Gordon Ramsay thinks you should make a mess. If you are not, you may be holding back your family and dinner guests from experiencing exceptionally flavorful food that you could be dishing up daily, even while you're constantly caught in the eye of a stormily busy schedule.

"Presentation's there for 30 seconds. It's the flavor that holds the memory," screamed Ramsay twice recently at a sometimes crying chef whose once-award-winning meals had become victim to stuffy arrangements.

This was part of BBC America's "Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares," the much rawer and more powerful Emmy-winning imported precursor to Fox Broadcasting's Americanized version of the same show. In the BBC America show, which airs multiple times weekly, the Scottish-born chef who became England's top restaurateur, teaches cooks — peppered with bleeped curse words — how to recapture their mojo.

Instead of producing his usual perfectly-presented fare, which Ramsay determined was paralyzing him, the chef in question let go and made a messy pile of mackerel on an unkempt bed of sauteed potatoes; it cut the mustard with Ramsay and new appreciative customers.

Not being shy about serving pile after pile of quick-cooked messy food may, in fact, be the trick to have time to prepare dinner multiple times a week — or to entertain more often — even amidst the busiest schedule.

It's a trend; you'll even be chic doing it. Rocco DiSpirito, TV chef, cookbook author and former owner of chichi New York City restaurants, recently filled his whole book "Rocco's Real Life Recipes: Fast Flavor for Every Day" (Meredith, $19.95) with such sultry slop. A chopped salad is tossed right on top of pork cutlets; fried onions and crispy bacon get heaped atop meatloaf; fried seafood gets dumped on a pile of "melted" onions.

Consider making "The River Cottage Family Cookbook" (Ten Speed, $32.50) your guide to messy meals. Photos, unlike perfectly styled ones in many past books, show off every imaginable pile and heap, and even what they look like while your family is in the process of devouring them!

QUICK-FRIED ONION AND CABBAGE HEAP

2 medium onions

1/2 green or savoy cabbage

3 tablespoons sunflower oil

Black pepper, to taste

Sea salt, to taste

Yields 4 to 6 servings.

Peel onions, cut in half from top to bottom and slice thinly. Put on a plate while you prepare cabbage.

Peel off outer couple layers of cabbage, which may be tough and a bit scraggy. Cut half the cabbage in half again; slice these quarters into eighths. Cut away thick core, and slice cabbage into fine ribbons.

Pour oil into the frying pan, turn heat to medium; let oil heat for half a minute or so. Carefully add onion slices; stir them around with wooden spoon. The heat should be enough for a good sizzle, but not so ferocious that onions brown too quickly. Fry onions, stirring often, until lightly browned and starting to wilt, 5 to 6 minutes.

Add sliced cabbage; stir well. Grind in plenty of black pepper and some sea salt. Fry vegetables, carefully stirring every few seconds. After a couple of minutes, you'll notice that the cabbage starts to wilt down. Grind in some more black pepper. Keep frying and stirring for 8 to 10 minutes, until onions and cabbage have shrunk down in pan and both are shiny with oil. Carefully taste cabbage; make sure that it is tender. Fry a little longer if it still seems a bit tough, stirring often.

—"The River Cottage Family Cookbook" by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Fizz Carr (Ten Speed, $32.50).

PORK CUTLETS TOPPED WITH CHOPPED SALAD

1 cup cooking oil

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup plain breadcrumbs

Salt, to taste

Freshly ground pepper, to taste

4 (8-ounce) boneless pork loin chops, pounded thin

1/2 cup of your favorite bottled garlic and herb vinaigrette

1 head radicchio, cored and chopped

1 head iceberg lettuce, cored and chopped

1/4 pound provolone, diced

Yields 4 servings.

Heat 1/2 cup oil in each of 2 large saute pans over high heat.

Place flour, beaten eggs and breadcrumbs in three separate shallow dishes. Season flour with salt and pepper.

Season each chop with salt and pepper. With left hand, put each chop in the flour, shaking off excess. With right hand, dip each chop into beaten eggs. Finally, with left hand, dredge chops in breadcrumbs. Use dry (left) hand to press crumbs into chops. Gently shake off any extra crumbs.

Carefully lay 2 chops in each pan with the hot oil. The chops should sizzle immediately and begin to brown.

Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl, drizzle vinaigrette over radicchio, lettuce and provolone. Toss salad; season with salt and pepper.

Turn chops over when brown on one side, about 2 to 3 minutes. When golden brown and fully cooked, carefully remove chops from pans and drain on paper towel-lined plate.

Place chops on four plates; top each with some of the chopped salad.

—"Rocco's Real Life Recipes: Fast Flavor for Every Day" by Rocco DiSpirito (Meredith, $19.95).

Lisa Messinger is a first-place winner in food writing from the Association of Food Journalists and the author of seven food books, including "Mrs. Cubbison's Best Stuffing Cookbook" and "The Sourdough Bread Bowl Cookbook." She also writes the Creators News Service "Cooks' Books" column. To find out more about Lisa Messinger and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.