SILVERTON'S TWIST CHEF TOUTS QUALITY PACKAGED FOODS FOR HOME COOKS IN A HURRY.

Byline: NATALIE HAUGHTON

>FOOD EDITOR

Nancy Silverton seems to revolutionize whatever she touches in the food world.

First it was the Los Angeles dessert scene as the pastry chef at Spago in the early '80s, then artisan bread baking as the founder of Los Angeles' La Brea Bakery in 1989, then restaurant fare as co-founder of Campanile the same year, and now pizzas and other creations as a co-ownerof the recently opened Pizzeria Mozza and Osteria Mozza in Los Angeles.

The Valley girl's current mission is to get Americans to toss their reliance on takeout meals and get back in the kitchen. She shows how to create satisfying meals with a minimum of time and effort in her newest cookbook, "A Twist of the Wrist: Quick Flavorful Meals With Ingredients From Jars, Cans, Bags, and Boxes" with Carolynn Carreno (Alfred A. Knopf; $29.95).

How did your book come about?

It came about on a few different levels. I was kind of angered about three or four years ago by the popularity of a few cookbook authors who didn't enjoy cooking and were writing cookbooks about getting food on the table as quickly as possible with the least amount of passion, care and responsibility. Secondly, I was noticing that a large segment of the grocery store was devoted to home meal replacement -- precooked meals or components of a meal.

People were cooking less, spending less time in the kitchen -- and those that were cooking were cooking out of cookbooks touting jarred or other packaged products that were terribly compromised because the products used in their recipes were really substandard, and as a result, so were the dishes made with them.

About the same time I had begun to take note of the abundance and variety of quality jarred, bottled, canned and otherwise packaged goods available to give complexity to a meal without cooking it all yourself.

Are you trying to get people back in the kitchen?

I want to give people incentive to cook at home with some sort of crutches. The book is a collection of recipes that takes advantage of quality premade ingredients to create entrees that have the same complexity of flavors and textures as ones you'd be served in a restaurant. I was careful to choose ingredients without artificial ingredients, flavors or preservatives that withstood the test of being jarred, canned, bagged or boxed. I went through hundreds of items, and 60 to 70 percent were found not usable. There are a lot of bad products out there.

Do you and other chefs really cook this way at home?

I have more and more in a sense (rotisserie chicken, doctored-up mayo, etc.), and I see more and more of my chef friends cooking this way. Some contributed recipes. My friends Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger, aka the Two Hot Tamales, sent me a recipe for chilaquiles that makes delicious use of a bottle of salsa and a bag of tortilla chips. Lissa Doumaini and Hiro Sone of Terra Restaurant in St. Helena told me about a recipe (in the book) they make at home with canned tuna, V-8 juice and pasta.

How long do most of the recipes in the book take?

I aimed for half an hour, but some take as much as 45 minutes.

Do you view these as upscale recipes?

I view them as sophisticated and restaurant quality.

What are some of your favorite recipes in the book?

I love the spicy Chicken Salad With Chipotle Mayonnaise, Avocado and Watercress. Also the Seared Rare Tuna with Caperberry Relish and Pomegranate-Glazed Lamb Chops With Stuffed Grape Leaves and Tahini Sauce.

What are some of your secret shortcuts or tips that work in fast recipes?

Mayonnaise or yogurt as a sauce. Rather than chopping garlic, peel the clove and use a Microplane grater to grate it. Use all sorts of beans to make purees, sauces and bases of dishes.

What is your philosophy of cooking?

Foods that I like tend to be more simply prepared -- grilled, sauteed, roasted or braised. They don't have a whole lot of ingredients, but the flavors are clean, bright and strong. Presentation that I personally find most appealing is simple. I like it to be natural and don't like it cluttered.

Are many of the recipes streamlined versions of dishes you made before?

Lots -- main-dish salads, some of the pastas, one dessert (Hot Fudge Sundaes) and a dish made at Campanile (Seared Beef Filet With White Beans, Bitter Greens and Black Olive Tapenade).

What are places in the area to find some of the ingredients you suggest?

Jon's Market is fantastic, so is Mr. Marcel Gourmet Market at Farmers Market at Third and Fairfax (Los Angeles), Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, C&K Imports (Los Angeles), Bay Cities Italian Deli & Bakery (Santa Monica), Gelson's and Ralphs.

Has your cooking/food philosophy changed since you started cooking?

I never thought I would have written a book that calls for one to go buy a rotisserie chicken ... I crossed boundaries to write the book. For me to write a book in which a jar of mayonnaise is even mentioned is revolutionary. But it's a revolution that I felt had to happen.

Why do you think your restaurants are so popular?

I think we are making the food people want to eat and we're making it taste the way they want it to be. That's what I hear more and more from customers all the time. "I can't believe you've met our expectations."

Natalie Haughton, [phone];

[e-mail]

CHICKEN SALAD WITH CHIPOTLE MAYONNAISE, AVOCADO AND WATERCRESS

1 (1 1/2-pound) roasted chicken, meat shredded and skin and bones discarded (3 to 4 cups)

1 cup Chipotle Mayonnaise (recipe follows)

10 cups loosely packed live watercress OR pepper cress, roots trimmed and discarded

Sea salt

1 ripe Hass avocado

Lemon-infused olive oil (OR high-quality extra-virgin olive oil combined with a pinch of fresh grated

lemon zest), for drizzling

Lime, for squeezing over avocado

Freshly ground black pepper

4 long cilantro sprigs, for garnish

Place shredded chicken in a large bowl. Add 3/4 cup Chipotle Mayonnaise and toss to coat. Add more mayonnaise if necessary to coat chicken thoroughly. Divide watercress evenly among 4 plates and sprinkle with sea salt. Mound chicken salad on top of watercress. Halve avocado, remove pit, and cut each half crosswise into quarters. Remove and discard peel and place 1/4 on top of each mound of chicken. Drizzle lemon-infused oil and squeeze a few drops of lime juice over each avocado. Sprinkle with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, and top each salad with a sprig of fresh cilantro. Makes 4 servings.

CHIPOTLE MAYONNAISE: In a small bowl, stir together 1 cup mayonnaise, 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves, 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice OR more to taste, 4 large garlic cloves, grated OR minced (about 1 tablespoon) OR more to taste, 1 1/2 teaspoons pureed chipotle peppers in adobo OR more to taste and 1 teaspoon kosher salt OR more to taste. Makes about 1 cup.

>FROM "A TWIST OF THE WRIST: QUICK FLAVORFUL MEALS WITH INGREDIENTS FROM JARS, CANS, BAGS, AND BOXES," BY NANCY SILVERTON WITH CAROLYNN CARRENO

LENTILS WITH BALSAMIC-MARINATED CHICKEN AND AN OLIVE OIL-FRIED EGG CHICKEN:

1/2 roasted chicken (about 3/4 pound), meat shredded and skin and bones discarded

(1 1/2 to 2 cups)

3 tablespoons aged balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Kosher salt

1/4 cup pine nuts

LENTILS:

2 (15-ounce) cans lentils OR 2 (19-ounce) cans lentil soup, rinsed and drained (about 3 cups)

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 small garlic clove, grated OR minced (about 1/2 teaspoon)

Kosher salt

FRIED EGGS:

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

4 large eggs

Sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup loosely packed fresh Italian parsley leaves

To make Chicken mixture, toss chicken in a medium bowl with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, lemon juice and pinch of kosher salt; set aside to marinate.

Spread pine nuts on a baking sheet and toast them in center of a preheated 325-degree oven

8 to 10 minutes, shaking pan occasionally for even toasting, until nuts are lightly browned. Remove nuts from oven and set aside to cool to room temperature. Add to bowl with chicken and toss to combine.

To make Lentils, combine lentils, olive oil, garlic and pinch of kosher salt together in a small bowl; stir to mix thoroughly.

For Eggs, heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over high heat 2 to 3 minutes, until the oil is almost smoking (you will begin to smell the oil at that point). Break 1 egg into a small bowl, and then pour egg into skillet. Let it just begin to set around edges, then break the second egg into the bowl and pour it into the skillet. (By waiting a moment before adding the second egg, the eggs won't set together and will be easy to separate and serve individually.) Cook them about 1 1/2 minutes, until edges are golden and crispy and whites are set but yolks are still runny. Remove eggs to a plate and cook remaining 2 eggs in the same way.

Spoon lentils into mounds on each of 4 plates and top each mound with chicken, dividing evenly. Place 1 egg on top of each serving and sprinkle with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Scatter parsley leaves over eggs and lentils. Makes 4 servings.

>FROM "A TWIST OF THE WRIST: QUICK FLAVORFUL MEALS WITH INGREDIENTS FROM JARS, CANS, BAGS, AND BOXES," BY NANCY SILVERTON WITH CAROLYNN CARRENO

>Nancy Silverton

>Age: 53.

>Profession: Founder of Los Angeles' famed La Brea Bakery; co-owner of Pizzeria Mozza and Osteria Mozza.

>Hometown: Raised in Encino and Sherman Oaks.

>Was her mother a good cook? Silverton's mother (now deceased) loved to experiment with ethnic foods and dishes (i.e. spanakopita, beef bourguignonne) and did not cook to her liking while she was growing up. "I preferred bland sort of food of the '60s -- such as creamed tuna on toast, tuna tetrazzini, casseroles -- and hated the fact that my mother didn't make any of these," noted Silverton.

>Favorite things to eat/drink: Charred rare piece of aged bone-in ribeye, well-assembled salad, red wine.

>What she keeps in her fridge/pantry: A roasted chicken from Los Angeles' Pollo a la Brasa, sliced aged provolone, arugula, Del Cabo Sweet 100 organic cherry tomatoes, high-quality extra virgin olive oils, sea salt and other condiments.

>Favorite junk food: Potato chips, Fritos.

>Favorite gadget: Mortar and pestle.

>Favorite cookbooks: "The Zuni Cafe Cookbook: A Compendium of Recipes and Cooking Lessons From San Francisco's Beloved Restaurant," by Judy Rodgers; and cookbooks by Alice Waters and Paula Wolfert.

>Foods she dislikes: Combinations of savory and sweet (such as fruits) in entrees.

>Favorite dishes to cook: Omelets, salads.

>What dishes that you cook do your children like best?: Omelets, eggs, different pasta combinations.

>Favorite restaurant: Chez Panisse, Berkeley.

>Ideal vacation: Going to her house in Umbria, Italy.

>If she couldn't be a restaurateur, what would she be: "I don't think I would be anything else, in all honesty."

>If she could dine with anyone (current or in history) it would be: American playwright Lillian Hellman.

>Most memorable meal: "Eating tuna sandwiches with Maida Heatter, her husband Ralph Daniel, and Wolfgang Puck at Maida's house in South Beach, Fla." It's all about the ambience, the food, the people you're with and the wine you're drinking.

>Favorite music: Nothing post 1980 (that's not too loud and has beautiful words that you can understand). "I think I'm a romantic at heart," she said.

>Family: Divorced; she has three children -- two grown and one still living at home.

>The worst part of being a restaurateur is: "Not living up to the expectations of your clientele; disappointing people."

>Tip for a good life or living: "Enjoy it. Drink and eat as much as possible."

>N.H.

CAPTION(S):

4 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) NEW TAKES FROM CHEF NANCY SILVERTON

(2 -- color) no caption (Nancy Silverton)

(3 -- color) no caption (CHICKEN SALAD WITH CHIPOTLE MAYONNAISE, AVOCADO AND WATERCRESS

(4 -- color) no caption (LENTILS WITH BALSAMIC-MARINATED CHICKEN AND AN OLIVE OIL-FRIED EGG)

PHOTOS BY DAVID CRANE >LA.COM

Box:

> Nancy Silverton (see text)