Jamie’s 15-Minute Meals
Jamie Oliver
Penguin Michael Joseph
Jamie Oliver has been in the news recently for a number of reasons. His first Irish restaurant opened in Dublin and his new cookery programme, Jamie’s 15-Minute Meals started earlier this week on Channel 4. The format to the new programme is similar to the very successful Jamie’s 30-Minute Meals, which provided the platform for Oliver to break publishing records with the accompanying book of the same name. In keeping with that previous presentation, this time offering recipes that can be prepared and cooked within half that time — a quarter of an hour — the plan is obviously to produce another record-breaking publishing success accompanying the television series. It begins with tips on important equipment and pantry lists with Oliver setting out his philosophy — “15-minute meals is a frame of mind” – and acknowledging that each recipe is made for less than £3.80 (€4.70 approximately ). The book is divided into sections such as those on chicken, beef, pork, lamb, fish, pasta, soups and sarnies, veggie, and breakfast. The best of the recipes include those for sticky kicking chicken with watermelon radish salad and crunchy noodles; beef stroganoff; beef kofta curry; ultimate pork tacos with spicy black beans and avocado garden salad; mustard lamb with Irish mash and watercress apple salad; smoked salmon with Yorkshire pud, beets, and asparagus; chorizo carbonara; Mexican tomato soup; falafel wraps; and super smoothies. At the end of the book, each recipe has been assessed for its calorie, sugar, fat and saturated fat content. Overall, a well produced collection that will obviously be phenomenally popular over the Christmas season.
