Book Description
Cooking sensation Jamie Oliver returns with a cookbook designed to delight the entire family! estselling cookbook author Jamie Oliver takes his signature fresh, fun cooking style into new territory by putting his focus on the family. Designed to encourage us to eat healthier meals at home and enjoy our time spent in the kitchen, Jamie's Dinners features over 100 new and simple recipes for easy-to-afford, easy-to-prepare gourmet dinners that will get even the busiest of families back into the kitchen. Jamie's pared-down style and inventive use of fresh, uncomplicated ingredients will ensure that even novice chefs can cook up delicious dinners with confidence and ease using accessible, stylish recipes that the whole family will love, such as Farfalle with Carbonara and Spring Peas and Japanese-Style Saturday Night Steak.
Customer Reviews:
You'll love Jamie, cause Jamie L-O-V-E-S food!.......2007-03-10
I wasn't sure about getting this cookbook, but WOW is my stomach grateful that I did! Straight off, being that fish and chips are my favorite, I tried his "Fish, Chips and Mushy Peas"...minus the mushy peas...(they scared me a bit, being with mint?!?! and all)...it was deluxe, restaurant-ish, lick-your-fingers-and-enjoy-your-guests-praise-nonstop-throughout-the-whole-meal-GOOD! I tried lots of fish and chips recipes before by hoo-ha chefs, all over-complicated, disappointing messy and not-tasty muck, but this one by Jamie was SIMPLE (3 ingredients for the batter) and tasted like perfection! (p.s-try it with a tartar sauce with mayo, mustard, lemon-juice, pickles, onions and a freshly crushed garlic clove...Y-U-M)
After trying the fish, I had a drive to try out some of the others so I tried his "Roast chicken with lemon and rosemary roast potatoes". Now... I make a great variety of roasted chicken dishes, complicated and simple, all BIG hits, and I really thought there was nothing new in the roasted chicken world, until this!!! Wow! My husband and I gorged the whole dish ALONE while quickly abandoning the fork and knife for our hands, licking our fingers every trip to the mouth! The recipe includes stuffing the chicken with garlic cloves and a pierced boiled lemon oozing it's juice...OH MY...speechless is the word! I recommend to eat this dish alone or with the hubby/wife, because it's too good to share with guests! It's our new favorite chicken roast (p.s-stick with fresh herbs, you'll taste the amazing difference!)
After two amazing triumphs with Jamie, I went on to "The ultimate burger and chips". Had it with the hubby and a friend. This burger should have been on that show Oprah had, where her friend explored the top 50 burgers to eat before you die! B-L-I-S-S! This recipe calls for a pestle and mortar, which I never owned and was weary about, but I got one and I am loving it (bye-bye aggression!)We added fresh avocado slices to the bun, besides Jamie's other recommendations..."druel-icous"! This one makes the "junk food/snack" reputation of the burger vanish and become 100% Meal!
The only danger with Jamie's cookbook is that you can forget about all conventional table conversation period...the eating experience becomes only EATING THE FOOD...AND TALKING ABOUT HOW GOOD IT IS...and having a very sudden urge to be thankful to God for food! (shouldn't that be the correct way anyhow, if you're cooking like you should...or could with Jamie?) This is my idea of an eating-lifestyle one must experience before they die! Life is too short to just eat to fill!
It is so refreshing to come across a chef who does all the normal meals we all know and love, but has a deep-food-loving twist that makes it feel like it's the first time ever eating the meal, and who has such a passion for food that you can taste with every bite! Plus, I gotta hand it to him for sticking to the fresh veggies and herbs as opposed to all the dried, frozen and over processed junk there is widely offered today! Don't be afraid to try out new tastes and new herbs...with Jamie they'll become an inseparable part of your meals that you'll marry with the rest of your dishes too!
Suggested food blessing for Jamie's dishes: "Hallelujah, thank you God for Jamie! Amen."
Easy to follow recipies.......2006-11-11
Great recipies and easy to follow. Good foods to entertain your family and friends!
Jamie's Dinners: The Essential Family Cookbook.......2006-11-04
Jamie Oliver aka "The Naked Chef" is my favorite celebrity chef and former Food TV cooking show host. I learned to cook watching his shows. This cookbook is chock full of recipes for parties and family events. There are 120 recipes beautifully illustrated with color photos and simple instructions. Jamie Oliver makes cooking fun, fast and easy. You don't need to be a pro to have a hearty, healthy meal in minutes. Buy this book! You'll love it.
Good, easy and wholesome recipes, but not always a hit with kids.......2006-10-24
This is my first Jamie Oliver cookbook. His TV shtick never appealed to me, but when I read about his really admirable work at improving school lunches in the UK and providing training for school-leavers at "15," his London restaurant, I decided he merited some support. Besides, we definitely needed to widen our repertoir of home dinners.
I've been very favorably impressed by the book. I've made about seven or eight things out of it now, and all have turned out to be excellent. Unlike some reviewers, I didn't mind the lack of precision in some recipes (I've always relied more on just using a "lug" of olive oil than measuring it, anyway), and I've learned to deal with the occasional editing lapse--if you read the whole recipe before starting (good advice I don't usually follow) you discover the "beaten egg" called for in the Spanish roast chicken isn't actually part of the recipe anyway.
So I recommend this book very highly. I should mention that although there are a number of recipes that the author describes as hits or favorites of his children, we've yet to find recipes in the book that will enchant young and old alike. (I don't rule out that this is only because he prepares them better than I do.) But I'm happy to keep plugging away at it, because literally everything has pleased the old, and that's who's doing the cooking!
Useless cookbook for families.......2006-08-26
We don't all live by farmer's markets or in big cities. Too many ingredients (some hard to find in many places) and too long preparation time for stressed out families. I'm sorry Jamie, but I don't have time when I come home from work to crack open a coconut and shred it for fixing a sallad which, by the way, my family won't like. The amount of fat, especially saturated fat in the recipes is astounding. Fine for once a week, but for everyday? I was very disappointed in this cookbook, I'm sorry to say.
Book Description
amie's Kitchen-the television show-began as an experiment and turned into a phenomenon. It started when Jamie took in 15 unemployed, enthusiastic kids, trained them to be chefs, and helped them open a restaurant, Fifteen, that has become the hottest dining spot in London. When England's Channel 4 launched a tie-in series, more than four million people tuned in. The show premiers this fall in the U.S. Jamie's Kitchen-the book-is laid out as a cooking course and will inspire readers of all levels. Some of the cooking techniques included are making salads, cooking without heat, poaching and boiling, steaming, stewing and braising, roasting, grilling, and baking. In the process, Jamie shares one-of-a-kind, delicious recipes, such as prosciutto and pecorino, citrus-seared tuna with crispy noodles, herbs, and chili; smoked haddock risotto; and baked chocolate pudding. Jamie includes tips on how to take recipes in new directions and how to be an inspired grocery shopper-spotting what's good, what's in season, and what's a good value. Most important, Jamie encourages budding cooks to have confidence and a sense of independence, and to be master of the kitchen!
Customer Reviews:
Jamie rocks!!.......2006-12-15
I love Jamie's books! I love all the pictures, the great simple recipes, and insight into Jamie's world.
This book was written during the time when he started training young unemployed kids to become chefs. The chapters include some great unusual salads, cooking without heat, poaching, cooking in pouches, stewing, frying, roasting, grilling, and baking.
There is only one recipe per page, and include a beautiful picture of the prepared product. In between the recipes there are tons of pictures of Jamie, for all the fans out there.:)
These books are definitely a writing from the heart.
Jamie Oliver Knows What He's Talking About!.......2006-09-09
I now have all of Jamie Oliver's books and DVDs. I am eagerly awaiting his book on Italy to be released. B. Marold says it best, so anything I say will be redundant. What I like (love really) about his cookbooks, including this one, is that all of the recipes are cook-able. The meat, fish, salad, and dessert recipes are simple, but incredibly tasty. I own numerous cookbooks, but few are as easy to manouver as Jame Oliver's. The photographs are wonderful and he is adorable. Perhaps he makes it look too easy, but it is once you read the recipe and get down to business in your kitchen. I love this cookbook. It has everything you need to cook and serve a delicious and healthy meal. I would also recommend both his DVDs. His energy is infectious. If you love London (and England) as I do, you get colorful glimpses of restaurants and markets in each episode. His friends are deightful. Especially Gennaro his Italian 'father' and mentor.
I wish I had recorded all of his earlier programs (The Naked Chef) when they were on the Food Network. These tapes are not available now. He deserves all of the success he has garnered for himself. Go out and buy this book and all his other books. And don't forget the DVDs.
Not just cooking - over 100 recipes with useful basic cooking guides and hints throughout........2006-08-10
Not just cooking - over 100 recipes with useful basic cooking guides and hints throughout.
333 high quality, shiny pages split over 9 chapters:-
Cracking Salads
Cooking Without Heat
Poaching and Boiling
Steaming & Cooking in the Bag
Steaming & Braising
Frying
Roasting, Pot-Roasting & Pan Roasting
Grilling & Char-Grilling
Baking & Sweet Things
plus an introduction with sections entitled:-
Getting Yourself Kitted Out
Shopping Tips
Now it's Your Turn
Finished with a concise Index, showing bold page numbers for illustrated recipes, and red to indicate vegetarian recipes plus JO's trademark `Nice One' thanks list, giving full credit to his wife, following on from his touching opening dedication:-
`To my two great girls, lovely Jools, the best thing that ever happened to me, and little Poppy - the best thing I ever made.'
Colourful photography of JO himself, family, friends, locations, techniques and recipes throughout and interspersed with useful reference sections eg:-
Handy pasta recipe
Risotto recipe
Blanching tomatoes
Grating and peeling
Easy chicken stock
Flavoured salt
Sweet pastry and notes on baking blind
Slicing herbs and leaves/chopping and slicing
Boning a chicken
Making a `cartouche'
Filleting or tranching a flat fish
Filleting a round fish
Tying up a bird
The Perfect Basic Bread Recipe - `this recipe is fantastic for making your own bread at home - give it a go - it is so easy and will give you some great results. The other breads in the chapter all use this recipe as a base.'
As above, typical JO notes also head up each recipe e.g.:-
Chips
`I'm putting `chips' in the book because if they're cooked properly they're one of the tastiest things in the world. That crunch and fluffy softness inside is absolutely irresistible- especially if they're someone else's!
A good chip requires control and vigilance when cooking. Get yourself a nice spud - Maris Piper, Desirée and King Edwards are all good......................'
Barolo Poached Fillet Steak with Celeriac Purée
`I didn't try poached meat until a couple of years ago and to be honest the idea didn't appeal to me'. A lot of chefs implied that cooking meat in a good red wine was a waste but how wrong they were. As well as 'Barolo', this dish works with many other red wines especially nice spicy ones like 'Rioja' or 'Shiraz'. What I'm trying to say is that if you use rubbish wine in cooking it will come back to haunt you in the tasting.'
Favourite recipes:-
The proper French side salad
Pomegranate and gin cocktail
Scallop spoons
Soft boiled egg with asparagus on toast
Pappardelle with amazing slow cooked meat
Chinese chicken parcels
Moroccan lamb stew
Quick time sausage cassoulet
Chargrilled marinated vegetables
Tender braised leeks with wine and thyme
Italian style confit of duck with roasted radicchio
Unbelievable roast pork with stuffed apples and parsnips - (all roasted together)
Rosemary stick kebabs
Grilled marinated mozzarella with crunchy bread, smoked bacon and a black olive & lemon dressing
Baked chocolate pudding
Nectarine meringue pie
Surprise pudding
Inside cover quote from `Time Out':-
`The design and photography are clear and luscious and the recipes are the kind you want to try and really can make at home.'
Beautiful pictures but beware of some recipes.......2006-04-17
I received this book as a Christmas gift and was excited about getting it home and trying out the recipes. Some of the recipes turned out fabulous but some didn't as the measurements were just plain wrong. I even tried a couple of the recipes twice and even bought new kitchen scales only to have it fail every time. I think people think Jamie's lack of precise measurements are part of his charm and even liberating but unfortunately cooking doesn't always allow this much room for error. So Jamie, while you have the priveledge of being careless with your measurements and able to try recipes until you master them the rest of us poor saps that bought your book have to keep ruining dinner. I guess you can figure out that you should not reach for this book if you want to try something new for those dinner guests coming over.
Easy, Fun, Delicious.......2006-01-31
Dont think twice, if you are starting a cookbook collection or is just searching for inspiration - Jamie's cookboks are for you... bought it for my wife...couldn't stop reading it and trying it out....
Good choice!
Good taste!
Amazon.com
There are a few British television chefs, such as Delia Smith and Nigel Slater, who know exactly what viewers want. They cook food that is simple to prepare but looks and tastes delicious. That's probably the reason why the BBC appointed Jamie Oliver as the presenter of its series The Naked Chef (which airs on the Television Food Network in the U.S.). A working chef at London's celebrated River Café, Oliver cooks simpler versions of the fare you would find on the restaurant's menu. It's basically modern Italian food using ingredients that can be found by almost anyone who is reasonably interested in food shopping. Like the television show, the book is titled The Naked Chef. In Oliver's words, this sums up the idea: "It's basically stripping back to the bare essentials." He applies this to all his recipes--from salads to roasts, desserts to pastas. He doesn't use culinary jargon or time-consuming processes. In the book you'll find suggestions for ingredients to keep in your larder (pantry) and herbs to grow on your windowsill. Recipes include Warm Salad of Radicchio; Gem and Pancetta; and Beetroot Tagliatelle with Pesto, Mussels, and White Wine. There are also tips on how to cook live lobsters, how to make gravy, preparing dry beans for cooking, and how to make the perfect roast chicken. Several photographs accompany some of the recipes, with step-by-step instructions. Oliver's recipes for bread are particularly good--a tribute to his training at Carluccio's, the Covent Garden deli. This is the perfect book for anyone who doesn't want to spend much more than a half-hour preparing meals and is not willing to compromise on innovation or taste. --Dale Kneen, Amazon.co.uk
Book Description
There are a few British television chefs, such as Delia Smith and Nigel Slater, who know exactly what viewers want. They cook food that is simple to prepare but looks and tastes delicious. That's probably the reason why the BBC appointed Jamie Oliver as the presenter of its series The Naked Chef (which airs on the Television Food Network in the U.S.). A working chef at London's celebrated River Caf+, Oliver cooks simpler versions of the fare you would find on the restaurant's menu. It's basically modern Italian food using ingredients that can be found by almost anyone who is reasonably interested in food shopping. Like the television show, the book is titled The Naked Chef. In Oliver's words, this sums up the idea: "It's basically stripping back to the bare essentials." He applies this to all his recipes--from salads to roasts, desserts to pastas. He doesn't use culinary jargon or time-consuming processes. In the book you'll find suggestions for ingredients to keep in your larder (pantry) and herbs to grow on your windowsill. Recipes include Warm Salad of Radicchio; Gem and Pancetta; and Beetroot Tagliatelle with Pesto, Mussels, and White Wine. There are also tips on how to cook live lobsters, how to make gravy, preparing dry beans for cooking, and how to make the perfect roast chicken. Several photographs accompany some of the recipes, with step-by-step instructions. Oliver's recipes for bread are particularly good--a tribute to his training at Carluccio's, the Covent Garden deli. This is the perfect book for anyone who doesn't want to spend much more than a half-hour preparing meals and is not willing to compromise on innovation or taste. --Dale Kneen, Amazon.co.uk
Customer Reviews:
oh so good!.......2006-09-18
jamie oliver is the best! he is funny, cute, and most inportantly passionate about food. i am currently in culinary school, and jamie's first book.... the naked chef, is the reason i am doing what i am doing. his book makes cooking look so fun and relaxed... exactly what it should be!!!! (i should know... i spend 7 hours in cooking class every day.) the pictures are colorful and artistically taken. give this book as a present to anyone, chef or not. i remember staying up way late at night reading his words and looking at pictures..... mmmmmmm its to bad hes married already!
its interesting .......2006-03-13
its very interesting and have lots of ideas.Very easy to prepare the food . no need to weight the ingredient.
Fantastic Cook book.......2005-10-28
The book is really good. I love this so much I bought Happy Days with the Naked Chef too. The recipes I have tried out so far have worked every time and the instructions are clear. Although I loved cooking, I was not what anyone would call a professional in the kitchen. I would have balked at anything that sounded too complex. The mushroom risotto and the chickpea and leek soup are two of the recipes I make most often. I also tried the Roasted butternut squash in a risotto just as he suggests. It was brilliant and had to be one of the most economical meals I have made. Spotted Dick pudding, minestrone, Fruit crumble, marinated chickpeas, roast chicken have all turned out very well. Such an encouragement for me, the cook..
excelent.......2005-09-06
Just the kind of book you'll love to give to your wife, fun, food written
HAVE SOME FUN IN YOUR KITCHEN!.......2005-04-27
Jamie Oliver's approach to cooking has reminded me that mealtimes shouldn't be stressful, but rather they should be opportunities to get together with family and friends and enjoy each other with some great food!
Usually when I cook I stick to the bulleted list of ingredients and exact steps to follow, which Jamie's cookbook lacks. My most useful tools in the kitchen are normally my measuring utensils. But cooking without exact steps to follow makes the whole process more enjoyable and really gives me a sense of ownership with the food I prepare.
I'm learning that cooking isn't about trying to do everything the same way each time; its about experimenting with the food and trying new kinds of food altogether...its all about being adventurous in the kitchen! The best chefs in the world didn't become the best by sticking word-for-word to bulleted instructions. Thanks to Jamie for giving me some confidence to do my own thing in the kitchen!
Looking at what Jamie has done with his restaurant Fifteen (see the DVD Jamie's Kitchen), he really has shown that it's not a formal culinary education that makes a chef great, but passion for the food.
So go get a Jamie Oliver cookbook or catch one of his shows on the telly, go out and meet your local butchers and farmers, buy some fresh veggies and meat and herbs and have some fun with them! Enjoy spending mealtimes having some fresh food in the enjoyable company of family and friends!
Amazon.com
Jamie Oliver's Happy Days with the Naked Chef is in the same mold as his bestselling cookbooks, The Naked Chef and The Naked Chef Takes Off: recipes for simple, comforting food. This time, however, he has some interesting additions from his travels to Australia, New Zealand, America, and Japan. There are three new ideas in Happy Days with the Naked Chef. Oliver has included a chapter on "Comfort Food"--the kind of cooking Nigel Slater and Nigella Lawson specialize in. There are recipes for British favorites like Toad in the Hole, Fish Finger Buttie, and Sticky Sausage Bap with Melted Cheese and Brown Sauce. In his "Quick Fixes" chapter, Oliver has selected dishes where saving time and minimal washing up are the key ingredients. These include a Steak Sarnie and Chicken Breast Baked in a Bag with Mushrooms, Butter, White Wine, and Thyme. He has also included a "Kids Club" chapter, which offers inspiration for parents trying to get their children excited about food. The new additions don't dominate the book as the remaining two-thirds contain Oliver's standard Italian-style fare: simple salads, fish, meat, vegetables, breads, and desserts. Don't miss the excellent recipe for Medallions of Beef with Morels and Marsala and Crème Fraîche Sauce. Oliver has also been traveling and you'll find recipes with bok choy, soy sauce, and ginger popping up here and there--delicious! --Elizabeth Murgatroyd, Amazon.co.uk
Book Description
Jamie Oliver's Happy Days with the Naked Chef is in the same mold as his bestselling cookbooks, The Naked Chef and The Naked Chef Takes Off: recipes for simple, comforting food. This time, however, he has some interesting additions from his travels to Australia, New Zealand, America, and Japan. There are three new ideas in Happy Days with the Naked Chef. Oliver has included a chapter on "Comfort Food"--the kind of cooking Nigel Slater and Nigella Lawson specialize in. There are recipes for British favorites like Toad in the Hole, Fish Finger Buttie, and Sticky Sausage Bap with Melted Cheese and Brown Sauce. In his "Quick Fixes" chapter, Oliver has selected dishes where saving time and minimal washing up are the key ingredients. These include a Steak Sarnie and Chicken Breast Baked in a Bag with Mushrooms, Butter, White Wine, and Thyme. He has also included a "Kids Club" chapter, which offers inspiration for parents trying to get their children excited about food. The new additions don't dominate the book as the remaining two-thirds contain Oliver's standardItalian-style fare: simple salads, fish, meat, vegetables, breads, and desserts. Don't miss the excellent recipe for Medallions of Beef with Morels and Marsala and Cr+me Fra+che Sauce. Oliver has also been traveling and you'll find recipes with bok choy, soy sauce, and ginger popping up here and there--delicious!--Elizabeth Murgatroyd, Amazon.co.uk
Customer Reviews:
recipes are definitely off.......2006-10-11
The first few times I made things from this book, they seemed off. But Jamie is such the grab and go and not really measuring cook. So I gave him the benefit of the doubt. Then I tried one of his bread recipes... the Banana and Honey Bread (p.245) and using the basic bread recipe (p. 236). Starting with the banana recipe, he says to puree 6 bananas and add water to equal two cups. 6 bananas pureed came out to way more than two cups... then I didnt know what to do about the water. In the basic bread recipe, there it calls for 2 TABLESPOONS of level salt and 2 TABLESPOONS of level sugar. The sugar I could understand, but I had to read the salt one over and over again. I dont even use 2TBS of salt for a roasted chicken and I like salty foods. Then the banana recipe did not call for the removal of the salt from the original recipe. Needless to say, the bread did not turn out well was quite salty, among other things. In retrospect, I think this book has suffered from the conversion from the British system of metrics to the American measurements. I was really disappointed in how much energy and time and enjoyment I had poured into this book and Jamie Oliver, when someone did not care enough to proof the book and ensure that recipes were accurate and usable. I was so disappointed that despite the small fortune I used to collect the books, I decided to give them away with the belief that you should use the book for inspiration, and for recipes that do not call for exact measurements, otherwise, this is not really a cookbook but a selling of a celebrity or personality. I was truly disappointed.
Jamie Does Cooking with the Family. Highly Recommended.......2004-10-03
In every way imaginable, this third Jamie Oliver cookbook proclaims that he has arrived as a celebrity chef, husband, father, and all around swell lad made good. His name on the cover is about three times the size of the book's title, `Happy Days with the Naked Chef', the book is dedicated to his two children, Little Henners and Jakey Bakey, and photos his nibs with his wife, Jools appear throughout the book. On top of all this, there is a much broader representation of international flavors in these recipes based on trips to the Orient, echoing the influence of Japan on the culinary thinking of Joel Robuchon.
At the risk of laying it on just a little too thick, I really believe Oliver shows the kind of passion about good food and cooking which I have seen in very few other TV culinary personalities. Stopping short of a comparison with Julia Child, as Saint Julia did say she couldn't quite understand him most of the time, I would compare his enthusiasm with that of Mario Batali and Jacques Pepin, although he does not have the depth of technique of Jaques or the extensive knowledge of local Italian cuisines as Mario.
Oliver does not simply dedicate to his children for schmaltz value as he devotes a sizable section of the book on the value and attitudes to use when cooking with your kids. These few pages alone are worth the price of the book. Emeril just published a whole book on techniques for cooking with your kids, and as good a job as he did in telling you how to do it, Jamie does a much better job of telling you why you do it and what benefits will arise from the effort. Jamie also gives a few insights into his cooking with Jools as well when he says that once upon a time, every little suggestion on Jools' cooking from world famous chef Jamie was taken as a criticism and tended to dampen her enthusiasm for doing something she did not especially enjoy anyway. The whole picture changed when Jamie simply praised everything Jools did in the kitchen. The quality of her cooking and her attitude improved dramatically. I can think of a few of my relatives I would love to feed the wisdom in this book.
In reviews of Oliver's other books, I have warned that while Jamie preaches simplicity, this is not the same as quick or easy. Jamie does lean a bit toward quicker and easier in some chapters in this book, keeping to the cooking with the kids theme. He has a chapter on `Quick Fixes' and `Comfort Grub' plus `More Simple Salads'. And, he leaves out any recipes for homemade pasta, with all pasta dishes being based on dried pasta, which he always says is not inferior to fresh, just different. There is also a very short chapter just after the introduction on using fresh herbs, which for the entire world sounds like a sermon from Pastor Oliver exhorting you to use fresh herbs. This homily is understandable if you recall that Jamie Oliver's writing and televising about food is all about lifestyle, not just how to cook. His lesson is that fresh herbs are necessary to good cooking.
As always, Oliver's most appealing recipes are for salads, pasta dishes, and seafood. I sometimes wish that all of his books would be reissued collecting all like chapters into individual volumes and I would buy the salad and pasta volumes simply to have all these recipes together. They are by far the most original of his dishes, although there is one pasta dish Jamie attributes to Mario Batali and there are a few in his books that are attributed to his experiences at the River Café.
Bread is one of my favorite culinary subjects and Jamie is one of the very few superstar chefs who gives special emphasis to bread baking. His basic bread recipe is a classic fast method he probably got from Gennaro, as Contaldo uses a very similar recipe in his book `Passione'. The recipe violates the recommendation from experts like Peter Reinhart who promote little yeast and long rise times, but I have made Jamie's bread and I find it just fine, especially as a medium for rolling in savory additions such as onions and salami. To atone for his fast yeast bread, Jamie adds a recipe for artisinal sourdough bread with natural yeast and a classic Italian bega. Read this recipe very carefully before starting, as it takes a FULL WEEK to complete. If you are serious about bread, check out books by Reinhart, Joe Ortiz, or Nancy Silverton, but you could do a lot worse than getting your first taste of bread baking from Sir Jamie.
When someone has an engaging TV personality, I fear their enthusiasm may not transfer to a skill with the written word, especially with Jamie, as I have heard him say he dictates all his books into a tape recorder, as he never really learned to write properly in school. Let me assure you here that even his chapters with low culinary interest such as his chapters on mixed drinks are a joy to read.
Jamie has a habit of labeling certain recipes as `the best ever'. Well, I have made his `best ever' recipes and I agree with him. They have all become standards in my repertoire. He continues to match or exceed the very high quality of recipes you will find from the River Café or even from Signoir Batali himself.
On the remote chance that Hyperion editors read this review for constructive criticism, I will point out that the layout of ingredient lists makes reading the recipes a bit annoying, as does the absence of ingredient lists from some of the simpler recipes.
If one wishes to get more out of their cooking, they could not do much better than to work their way through Jamie Oliver's cookbooks.
The recipes don't turn out right.......2003-06-13
I don't know why the recipes in this book don't turn out right. Every recipe I tried has been a disaster, not to mention required an extremely expensive list of ingredients (porcini mushrooms and arugula anyone?). Jamie Oliver puts on a great show, but the food just doesn't seem to live up to the "easy peasy" hype. His "My favorite curry" with "Lemon rice" took almost 3 hours from prep to finish and tasted horrible. I won't be buying another Jamie Oliver book.
Scrumptious..........2003-05-17
This is absolutely the best cookbook I have ever owned. Usually I own a cookbook and prepare maybe one or two recipes before it sits of the shelf and begins to collect dust.
Happy Days is chock full of simple, low fuss recipes that taste as though hours of work have been spent in the kitchen. Simple, accessible ingredients and winning combinations. A recipe has yet to disappoint me. For someone who's life is too busy for long hours in the kitchen and want flavorful recipes with flair and originality - this is the book for you!
Positively Scrumptious! :).......2003-05-14
This recipe book is very aptly named and will certainly bring you happy days with recipes that are really great and totally simple. As Jamie Oliver has previously done in his other cookbooks, he has enchanted readers with delicious recipes, excellent photographs, funny stories, and enough Cockney to make you feel like a Brit.
Amazon.com's Best of 2001
Affable Essex boy Jamie Oliver continues the British culinary invasion with The Naked Chef Takes Off, the smashing follow-up to his bestselling The Naked Chef. For Oliver, the young Food Network import, food is all about "passing the potatoes around the table, ripping up some bread, licking my fingers, getting tipsy, and enjoying the company of good friends and family," and cooking up "what real people at home really want." The thing is, "real people" picking up cookbooks are often seeking easy-to-follow recipes. But that's not Oliver's bag. The layout of many of his recipes may frustrate traditional-cookbook readers--instructions often appear as one big chunk of conversational text with nary an ingredient or measurement in clear view--but that's part of the charm of Oliver's cookbooks. His commentary, tips, and cooking steps come across in a very approachable, colloquial style and leave plenty of room for individual flair or improvisation. Oliver's enthusiasm for cooking is infectious; the recipes and chapter introductions spill out like a best mate who just can't stop talking about food and how much fun--and simple--it can be to whip up these spectacular dishes.
Oliver kicks things off by stocking your pantry with best-quality ingredients, and he's an apostle for fresh herbs, raving on about growing and drying your own at home. "Morning Glory" is a chapter full of dishes like Midnight Pan-Cooked Breakfast (bacon, mushrooms, tomatoes, sausages, and eggs brought together in the "biggest nonstick pan available" and sopped up with buttered toast--a rustic one-dish cure for any oncoming hangover). "Tapas, Munchies, and Snacks" brings Slow-Cooked and Stuffed Baby Cherry Chili Peppers to the table (when you're done snacking on the chilies, you're left with a jar of terrific flavored oil, perfect for salads or pasta). There's Squashed Cherry Tomato and Smashed Olive Salad, and a Fragrant Thai Broth, infused with lemongrass, ginger, and lime leaves. Once you've mastered his basic risotto recipe you can turn out Shrimp and Peas Risotto with Basil and Mint, and likewise his basic bread recipe is the foundation for Chocolate Twister Bread. "Easy peasy" dessert ideas like Strawberries Marinated in Balsamic Vinegar or Malted Milk Balls and Ice Cream (bash a big bag of Whoppers into bits and sprinkle over quality vanilla ice cream) are a refreshing end to any meal. Now, be a "right little tiger" and get cooking--Seared Scallops and Crispy Prosciutto with Roasted Tomatoes and Smashed White Beans and other fabulous dishes await. --Brad Thomas Parsons
Book Description
Affable Essex boy Jamie Oliver continues the British culinary invasion with The Naked Chef Takes Off, the smashing follow-up to his bestselling The Naked Chef. For Oliver, the young Food Network import, food is all about "passing the potatoes around the table, ripping up some bread, licking my fingers, getting tipsy, and enjoying the company of good friends and family," and cooking up "what real people at home really want." The thing is, "real people" picking up cookbooks are often seeking easy-to-follow recipes. But that's not Oliver's bag. The layout of many of his recipes may frustrate traditional-cookbook readers--instructions often appear as one big chunk of conversational text with nary an ingredient or measurement in clear view--but that's part of the charm of Oliver's cookbooks. His commentary, tips, and cooking steps come across in a very approachable, colloquial style and leave plenty of room for individual flair or improvisation. Oliver's enthusiasm for cooking is infectious; the recipes and chapter introductions spill out like a best mate who just can't stop talking about food and how much fun--and simple--it can be to whip up these spectacular dishes. Oliver kicks things off by stocking your pantry with best-quality ingredients, and he's an apostle for fresh herbs, raving on about growing and drying your own at home. "Morning Glory" is a chapter full of dishes like Midnight Pan-Cooked Breakfast (bacon, mushrooms, tomatoes, sausages, and eggs brought together in the "biggest nonstick pan available" and sopped up with buttered toast--a rustic one-dish cure for any oncoming hangover). "Tapas, Munchies, and Snacks" brings Slow-Cooked and Stuffed Baby Cherry Chili Peppers to the table (when you're done snacking on the chilies, you're left with a jar of terrific flavored oil, perfect for salads or pasta). There's Squashed Cherry Tomato and Smashed Olive Salad, and a Fragrant Thai Broth, infused with lemongrass, ginger, and lime leaves. Once you've mastered his basic risotto recipe you can turn out Shrimp and Peas Risotto with Basil and Mint, and likewise his basic bread recipe is the foundation for Chocolate Twister Bread. "Easy peasy" dessert ideas like Strawberries Marinated in Balsamic Vinegar or Malted Milk Balls and Ice Cream (bash a big bag of Whoppers into bits and sprinkle over quality vanilla ice cream) are a refreshing end to any meal. Now, be a "right little tiger" and get cooking--Seared Scallops and Crispy Prosciutto with Roasted Tomatoes and Smashed White Beans and other fabulous dishes await. --Brad Thomas Parsons
Customer Reviews:
Don't judge a book by its title.......2007-03-29
This cookbook is just The Return of the Naked Chef with a new title. I already owned The Return of the Naked Chef, so now I have two. I really dislike publishers who mislead us by changing titles or changing covers just to get us to buy that which we already own.
The naked chef.......2007-01-09
This book shows you the way to cook fusion food, mixing english, spanish, tai and italian food in a special way.
Yummy!.......2006-06-11
Great easy recipes that taste wonderful! Some ingredients may need to be substituted depending on country availability. I especially appreciate the flexibility and creativity his recipes offer. They're more like suggestions then guidelines. My favorite are his bread recipes. They are the easiest in the world to follow and make.
Recipe for Success!.......2006-05-25
I have a confession to make - I don't cook much! But I decided I wanted to do something special to surprise my girlfriend the other night, and so I decided to invest in my first cookbook.
I'd seen Jamie Oliver on the telly a few times and of all the TV chefs, he seemed the most approachable and so I decided to buy his book. And I'm glad I did.
At first I was a bit intimidated by some of his "easy" recipes (the monkfish in banana leaves seemed quite complicated) but then I found there were actually quite a few recipes that even a novice can handle. As well as various meals Jamie breaks the book into different chapters - starters, mains, desserts, drinks etc which would be very useful if you'd sorted out the main but didn't have a starter etc.
In the end I decided on:
Scallops with Prosciutto with smashed white beans
Followed by:
Tray Roast Sea Bass with mushroom potatoes
And for dessert:
Chocolate Pots (but I didn't make my own biscuits as he suggests in the book)
The good thing about the recipes was that they didn't take long to cook once the preparation was done, and it was easy to judge timings etc of the various courses.
The scallop starter was surprisingly simple, even though it looks quite something on the plate - though in the end I swapped streaky bacon for prosciutto because they didn't have any in Asda. It was still delicious. I think I overcooked the Tray Roast sea bass a bit, and maybe didn't slice the potatoes thin enough, because they were a bit hard, but Natasha said it was nice! The chocolate pots were very rich, but then you only make small portions to allow for that. (And they were great when we had them next morning for breakfast too!)
All in all I was well pleased with myself - and I'll definitely give some of his other recipes a go. If I can do it, so can anyone.
Thanks Jamie for a pukka meal!
5 star entertainment.......2006-04-18
Ok. I am sure the majority of you are more Jamie Oliver fans than wanting to buy his book for the cooking.
I really liked watching Jamie in the Naked Chef days...early ones especially so I was given this book from a friend of mine as a pressie. It was very entertaining and I guess his passion just shines through in his books and Naked chef etc... however as lame as it may sound I only recently made a couple of recipes including the 'kinda portuguese custard pie' which I know should taste amazing. I bought the best quality ingredients and even 2 vanilla pods from Sainsburys which cost me 3.99. The custard was way undersweet. Jamie suggested a medium heat to cook the custard and I even put it slightly less because my dad is a head chef and he told me it would turn into scrambled egg consistency and it did. He also said to cut the pastry 1 inch thick and I had a feeling that this would be too thin and indeed it was. I had spent one whole hour just sorting out the pastry only to end up watching it fall to pieces in the oven cos it was melting....I could go on forever but Jamie might be a good cook but do not confuse this with Gordon Ramsey standard of cooking.
Customer Reviews:
WARNING: Identical to "Naked Chef Takes Off".......2006-01-15
I don't know if this book preceded the other Jamie Oliver book, "Naked Chef Takes Off," but it's the SAME BOOK.
I bought this for my wife, thinking I'd found a J.O. book she didn't already own. It's the same, identical book! I suppose it's just the British market title, but don't make the mistake if you're thinking it's a different book.
AMAZON STAFF: There should be some mention that this book was released with the different title in the States.
Average customer rating:
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The Naked Chef
JAMIE OLIVER
Manufacturer: Penguin Books Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OJ6AKQ |
Product Description
NETHERLANDS EDITION, WRITTEN IN NORWEGIAN, LOADED WITH COLOR & BLACK/WHITE PHOTOS.
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Books Index
Books Home
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General
| Cooking, Food & Wine
| Subjects
| Books
JAMIE'S ITALY
JAMIE'S KITCHEN
The Naked Chef
Happy Days with the Naked Chef
The Naked Chef Takes Off
