7 Ways: Easy Ideas for Your Favourite Ingredients

Be warned, tho’...the ‘neon pink’ on the cover is the accent colour throughout, including the inside cover pages, front & back!Published to coincide with the new TV series, 'Jamie's Keep Cooking Show' (Channel 4), at the time of writing, this new book is sincerely dedicated to ‘Sir Paul Smith’.ooOooHaving followed JO, including on TV since the beginning of time (well 1999 anyway!) i.e. his days as ‘The Naked Chef’ & that famous spiral staircase greeting, he was just as passionate & down to earth then as he was during the early days of lockdown with his ‘selfie’ broadcasts with the family, and the various archive clips that showed thereafter.So, is there much more he can offer in yet another book?Well, yes, IMO.It is a concise and simply well laid out publication across double page spreads that includes a photographic shot (Levon Biss) of every single dish, so you know what you are aiming for on the plate.It also aims, as always, to make cooking look like something you want to do rather than a chore and the casual, easy confidence JO exudes in said TV programmes is here and evident from the start in part of the INTRODUCTION:📝‘I’ve set out to give you solutions’……there then follows how he covers off all the excuses one might have for not cooking tonight, e.g.~ ‘I don’t have time’~ ‘I don’t know what to cook’~ ‘I can’t find fancy ingredients’~ ‘I hate washing up’~ ‘I want a takeaway’~ ‘I don’t know how to cook: Whether you’re a total beginner or a kitchen ninja, these recipes will serve you well…’From the back cover (capitalised):📝 ‘Easy ideas for every day of the weekLooking for new inspiration!Jamie’s got you covered.Celebrating 18 much-loved ingredients with more than 120 exciting recipes, these are delicious big hitters with maximum flavour, minimum effort.’I think it is important to note, at this point, that other store cupboard ingredients are required in addition to the mains quoted in the recipes, and this is explained in the INTRODUCTION, including:📝‘...Cooking is simply impossible without these items at your fingertips and I believe every household should have them in stock.…olive oil for cooking, extra-virgin olive oil for dressing and finishing dishes, red wine vinegar as a good all-rounder when it comes to acidity and balancing marinades, sauces or dressing and, of course, sea salt and black pepper for seasoning....Herbs are a gift to any cook…Herbs allow you to add single-minded flavour to a dish, without the need to over-season, which is good for everyone.They’re also packed with incredible nutrition ~ we like that....I use a lot of condiments in this book, like mango chutney, curry pastes, black bean and teriyaki sauces, miso and pesto.These are items you can find in all supermarkets, and of an extraordinary quality. They guarantee flavour and save hours of time in preparation. Most are non-perishable, which means you’re not under pressure to use them too quickly……Over the years, the press have taken the p*** out of me for using these so-called ‘cheat’ ingredients, but I think cheat ingredients are great! They help keep food exciting.’ooOooMeasuring around 19.25 cm x 25 cm x 3 cm, the thick hardback cover opens to 320 numbered, matte finish pages, split over the CONTENTS, as listed at the front, which is a collage of snapshots of the finished dishes alongside the list of the 18 main CHAPTERS, aka ‘HERO INGREDIENTS’, namely:~ BROCCOLI~ CAULIFLOWER~ AVOCADO~ CHICKEN BREAST~ SAUSAGES~ SALMON FILLET~ SWEET POTATO~ AUBERGINE~ EGGS~ MINCE~ POTATOES~ PEPPERS~ PRAWNS~ WHITE FISH FILLET~ WHOLE CHICKEN~ MUSHROOMS~ STEAK~ PORK…all sandwiched between an 8-page INTRODUCTION at the front and NOTES ON NUTRITION, the usual sincere THANK YOU, a full alphabetical INDEX + the full list of JAMIE OLIVER books, of which this is NUMBER 24, at the back!Pages 10 & 11 are a handy cross-reference to the recipes included under typically sounding JO titles:~ FAKEAWAYS~ ONE-PAN WONDERS~ TRAYBAKES~ SIMPLE PASTAS~ BEAUTIFUL SALADS~ SOUPS & SARNIESEasy to navigate, each CHAPTER opens with a double page spread with, white on neon pink, the list of 7 recipes capitalised on the left-hand page and the section title on the right.Without further ado, it is straight into the first recipe.Each recipe has snapshot pictures of the KEY INGREDIENTS down the left-hand side of the left-hand page of each double page spread. The recipes are in black coloured text with the TITLE at the top, the NUMBER OF SERVINGS & TOTAL TIME, followed by the LIST OF INGREDIENTS required & the METHOD.NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION is at the foot of the page.The right-hand page is a full-page, colour illustration of the finished dish.The chunky tome can be a bit reluctant to stay open at the chosen pages, depending on where you are in the book, but is easily solved with a book stand as shown in the images below, as I struggle to find my next favourite recipe to try from the enticing 126 on offer!p.s. There are NO puds in the book, even in the EGG section![22 images attached ©Jamie Oliver, Levon Biss & Penguin Michael Joseph/2020]

I was so excited to get this book and I’m not disappointed. It is so easy to use and will fit in perfectly with my lifestyle.Jamie takes 18 ingredients-broccoli, cauliflower, avocado, chicken, sausages, salmon, sweet potato, aubergine, eggs, mince, potatoes, peppers, prawns, fish, whole chicken, mushrooms, steak and pork- and he gives you 7 recipes for each. The recipes have no more than 8 ingredients, all of which are regular to find.The recipes themselves are so easy to use and very interesting. There are none that don’t appeal to me. In fact I am going to work through the entire book.As always, the photographs are stunning, the recipes are concise and the structure of the book is excellent; they are divided into the 18 ingredients but there is a really handy index of the food genres which are Fakeaways, One pots, Traybakes, simple pastas, Salads, Soup & Sandwiches.I absolutely love this book and can’t wait to start cooking and eating the food. I have used all of Jamie’s books in the past but I think this is my favourite because all recipes are easy with easy to find ingredients and all are foods I like. Buy this I absolutely recommend it!

I was looking forward to this book, but having just looked through it I can't find anything that I might cook, I don't like fish, my husband doesn't like avocados, all the recipes state eg 1/2 bunch, couple of sprigs, tablespoons, 1 gherkin, 2 tablespoons whisky!! I can't see the point of buying bunches of herbs, only using half or sprigs, half of this, half of that, what do you do with the rest? and what are 'Rose Harissa, Smooth Porter, Baby cornichons, curry leaves, wasabi peas, cashew butter, and what would you do with half a jar of artichokes! I haven't seen these things in Asda anyway. However, I'll watch the programmes, they might give me encouragement, altho at the moment I'm thinking 'Who could I give this for Christmas'!!!!

Okay it's early days as I haven't had the book long but these recipes I could actually do. I suppose I'm a lazy cook, not a bad one but pretty lazy, these recipes though are your everyday ingredients that most people have and therefore no hassle. You will find Chicken; mushroom; egg; pork and loads more run of the mill dishes. I just happened to watch the first episode of his channel 4 series which the book is partly from and had a feeling that this book would be different, I don't think I'll be wrong. Definitely 5 stars from me, probably one of the best cookbooks, especially if you're a reluctant cook like me.

I am a big Jamie fan and have all his earlier books but this one is slightly disappointing. I accept that it is titled as being for everyday but many of the dishes are really basic and dull, not inspiring at all. It really is just too simple and basic. My family enjoyed the Mexican meatloaf but only because I spiced it up a bit and served it with rice - surely the purpose of a cookbook is to provide you with a finished and delicious dish, not just an idea that you have to tart up? Unlike previous reviewers, I couldn’t find many ideas for dishes I’d want to try so it’s a thumbs down from me.