Gourmet every day!

I still fall for cookbooks that make big promises. You know, the "great-meals-in-under four-minutes" cookbooks, the "two-ingredient gourmet" cookbooks, the "make a fabulous meal while balancing your checkbook and sipping a glass of wine" cookbooks. Sure, I've been disappointed more times than I can count, but a good gimmick always seduces me.

Now comes "Gourmet's Five Ingredients," (Conde Nast Books, 2002) a slim, attractive volume from the editors at Gourmet magazine. I was skeptical, but my initial experiences, at least, have been good. The book offers 175 recipes that really can -- as the cover touts -- be made "for every day."

The key to tasty meals every day, according to the editors, is using what the book calls "Power Ingredients" -- ingredients that pack a punch.

If you are using only five ingredients at a time, the reasoning goes, make each one count.

The notable ingredients in various flavor categories include:

-- Fat: Make it count by using cream, oil, creme fraiche, coconut milk, cheese and butter.

-- Hot: Black pepper, red pepper flakes, curry paste, ginger, mustard, horseradish and chilies

-- Sweet: Sugar, fruit, maple syrup, bittersweet chocolate, flaked coconut, jelly and honey

-- Onion: Leeks, onions, scallions, shallots and garlic

-- Sour: Vinegar, tomatoes, wine, limes, oranges, grapefruit and lemons

-- Salt: Olives, capers, teriyaki sauce, soy sauce, Asian fish sauce, anchovies and salt

-- Cured meats: Pancetta, prosciutto, Spanish chorizo and bacon

-- Herbs: Basil, cilantro, chives, dill, parsley, rosemary, sage, tarragon and thyme

Over the years, I have found that another secret to everyday cooking is smart, plan-ahead shopping. So in addition to the "power ingredients" listed above, I stock my larder with various kinds of canned beans, frozen meats and poultry (chops, steaks and other fast-cooking cuts), dried pasta, and canned tuna and broth (chicken, beef, vegetables).

The recipes below are from the new Gourmet book as well as from two other cookbooks containing dishes made from five or fewer ingredients: "Cooking with Three Ingredients," by Andrew Schloss (HarperCollins, 1996) and "The 5 in 10 Dessert Cookbook" by Natalie Haughton (Hearst Books, 1993) from an excellent series on recipes made with five ingredients in 10 minutes.

Note: in keeping the ingredients down to five (or, in the Schloss book, to three) the editors do not list salt, pepper or water in the ingredients list, but include them in the instructions. I have listed them as ingredients, in parenthesis.

Gourmet recipes you can use every day

OLIVE-STUFFED CHICKEN WITH ALMONDS

4 boneless chicken breast halves with skin (see note)

1 cup brine-cured green olives, such as Picholine olives, pitted and chopped

(salt and pepper)

2 tablespoon unsalted butter

1/4 cup whole almonds with skins

(3 tablespoons water)

2 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley

Pat chicken breast dry, then cut a 2-inch long, horizontal slit in the thickest part of each. Stuff each breast with 1-1/2 teaspoons of the chopped olives, then season with salt and pepper.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the butter in a 12-inch skillet over moderate heat until foam subsides. Toast the almonds, stirring frequently, until a few shades darker, 5 to 8 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to a cutting board to cool. Do not clean the skillet.

Heat the skillet again, this time over moderately high heat, then add the chicken breasts, skin-side down, and sprinkle with remaining olives. Saute until skin is golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Turn over and cook, covered, over moderate heat until just cooked through, 5 to 7 minutes, then transfer with tongs to plates.

While chicken is cooking, chop the almonds.

After you remove the chicken from the skillet, heat the remaining tablespoon butter and 3 tablespoons water in the skillet, stirring until butter is melted. Stir in almonds, parsley and black pepper to taste. Spoon sauce over chicken.

Note: it's hard to find packaged boneless chicken breasts with the skin on in my supermarket — it may be difficult in yours as well. Ask the folks behind the meat counter to provide some for you. Or, if you must use skinless, boneless breasts, increase the amount of butter you use for sauteeing the chicken by 1 tablespoon.

Recipe from "Gourmet's Five-Ingredients" from the editors of Gourmet (Conde Nast Books, 2002)

STIR-FRIED BEEF WITH CILANTRO

1 tablespoon Asian chili paste (available in most supermarkets)

(1/3 cup water)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 pound boneless sirloin, cut into 1/4-inch thick slices

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro plus 1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves

1 teaspoon Asian fish sauce (also called nam pla; available in most supermarkets)

(salt to taste)

Stir together chili paste and water.

Heat a wok or a 12-inch heavy skillet over high heat until a bead of water dropped on the cooking surface evaporates immediately. Add 1 tablespoon oil and heat until just smoking, then stir-fry half of the beef until browned, about 30 seconds, and transfer to a bowl. Add the remaining oil to the wok and stir-fry remaining beef in same manner. Return all beef and any juices accumulated in the bowl to the wok (or skillet) and stir-fry 30 seconds more. Add chili paste-water mixture and the 1/4 cup chopped cilantro and stir-fry until liquid is reduced to about 1/4 cup, about 1 minute. Remove skillet from heat and stir in fish sauce and salt to taste. Serve sprinkled with fresh cilantro leaves.

Recipe from "Gourmet's Five-Ingredients" from the editors of Gourmet (Conde Nast Books, 2002)

INSTANT SCAMPI

1-1/2 pounds jumbo (16 to 20 count) shrimp

1 tablespoon minced garlic in oil

(1/4 teaspoon salt, plus more, as needed)

(1/8 teaspoon pepper, plus more, as needed)

1 cup dry white wine

In a large nonstick skillet, toss the shrimp with garlic in oil, salt, and pepper. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the shrimp start to sizzle, about 1 minute. They will still look raw.

Add the wine, raise the heat to high, and bring to a boil. Remove the shrimp to a serving plate and boil the wine until it is reduced to 1/4 cup and slightly thickened. Adjust the seasoning with more salt and pepper, pour the sauce over the shrimp, and serve.

Yield: 4 servings

Recipe from "Cooking with Three Ingredients," by Andrew Schloss (HarperCollins, 1996)

PEARS POACHED

IN RED WINE

4 firm ripe pears

1-1/4 cups good-quality burgundy wine

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon cold water (optional)

Peel the pears, cut lengthwise in half and remove the cores. Cut each half, lengthwise, into 3 pieces.

In a large, non-reactive frying pan, combine the wine, sugar and cinnamon. Heat to simmering over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Add the pears to the hot, spiced wine. Cover and simmer 4 to 5 minutes, or until the pears are fork-tender but not mushy.

Stir in lemon juice. Place the pears in dessert dish and spoon some of the hot wine liquid over them.

(If you would like a thicker liquid, stir the cornstarch mixture into the wine liquid in the pan and cook until clear, bubbly and thickened.)

Serve hot, at room temperature, or chilled.

Yield: 4 servings

Recipe from "The 5 in 10 Dessert Cookbook" by Natalie Haughton (Hearst Books, 1993).