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MONTREAL — The new cookbook Gordon Ramsay's Fast Food has a recipe for berry cheesecake that cuts out almost all of the work: Just dump a handful of crumbled biscuits on a mound of vanilla cream cheese surrounded by warmed blueberries.
Mr. Ramsay suggests serving the mounds in ramekins, but adds, "if you haven't time ... just layer the vanilla cream cheese and blueberries in glasses, and scatter the crumb mix on top."
Gordon Ramsay's Fast Food is a 255-page guide on how to prepare simple gourmet fare - one of a slew of new cookbooks aimed at foodies who have more experience eating at fine restaurants and picking up gourmet meals than actual time spent in the kitchen.
Mr. Ramsay's book, released in Canada today, will join others cashing in on an increasing demand for dinners that are as sophisticated as they are easy.
Recent bestselling cookbooks feeding the sophisticated simplicity trend include Nigella Lawson's Nigella Express (also the name of her most recent TV show), Martha Stewart Living magazine's Great Food Fast and almost anything by Jamie Oliver.
"Nowadays people eat out all the time," says Gail Norton, owner of the Cookbook Co. Cooks in Calgary. "They don't want bland food when they come home."
Jonathan Cheung, co-owner of Bon Appétit, a cookbook store in Montreal's affluent Westmount neighbourhood, says his customers know their radicchio from their arugula. "People know they can get any ingredient any time of year," he says. "They are not intimidated by recipes calling for mirin or smoked cod."
But they often don't know how to make a good vinaigrette or the proper technique for tossing a salad. (The latter, Mr. Cheung says, is best done with one's hands, instead of tongs, so as not to pinch bits of baby lettuces.)
Many of the dishes in books such as Gordon Ramsay's Fast Food are merely backdrops to the high-end prepared products popular with urban foodies. His beetroot soup recipe calls for store-bought smoked duck breasts as a garnish. His open-faced sandwich is layered with scrambled eggs, chives - and cooked crabmeat from a shop.
There is even a recipe for smoked salmon, cream cheese and rye - just add oscietra caviar.
Ms. Norton calls this type of cooking "ingredient-driven," meaning the dishes are built around a few strong flavours. And even when calling for basics, the authors advise purchasing the best available.
"Sure, you could use any olive oil," says Ms. Norton, a self-trained chef. "But why not use an olive oil with tons of flavour?"
She says an appetizer in one of Mr. Oliver's popular books may simply be a tomato salad doused in peppery olive oil and British Maldon sea salt, the current choice of salt among foodies.
"People will think you fussed and fussed," Ms. Norton says. "But really it's so easy."
Mr. Cheung says his customers often ask for cookbooks that showcase simple versions of whatever is fashionable at restaurants. He's recently seen a lot of interest in books on pork, as pork belly, Parma ham and braised meats have all become popular menu items. He's been recommending Pork and Sons by Stéphane Reynaud and The Bacon Cookbook by James Villas.
Home cooks used to require some experience or a lot of time to master recipes by, for example, Julia Child or Thomas Keller of California's famed French Laundry restaurant, which for years dominated the cookbook market, Ms. Norton says.
Since the Martha Stewart empire, which has a reputation for complex dishes, released Great Food Fast last year, it has "sold like hot cakes," says Jennifer Granger, assistant manager of the Cookbook Store in Toronto.
"We can't keep it in stock," Ms. Granger says. The book features such American favourites as sloppy joes, steak and onion, and po' boy sandwiches.
The recent publications have all done away with fussy steps such as making a bouquet garni or shocking vegetables in an ice bath after blanching.
Many of the recipes rely on Asian ingredients such as rice vinegar, hoisin sauce and prepared curry mixes that infuse dishes with big flavours.
"You get tons of taste and all you've done is open a jar," Ms. Norton says. "Plus you keep the jar in your pantry and it never goes bad."
Ms. Stewart's cohorts offer preparation times at the top of their recipes; Ms. Lawson colours her instructions with personal confessions such as how difficult it is to persuade her husband to eat a salad for dinner; Mr. Oliver tells readers they can measure ingredients using a "handful" or a "pinch."
"The recipes give the impression there is a lot of room to play around," Mr. Cheung says.
The downside is that with sparse instructions, sometimes the chef-authors leave out information such as whether eggs in a recipe ought to be large or jumbo, and potatoes Yukon Gold or russet. "A professionally trained chef like Mr. Ramsay already knows what he is doing so he may leave out steps that would be obvious to him," Mr. Cheung says.
So do these abbreviated recipes work?
"Usually," he says. "But you still need to know the basics. Large eggs for baking, always."
Cook like Ramsay (at warp speed)
IBERIAN HAM WITH GARLIC AND CHICKPEAS
"It is quite common to pair savoury Iberian ham with beans in Spain. This recipe uses chickpeas but you could substitute canned cooked cannellini, flageolet or cranberry beans, whichever you have to hand."
What you need
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
4 ounces canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed
sea salt and black pepper
8 slices Iberian ham
What you do
Heat the olive oil in a skillet over low heat. Add the garlic slices and cook for a minute to allow the flavours to infuse. Tip in the chickpeas, increase the heat to medium, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Warm through, stirring occasionally, then take the skillet off the heat.
Drape the ham slices on a serving platter and spoon over the chickpeas, garlic and oil from the skillet. Serve warm.
Serves 4
EASY LOBSTER THERMIDOR
What you need
2 freshly cooked lobsters
parmesan, for grating
small handful of chives and chervil, chopped
Sauce:
1/3 cup (75ml) crème fraîche
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon (5ml) dry English mustard
sea salt and black pepper
What you do
Uncurl the lobster tails and place them flat on a board. Using a strong pair of kitchen scissors, snip along the bottom shells, then use a large knife to cut the tails into two halves. Remove the flesh and place back into the shells, the other way around.
To prepare the claws, pull out the small claw to release the blade, then crack open the shells of the thick claws with the back of a knife. Gently pull out the flesh and place on a baking sheet, along with the lobster tails.
Heat the broiler to its highest setting. Mix the sauce ingredients together, then spoon over the lobster tails and claws. Grate over a little parmesan and broil for three to four minutes until golden brown on top. Serve immediately, with a sprinkling of chopped herbs.
Serves 4
From Gordon Ramsay's Fast Food by Gordon Ramsay © Gordon Ramsay. Published by arrangement with Key Porter Books.
Quick hits
Great Food Fast, Martha Stewart Living magazine, Clarkson Potter
Gordon Ramsay's Fast Food, Gordon Ramsay, Key Porter Books
Nigella Express, Nigella Lawson, Knopf Canada
Jamie at Home, Jamie Oliver, Hyperion
Barefoot Contessa at Home: Everyday Recipes You'll Make Over and Over Again, Ina Garten, Clarkson Potter
River Café Two Easy, Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers, Ebury Press
The Art of Simple Food: Notes, Lessons, and Recipes from a Delicious Revolution, Alice Waters, Clarkson Potter
