Meals on DVD: Shop, Watch, Cook! (DVD)

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This holiday season Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released a Food Network series that's designed to make cooking as easy as three simple steps: shop, watch, cook.

With themes and titles never seen before on DVD and recipes from the Food Network stars, the series features specialties from Alton Brown's "Good Eats," Giada De Laurentiis' "Everyday Italian," Ina Garten's "Barefoot Contessa," Michael Chiarello's "Easy Entertaining," Paula Deen's "Paula's Home Cooking," Rachel Ray's "30 Minute Meals," and Tyler Florence's "Tyler's Ultimate."

The first round of DVDs offers Food Network fans the "Perfect Thanksgiving Dinner," "Holiday Dinner Party," "Holiday Cookies," "Cozy Comfort Foods," "The Great Bakeoff: Great Dessert Recipes from Paula Deen," "Slow Cookin': Great Slow Cooker Recipes from Paula Deen," "Simple Side Dishes," "Quick Meatloaf Recipes," "Easy Chicken Dinners," "Soul Soothing Soups," "Mac and Cheese Feasts," and "Pastas from Giada."

I received several screeners from the series, and what they all have in common is that they're shot with the same set, style, and production values as the TV show. The only difference is that there are lingering "recipe cards" that pop up on the screen from time-to-time, and each disc has printable versions. So people with kitchen-area computers or laptops will have the advantage here, because you can just pop the disc in and watch it play on your counter while you cook along, pausing when you need to in order to catch up with Food Network host Giada de Laurentiis, whose show "Everyday Italian" airs on Saturdays at 7 a.m. and Tuesday through Friday at 4:30pm Eastern time. If the name sounds familiar, the Foot Network host is the granddaughter of Academy Award-winning movie producer Dino de Laurentiis. But Giada is a star too, earning an Emmy for Outstanding Lifestyle Host and becoming one of Food Network's most popular celebrity chefs. Giada was trained at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris and subsequently worked at the Ritz Carlton Fine Dining Room and at Wolfgang Puck's Spago in Beverly Hills.

The first thing you notice about the DVDs in this series is the packaging, which reflects the throwaway pricing ($7.99). It's a single cardboard sleeve with a slotted hole near the top so that it can be hung on displays near cash registers at retail stores, including, presumably, grocery stores. To open, you actually tear off the top (in this case, blue) portion, which leaves you with a square package and a faux recipe tab on the right side. You'd think they'd have printed "Pastas from Giada" on this tab and varied the placement so they could be sorted through as in recipe files, but that's not the case.

Open the package and it's a no-frills disc that lists the recipes on the label, as well as the running time (37 minutes).

My first thought was to get on the FoodNetwork.com site and see if there was any overlapping, but if you get to Giada's show and click on the 100 recipes you can download, none of these appear.

You can press "play all" or select a specific recipe. In all cases you get Giada in her kitchen talking every step of the way while she shows you how to make the recipe.

One complete meal is included: Lasagna rolls and Arugula Endive Salad with White Wine Vinaigrette as a side dish and Italian Doughnuts for dessert. Additional dishes are Fried Zucchini, Baked Penne with Roasted Vegetables, and Linguine with Shrimp and Lemon Oil. For people who prefer cookbooks with pictures, it's even better seeing how Giada slices her zucchini and hearing her say what will happen if the pieces aren't sliced correctly. And it certainly is helpful to see what a dish like Lasagna Rolls looks like at every step of the way, so you can tell instantly if you're veering off-(main)course. The recipes themselves are delicious and relatively easy to make, so this disc will be a great resource for a low-confidence cook who wants to make something special for a night of entertaining and still stay within their budget and level of kitchen expertise. After watching Giada fry the doughnuts right there in a bowl atop her stove, it removes any doubt as to how you might deep-oil fry your doughnuts.