right into the kitchen and begin to cook,” wrote Reichl in her monthly “Letter from the Editor.” “It should be full of recipes so wonderful that your family will be thrilled and you’ll be inspired to keep on cooking. It should introduce you to new cuisines and innovative techniques or make you rethink old ones. It should inspire you to share the recipes you love and tell stories about the fabulous meals you have made from it.

“That’s exactly what happened when the galley for ‘The Splendid Table’s How to Eat Supper,’ Lynne Rossetto Kasper and Sally Swift’s new cookbook, landed on my desk a few months ago. This superb book demystifies cooking by offering, among other things, interesting ways to use supermarket staples. As soon as I told [Gourmet] executive editor Doc Willoughby how much I liked the book’s method for making canned chicken broth into something respectable, we began to lament the dearth of really excellent cookbooks. ‘I bet there aren’t more than a dozen a year that I want to take home,’ I heard myself say.”

And you know what? Reichl is absolutely right. “Supper” is one of the best cookbooks to come around in ages. (My only complaint: I wish there were more photographs, by gifted Minnesota photographer Mette Nielsen). Hopefully it’s selling so well that Jeff Bezos is pulling out what little hair he has left trying to keep the title in stock at Amazon.com.

I spoke with the authors a few weeks ago. Go here for the interview (and here for the recipes).

Of course, Rossetto Kasper and Swift have included a fantastic asparagus recipe in “Supper.”

SPRING GRILL OF ASPARAGUS AND SCALLION SALAD
Serves 4 to 6.
Note: From “The Splendid Table’s How to Eat Supper” by Lynne Rossetto Kasper and Sally Swift (Clarkson Potter, $35).

For dressing:
1 medium shallot, minced
1/2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1/2 tbsp. red or white white vinegar, or cider vinegar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp. coarse dark mustard
5 tbsp. heavy whipping cream
For salad:
1 bunch pencil-thin asparagus (1 lb.), tough ends snapped off
3 bunches green onions (about 20), trimmed of roots and of 1 inch of green tops
1 to 2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp. minced fresh chives or green onion tops

Directions
To make dressing: In a medium bowl, blend shallot with balsamic vinegar, red or white vinegar (or cider vinegar) and salt and pepper to taste. Mix in mustard and cream. Taste for seasoning and set aside.
To make asparagus: Set an oven rack about 5 inches from the broiler. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Clover a large baking sheet with foil. Spread asparagus and green onions over sheet, leaving enough room so they do not touch. Sprinkle with olive oil and a little salt and pepper. Roll vegetables gently to coat them with seasonings. Roast for 6 to 8 minutes, or until asparagus is barely tender when pierced with a knife (you should hear them sizzling). Turn on broiler and broil for about 2 minutes. Scallions should have some browned leaves and asparagus should pick color. If some pieces are browning faster, feel free to pull them off and set them aside while other pieces finish. Pile vegetables on a platter and zigzag dressing over them. Sprinkle with chives (or green onion tops) and serve.