Online Shop
|
Cooking for Friends: Food from My TableSnagging.org In association with Amazon.co.ukOnline Shop | Property Guides | Kitchen & Home | Garden Tools | Power Tools | Consumer Electronics Get the Snagging Checklist Here!  
List Price: £25.00 Amazon.co.uk's Price: £12.50 You Save: £12.50 (50%)Prices subject to change. Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
This item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping.
Binding: HardcoverEAN: 9780007267033 ISBN: 0007267037 Label: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd Manufacturer: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd Number Of Pages: 272 Publication Date: September 15, 2008 Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd Release Date: September 15, 2008 Studio: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd Related Items:
Average Rating:
 Rating:  - I love everything about this bookThis book is full of inspiring and easy to follow recipes, delicious photography and lots of personal touches and anecdotes which make it a 'real' book. I like the way the dishes are made using accessible ingredients as sometimes celebrity cook books are full of ingredients which are difficult to come by or expensive. In fact I love the old fashioned and 'simple food' element, but above all the recipes are for 'proper' good food, ideal for family meals and social gatherings without days of worry and preparation beforehand. A must have for everyone who loves to cook good food with simple, quality ingredients. Rating: - What's that all about?I am usually not impressed by Gordon's "rushed" which he calls "high-energy" approach to cooking. Nevertheless his recipes are usually easy to follow and as tasty as it gets - if that's what you are looking for you won't be disappointed. Cooking books do not need anything else than that - so why have I rated it as 4 stars only? The simple answer is I do not like his non-cooking, not recipe related introductions and the title. On one occasion he's ranting about Delia's "cheat approach" which led him to donate all his Delia cooking books to a charity shop. My second "favourite" is the revelation that his wife has started to cook something vegetarian for the kids once a week. These statements are not only unnecessary they distract from the subject which is food. I do love cooking and great food but hey in the end it's food not world peace so stop ranting, argueing and self-praise. In my humble opinion the only absolute in the world of cooking is to COOK YOURSELF and avoid fast food/ ready meals. So it does not matter if you are using cheats and cheap ingredients if this creates the basic conditions to make you cook. The other annoying point is the title. Nothing in this book relates to "cooking for friends", it's just a selection of recipes, which are suitable everyday and anytime. To summarise: A decent cookbook with a misleading title but a good selection of very nice recipes written by a chef with an attitude. Rating: - A different tempo from Gordon Ramsayas he leaves his chef's jacket at work! From the front cover flap:- 'Away from the high-octane energy of the professional kitchen, Gordon's home is a relaxed family affair, where cooking s fun and everyone gets involved in preparing food for family and friends. The food Gordon cooks here embodies his strongly held views: use in-season, fresh ingredients at their peak; support local producers and farmers' markets whenever we can; and celebrate our food culture and its many influences..... ...'Cooking for Friends' is full of Gordon's best-loved versions of classic British dishes.....and contains more than 100 of his favourite recipes, which he loves to cook and eat with friends and family - uncomplicated recipes but with Gordon's remarkable feeling for flavour and his technical know-how.' From the introduction:- 'As a chef, I work at a thousand miles an hour, but when I'm at home, I want to slow down. I leave my chef's jacket at work, and I walk into a domestic setting, where everything is completely different. At home, our kitchen is family-run, and it's a relaxed place. A lot of people see cooking as a chore, but we bring an element of fun into it..........' 269 high quality matt pages split over 9 chapters:- Hot and cold soups Pasta and grains Fish and shellfish Meat and poultry Pies and tarts Vegetables and salads Puddings and ices Chocolate and coffee Basics sandwiched between a 9-page introduction and a full index, which is enhanced with finished-dish illustrations shown in italics. Each chapter opens with some relevant notes and a list of the recipes contained within, for quick reference. Each recipe is clearly laid out with a bold title and relevant text, along wiith the method, the number of servings and the list of ingredients. The page numbers are on the edge of the right hand page, which aids quick flicking! The book is interspersed with illustrations of the finished dishes, although these are rather fewer than expected, in my opinion.....(hence my four star rating)...... along with on-location shots of GR, his family and friends. My favourite pud is no particular secret, and, as I share Gordon's passion for the caramelized apple flavour and texture in an Apple Tarte Tatin..... his recipe for 'Caramelized Apple Pie', from page 207, really hits the spot:- 'I love the flavour of caramelized apples in a tarte tatin, and this is a way of bringing that flavour into a classic apple pie. Also, because the apples are pre-cooked, they won't shrink during baking and create air pockets inside the pie. I like to serve the pie while it's still warm with either a little pouring cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.' A delicious twist which makes the finished product taste divine, and following on from G's 'Lamb Shank Cassoulet` served with sautéed savoy cabbage and chunks of malted grain bread....simply SUPER to share, after an October stroll in the woods with all our friends! Which... of course....is what this book is all about! A taste of other recipes within:- Asparagus velouté Conger eel bisque Crayfish chowder Farfalle with bacon, peas and sage Grilled vegetable lasagne Gordon's posh kedgeree (video feature above) Wild mushroom barley risotto Fish curry with lime and coconut rice Grilled herrings with harissa Fisherman's stew Poached rabbit legs with gremolata Pork fillet stroganoff Home-made bangers Classic mixed grill Angus beef olives Sweet potato and duck rösti with fried duck eggs Honey roast ham Shepherd's pie with Branston pickle Cornish chicken pie Fish pie with oysters and scallops Roast winter vegetables Spicy cauliflower stir-fry Mixed mushroom salad Pickled onions Autumn fruit salad with thyme and ginger Custard tart Lemon meringue pie Chocolate swirl cheesecake Chocolate and coffee pots Dark chocolate marquise All in all, a 'homely'-type book, which is clear from the GR notes throughout, e.g.:- From 'Pasta and grains`:- 'At home, we don't just stick to rice and spaghetti. Tana has begun to feed the kids a vegetarian meal once a week, which means being creative in combining pulses, grains and pasta with a variety of vegetables. The kids love it when she experiments. When the weather is cold we use a lot of barley, adding it to soups, stews, and winter salads. Barley can even take the place of rice in risotto. The excellent barley risotto here has featured many a time on our restaurant menus............' Rating:  - Stocking-filler at bestThis book smacks of the publisher ringing and saying "Gordon, we need a quick book to push out before Xmas". Gordon has then thrown together a few middle-of-the-road recipes and come up with the 'theme' of cooking for friends as a sales pitch. Only around a third of the recipes have accompanying photos, and spaces where they could have a photo of the food, there's a pointless photo of Gordon smiling gormlessly at the camera. A vague attempt at jumping on the Jamie/Hugh bandwagon of "buy fresh/local/organic/free-range" is dotted amongst the very-short intros to each section. And an unnecessary jibe at Delia is thrown in for good measure. There are so many better books out there now. Rating: - Gordon Ramsey: Cooking for FriendsI have all Gordon Ramsey's books and this one is ideal for people who think everything he creates is expensive This book deals with things like Oxtail soup which is a simple recipe and easy to make I really recommend this title for everyday cooking with the Ramsey touch  Try searching the Internet for "Cooking for Friends: Food from My Table" or Ebay for "Cooking for Friends: Food from My Table". You might also be interested in the following great products:
|