Cookbook authors turn to packaged foods

Nothing says good home cooking like packaged foods.

Or so goes the message from the latest batch of cookbooks aiming to satisfy Americans' desire to produce more and better meals by spending less and less time in the kitchen.

It started with the 30-minute and five-ingredient crazes, which produced streams of cookbooks that relied on the magic of packaged foods to transform a handful of ingredients into dinner.

The latest incarnation of the trend is a bit more brazen, not just turning to processed foods, but bragging about it.

Thus we have "Fast Fixes with Mixes" from the editors of Taste of Home magazine and Nancy Silverton's forthcoming "A Twist of the Wrist," a not-so-subtle play on the opening of jars and cans.

Taste of Home, a hugely popular brand of folksy magazines and cookbooks that publish readers' recipes, is generally skew to the cream-of-mushroom-soup-casserole crowd.

And truth be told, people who read Cook's Illustrated or Gourmet magazines are likely to roll their eyes at recipes such as the ham and macaroni salad, which combines a box of macaroni and cheese with cubed ham and mayonnaise.

At the other end is Silverton's "A Twist of the Wrist" which tries to cement its "real cooking" credentials with a blurb for the author's previous book by artisanal food queen Alice Waters.

According to the press materials, Silverton has crafted 137 quick and easy recipes "using the best and most delicious ingredients available in cans and jars." Stop laughing. She's on to something.

Thanks to the natural foods revolution, it is possible to get some phenomenal prepared products that combine ease with whatever natural, organic, artisanal or gourmet philosophy guides your food choices.

This is a world away from cans of cream of anything soup. And so Silverton can give us seared beef filet with white beans, bitter greens and black olive tapenade (the beans and tapenade are the packaged items).

Or lamb chops with ratatouille, in which the ratatouille is made almost entirely from canned and jarred goods, including onions, tomatoes and eggplant. This is shortcut cooking for people who still love and want to cook.

Somewhere between Silverton and Taste of Home is "Homemade in Half the Time" (Rodale, 2006, $19.95), which was edited by Shea Waggoner. She blends Silverton's philosophy with a Taste of Home aesthetic.

Hence, she creates peanut butter, banana and raisin waffle sandwiches fashioned from frozen whole grain waffles, and white clam pizzas with Parmesan cheese that rely on refrigerated pizza dough, canned clams and jarred garlic.

It's not a bad approach, and Waggoner provides helpful chapters on make-ahead meals, recipes for slow cookers, and grilling. She also provides somewhat humorously exacting time estimates (the baked brie takes 32 minutes).

The ridiculously simple egg-Cheddar-chutney muffin sandwiches were quite good, getting lots of flavor from jarred chutney. They might have required slightly more than the six minutes Shea allotted.

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HEARTY HAMBURGER CASSEROLE

(Start to finish: 45 minutes)

1 pound ground beef

19-ounce can ready-to-serve chunky vegetable soup

6-ounce package instant stuffing mix

1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly coat a 2-quart casserole dish with cooking spray.

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook the beef until lightly browned and no longer pink inside, about 8 minutes.

While the beef cooks, prepare the stuffing according to package directions.

When the beef is done, use a mesh strainer to drain it to remove excess fat. Return the beef to the skillet. Add the soup and stir well.

Spoon half the stuffing into the casserole dish. Add the beef and soup mixture, then the cheese and the remaining stuffing. Bake, uncovered, for 30 to 35 minutes, or until heated through.

Makes 4 servings.

(Recipe from Taste of Home's "Fast Fixes with Mixes," Reader's Digest, 2006, $15.95)

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EGG-CHEDDAR-CHUTNEY MUFFIN SANDWICH

(Start to finish: 10 minutes)

1 multigrain English muffin, split

1 tablespoon fruit chutney (such as peach-ginger)

1 hard-boiled egg, sliced

2 slices (about 2 ounces) Cheddar cheese

Preheat the oven to broil.

Place the muffin halves on foil or an ovenproof plate. Divide the chutney evenly between the halves and spread. Top with slices of egg, then a slice of cheese. Broil 6 inches from the heat source for about 4 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbling.

Eat as an open-face sandwich, or bring the halves together.

Makes 1 serving.

(Recipe from "Homemade in Half the Time," Rodale, 2006, $19.95)