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wizardowl's review
5.0
A fun, inspiring cookbook with gorgeous photos. I've already made a few recipes from it and they're quite tasty, as I've come to expect from Jamie Oliver!
margeryk101's review
5.0
I think this is week three of 'Save with Jamie'. We started with the Mothership Roast Pork for week one, then the Roast Chicken and this week the Brisket of Beef, and really, it has helped streamline the shopping budget. One of his key tenets is that you cook a roast on the Sunday and then use leftovers the following week. His leftover recipes are unusual and tasty and perfect for cooks who (for instance) perhaps don't know how to create a chicken filling for a pie from leftovers.
We've always tried to plan the week's meals and shop accordingly, often using recipes from low-fat cookbooks, and the snag is, that to avoid monotony, many of those recipes use expensive cuts of meat, (pork tenderloin, chicken breasts). Ok, so Jamie's recipes aren't necessarily low-fat, but we have avoided eating out, and also, the amount of meat he uses in his leftover recipes especially is much less than we'd usually consume in a meal.
One of the best things about this book is that there is a particular repertoire of ingredients, so that, for instance, if you use 1/2 a cabbage for one recipe, there are other recipes you can do that also include 1/2 a cabbage.
Last Saturday I used up 1/2 a butternut squash (had needed the other half in a recipe that week) from his 'Roast Butternut Squash 4 ways' section, and we had bruschettas with butternut squash mash spread on them, with crispy bacon and mushrooms on top. Scrummy.
It's has also taken me out of my comfort zone and I have cooked offal (chicken livers) and tofu, both of which were new to me. I'm feeling proud of myself. I've also done his 'make herb butter with leftover herbs' trick and actually used them to make a very tasty gravy.
My favourite recipe is probably the Banh Mi which was a surprising hit with our 2 boys, aged 5 and 2. We loved it so much we've done it twice now. Excellent.
We've always tried to plan the week's meals and shop accordingly, often using recipes from low-fat cookbooks, and the snag is, that to avoid monotony, many of those recipes use expensive cuts of meat, (pork tenderloin, chicken breasts). Ok, so Jamie's recipes aren't necessarily low-fat, but we have avoided eating out, and also, the amount of meat he uses in his leftover recipes especially is much less than we'd usually consume in a meal.
One of the best things about this book is that there is a particular repertoire of ingredients, so that, for instance, if you use 1/2 a cabbage for one recipe, there are other recipes you can do that also include 1/2 a cabbage.
Last Saturday I used up 1/2 a butternut squash (had needed the other half in a recipe that week) from his 'Roast Butternut Squash 4 ways' section, and we had bruschettas with butternut squash mash spread on them, with crispy bacon and mushrooms on top. Scrummy.
It's has also taken me out of my comfort zone and I have cooked offal (chicken livers) and tofu, both of which were new to me. I'm feeling proud of myself. I've also done his 'make herb butter with leftover herbs' trick and actually used them to make a very tasty gravy.
My favourite recipe is probably the Banh Mi which was a surprising hit with our 2 boys, aged 5 and 2. We loved it so much we've done it twice now. Excellent.
house_of_scatha's review
3.0
I haven't used this quite as much as the Jamie's 15 and 30 minute meals. I also got caught out by the longer prep time - always RTFM! I like it, but don't think I will be using it for all my family meal planning and budgeting.
sarah1984's review
5.0
I love Jamie, he can do no wrong and I'll buy pretty much anything he writes. We've already used the Roast Chicken recipe and one of the leftover recipes that go with it. The whole idea is very useful, especially as we're a family that have been stuck in the rut of using its leftovers in their original form - as the meat and three veg it started out as - which isn't always appetising two days later, but changing the base ingredients into another meal altogether gives you a different meal that doesn't feel (or taste) like your eating the same thing two days in a row (which is a nice change). I highly recommend anything Jamie has ever written.
rmtbray's review
3.0
Yet another addition to Jamie's cookery empire. Bought this for Mummy for her birthday as she asked for it, even though she often says that she doesn't have time to try out new recipes. So there's a fair few recipes that I'll try on her behalf...
The concept of this book is quite good and sensible, but not exactly groundbreaking - I swear at least every other cookbooks I've read from the last few years rhapsodises over doing a big roast and then using up the leftovers in other meals... And as another reviewer pointed out, this isn't exactly on the breadline budget cooking, it's 'slightly-cheapier-than-normal-cookbooks' level budgeting - I'm a student and I eat more frugally than this.
And finally, for the love of god how many cookbook authors go on and on about how great & cheap ham hocks are - where on earth are you meant to find them?! Certainly not in even quite large and middle class supermarkets, and given that my only local butchers are halal ones no hope there... My only other choice is places like Borough Market, which is certainly not cheap!
The concept of this book is quite good and sensible, but not exactly groundbreaking - I swear at least every other cookbooks I've read from the last few years rhapsodises over doing a big roast and then using up the leftovers in other meals... And as another reviewer pointed out, this isn't exactly on the breadline budget cooking, it's 'slightly-cheapier-than-normal-cookbooks' level budgeting - I'm a student and I eat more frugally than this.
And finally, for the love of god how many cookbook authors go on and on about how great & cheap ham hocks are - where on earth are you meant to find them?! Certainly not in even quite large and middle class supermarkets, and given that my only local butchers are halal ones no hope there... My only other choice is places like Borough Market, which is certainly not cheap!
manxomemia's review
Got to love Jamie. As I will soon be moving houses and buying a whole bunch of new appliances, I especially liked the first few pages, which outline how to organise your fridge, pantry, and what appliances, etc. you will need.
optimisticcautiously's review
3.0
I drooled over the recipes, and copied out more than a few (particularly some creative vegetarian or otherwise vegetable-based recipes), but the book does not accomplish its goal: saving me money. First, there are very few tips beyond the obvious - actually, there were very few tips, period. Second, the tips are simply that, not teaching you to truly follow concepts in designing your own meal plan to save money. Third, there is not any explanation for how a recipe saves money, so you must just trust that following his plan will work. Fourth, the cookbook is very context specific and may not translate to savings in other countries (like Canada, or perhaps even those within the British Isles), particularly since it does not explain and give you transferable knowledge/teaching.
Why did the cookbook receive even this high a rating?I drooled over the recipes. I do not understand what people have trouble with the concept of using cooked meat in other recipes (though, so long as you eat all the leftovers, who cares if you eat straight leftovers?) and question how many are not doing so (freakish hold-outs like my Dad, sure, but the average person?). Many of the recipes are similar to ones I already made, e.g. my pork roasts become pulled pork BBQ sandwiches, pork burritos, and pork stir-fry. That said, I copied out a few new ideas and a lot of vegetable recipes (as previously stated).
Beyond that, the cookbook was returned to the library very quickly and I have no intention of buying the book.
EDIT: My family ended up buying me the book, because they noticed a gap in my collection. While I still say it doesn't translate to savings, they still love the recipes - I mean, it's Jamie Oliver!
Why did the cookbook receive even this high a rating?I drooled over the recipes. I do not understand what people have trouble with the concept of using cooked meat in other recipes (though, so long as you eat all the leftovers, who cares if you eat straight leftovers?) and question how many are not doing so (freakish hold-outs like my Dad, sure, but the average person?). Many of the recipes are similar to ones I already made, e.g. my pork roasts become pulled pork BBQ sandwiches, pork burritos, and pork stir-fry. That said, I copied out a few new ideas and a lot of vegetable recipes (as previously stated).
Beyond that, the cookbook was returned to the library very quickly and I have no intention of buying the book.
EDIT: My family ended up buying me the book, because they noticed a gap in my collection. While I still say it doesn't translate to savings, they still love the recipes - I mean, it's Jamie Oliver!
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