'Jamie's Food Revolution: Rediscover How to Cook Simple, Delicious, Affordable Meals'
by Jamie Oliver Hyperion -- 2009 Buy it on Amazon
The revolution will not be supersized. Jamie Oliver is a man on a mission to reclaim traditional home cooking from the fast and processed food purveyors of the world via simple, inexpensive, appealing recipes.
The book kicks off with a rah-rah manifesto that dovetails with Oliver's televised travelingroadshows geared toward getting the least healthy eaters in the UK and the USA to back out of the drive-thru and drive home healthier eating habits, centered around the debatably lost art of home cooking. He presents a compelling argument with solid, satisfying building-block recipes and oddly heartstring-plucking photo profiles of plain ol' folks cooking at home.
See what we tested and find out whether the book's worth buying after the jump.
Jamie Oliver: cowboy, sailor, Native American, construction worker, biker ... or chef?
Eat Me Daily pointed us to this can't-look-away video of the culinary celeb -- whose show "Jamie's American Road Trip" will bring him stateside this fall -- dancing as each of the different Village People... to a Village People soundtrack, of course.
It's a mesmerizing montage in which the chef known for his boyish charm reveals that he has perhaps not quite as broad a repertoire on the dance floor as in the kitchen, but it's still a grand departure from Monday afternoon tedium. Indeed, this promo video boasts much more joie de vivre than the rather staid description on JamieOliver.com: "Jamie delves deep into the social issues and diverse cultures of 21st century America."
Whatever. More dancing, please.
Episodes may crop up online on this side of the pond soon, but for those on vacay in the U.K., it's airing at 9 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 1. Now we're going to go watch that video again, as it is mightily addictive (almost as much as his recipe for monkfish skewers wrapped in pancetta -- maybe even more so).
•Volcanic vino – a critic samples wines sprung from the ashes of Italy's still-bubbling Mt. Etna.
•Charcuterie: Have we gone totally hog wild for cured, salty meats or is it merely a passing fancy?
• Japanese pizza hits Canada; critic pans it as the "Hello Kitty" of slice-ville.
• It's maple syrup season for our neighbors to the north, which they celebrate by visits to "sugar shacks" and concocting syrupy treats like "maple sponge toffee."
• British PM Gordon Brown, in a nod to the unsavory financial climate, picks Jamie Oliver -- aka "The Naked Chef" – to whip up a frugal (or at least foie gras-free) feast for G-20 finance bigwigs. Read more about that here.
Sometimes you go into a recipe expecting the worst and getting the best. And other times, unfortunately, you expect tastiness, or at least decency, and feel the big, resounding thud of disappointment.
Having had such luck with the Fantastic Fish Pie, I was riding the sea of Jamie Oliver love and decided to splurge. While on a massive kitchen-replenishing run over the weekend, I picked up a leg of lamb for his Braised Five-Hour Lamb with Wine, Veg, and All That. The thought of a stew-like braised meal at the end of a cold weekend sounded like just the ticket. I didn't expect miracles, but I did expect the comfort of tasty food. I mean, he said it was a "trouble-free dinner" after all. Not for me. The end result had decent root veggies, but lamb that was a little tough (even with the time shortened to 4 hours), and a "gravy" that almost made me keel over in an oil coma. It was just grease city, and needed to be rid of the saucy oil before bowling and eating. This whole ordeal became even more annoying when I found out that the rest of the Internet world seems to love it.
That's the thing about cooking and baking. I love it to death, but it's so pricey and disheartening when it fails -- whether it is buying that pricey piece of lamb, using up a lot of electricity, and wishing you'd just had peanut butter and jelly, or buying all that fair-trade chocolate and having your baking fall flat. These days, it's even tougher when the money and effort doesn't give great results -- no splurge should end in failure, but it happens.
When I began hunting through my The Naked Chef Takes Off the other day, looking for recipes that would be good to tackle this week, I had completely forgotten about my Cookbook of the Day back in August. In the comments, Daveybot had commented that Jamie Oliver's Fantastic Fish Pie was really yummy, and that's just the recipe I had picked. He was right -- it's delicious!
I have quickly grown to adore this recipe, and will probably make it a few more times this winter as a savory and warm seafood comfort. Simply: It's fish mixed with cooked spinach and hard-boiled eggs, which is placed into a baking dish, topped with a creamy sauce, and then topped with mashed potatoes. It seems like your regular old casserole, but it's got purr-worthy flavor.
If you prep it right, it's quite simple to make. Me, I didn't realize that the black cod I had picked up had bones in it, and found myself diving for the needle nose pliers in a rush to get those pesky bones out before my cheesy sauce cooled too much. Other than that, it was a breeze! This is one of those forgiving and adaptation-worthy recipes, asking more for handfuls than specific amounts. Sub in another fish, a different cheese -- it doesn't matter, as long as you give the flavor combinations some thought.
British food always gets knocked about, and now it's getting an added slap from Jamie Oliver. The BBC reports that Paris Match magazine has interviewed the popular celebrity chef, who is not too happy about the state of food in the UK. In fact, he even said that there was a better variety of food in South African slums.
But he doesn't think it was always that way. He says that "We have lost our traditions," and that Britain's "poverty shows in the way they feed themselves." Basically, he says they do so by spending everything on technology and booze, rather than meals around the dinner table -- something that seems far from UK-centric.
The Sydney Morning Herald also notes that Oliver went on to discuss how well France has kept up their food traditions, and how he'd like to shoot a new television show there. My suggestion: Oliver should go to France, research the continuing traditions practiced there and then head back to the UK for a British food Renaissance.
I jumped on the Jamie Oliver train really late -- sometime in the last year. I was so annoyed at first that the "naked chef" moniker was used to make a not-quite-what-you-think pun that I didn't pay him much mind. Then I started watching him go to town on food using only a cutting board on his lap. I was hooked.
Behold my surprise to walk down the street the other day and find The Naked Chef Takes Off nestled on a discount table! I grabbed it, went home, and proceeded to drool all over the pages. Set up more like a visual conversation than a cookbook, The Naked Chef Takes Off tackles recipes often in paragraph form, often without even a list of ingredients. This cookbook is like calling up a chef friend and asking them what you should make. This isn't a stern collection of recipes cut in stone, but more of a helpful guideline to either fall or skim for ideas. And every step of the way, Jamie shares his two cents.
It all starts out with pantry basics and a brief how-to about herbs before dipping into breakfasts, tapas/snacks, salads, soups, pasta, seafood, meat and poultry, veggies, bread, desserts, drinks, and extra things like stocks and sauces. If you haven't checked this out yet, you should. If you have it -- what's your favorite recipe?
I grew up on the west coast, where Best Foods mayonnaise reigned supreme. It was always a little confusing to me when we'd come east each summer, to discover that mayonnaise changed its name to Hellmann's as soon as you crossed the Rocky Mountains, but I learned to accept the inexplicable shift as the contents of the container were so familiar and tasty.
Back in those days, while I pondered at the length the two names my mayo wore, I never spent any time thinking about the eggs that were used to make the creamy emulsion. However, in Britain, thanks to the actions of Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittenstall, Hellmann's is changing their ways and shifting production to use free-range eggs. The transition has been in process since 2006 and by this summer, people will be able to obtain Hellman's Mayonnaise made with free-range eggs.
My only question is why isn't Hellmann's making the same switch in the US? I'd be more inclined to buy their product (these days I tend to go with Trader Joe's mayo or make my own) if it was made with free-range eggs.
Well, OK, maybe not you, but maybe you. Yeah, you!
Epicurious has a special Valentine's Day section (it's on two days away guys, better get crackin'), and part of it is this guide from Food Network host Jamie Oliver. He made a romantic dinner for his wife Jools, and tells you how you can do one too. For the dinner he suggests Crostini with Prosciutto, Figs and Mint, Anchovies in Tomato Sauce with Pasta, and Tiramisu. For a drink he suggest a Jum and Bender, which sounds like a vaudeville team but is actually made with passion fruit, champagne, and grenadine.
Oliver also gives tips on shopping and how to set the mood for the night. It's easy peasy.
I'll admit it, I'm a bit of a geek when it comes to Food Network's Iron Chef America. I never got into the original show. I didn't know any of the chefs, the translation of the narration was odd, and they cooked way too much fish, octopus, and other seafood (not a big fan). But I like the U.S. version. It has Mario Batali and Cat Cora and is hosted by Alton Brown and has Jeffrey Steingarten as a judge, so what's not to like?
Tonight is a big show, as Jamie Oliver appears for the first time and goes up against veteran Batali. It airs at 10pm Eastern and is followed by the premiere of Oliver's new show Jamie At Home.
Last month, Kristin over at TV Squad told you about Jamie Oliver's new Food Network show, Jamie At Home, which premieres on January 6 at 10pm. Now comes word that Oliver will appear on Iron Chef America to battle veteran chef Mario Batali. The episode will air on the same night, just before Oliver's new series debuts. It will be his first appearance on the show.
This is good news. Oliver deserves another cooking show. He was on Martha Stewart's show recently and really won over the crowd with his fast cooking technique and personality (even if he did, I believe, exhaust Martha a bit, and that's not easy to do). He even had a woman in the audience help him with the meal he was making. I'm not sure if the new show will have a studio audience, but he could be good in front of one.
Is the storage space in your kitchen so small that it gets filled when you buy a box of cereal and a couple of cans of soup? Or are you the kind of person who rarely cooks and so hasn't invested much time or energy in acquiring the needed pots and pans to do anything more complex than boil some water? Or maybe your just starting out in the world of cooking and want to get some useful cookware but you don't want to dedicate a huge amount of your life or budget to it.
If you are any of these types of people, then Jamie Oliver has something for you. It's called the Tefal Survival Kit and it is a set of cooking equipment that fits together into single, nice, neat stack. When taken apart it contains a wok, frying pan, sauce pan, two glass lids, and a universal handle so that you don't burn your fingers. Best of all it comes in a fun, blue camouflage pattern. Unfortunately, right now it looks like it is only available in the UK, but if you are dying to have in here in the States, you can order it through Amazon's UK store and pay international shipping.
I have heard Tyler Florence compared to Jamie Oliver on more than one occasion and although the comparisons have involved everything from technique to looks, the two chefs just happen to fill very similar roles on TV as good looking guys with a "good food, good friends" type of philosophy. Of course, Tyler and Jamie ultimately went in different directions with the TV careers (with Tyler ending up on How to Boil Water, but Tyler's Ultimate: Brilliant Simple Food to Make Any Time is a step back towards his roots. The dishes in the book are simple and straightforward, but are certainly not too far into "quick fix" territory. They rely on quality ingredients and bright flavors, with both more exotic and more casual fare to choose from, and all are intended to be the types of recipes that you can turn to again and again. Some of the recipes include The Ultimate Barbecued Chicken; Almond Semifreddo with Spiced Honey Dried Fruit; Chicken Paillard with Blue Cheese, Pancetta, and Figs; and Coconut Shrimp with Basmati Rice and Apricots.
As luscious as fruit tarts can be, there will always be those who insist that a dessert is not complete unless chocolate is involved in it. These particular Little Chocolate Tarts are the creation of Jules, of the food blog Stone Soup. While you will have to bake up the mini tart shells yourself, the filling is surprisingly simple. It is basically the same rich, creamy chocolate ganache that you find in truffles and is made of high quality dark chocolate and cream, melted together and poured into the shells to firm up. Each one, no matter how small you make the tart cases, is going to be an intense chocolate experience and should more than satisfy the chocolate lover.
Garlic used to be the go-to ingredient of both pros and of home cooks. If you ask chefs like Nigella Lawson and Jamie Oliver what their favorite ingredient of the moment is, they might just say chilis, instead. Chilis, as Nigella puts it "are quite exciting... [and] quite apart from the fact that chillies are so red and shiny, I feel they've been fashioned by Santa's elves." It seems unlikely that the first thought that pops into other people's minds when looking at chilis is that they are produced by elves, but their versatile and spicy flavor is just as likely to excite the imagination of a cook as a new toy is to excite a child.
In addition to being tasty, chilis have proven health benefits, which makes them fit neatly into the trend for foods that have to do with wellness and overall good health. Capsaicin, a chemical in chilis that gives them their heat, has been shown to slow the growth of and even kill cancer cells, alleviate inflammation, relieve chronic pain and even help to reduce cholesterol and the risk of heart attacks.
I jumped on the Jamie Oliver train really late -- sometime in the last year. I was so annoyed at first that the "naked chef" moniker was used to make a not-quite-what-you-think pun that I didn't pay him much mind. Then I started watching him go to town on food using only a cutting board on his lap. I was hooked.
I grew up on the west coast, where Best Foods mayonnaise reigned supreme. It was always a little confusing to me when we'd come east each summer, to discover that mayonnaise changed its name to Hellmann's as soon as you crossed the Rocky Mountains, but I learned to accept the inexplicable shift as the contents of the container were so familiar and tasty. 
Well, OK, maybe not you, but maybe you. Yeah, you!
I'll admit it, I'm a bit of a geek when it comes to Food Network's Iron Chef America. I never got into the original show. I didn't know any of the chefs, the translation of the narration was odd, and they cooked way too much fish, octopus, and other seafood (not a big fan). But I like the U.S. version. It has Mario Batali and Cat Cora and is hosted by Alton Brown and has Jeffrey Steingarten as a judge, so what's not to like?
Last month, Kristin over at TV Squad 
Garlic used to be the go-to ingredient of both pros and of home cooks. If you ask chefs like Nigella Lawson and Jamie Oliver what their favorite ingredient of the moment is, they might just say 
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