COOK WITH JAMIE - My Guide to Making You a Better Cook - Jamie Oliver
This cookbook has a copyright of 2007. I got this as a Christmas present this past year. I have never cooked from this before.
Jamie says that this should have been the first book he wrote as it is his guide to making one a better cook, whether you are twenty and just starting out or, ahem, older and needing to learn. All the promo's of this book when it first came out at the end of last year had one line that stuck with me "If you are going to eat three times a day for the rest of your life, you might as well learn to cook properly and enjoy it". This is his book on the "basics' of cooking. All proceeds from the sale of this book go to the training of kids through his Fifteen Foundation.
There is a lengthy introduction, a bit about the Fifteen, a page on equipment and in the back a more detailed description of herbs, spices and Jamie's cooking tips and tricks. The index is pretty good and he highlights vegetarian recipes.
Chapters are standard...Salads, Fish, Desserts. Each chapter starts with some basic information. For example the fish chapter talks about the types of fish, tells you how to shop for it and general instructions for cooking it. What I liked about the recipes is that they are pretty descriptive. Oh you might find "Greek Salad" but more often you'll find "Pan-Roasted Salmon with Purple Sprouting Broccoli and Anchovy-Rosemary Sauce" or "The Ultimate Fruit Meringue with Vanilla Cream, Hazelnuts and Caramel". Makes it easy to see what the recipe is really made of. Recipes sound pretty straight forward with easy to find ingredients. If you've watched any of his food shows, the book is written like Jamie talks. Each recipe comes with a full page photo of the dish.
There are some great sounding recipes in this book I'd like to try. "Perfectly Cooked Crispy Duck with Spiced Plum Chutney", "Lovely Easy Caramelle with Ricotta, Basil and Black Olives", "Delicious Roasted White Fish Wrapped in Smoked Bacon with Lemon Mayonnaise and Asparagus" (I told you the names were descriptive!). I'm thinking if I started at the beginning of this book and worked my way through, I just might become a better cook!
"Lovely Easy Caramelle with Ricotta, Basil and Black Olives" um... umless jamies idea of caramelle is different than mine, i think i might have to pass on this because i can't think of any three ingredients i would rather not have together than caramelle, basil and black olives.
Posted by: barbie2be | July 19, 2008 at 01:16 AM
Jamie says that "Caramelle" means sweetie in Italian and that it in this recipe it's "sweetie-shaped pasta". I had to look it up and found a blog which shows you how to make the little candy shaped pasta.
Posted by: Mrs. L | July 19, 2008 at 09:33 AM
Oh Jamie, my hero. Jamie on Food Network Saturday mornings is the best reason to get up "early" on the weekend. He makes it so real, and well, yeah.
Posted by: Louise | July 19, 2008 at 10:55 AM
I also got this for Christmas this past year from my hubbie. I have not cooked anything from it. I just got Nigella Lawson's new one off my shelf and decided I needed to start trying some new things. I will be keeping my eyes open for your recommendations from Jamie's book.
Posted by: Ilona | July 21, 2008 at 08:39 AM
Louise - I really liked Jamies first cooking show. Haven't followed the last several very regularly.
Illona - I have one of Nigellas books that I've never cooked from! I need to get it out and try something.
Posted by: Mrs. L | July 24, 2008 at 11:50 AM