Notes about Recipes in this book

• Toad in the hole

  • anthonno on February 03, 2010

    Nice crispy batter, bit greasy though. Onion gravy was gorgeous. Chopped the rosemary up and added it to the gravy.

  • moreace01 on November 01, 2010

    As pp mentioned - this was quite greasy. After baking, I poured off the extra grease. I think...the recipe was a bit vague on when to do things - and for someone who has never made this before, pouring the batter on top of all that oil was a bit disconcerting (and I wasn't sure I was doing it right). I also couldn't get my sausages to brown in the oven (I was using chicken sausage - so that could be part of the problem). It did puff up and get brown and crispy.

• Chicken in milk

  • Jane on October 27, 2013

    Not very impressed by this. The chicken was nicely moist but the sauce was thin and not very strongly flavored. Won't be repeating it.

  • fprincess on March 18, 2011

    This recipe did not work very well for me - the sauce was just a little odd.

  • lils74 on June 16, 2020

    Made this week--unusual, delicious and one I'll be repeating; followed the recipe pretty much as directed, except my lemons were a local lime-type affair. Also parboiled some carrot chunks and added to the milk in the baking tin, as my mother used to make carrots in milk and I thought they might be good (they were). My roasting dish was glass so I didn't do the first step of browning it on the stove, but rather attempted to do so in the oven before adding the milk and other ingredients, which didn't work very well but it later got very crisp while cooking, so not a problem. Didn't use as much butter and oil to brown as he says to dump it out after and I don't like waste, so I used less and kept it. The chicken was wonderful, moist in some places and very crisp in others, and the sauce was plentiful and aromatic from the sage. Does need liberal seasoning (salt and pepper). Ate with boiled potatoes and https://www.eatyourbooks.com/library/recipes/1252697/green-beans-with-snail-butter

  • lils74 on September 10, 2020

    Made again this week - may be my fav chicken recipe at the moment. Aside from enjoying it with boiled potatoes fresh from the oven, when I made it last time I discovered something amazing to do with the leftovers, or part of them: reduce the sauce a little (It doesn't really thicken but the flavors are concentrated), add some of the roast chicken, shredded, and then some pasta. Amazingly good, very nearly worth making the whole dish just for this. I wanted a flat pasta and used what I had to hand - Fresine #14, which is wider than linguine but not quite as wide as tagliatelle,]; but I think any pasta would do. Half cooked it and then finished it in the sauce, which thickened it a little and made the pasta super tasty.

• My old man's superb chicken

  • Cheri on January 02, 2011

    This was excellent. Followed directions exactly and worked very well. Used one sheet of frozen puff pastrey from Trader Joes. Defrosted for about 30 minutes before using - just right. Served with sauted broccoli rabe. Very filling - pretty.

  • L.Nightshade on March 11, 2011

    Chopped mixed mushrooms, garlic and parsley comprise the filling for these chicken breasts, which are wrapped in puff pastry. The sauce is extremely simple and packs a lot of flavor. White wine is reduced with whole grain mustard, cream is added. This dish was a big hit. Mine didn't look like Jamie's, I think you'd have to flatten the breasts to make them completely encircle the stuffing, but they were still attractive and drew raves at the table. The chicken was moist and nicely cooked when the pastry was golden. This dish has a lovely country French taste. I also made a gluten-free version, wrapping the breast in prosciutto. It does need something to hold it together while cooking, I thought prosciutto would be more fun than a toothpick. A successful spin on the original.

• Pot-roasted pork in white wine with garlic, fennel and rosemary

  • Cheri on October 31, 2010

    This was nice and moist. Very good. Served with green beans and baked sweet potatoes.

• Roasted fennel with cherry tomatoes, olives, garlic and olive oil

  • Breadcrumbs on March 20, 2011

    p. 223 -I made this last night and fell in love with the dish. I love all the individual components in the first place but the combined result is a symphony of flavour and deliciousness.I did make a couple of changes. Since fennel bulbs were fairly small and, we love fennel, I thought I better use two. I did quarter them as JO suggests. I had some lovely little campari tomatoes on the vine and I felt it would be a shame to pull them apart so I chose not to skin them and just tossed them in as is. I did puncture their skin w a sharp knife to prevent them from exploding in the oven. Instead of par-boiling the fennel, I gave it a quick steam until almost tender. I loved Jamie’s idea of finely chopping the fennel stalks and fronds and tossing this in the pan w the veggies. This served to flavour the wine-butter broth and infusing it w that fresh fennel flavour. Photos here: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/769188#6397067

  • L.Nightshade on March 11, 2011

    This came out perfectly without the added steps of parboiling the fennel and peeling the tomatoes. I halved the tomatoes, as they were rather large for cherries and I didn't want explosions in the oven. I used white wine (instead of the planned pernod) because the fennel was so wildly fragrant on it's own. Really a lovely, aromatic dish. I'll try it again using Jamie's suggestion of cooking chicken breasts (or maybe fish fillets?) on top for a one-dish meal.

• The easiest sexiest salad in the world

  • Breadcrumbs on September 24, 2015

    p. 94 - This recipe is really more about assembly than cooking. Perfect for last minute entertaining because it comes together in an instant and looks beautiful. I made some minor changes to this as follows: I roasted my figs, I subbed ibérico jamón for the parma ham, I used chèvre vs buffalo mozz on some plates and I also dotted the plates with some balsamic glaze. The dish is drizzled with a lemon dressing from p. 115. A lovely dish that’s particularly suited for fall. Well worth repeating. Photo here: http://www.chowhound.com/post/march-2011-cotm-celebrates-jamie-oliver-month-769149?commentId=9730964#9730964

  • fprincess on October 15, 2010

    Delicious flavor combination.

• Honey and lemon juice dressing

  • Breadcrumbs on September 24, 2015

    p. 115 - A fresh and flavourful dressing that works beautifully atop JO’s SEXIEST SALAD IN THE WORLD. Prep couldn’t be simpler, evoo, lemon juice, honey, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper are whisked together. The honey is what takes this from ordinary to terrific and it is that same honey that makes this the perfect match for the figs. I think this would be nice atop roasted squash as well. A great fall salad dressing recipe. Photo here: http://www.chowhound.com/post/march-2011-cotm-celebrates-jamie-oliver-month-769149?commentId=9730973#9730973

• Superb marinated pork fillet roasted on rhubarb

  • wester on May 15, 2018

    Based on L.Nightshade's note, and Jamies headnote comparing the rhubarb to apple sauce, I added about 3 tablespoons of sugar equivalent to the rhubarb. This took the edge off the tartness. I thought it was just right like that, but the rest of the family would have liked it even sweeter. I thought this was a good combination of flavors, and pretty too. Unfortunately the rest of the family was not wild about it.

  • L.Nightshade on June 04, 2011

    The timing and method described resulted in perfectly cooked pork. I think the failings of the dish were due to the ingredients I used. I had pork from the grocer, and I am now accustomed to the taste of pork from our local organic ranch, so that was a bit of a let down. Jamie specified baby rhubarb. How young and how small is baby rhubarb? I selected the smallest pieces in the store, they were just under an inch wide, a bit over a foot long. It roasted to what seemed the proper consistency, but it did not make any juice in the pan. Although we could just taste potential great flavors in this dish, it was extremely tart, maybe even bitter. It made our faces squinch up. I'd be perfectly willing to try this again, as I said, we could tell it had great potential.

• Spaghetti with salami, fennel and tomatoes

  • wester on January 01, 2010

    Filling and spicy, with the breadcrumbs adding some extra crunch. I usually have this with penne, not spaghetti.

  • leahorowitz on March 06, 2024

    Yummy! I also went heavy with the fennel and I’m glad I did. And less salami and only half of the tomatoes. Don’t skip the breadcrumbs! Note to self: if large, cut the fennel in quarters before slicing (recipe says cut in half and slice).

  • greatembini on December 27, 2018

    Delicious! Use at least double the fresh fennel - I used two small bulbs for a half recipe. Red pepper flakes (a pinch while cooking the sauce, then extra on top after serving) adds a lot.

• Parsnip and pancetta tagliatelle with Parmesan and butter

  • wester on August 28, 2010

    Very good everyday dish - it just works! I think the cooking times given are a bit short, but if you just put on the water for the pasta and then do everything else, it will work out just fine. Make sure you put enough Parmesan and enough pepper in.

  • Astrid5555 on October 25, 2013

    First time my boys enjoyed parsnips! Excellent quick and easy weeknight dish. Needs a lot of Parmesan.

  • leahorowitz on February 13, 2024

    I cut the parsnips into little pieces the night before which made for a really quick meal the day of. Its tasty, too! The parsnips go really well with all the other flavors involved and are not overpowering at all. So if you usually don't like parsnips that much, you might want to try this recipe. Rutabaga's note re: deglazing with white wine is excellent, by the way - I will certainly do that again!

  • Rutabaga on February 16, 2016

    This is a great weeknight pasta option, something a little different. My bacon took longer to cook, maybe because it was thick cut and not especially fatty (for bacon). It took time for the fat to render, and there was little bacon grease, so I added some white wine to deglaze the pan and scraped up all the browned bits.

  • Caja on March 07, 2022

    I think this would have been very tasty but because the quantities were vague, mine needed more herbs, parsnips and cheese- ended up fairly plain

• Courgette salad with mint, garlic, red chilli, lemon and extra virgin olive oil

  • wester on April 10, 2013

    This was pretty tasty, but I am totally stumped by the logistics. The recipe says to slice 4 zucchini, on a mandolin if possible. Then you have to grill them, and then you have to scatter them on a large plate, making sure you don't sit them on top of each other. Do you have an idea of the area of four thinly sliced zucchini? Several square feet, that's for sure. You could put them on individual large plates, but apart from making a lot of extra washing up, it would interfere with the next step, which is to sprinkle one chili and half a clove of garlic over this field of zucchini. How are you going to distribute this with any semblance of evenness? Taste is fine, method does not work.

• Japanese daikon salad with mustard cress, crème fraîche and grilled lemon dressing

  • wester on March 11, 2017

    I was afraid this would be very spicy tasting but it was not. Husband liked it, son not so much, I thought it was a bit one-dimensional.

• Pancakes USA stylie

  • wester on September 26, 2017

    Revised review. The problems I mentioned in the previous review are easily remedied by increasing the amount of milk slightly. However, while making these I remembered suddenly that there was another recipe that actually told me to keep the pancakes warm in the oven. Smitten Kitchen's recipe. https://www.eatyourbooks.com/library/recipes/1801212/tall-fluffy-buttermilk-pancakes . Easier and with better directions and better results. I'm not going to bother with these again.

  • wester on September 03, 2010

    The pancakes were nice and fluffy, and I will probably make them again. However, I would have liked a bit more directions baking them. It wasn't quite clear how thick they should be (I made them about 4mm). The recipe didn't tell me either that it was important the thickness should be even (this batter doesn't flow like normal pancake batter). Or that the pancakes don't get completely firm before turning them over and therefore might 'splash' a bit, more if you put them back in the pan from a greater height than strictly necessary. And there is one more bowl to wash up than with normal pancakes.

  • fprincess on October 27, 2010

    These did not work for me. They were heavy and thick. I added some milk and made a few attempts but there are better recipes elsewhere (I use Alton Brown's).

  • owaint on August 10, 2012

    my standard breakfast pancake recipe - the whipped egg whites make them really light and fluffy. Have to be eaten straight away though.

  • Lmucharraz on December 28, 2012

    Loved this recipe, I used half whole meal flour and got delicious and healthier pancakes!

• My favorite vegetarian curry

  • wester on March 09, 2010

    I usually make this with cashew nuts. Very good, and a bit more filling than the mixed vegetables that Jamie suggests. It actually is a lovely all-purpose curry sauce. Very spicy. You probably don't have all the spices yet - I bought fenugreek and curry leaves especially for this one.

  • debkellie on April 18, 2023

    Lovely curry : made the vegetarian version with silver beet, potato, carrot & chickpeas. We grow our own curry leaves and had fenugreek on hand ;-)

• Roasted parsnips

  • wester on September 03, 2010

    Great. Sweet, sticky, very tasty.

  • fprincess on December 20, 2011

    Simple and tasty way to prepare root vegetables. Great for weeknight meals.

• Roasted celeriac

  • wester on September 14, 2014

    Found under Roasted Veg, not in index under celeriac.

• Hamilton squash

  • wester on January 01, 2010

    Festive, tasty and vegan. It looks spectacular and tastes good. Pretty easy, except for scooping out the flesh from inside the squash. A teaspoon definitely does not work, I will try a melon baller next time.

  • Rutabaga on March 28, 2014

    My husband isn't a big fan of autumn squashes, but enjoys the occasional savory preparation, and this one works well because he loves the filling ingredients. It makes a beautiful vegetarian main course, and I appreciate the fact that while it does take a little work to scoop out the sauce, it can be stuffed in advance; simply put it in the over for dinner when you get home. Besides, it's less work than recipes that have you peel and cube the squash!

• Jethro tart

  • wester on September 03, 2010

    It's a while ago I made this. I remember that while it was nice, it was hard to bake to just the right consistency.

• King of puddings

  • tgirlza on July 05, 2014

    I like Mary Berry's tip to stand the breadcrumb/custard mix for 15 minutes before baking, to allow the bread to soak and soften. I have made a wonderful "tropical" version by replacing the milk with coconut milk, lemon zest with lime zest, adding a little vanilla paste to the custard, replacing the jam with a passionfruit coulis, and topping the meringue with large coconut flakes before placing in the oven. It also worked well to make the custard the day before and chill it, just preparing and baking with the meringue topping after dinner (having first brought the custard to room temperature).

• Classic penne carbonara

  • kari500 on November 16, 2019

    I use turkey bacon (I don’t eat pork) and it’s very good. LLD’s favorite carbonara.

  • Astrid5555 on December 28, 2013

    Possibly the quickest pasta dish ever! Two thumbs up from the whole family.

  • lils74 on September 24, 2017

    So I know that this isn't the carbonara for purists who eschew the addition of cream - but it's still my favourite; it's simple, delicious and it works. I do adapt it slightly - instead of 5 egg yolks I usually use two full eggs and the rest yolks only, and if fresh peas are in season I add them (as he does in his variant in Jamie's Dinners, though in that one he uses mint, which I never do). And I prefer spaghetti with my carbonara… but other than that, I follow it pretty much to a T; the instructions work, and it's always a winner for a quick dinner.

• Roasted red onions

  • Cati on May 18, 2013

    This is on page 221 if you want it. It is not listed in the book's index.

• Roasted carrots

  • fprincess on December 20, 2011

    Simple and tasty way to prepare carrots. Great for weeknight meals.

  • Astrid5555 on December 26, 2013

    Quick, easy and delicious! Oven time can be reduced by half if sliced thinly. Served mine as a side dish to roast duck.

• Medallions of beef with morels and Marsala and crème fraîche sauce

  • fprincess on March 18, 2011

    Superb! The combination of morels, creme fraiche and marsala wine is great.

• Pukka pineapple with bashed-up mint sugar

  • fprincess on March 18, 2011

    What a wonderful and simple dessert. The mint sugar is simply brilliant!

• Mango lassi

  • fprincess on March 18, 2011

    A great classic. Delicious!

• Sidecar

  • fprincess on March 18, 2011

    Classic - believe it or not this was my first introduction to the sidecar cocktail!

• Kinda spaghetti bolognese

  • fprincess on November 05, 2010

    This works, although not the most refined nor original recipe...

  • andykelk on October 30, 2021

    I've made this for years. Usually a batch a month and it gets eaten once a week. It's always popular with the kids. I've not used the recipe for a long time but I went back and checked and I'm still following it almost to the letter.

  • KarenMScott on August 28, 2022

    My go to spag boli recipe

• Japanese rolled pork with plums, cilantro, soy sauce and spring onions

  • fprincess on November 05, 2010

    I made this only once but the flavours were excellent.

  • MmeFleiss on August 02, 2016

    If you want this for a weeknight dinner, make the plum chutney in advance and either pound the meat thin in advance or just use pork cutlets. I panfried the pork after steaming to give it some color. This was a spectacular dish.

• Magnificent roasted monkfish

  • fprincess on October 28, 2010

    Easy recipe, nice presentation. The fish stays very moist thanks to the parma ham around it.

  • MmeFleiss on March 06, 2015

    Easy and a definite repeater.

• Lemon rice

  • fprincess on November 06, 2010

    Super fragrant and dead simple.

  • fprincess on March 14, 2011

    I made this again and still find it simple and tasty. I will try to spike it with lemon confit for an extra boost of flavor next time.

• Chicken breast baked in a bag with mushrooms, butter, white wine and thyme

  • fprincess on October 27, 2010

    Easy no fuss main course with minimal cleaning involved since everything is cooked in the bag.

  • KIGirl on July 15, 2017

    I adjusted the recipe slightly due to what I had on hand... Chicken thighs, sliced button mushrooms with the wine, butter and herbs + the bacon as suggested and a little thickened cream - cooked in a shallow dish instead of the 'bag' yum 8/10 :-)

• Good old steak and Guinness pie

  • fprincess on March 18, 2011

    Great comfort food!

  • Rutabaga on April 02, 2014

    This may sound strange to some, but we make this recipe using ground turkey (I don't eat beef), and it works very well. This is one of the dishes my husband sometimes chooses to cook on the rare occasion that he does, in fact, cook. He lets the filling slowly simmer and it turns out moist, with great depth of flavor.

  • averythingcooks on May 25, 2023

    This does make a nice dinner pie. I scaled it to 2/3'ds (using 1 lb boneless short ribs) which was a better fit for the sizes of Guinness & puff pastry that I can buy. I added roasted red peppers, frozen peas & parsley at the end and although I believe we do prefer beef stew with red wine, this was a really comforting dinner on a cool night.

• Beef stew with Newcastle Brown Ale and dumplings

  • fprincess on November 05, 2010

    The stew is good; I did not care for the dumplings.

• Japanese cucumber salad with ginger, cilantro, mint and rice wine vinegar dressing

  • fprincess on March 18, 2011

    I love this fresh and crispy salad.

• Roasted cod with cherry tomatoes, basil and mozzarella

  • fprincess on May 23, 2023

    It tasted fine; the cod was very moist and the tomatoes provided a nice accompaniment. Probably best to add the basil leaves post-oven so they don’t dry out and lose flavor. Also I am not entirely sold on the fish & mozzarella combo.

  • Astrid5555 on November 09, 2013

    Quick and easy weeknight dinner. Will make again.

• Chocolate biscuits with soft chocolate centres

  • fprincess on January 29, 2024

    They do not look at all like the photo (much lighter and more uniform/no cracks at all) but they tasted fine, a bit sandy and buttery/not too sweet, which I liked. I initially misread the recipe and didn't add the top cookie layer, I might like that version better (they are a bit dense with both layers). I used dark chocolate disks. The dough was very easy to work with, very pliable. Book instructions were a bit minimalistic (the online version is much better); I used a jam jar lid to cut the cookies so I could fit the chocolate disk (7 cm vs. 4 & 5 cm in the online instructions) and rolled the dough as thinly as I could without it breaking. My yield was small, about 20 cookies including half without the cookie top, vs. 30 in the recipe. I used the recipe with weight measurements from his website with granulate sugar, regular flour + added 1 tablespoon baking powder. https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/chocolate-recipes/chocolate-biscuits-with-soft-chocolate-centres/

• Roasted Jerusalem artichokes

  • lorloff on May 15, 2011

    page 220

  • L.Nightshade on June 04, 2011

    Just a simple roasted vegetable dish: peeled and quartered J. chokes are tossed in olive oil, sliced garlic, thyme, rosemary, salt, and pepper. Dorie states sprigs of herbs, which sounds like you should add in whole sprigs, but I took off the leaves and tossed them. This cooks for 35 to 45 minutes at 400. I cooked it at 425 as I had a J.O. chicken dish in the oven at the same time, so it was done in the shorter time. I deviated slightly from the recipe by adding a few quartered radishes into the mix. The vendor at the farmers' market said that roasted radishes where the "latest thing." Who knew? Anyway, it was quite nice, if not earth-shaking. A different use for both J chokes and radishes, which now may be going into some of my regular roasted vegetable dishes

  • Rutabaga on November 15, 2014

    There are more exciting ways to prepare Jerusalem artichokes (I think I like them best when mixed with other flavors and textures), but this is a nice simple side dish to throw together. I baked them for about 50 minutes at 425 - 20 minutes under foil, then 30 uncovered. Peel off as much of the skin as possible, as it can be slightly tough.

• Chicken breast baked in a bag with cannellini beans, leeks, cream and marjoram

  • sarahcooks on March 25, 2011

    This took about 10 minutes longer than he says. It was nice enough, and easy, but nothing special. I used green onions instead of baby leeks and didn't blanch them and they turned out fine.

• Pan-baked lamb with eggplant, tomatoes, olives, garlic and mint oil

  • debkellie on November 13, 2017

    Agree with Botanybird: easy, tasty & with olives (as per online recipe) ..and do make the mint oil.. brilliant combo!

  • Botanybird on November 03, 2015

    There are no olives in this recipe, despite being in the title! Brilliant otherwise and so easy!

• Roasted asparagus with rosemary and anchovies wrapped in pancetta

  • L.Nightshade on June 04, 2011

    Not done like the recipe, but inspired by it: I just chopped up some anchovies and some fresh rosemary, tossed them with the asparagus and a little olive oil, and roasted.

• Pan-seared scallops with asparagus and baby leeks

  • L.Nightshade on June 04, 2011

    We had some baby leeks (well, more like teenagers actually), some big purple asparagus from a neighbor's garden, and some scallops, so I went exploring in EYB and came up with this recipe. The asparagus and leeks are briefly blanched, then seared in a hot oiled pan. The scallops are scored on one side, seasoned with salt, pepper, and five spice powder, and fried for a couple of minutes. I didn't have the fresh marjoram or savory that was written to be added at this point, so dried marjoram went into the saute. The vegetables are plated and the scallops are finished with 2 pats of butter and the juice of 1/2 lemon, then placed on the plate, with a drizzle of the lemon butter. Well, happy to report that this was absolutely great. The five spice powder flavor, and butter, and lemon all seep into the crosshatches on the scallops. Delicious. And so easy, add some nice bread and dinner is complete. Definitely a keeper.

• Pan-roasted guinea fowl with pomegranates and spinach

  • L.Nightshade on June 04, 2011

    No guinea fowl around here, so I used a 2 1/2 lb organic chicken. The chicken is cut into pieces and a mixture of ricotta and chopped thyme is stuffed under the skin of each piece. The cheese store had some lovely sheep's milk ricotta, so that is what I used. Thighs and drumsticks are browned in oil, then the breasts, a pat of butter, a sliced clove of garlic and half a glass of white wine are added to the pan. The pan goes into the oven for 25 minutes (this chicken took more like 35 minutes), at which time pomegranate seeds are added, and everything cooks for five more minutes. Then the pan comes back to the stovetop and two handfuls of spinach are thrown in to wilt. The skin on this chicken did not really get crispy in the oven, as specified by Jamie, although it was certainly thoroughly cooked. I liked this dish. The chicken juices, wine and pomegranate blend into a nice sauce, and the herby cheese was quite tasty with the chicken. Mr. Nightshade, however, thought it was just "OK."

  • peaceoutdesign on April 17, 2023

    A pretty quick and easy dinner. I used chicken thighs with skin and bones and the skin crisped up nicely.

• Oysters with shallots and red wine vinegar

  • L.Nightshade on March 11, 2011

    For my taste this recipe has FAR too much sugar, using 2 teaspoons for 1 shallot and 6 tablespoons of vinegar and the requisite dash of pepper. I halved the sugar and it was still too sweet for me and mine. Next time I will try the chili, ginger and rice vinegar recipe on the next page, and probably omit the sugar completely or at least add it by a fraction.

• Sicilian roasted brill steak with lemon, anchovies, capers and rosemary

  • L.Nightshade on June 04, 2011

    I used turbot fillets. I think it would work well with a wide variety of fish. Rosemary is bruised, then add olive oil is added and "scrunched." The fish is patted with the oil, thin lemon slices are placed over the fish, then capers and anchovies are added, plus the remaining olive oil and rosemary, and the fish is roasted. (Mine didn't brown like the picture, but the fish was nicely cooked.) I also added the optional splash of white wine. I had punky little anchovies, and big capers. And I like a lot of them, so my handful was big. This was a very nice dish, I'll be making it again. It is quite salty, even with repeated rinsing of capers, so I don't think the added salt is necessary. I served it with the Almafi salad and the parmesan truffle mash. I normally wouldn't make a white side with a white fish, but I thought the potatoes would be a good foil for the sharp tastes in the main dish, and it did work very well. We were very happy with this meal, and it was fairly quick and easy.

• Spaghetti with sweet cherry tomatoes, marjoram and extra virgin olive oil

  • BlytheSpirit on June 30, 2013

    The marjoram in this recipe was far too overpowering for me. I think I would try this again using a chiffonade of basil.

• Runner beans with tomato sauce

  • LisaR12 on November 20, 2012

    P. 228

  • Rutabaga on August 25, 2014

    This is a good, easy way to prepare runner beans. I should have cooked the beans an additional minute or two, but that was my fault, not the recipe's.

• The best pasta salad

  • JKDLady on July 31, 2015

    This is a great recipe, but there is too much dressing. Cut that down, and it is very good.

• Swiss chard with cannellini beans

  • KarinaFrancis on June 11, 2024

    I took some liberties with this recipe, but figure Jamie would be ok with that. I didn’t bother with boiling the chard, just started by frying off the stems, then adding the beans and lastly the leaves. I had no garlic (gasp!) so subbed with some shallots and also threw in some chilli flakes. I don’t think that the butter is needed, the olive oil does the work here. A great standby when you need a side in a hurry.

  • Rutabaga on November 14, 2016

    This is a great easy side dish to add some protein to a vegetarian meal. My chard was a little overcooked; Jamie just says to boil "until tender", which in retrospect probably means no more than two minutes, as it will continue to cook when you add it to the beans.

• Salmon with horseradish and beetroot

  • mckittrickp on April 19, 2021

    nice with olive mash

• Marinated mozzarella in crème fraîche with lemon and marjoram

  • Rutabaga on December 25, 2015

    The bits of red pepper and green marjoram over snowy white cheese make this dish look quite festive for the holidays. It's also quite rich, but the lemon juice and zest temper the richness nicely, making it a lovely appetizer that can be put together in only ten minutes.

• Avocado, spring onion, cilantro and chilli salad with toasted almonds

  • Rutabaga on January 08, 2015

    You can throw this salad together in minutes, and the ingredients are ones I commonly have around. Even though I forgot to include the chile, it was very flavorful.

• Minty mushy peas

  • Rutabaga on October 16, 2016

    Surprisingly, my five-year-old wasn't too keen on this dish, but both my husband and the baby loved it, which is enough to keep it in rotation. It's a nice variation to serve in place of regular old peas.

  • babyfork on January 28, 2021

    I like peas with mint, but never used a recipe for it before. This one is fine, but you don't really need a recipe for this. The only difference from what I usually do was the addition of spring onions.

• My favorite fish curry

  • planetClaire on March 23, 2015

    Lovely fish curry (& the veg version too) & easy & fun to make. Wonderful flavours without the need for bottled curry paste but quite runny if you add the extra water he suggests. Going to try some red lentils next time to thicken it up.

• Pot-roasted chicken with sweet and sour sauce

  • Botanybird on November 03, 2015

    Really easy and delicious, with unusual flavour of pineapple. I don't bother with the sauce, doesn't need it.

• Slow-roasted duck with sage, ginger and rhubarb homemade sauce

  • Botanybird on April 01, 2018

    The sauce is fabulous, but the rhubarb crisps didn't work for me.

• My favorite chicken curry

  • averythingcooks on May 26, 2023

    I've made lots of JO curries and was surprised at "my favorite" until I realized that this book is the oldest of his titles on my shelf and I think his curry recipes have evolved since then. This starts with a base curry sauce that you can finish as fish, chicken or vegetable. I felt the sauce needed a lot of salt, some sweet (mango chutney) & some acid (balsamic) at the end to bring it to life. I went with a combo vegetable/chicken version and added red peppers, cauliflower & chickpeas with cooked chicken, spinach & Thai basil at the end. The final result was pretty good but still not as good as the many others I've made from later titles.

• Chilli con carne

  • averythingcooks on November 05, 2020

    I was looking for a new & simple chili to cut in 1/2 and this fit the bill. I used a chunk of my homemade chili paste in addition to ancho chili powder. While weighing the sun dried tomatoes, I bailed at 2 oz (short of the 3.5 called for) as even that amt seemed like lots . The cinnamon stick worried me but I went ahead & it certainly wasn't noticeable as "cinnamon" in the final product. Lastly I used broth in place of the water, an equal portion of black beans & corn in place of the kidney beans and I always finish any chili with a splash of pickled pepper brine. We both really liked this!

• Broccoli and anchovy orecchiette

  • kateiscoooking on September 14, 2019

    I did not like this at all. In fact, the frugal one here threw away the balance of the dish. It was very one note. I'd actually roast the broccoli before putting it in the dish

• Crème fraîche and grilled lemon dressing

  • Compass on January 18, 2020

    I made this to dress up the green salad and tomatoes served with cedar planked salmon and lentils. I did add a bit of the soy sauce and it really enriched it, darkening the color to a golden shade which was very beautiful. Don't overdo the soy so it goes brown.