Rating: 
Summary: Nice one mate...
Review: A cookbook that contains recipes that ordinary people, as opposed to professional chefs, can understand, and don't need a kitchen full of cooking gadgets, or special ingredients to prepare and enjoy. I've tried most of Jamie's 'pukka tukka' and its recipes are easy to cook and taste great. Only problem I've found is that my girlfriend now says that as I cook so well I can do it more often, but the plus side is she does the washing-up, and provides dessert .
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Summary: Totally fun, easy and delicious
Review: A winner.Jamie Oliver is great. His approach to cooking is fun and easy -and produces excellent results. His work is such a relief from precise and detailed recipes that take hours to prepare with questionalbe results. He encourages you to experiment with fresh, available ingredients and see how they taste together. I love how his recipes are not perfectly measured to the teaspoon (like when he says, "pour in a few glugs of olive oil . . ."), but how they still offer the perfect amount of information to make the meal turn out properly. It is as though he has some respect for you in your own little kitchen - that by combining his guidance and your own judgement, you can make delicious dishes.
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Summary: Solid Second Book on a Naked Food Lifestyle. Outstanding
Review: As I was reaching my 1000 words at the end of my review of Jamie Oliver's first book, `The Naked Chef', I had an epithany revealing that Oliver's writing is about an entire culinary lifestyle. While he professes simplicity with recipes which can be easily made at home, he does not sideline some seemingly daunting cooking tasks such as bread baking, pasta making, stock making and risotto dishes. Rather, he is enthusiasticly inviting us amateurs to enter unafraid into some of cooking's most satisfying challenges. In this what, his first two books go beyond the very useful Rachael Ray quick cooking techniques and they also go beyond the lineup of simple restaurant recipes presented in the superb River Café books from Rose Gray and Ruth Rodgers. Our Jamie writes and lives the kind of enthusiasm for tasty home cooking from English, Mediterranean, and Oriental flavors which other culinary luminaries simply act out with less than convincing enthusiasm. I am even more convinced that like Robin Williams, and unlike other TV culinary personalities, Oliver is a genuine force of nature in embodying a love of cooking and talking about cooking.
This book, `The Naked Chef Takes Off' is described as being directed at American readers; however, I see few differences in style between this and his first book. The major additions are chapters on growing herbs in the city, breakfast dishes, tapas and other snacks, bevvies (mixed drinks, bevereges for us Yanks), and stocks. These chapters have less value as thorough discussions of their subject than they do to spread Sir Jamie's enthusiasm to new subjects. As light as it is, his chapter on growing herbs was helpful in pointing out which ones do best outside. I would have saved myself a growing season of disappointment if I had known that basil does not do well outside in the sun, and parsley does. The breakfast dishes are mostly good English fare with an expert chef's special touch. The tapas chapter will not add much to your knowledge if you already have a book on the subject, but if these are new to you, you will be impressed by how simple a great many Mediterranean munchies recipes can be. The chapter on mixed drinks offers some interesting information on some classic Brit potables, but a Mr. Boston book of mixed drinks will be a better reference. The chapter on stocks should convince you that these can be easy. But, if you are a total newbie to stockmaking, please read an authoritative discussion in something like `The Joy of Cooking', a CIA text, or Judy Rodgers' `Zuni Café' book. It is easy if you do it right, but there are pitfalls if you are not careful.
The heart of this book simply expands the range of recipes we got from the first book with no hint of feeling that we are getting leftovers, as I often sense in second books from other culinary celebs like Ina Garten and Paula Deen. All of Oliver's recipes sparkle with the kind of freshness I got from the first book. He does expand his range of ingredients by bringing in Middle Eastern flavors and Oriental flavors with ingredients such as lemon grass and Kaffir lime leaves. I always get a sinking feeling when I see Kaffir lime leaves in a recipe as even my favorite megamart has yet to carry these.
Like the River Café cookbooks, the stars of Oliver's books are the salads and pasta dishes. Being a simple tomato sauce and spaghetti eater for all my life, the pasta recipes in these books are a revelation for both their variety and simplicity. Why would anyone bother with a jar with Emeril or Paul Newman on the label when you can whip together a dressing with parsley, olives, capers, cherry tomatoes, and olive oil in less time than it takes to retrieve that jar and check out it's expiration date. Second in line for me are Jamie's fish and shellfish dishes. As the variety of tastes at the fish counter greatly outweighs the tastes of beef, lamb, and pork, I love new fish recipes, and Jamie has them aplenty. Especially interesting is his take on Shephard's pie replacing the grass eater flesh with cod. Many of the dishes include Oriental flavors such as ginger and coconut milk. Some may go a bit too far, as not all of us live in London or New York City where there is a vendor of banana leafs just down the block. I am tickled to see Jamie use things like horseradish, as this is both a very familiar flavor which simply does not find itself into dishes outside central European Slavic and Yiddish cuisines.
The chapter on meats introduces several recipes for carpaccio of beef which, by the very nature of this Italian technique is very fast and very flavorful. While the classic carpaccio is as uncooked as a sashimi or a tartare, Sir Jamie gives us recipes which put a touch of sear on the meat, just enough to please the American who likes their beef bloody, but not raw. Add the recipe for the roasted fillet of beef wrapped in prosciutto and we have several recipes for high class entertaining. While chuck and oxtails and flank steak may be great economy dishes, you don't want to serve these to your boss or a prospective client. And, you can drop the fact that these dishes were served to Tony Blair, or near enough to fib.
I am a great fan of Jamie Oliver and I become a greater fan of his cooking with each of his books I review. Like so many other recipes based on natural, elemental ingredients, Jamie's recipes require a fair amount of kitchen experience, so follow his instructions very carefully. He doesn't leave anything out, but he doesn't give many warnings of pitfalls either.
Very highly recommended for both simplicity and variety of dishes.
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Summary: Great for the beginner cook!
Review: At 31, I've finally decided I need to learn to make more than cookies, and after seeing Jamie's Food TV show, I ordered both this and his first book (The Naked Chef). None of the recipes here are overly complex, and most of the ingredients are easily found at the local market. There are plenty of explanations as to why you need to take certain steps (as a beginner, this is very helpful), and the book is loaded with photographs. Oliver writes like he talks, which makes the book easy and fun to read (I love the Britishisms). I tried one recipe, which turned out very well, and I'm looking forward to trying others. One caveat - there are one or two recipes here that also are found in The Naked Chef, but these are "foundation" type recipes (bread, roast chicken) - so if you flip through the book at your local store and notice this, don't feel like you're paying for something you already own.
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Summary: WICKED !!!
Review: I happened onto the TV show and loved it. The book doesn't dissapoint. Jaime's great slang and character come shining through along with the easy-to-follow recipies that have WOW'd my dinner guests. The only thing that would make this book even more 'wicked' would be if a chip was added to each page that would play audio of Jaime giving you suggestions or cheering you on while making the dish! I find myself reading the recipies aloud imitating Jaime's wonderful accent. Its a great book for someone that is intimidated by seemingly fancy dishes - Jaime breaks them down and makes them so 'easy peasy' that it really builds your confidence to improvise and try other things. Dont pass this one up !! Cheers!
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Summary: He's So Likeable - He Makes You Want To Cook
Review: I have been watching Jamie Oliver on the FoodNetwork since he invaded the States. I love him. Plain and Simple - I think he's a riot and so friendly. He makes me rethink that whole "stiff upper lip - English thing". When I watch his show - he makes me SO hungry. I don't think he's ever made something that I didn't like or couldn't see me making. He's recipes are down to earth - user friendly and SO good. He's a chef for the everyday "man / woman" (you know what I mean). From the basics to the more industrious recipes - "The Naked Chef Takes Off" is a great follow-up to his first book, "The Naked Chef". Also a wonderful heads up - "Happy Days with the Naked Chef" is available from Amazon UK and I LOVE LOVE LOVE that books. It's wonderful! But - until that one hits the states, check out "Return of the Naked Chef". You'll be chomping at the bit to get into the kitchen.
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Summary: Take offs on the Naked Chef Takes Off
Review: I purchased this book since I enjoyed his Naked Chef cookbook and found to my delight that this book is just as good! The receipes are simple, the techniques easy to follow and the results delicious. Be wary however, some of his receipes state they serve four, however he must mean four teenagers since I find I often have leftovers. But no worries mate, they aren't left over long!
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Summary: How to be a 5 star home-cook
Review: I really love the books of Jamie. This volume again contains recipes that aren't hard to make and are very easy to do. Jamie uses fresh ingedients, no really difficult techniques and the composition always looks great on your plate. With this book you won't find cooking hard and you will get a lot of compliments for the dinner you have cooked. There are different sections: starters, meat, fish, vegetables, pastas en desserts. The techniques used by Jamie are explained very clearly and most of the time he gives some advise in using your own imagination to make it your own recipe.I have had this book for over a year now and I use it very often. My favourite recipe: Fantastic cooked chicken!
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Summary: Jamie is cool and unpretentious
Review: I thought that this was going to be a repetition of "The Naked Chef" and that Jamie was going to use the same formula in his new book. I was wrong. Not only did he improve the book but also dedicated his book to his wife--I bet Jamie was at the doghouse for not dedicating his first book to his wife or mentioning her... Anyhow, the recipes are very easy to follow and to reproduce in the privacy of your house. The only but that I have is that some of the ingredients are not readily available. However, all I can say is buy the book and let the cooking speaks for itself.
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Summary: Nice - but still a little tricky
Review: I tried 3 recipies sofar. Here's my advise: - you will have to run around like he does on TV to get the stuff together. My local supermarket has a lot, but very expensive - If you don't get everything you will have to substitue and that can easily backfire. E.g. if you do the toasted almonds with normal rather then sea-salt -> no good. Sea salt is less salty then normal salt and more powdery when it comes out of the grinder. I am a guy with a phone in NYC. I order in, so I don't know thinks like these.
- herbs
I tried the carrots in white wine (actually i took sweet white martini which i bought by accident and i need to get rid of). I spend 7 bucks for fresh oregano and sage. I dont like cummin seeds he used and couldnt get thyme. Worked but in future i stick with the dried stuff. Also i couldnt get nice looking baby carrots with the green stuff attached to it which looks nice so i took normal bagged baby carrots which worked - I tried also the asian infused tuna. I whacked everything into the bowl like he says, but that was a mistake. The limes I used must be extremly juicy or its just me and I squeeze way harder then english blokes. The whole thing ended up too sour. was good though. I am german, so english is not my 1st language and here and there i am missing words or grammar. He used a little fresh ginger in his recipie. Now that translate for me into chop a teaspoon up or so but I think heactually meant a small root, they come in different sizes. Update 12/7: I tried the the swordfish ongreens with lemon oliveoil dressing and salsa ... couldnt get swordfish, hence i used tuna. worked too. I added fingerling potatoes to it cause I needd carbs and didnt want to go for bread. amazing. had it 2 days in a row. the salsa really gives this one the kick, I didnt expect that ...... I will try the porkloins next ....... 2 month to go till I turn thirty, by then I want to be top of the line cooking boyfriend material and at this pont it looks like I am getting there. Buy this book. If you are not sure, go to ..., they have the recipies from the TV show online.
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