Jamie's 30 Minute Meals

[threebikesmcginty]

...and, these days I leave out the butter, which is a shame...

 

[Maverick Goose]

Well, what do you expect from Oliver. I think Nigel Slater did a quick meals type book a while back - might be worth checking out.

Real Fast Food...love it!

 

[Arch]

I don't want to have to make a meal several times to master the process and gett the cooking down to 30 minutes.

Is it compulsory to do them in 30 minutes?

Why not just try them in a more leisurely fashion, and enjoy the recipes? If you like them enough, you'll do them often, and you get them done quicker.

(I haven't seen the book, or the TV shows, and I hardly ever cook a meal from a recipe, I'm a bung-it-all-in-and-see person. All my weekday dinners are done in less than 30 minutes - although that's only ever a main course, admittedly)

I'm also helped by having a tiny kitchen - no more than a couple of paces to reach any ingredient or implement.

 

[Over The Hill]

What is the big deal?
You can whip up most "all in one" pasta dishes in 30 mins, same goes for curries, and good old chops and mash.

Chinese - probably on 10 minutes for any wok dish (plus 10 mins prep). Ching-He Huang has a BBC series was brilliant and she is rather better on the eye that that slob.

 

[vernon]

Is it compulsory to do them in 30 minutes?

No, it's not compulsory to make the meals in 30 minutes but through careful editing and omission of the need for massive pre-pre-prep, Oliver sells the notion that his meals can be made with minimal effort and within 30 minutes. I wanted the book on the premise that the cooking was simple and fast. Owning and reading the book reveals the unpalatable truth that it's a con.

Yes there are health warnings about the need for a very well equipped kitchen and lots of prep in the book but this should also be prominent in the publicity blurb too.

 

[vernon]

What is the big deal?
You can whip up most "all in one" pasta dishes in 30 mins, same goes for curries, and good old chops and mash.

Chinese - probably on 10 minutes for any wok dish (plus 10 mins prep). Ching-He Huang has a BBC series was brilliant and she is rather better on the eye that that slob.

Yep we can all knock up instant bland food but Jamie's book offered the prospect of interesting fast food.

 

[Arch]

What is the big deal?
You can whip up most "all in one" pasta dishes in 30 mins, same goes for curries, and good old chops and mash.

Chinese - probably on 10 minutes for any wok dish (plus 10 mins prep). Ching-He Huang has a BBC series was brilliant and she is rather better on the eye that that slob.

I think somehow, a lot of people have come to assume that cooking is a longwinded, complicated, fraught process. Look at the agony of Masterchef. A girl who works at the place I work at, once said that cooking was very difficult, beause you had to time things. I was gobsmacked, and told her to invest in a timer. Although I only ever use one to time my rice cooking, and even then I often forget and just test it when I think it might be ready.

So, in the same way that people were sold stuff packed full of articial additives, and then sold stuff that is free from them when that became fashionable, people are now having to be sold the idea that cooking can be quick and easy.

Also, some people just like the security of a recipe. My Mum does, even though she often substitutes missing ingredients, she likes to start with a book open on the counter. Whereas I just bung stuff in.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Have to say we love 'Jamie's Ministry of Food' book, there are some spactacularly scrummy things in there which are very simple to make and taste better than they have any right too. Big, bold, simple, beautiful food.

Delia We've done to death in this family, her stuff is OK but often are more faffy than they need be. I've started a 1 man revolt and will no longer eat her Spag boll .... I might add others to the list soon.

If I had to have just one all-round cook-book it would be Pru Leith's Cookery Bible, her Yorkshire puds blow Delia's out of the kitchen! (though the Pat Chapman book's a close second ).

Mrs FF has bought me Levi Root's 'Food for Friends' and after a quck scan I'm keen to get stuck in!

Nigel Slater is one for me to look into for the future.

 

[longers]

I was given seventeen recipe books for christmas. I'm not that bad in the kitchen, honest!

We made Goulash from one or other of Mr Olivers books recently and it was bloody excellent. It took a lot longer in the oven than half an hour for the pork to fall to bits, well worth the wait and very, very, very nice with roasties.

 

[longers]

ps - nice avatar Vernon.

 

[Intelligenthamster]

I started cooking by mucking about.. adding herbs or extra ingredients to the microwave meals I used to eat (oh, the shame ) and then trying to do fresh stuff from scratch.

I have two Jenni Fleetwood books, the 20-Minute Cookbook is another one where some of the recipes take a little longer than that if you include the prep, but are mainly simple and delicious- and the One Pot Cookbook which is excellent- exactly what it says on the tin, so you can lob everything into one pot, wash up all your prep stuff and slow cook something for a few hours. Great winter recipes for after a chilly ride too.

 

[vernon]

ps - nice avatar Vernon.

Thank you.

 

[Arch]

Yep we can all knock up instant bland food but Jamie's book offered the prospect of interesting fast food.

Excuse me! No one has ever called my suppers 'bland'....

Almost any curry, stirfry, pasta dish can be done in half an hour, with a little organisation and forethought.

Most of my dinners start with the same item. Pan of water, on to boil. Often before I've decided what I'll be boiling. While it comes to the boil, I start the sauce, when it boils, in goes the pasta or rice, or noodles, carry on with sauce, everything comes together at about the same time. I do 'cheat' for curries and use a Pataks paste, but using dry spice wouldn't take much longer. For chinese, soy and sesame oil is a great mix.

 

[summerdays]

So, in the same way that people were sold stuff packed full of articial additives, and then sold stuff that is free from them when that became fashionable, people are now having to be sold the idea that cooking can be quick and easy.

I guess if you are trying to get to the people who only really use ready meals then quick food has to be your selling point.

 

[vernon]

Excuse me! No one has ever called my suppers 'bland'....

I never said that your suppers were bland.