The Instant Cook

Oversized, glossy and gorgeously photographed, this cookbook has the body of a fashion model but the soul of a harried mother. It offers dozens of inventive and delicious recipes, most of which require very little time in the kitchen and all of which make use of convenient ingredients. Marmalade Grilled Pork Steaks asks for little more than some pork, this morning's marmalade and a frying pan, but the recipe yields wonderfully tender salty-sweet steaks. Tomato and Eggplant Tarts are like pizza for grownups (and Hay is one of those down-to-earth cooks who doesn't shy away from using frozen pastry crusts). Grilled Chicken and Vegetable Stacks are attractive piles of protein; here Hay offers a terrific vegetarian variation, as she does in several recipes throughout the book. And the desserts-Blueberry and White Chocolate Mousse, Cheat's Apple Tarts and Chocolate French Toast-are as easy as they are enticing. So what's not to like about this volume? Two small things: the first is that it was originally published in Australia, and several of the recipes have yet to be Americanized. (Squid hoods, anyone? Desiree potatoes?) The other is that these pages are so lovely to look at that it seems a shame to splash them with soy sauce and dribble them with oil. After all, a cookbook this handy isn't likely to dwell on one's coffee table for long.