Jamie's 30-minute meals?

After receiving the latest offering from Jamie Oliver in the form of  ’Jamie’s 30 minute meals’ as a gift, it soon seemed that Jamie would be competing with the likes of Delia, with the book selling over 735,000 copies in 10 weeks and gaining the title of UK’s quickest selling non-fiction title. The reviews, however, seem somewhat mixed, with a lot of negative press regarding the 30-minute time limit promised by Mr. Oliver. It seems to me that the majority of his recipe ideas are really great and the photos in the book are amazing. He covers a so many recipe ideas, encompassing a wide-range of cuisines, from pasta dishes to various Asian inspired recipes. Of the recipes I’ve tried his Moroccan lamb is particularly delicious, as are his chicken skewers with satay sauce that my lovely friend Ross made me for supper. The fact that they are all ‘meal’ ideas, with drinks, puddings, and sides included is inspiring, especially if you’re cooking for a dinner party, though I’m not entirely keen on the layout (the order in which to do the whole meal) as often I want to just try out one dish from the meal and its then rather disjointed to follow. 

My favourite dish to date has to be the ‘Pregnant Jools’s Pasta’: penne with a scrumptious, sausage ragu, with a very welcome fennel seed note. I first tasted this last September cooked by Jamie’s team at a Jamie’s Pasta stall at Jimmy’s Harvest Festival. Since appearing in the book I have cooked it three times, all of which were equally pleasing.

For me the time limit isn’t really an issue as I only use the book for recipe ideas and am therefore not too bothered about ensuring that it only takes 30minutes of my time! But it is marketed as such, and I think the only real way to make the whole meal within the time is to have EVERYTHING ready before you ‘set the timer’. The oven preheated, the ingredients laid out, and pans/knives/boards all at the ready. Which almost defeats the point as it’ll take at least ten minutes to do all that plus the inevitable slog of washing up at the end, which is made a further challenge by the requirement of the food processor in almost all the recipes.

For me the recipe ideas are great, and I can’t wait to cook my way through the book, the only issue with the actual recipes I have faced is the strange recipe for his banoffee pie. The sugar and water caramel layer just solidifies resulting in a layer akin to the outside of a toffee apple- not something you want to bite into when you’re expecting the banoffee-esque gooey, caramel! His base for the pie is a shop-bought pie crust (clearly an addition to aid the time-limit), but for me, this essentially removes all the yummiest parts of a banoffee pie, the biscuit base and the gooey caramel!! Regardless of the unmastered pie and the skepticism on timing- I must say I still remain a diehard Jamie fan, and would definitely recommend his book for the majority of recipes. The wide range of brilliant and diverse ideas, exquisite colourful food photos highlight some really great meal ideas. Next on the to-cook list is his rib-eye stir-fry, dan dan noodles and chilled hibiscus tea- I will keep you updated!