Tag: jamie oliver

Jamie Oliver was born in 1975 in Clavering in Essex, jumping straight into the kitchen of his parents’ pub. He swept through the River Cafe, was quickly spotted by TV crews and became an immediate celebrity with Naked Chef. He’s then used his celebrity status to increase the ranges of supermarkets, give disadvantaged youths a career in cooking, fights tooth and nail to improve school dinners and is passionate about everyone having at least one recipe up their sleeve. (Fun fact: I once fixed Jamie Oliver’s website over the phone.)

Categories
cookbooks cooks

my favourite cookbooks of 2010

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If you’re anything like me, over time you accumulate cookbooks and through a process of natural selection some float to the top and get read often. Some gather dust at the back, never fulfilling their promise. A select few make it to the hallowed ground of the recipe book stand, where they deliver gold each and every time.

I feel like 2010 was a great year for cookbooks; almost all the big hitters pumped out a new book, some of them two! Self-publishing was all the rage that brought home cooks to the fore, and restaurants also gave us a peek on how to recreate their favourites.

With so much to choose from, selecting my favourites was pretty tricky. But here’s my top 3 cookbooks of 2010:

3. Jamie’s 30-Minute Meals – Jamie Oliver

It seems churlish to give any more publicity to this book; after becoming the fastest-selling nonfiction book of all time and the quickest to reach a million Jamie’s trumpet requires no further blowing. But this is a revolutionary cookbook. As usual, Jamie is flying by the seat of his pants and doing things his way. Forget all the negative press you’ve read bleating on about “but it actually takes an HOUR, CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? IT’S IMPOSSIBLE”. Even if they aren’t all possible for you to complete in an hour, appreciate that these are interesting menus that can be made in 30 minutes. Forget the precise time on the clock and just aim a little higher, that’s what this book is trying to say. Do a meal, and a salad, maybe a drink, and a dessert, all with multitasking. I don’t always do every part of every meal; I cherry pick. I’ll have this dish with this salad and feel really satisfied with what I’ve made.

On top of that, it’s amazing value for money. For the above reason, each recipe gives you 3 or 4 different dishes. That’s loads of different components you can bring together.

Jamie has done it again, and I can’t recommend this brilliant book highly enough.

Standout recipe: jools’s pregnant pasta with frangipane tart

2. Plenty – Yotam Ottolenghi

I’d heard a little about Ottolenghi’s first book from fellow bloggers but didn’t know what the fuss was about. Thanks a their Twitter feed I managed to get a copy of this book. I was bowled over by the style; I’ve never read such exciting ways with vegetarian food. Yes you read that right, this is a vegetarian cookbook. But it’s so inventive, spicy, cheeky and full of affection for it’s ingredients I can’t help but want to make the recipes over and over again. The middle Eastern influence is felt throughout, with rich, spicy and smoky flavours permeating every dish so everyday greens are served up in a very unexpected (to this Essex boy anyway) ways.

Not even mentioning the food, I have to mention the design of this book. The pristine white is gorgeous, peppered with neon line-traced veg. A padded cover and gold embossing just sets this one out on your shelf.

It’s a real gem, even for a hardened carnivore like me. Much like Jamie’s book, it’s encouraged me to think in different ways.

Standout recipe: leek  fritters

1. Leon 2, Naturally Fast Food – Henry Dimbleby & John Vincent

I’d never heard of Leon, the mega-popular but London-centric ‘chain’ pumping out fast food with heart and soul. Boy, was I in for a treat.

This book dropped on to my desk in the Autumn and pulled me away from my work for quite some time. I was bowled over at first by the design. No heading-recipe-full-page-photo for this tome. It was more a scrapbook, a collage of random holiday snaps, upside-down bits, fold-out bits, crazy layout… it was a typesetter’s nightmare and a fortune to publish I’m sure but the result is completely distinctive. As far from bland as you can possibly get, it bellows character from every page. It’s utterly charming and clearly a deeply personal book.

And I haven’t even mentioned the recipes. They’re so closely aligned with the way I like to cook it makes me punch the air with joy. Every time I open it humour and joy drip from the pages, bringing familiar flavours with original tweaks. There really is a little of everything in here, from great snacks, to delicious desserts and cracking party food. There’s lovely twists on bland veg dishes, pot-roasts galore and just plain-feel good food with every turn. Just last week I made a Winter vegetable pot-roast which was little more than root veg casseroled in white wine. Hardly revolutionary stuff, but just the kind of spark that makes you come back again and again.

It’s split into two parts: the first deals with genuine fast food, solving midweek dinner woes. The second is fast food, but with long cooking times. In other words, a small amount of prep then leave to bake / casserole / stew / whatever. So it’s all covered.

You can feel the love and effort that has gone into the book, and with the hugely enjoyable recipes to match I can’t get enough of this brilliant thing.

Standout recipe: crispy roast cauliflower (honestly, I’ve made it about 15 times in 4 months)

(EDIT: I cleared up some confusion from the comments by editing a bit of the text above)

So there’s mine; what were your favourite cookbooks of 2010? I’d love to know about any gems I haven’t caught up with yet.

If these recipes don’t do it for you, would you like to make your own cookbook? Try Mixbooks today.

Categories
kitchen gadgets

jamie oliver kitchen kit

Sometimes I really can’t believe what writing about last night’s tea does for you. Imagine my delight at receiving a clutch of Jamie Oliver’s new Kitchen Kit. It’s a stunning set of utensils developed by DKB Household. It’s no slap-a-name-on-it-and-collect-the-royalty-cheque, there’s real craft in them.

First up is the 3-in-1 Peeler. I’ve used a vertical swivel peeler for years, and never used a Y-shaped one. But I found it much faster using this gadget. It also comes with a pair of julienne blades, for peeling things into a fine and wiggly mess. Great fun but not something I’ll use a great deal. For peeling though, it does just the job.

Next is the Garlic Press-come-Slicer. This was a twist of fate. I’d disregarded garlic presses years back, seeing loads of waste and poking at the teeth afterwards. Yet seeing Jamie use this same model on 30 Minute Meals had convinced me to try it again. This model has a real weight to it, and the brushed steel looks lovely. And what a joy it is to use one again. No peeling, and practically all the useful stuff passes through the mesh. It also doubles as a slicer, although I found this to have mixed results, so it’ll be staying as a press for me. No more stinky garlic fingers for me.

The Apple Corer is a neat gadget. I’ve never owned one but this one has neat gimmick: after coring you twist the handle and it pops the core out. Cool. I’m also thinking about using it for Michelin-esque potato fondant thingies. Not something I’ll use every day but good fun.

There’s also a set of hanging utensils – on the surface there’s not a lot to say but it has some twists. There’s a curve in the handle which makes a lot of sense to dangle it out of a pot, and the brushed steel finish is really functional.

Ah yes, the coarse grater. Not impressed with this at all. The angle doesn’t feel right – I can’t hold it in a place that is comfortable for both hands. The handle is curved away from the grater, so it’s a bit clumsy. Also both Mrs. RP and I have cut ourselves quite nastily on this, and I can’t recall ever drawing blood whilst grating before. On the positive side, it does produce the prettiest curls, perfect Fibonacci rolls.

Top of the heap is the knife set. These five knives are Japanese MoV steel with lovely weighting and superb balance. They come wicked sharp and make light work of all chopping jobs – I’m ashamed to say I haven’t used my Henckels since I started using these.

With many of these things, it’s not their function that strikes you, nor their form (which is all brushed steel and elegant lines). It’s the small details that elevate them above Matalan’s “2 for £3” range. Take the knives – each is emblazoned with it’s purpose on the hilt. Or the peeler – it snaps together with it’s spare heads to make a convenient stand. Or the hanging tools – bent in just the right place with a rubber end to stop them slipping into your casserole. It’s these little sparks of genius that show they’re designed by people who really care about the end result, and that’s what I like about them.

All in all a great set, and a wonderful Christmas gift for the Jamie fan in your life.

Thanks to Aaron Huckett of Publicasity.

Categories
sausages

30 minute pregnant jools’s pasta with frangipane tart

As I’ve mentioned before, Jamie Oliver’s 30 Minute Meals is unfairly misunderstood. The Guardian’s had a pop and I can’t understand how they can get it so very wrong. It’s not “set your watch and in exactly 30 minutes you will have exactly this dinner”, it’s “look what is possible in 30 minutes”. If you have the same skills, prep and concentration as Jamie you’ll be laughing, but be realistic – if you know you don’t have enough pans for a meal and you’re going to have to wash up in between, it will take longer. If you know you dither a bit following a recipe, it will take longer. Why not drop an element of it? Cooking and recipes are all about inspiration, it drives me potty when people can’t see past exactly ½ teaspoon cumin and won’t think “I love cumin, I’m chucking 3 in”, or “I hate cumin, I’m not doing it”. Recipes are starting points, not doctrines.

Like in this one. I dropped the salad. There’s plenty of goodness in the sauce and very filling, so I was happy with just a bowl of pasta followed by dessert. I pretty much set my 10 year old son doing this, while I supervised. He did brilliantly. Dropping whole sausages in the food processor tube is enormous fun. The finished pasta dish itself is extremely tasty – entirely dependant on the quality of the sausage you use, so caveat emptor. The frangipane was a triumph, utterly delicious, nutty and fruity. They’re both corkers and well worth a try.

The link to Jamie’s original recipe is here, and I’ve almost recreated it entirely below.

PS. Some excellent Brighton-based food blogger friends have both posted about other 30 min dins: Feed et Gastro has tried the spinach filo and feta pie, and Graphic Foodie has turned her hand to quite a few! Do pop over and have a read. Also not the slightest bit of jealousy from me as they received free signed copies…!

Pregnant Jools’s pasta with frangipane tart:

For the pasta:

1 onion, quartered

1 carrot

1 stick of celery

6 good-quality sausages

1 heaped teaspoon fennel seeds

1 teaspoon dried oregano

500g dried penne

4 cloves of garlic

4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes

For the tart:

1 large deep shortcrust pastry case

1 egg

100g ground almonds

100g butter

90g caster sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

175g jar of good-quality blackcurrant jam

  1. TO START Get all your ingredients and equipment ready. Turn your oven to 190°C/375°F/gas 5. Fill and boil the kettle. Put a large frying pan on a high heat. Put the standard blade attachment into the food processor.
  2. PASTA Blitz the vegetables in the food processor. Add the sausages, 1 heaped teaspoon of fennel seeds and 1 teaspoon of oregano. Keep pulsing until well mixed, then spoon this mixture into the hot frying pan with a lug of olive oil, breaking it up and stirring as you go. Keep checking on it and stirring while you get on with other jobs. Put a large deep saucepan on a low heat and fill with boiled water. Fill and reboil the kettle.
  3. TARTS Put the pastry case on a baking tray. Make a frangipane mixture by cracking the egg into a mixing bowl and adding almonds, butter, vanilla and sugar. Use a spoon to mix everything together. Spoon half jam into the pastry base. Top with most of the frangipane, add the rest of the jam, then finally the remaining frangipane. Put the tray in the oven on the middle shelf and set the timer for 18 minutes exactly.
  4. PASTA Top up the saucepan with more boiled water if needed. Season well then add the penne and cook according to packet instructions, with the lid askew. Crush 4 unpeeled cloves of garlic into the sausage mixture and stir in 4 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar and the tinned tomatoes. Add a little of the starchy cooking water from the pasta to loosen if needed.
  5. PASTA Drain the pasta, reserving about a wineglass worth of the cooking water. Tip the pasta into the pan of sauce and give it a gentle stir, adding enough of the cooking water to bring it to a silky consistency. Taste, correct the seasoning, then tip into a large serving bowl and take straight to the table with the rest of the Parmesan for grating over. Scatter over a few basil leaves.
  6. TARTS When the tart is golden and cooked, turn the oven off and take out. Serve warm.
Categories
beef carrots potatoes salad

30 minute roast beef dinner

Jamie Oliver’s latest turn is to ratchet up the speed and get us making 30 Minute Meals. It’s always great fun watching Jamie when he’s enthusiastic, and there’s a real purpose to what he’s doing.

The one that caught my eye was the roast beef dinner. After much pleading from a pregnant Jools after a late finish, he worked up a method that captures the essence of a roast dinner. So I gave it a go.

How long did it take? 34 minutes. I did mess up a couple of things though: I didn’t fetch enough herbs for some reason, so that meant dashing off to the garden mid-meal to hack off some more rosemary and thyme; I used an attachment on my food processor I’ve not used before and it kind of mushed stuff a bit instead of chopping so had to do it by hand; and I forgot to add flour to the gravy so had to dig out the cornflour to work that in. I think it’s doable in 30 minutes, though it is a mad-crazy rush. Someone did ask me if it was possible even if you didn’t do much cooking. I think it is because there’s not a lot of skills involved, just a cool head and keeping an eye on everything.

getting ready

The downsides? For it to work properly you need to get everything ready and set up beforehand. That said it’s great advice regardless of what you’re cooking. And it leaves a heck of a mess. And it must be said it’s not quite a roast dinner – very tasty – but not quite a roast dinner. I also don’t really see the point of the salad, it feels tacked on the side.

However accurate or inaccurate the 30 minute meal claim is for most people, Jamie’s trying to raise our expectations and make mealtimes great. Even if you end up a little over half an hour, it’s still great food in a respectable time.

30 minute roast beef (copied from Jamie’s recipe here):

For the potatoes:

500g red-skinned potatoes

1 lemon

4 sprigs of fresh thyme or rosemary

1 bulb of garlic

For the beef:

8 sprigs each of fresh rosemary, sage and thyme

700g fillet of beef

For the carrots:

500g small carrots

2 sprigs of fresh thyme

2 fresh bay leaves

1 heaped tablespoon caster sugar

A knob of butter

For the yorkies:

Just under 1 mug of plain flour

1 mug of milk

1 egg

For the salad:

½ a red onion

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon golden caster sugar

1 x 100g bag of prewashed watercress

For the gravy:

½ a red onion

12 baby button mushrooms

1 heaped tablespoon plain flour

1 small wineglass of red wine

300ml organic chicken stock

To serve:

Creamed horseradish sauce

English mustard

  1. TO START Get all your ingredients and equipment ready. Fill and boil the kettle. Turn the oven on to 220ºC/425ºF/gas 7, and place a 12 hole shallow bun tin on the top shelf. Put 1 large saucepan and 2 large frying pans on a medium heat. Put the fine slicer disc attachment into the food processor.
  2. POTATOES Wash the potatoes, leaving the skins on. Chop into 2cm chunks and throw into one of the large frying pans. Cover with boiling water, season with salt and cover with a lid. Turn the heat right up, and boil for 8minutes, or until just cooked. Fill and reboil the kettle.
  3. BEEF Quickly pick and finely chop the rosemary, sage and thyme leaves. Turn the heat under the empty frying pan up to full whack. Mix the herbs together and spread them around the chopping board with a good pinch of salt & pepper. Cut the fillet in half lengthways, then roll each piece back and forth so they are completely coated in herbs. Add the meat to the hot empty frying pan with a few good lugs of olive oil. You must turn it every minute while you get on with other jobs. Don’t forget to seal the ends.
  4. CARROTS Tip the carrots into the saucepan and just cover with boiling water. Add 2 sprigs of thyme, a couple of bay leaves, a good pinch of salt, a splash of olive oil and 1 heaped tablespoon of sugar. Cook with a lid on until tender.
  5. YORKIES Put the flour, milk and egg into the liquidizer with a pinch of salt. Blitz, then quickly and confidently remove the bun tin from the oven and close the door. In one quick movement, back and forth, drizzle a little olive oil in each compartment, then do the same with the batter until each one is half full (any remaining batter can be used for pancakes another day). Place in the top of the oven, close the door and do not open for 14 minutes, until golden and risen.
  6. POTATOES Check that the potatoes are cooked through, then drain and return to the same frying pan. Leave on a high heat and drizzle over some olive oil. Add a pinch of salt & pepper, speed-peel in strips of lemon zest and add 4 sprigs of thyme or rosemary. Halve the bulb of garlic widthways, squash each half with the back of a knife and add to the pan. Toss everything together, then roughly squash down with a masher. Toss every 3 minutes or so, until golden and crisp.
  7. GRAVY Reduce the heat under the beef a little. Peel the red onion half. Finely slice in the food processor. Add half the onion to the beef pan with a splash of olive oil, the other half to a salad bowl. Rinse the mushrooms in a colander and slice in the processor, then add to the beef pan. Stir everything around and remember to keep turning the beef regularly for 5 minutes.
  8. WATERCRESS SALAD Add 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar, 1 tablespoon of caster sugar and a good pinch of salt & pepper to the onion bowl. Scrunch with one hand. Add 4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. Empty the watercress on top and take to the table, but don’t mix until serving.
  9. GRAVY Remove the beef to a plate. Drizzle with a little olive oil, then cover with foil. Stir 1 heaped tablespoon of flour into the pan. Add a small glass of red wine and turn the heat up. Boil down to nearly nothing, then stir in 300ml of chicken stock and simmer until thick and shiny.
  10. TO SERVE Drain the carrots, return to the pan, toss with butter and take to the table. Turn the potatoes out on to a platter. Smear 2 spoonfuls of horseradish sauce and 1 teaspoon of English mustard on to another platter. Quickly slice the beef 1cm thick, using long carving motions. Sprinkle over a pinch of salt & pepper from a height, then pile the beef on top of the horseradish sauce and mustard. Add any resting juices to the gravy and serve in a jug. Toss and dress the salad quickly, then get the Yorkies out of the oven, and take them to the table and tuck in with a glass of wine.
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