Weeknight Revelation

I made baby back ribs the other day, and to my surprise and great delight, the recipe took exactly 55 minutes from start to finish: 15 minutes prep and 40 minutes of hands-off cooking.  That's right, 40 minutes.  And they were good!  

Here's what the looked like:

Yum, right?

I think it's key to say that I started with great heritage pork, Duroc to be specific.  It's my favorite breed and a lot closer to foolproof than feedlot pork. Once cooked, the meat was really juicy and tasty, and although it was not pulling away from the bone, it was also not tough as a boot as I feared it might be. All of that to say, the Duroc really brought a lot to this little dinner party.

I was cooking from a gem of a book, "Home at 7, Dinner at 8: 100 Satisfying Suppers on the Table in Less than an Hour" by Sophie Wright. The pages are filled with delicious ideas, and this recipe lived up to every element of the book's promise. Tonight, I'm going to try her chicken pot pie.

What is your most surprisingly successful fast recipe?