In a world strapped for time, 4 Ingredients One Pot, One Bowl is the perfect inspiration to get high-quality, home-cooked meals on the family table. The latest installment in Kim McCosker's series of "4 Ingedients" cookbooks is a comprehensive collection of recipes for breakfasts, snacks, brunches/lunches and dinners, showcasing casseroles, quiches, roasts, soups, stews, pizza, pasta, pies and sweet treats.
Delicious-looking photographs accompany simple recipes for dishes like bacon and egg pie, yummy tuna bake and Bolognese sauce that result in surprisingly complex flavors. McCosker's shortcuts are the best part--like using store-bought rotisserie chicken, cream of chicken soup, frozen puff pastry and vegetables in a roasting pan version of chicken pot pie. A French lamb casserole gains depth by simmering lamb chops, onion soup mix, a can of diced tomatoes and carrots in a slow cooker, while culinary minimalism elevates to elegance in Thai squash soup and gnocchi with sage and blue cheese.
Sweets, too, are incredibly straightforward. Scones are prepared with self-rising flour, heavy cream and lemon-lime soda--that's it. The simple, concise instructions for apple crumble, Key lime pie and peach slice cake make these easy to assemble desserts tasty and tempting.
Whether the recipe is savory or sweet, McCosker succeeds in redefining fast, flavorful and fabulous. Optional tips are a bonus that add to the overall appeal and presentation. --Kathleen Gerard, blogger at Reading Between the Lines