Product Description

Jamie is one of Britain's best-loved chefs who has made cooking interesting and accessible, not only for a new generation but for all those who love good food. He believes in getting the most out of ingredients and making tasty, easy, sociable food with the minimum of fuss. Like his first two books, HAPPY DAYS is filled with fantastic recipes for different occasions. Whether you want healthy food, portable grub, one-pot meals, ideas for cooking for two or with kids, or food that is 'cheap as chips', this book has it all. As well as Jamie's favourite recipes, he looks at 'fridge friends' (all the lovely snacky things that can be kept in the fridge) and a chapter is dedicated to 'foody prezzies' - perfect for Christmas and birthday surprises.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8173 in Books
• Published on: 2001-09-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 320 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Jamie Oliver's Happy Days With the Naked Chef is in the same mould as his other bestsellers: recipes for simple, comforting, homely food. This time, however, he has some interesting additions from his travels to Australia, New Zealand, America and Japan.

There are three new ideas in Happy Days With the Naked Chef. Jamie has included a chapter on "Comfort Food"--the kind of cooking Nigel Slater and Nigella Lawson specialise in. He has recipes for Toad in the Hole, Fish Finger Buttie and Sticky Sausage Bap with Melted Cheese and Brown Sauce. In his "Quick Fixes" chapter, he has selected dishes where saving time and minimal washing up are the key ingredients. These include a Steak Sarnie and Chicken Breast Baked in a Bag with Mushrooms, Butter, White Wine and Thyme. He has also included a "Kids Club" chapter, which is offers inspiration for parents trying to get their children excited about food. The new additions don't dominate the book as the remaining two-thirds contain Jamie's standard Italian-style fare: simple salads, fish, meat, vegetables, breads and pudding. Don't miss the excellent recipe for Medallions of Beef with Morels and Marsala and Crème Fraîche Sauce. Jamie has also been travelling and you'll find recipes with pak choy, soy sauce and ginger popping up here and there--delicious! --Elizabeth Murgatroyd

About the Author
Having first studied at Westminster Catering College, Jamie Oliver went on to work with some of the top chefs in the country - namely Antonio Carluccio at the Neal Street Restaurant and Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers at the River Cafe. He is now running the restaurant at Monte's in Knightsbridge, London and is the face of Sainsbury's. He continues to write for the Saturday Times and GQ magazine. He is 25 and lives in London.

Customer Reviews

Happy days over the stove
The latest Jamie Oliver collection is as much a culinary pleasure as ever. The book production is stylish and feels more mature than the first volume (can't comment on the second) : out with the annoying illegible pastel blue titles that were difficult to read, and in with more tasty, unpretentious recipes using ingredients that are supposedly all available at a particular British supermarket if ever you are stumped for a place to find them. But more importantly, these recipes encourage the lads (and probably lasses too) to get down the shops, out of the oven-ready section, into the fresh produce sections, and then into the kitchen.

Although some of these recipes may be considered as fairly standard fare (toad in the hole, spag bol, chilli, and the fish finger buttie) and may not appeal to those who think of themselves as elite foodies, he has a great knack of demystifying ingredients and procedures as he goes along. The use of good flavours, loads of herbs and a minimum of cream - don't your arteries feel better? - continue to illustrate those tasty Italian and Euro-Thai styles which he and Nigel Slater have both cultivated so well. The cult of Jamie's personality may come through in the photos but who cares! The texts are light and fun to read. His enthusiasm simply oozes from the recipes. The kids' section is lively and serves a very useful purpose in the promotion of good food and good cooking. Having tried many of his recipes in the past - and speaking as a man who loves to slave over his stove - part of the fun is adapting them the second (and third, etc.) time around with a pinch of this and a slug of that.

The use of a recipe per page makes for a clear read and avoids editorial disasters such as the early 80s edition of a very famous tv cook's 3-part book where her truly divine squidgy chocolate log recipe tells you to "whisk until the mixture thickens" - then turn the page - "slightly - but be careful not to get it too thick"...!

So Jamie, what next? How's about a book of vegetarian recipes? If it can live up to the previous collections, I'm looking forward to it already!

More Pukka tucker than you can shake a cinnamon stick at!
The naked chef does it again! More fab recipes. I was a child in the '60s and grew up with TV cooks of the Fanny Craddock ilk, very upper class types, making everything look cloaked in mystery and terribly difficult! Jamie Oliver is like a breath of fresh air! He makes good cooking accessible to everyone. NO building towers of food, al la Rhodes, NO complicated recipes to follow. Jamie is the only TV chef I have ever seen cook in REAL kitchens. His recipes are easy and a joy to follow, no complicated terms that you don't understand! His writing style is a joy, he writes as he speaks and it is SIMPLICITY itself to produce good quality nosh with very little FUSS. No wonder young people love his books. This new book includes a section for kids, get them in the kitchen get them cooking with Jamie! If you haven't tried his books before, go on treat yourself, chuck out the ready meals.... get your laughin' gear round his tucker, I promise you darlin' his food is truly Pukka!

Naked in my kitchen............
I have an obsession with cookery books, anyone in my family will tell you.... I buy them willy nilly and then only use one or two recipes out of the hundreds listed.

I thought there was no hope for me, that I was destined to end up with rows upon rows of cookery books with useless recipes until "The Naked Chef" came to my rescue!

Now I have books where there are hundreds of recipes for me to use, not only am I blinded by the colourful photos that have me drooling (Sorry Jamie, the food - not you!) but the recipes are fool proof and seem to work all of the time, life is easy, time is on my hands and I do get a chance to drink with my mates.

All I can say is buy the book, it is fun, easy to read and simple - a bit like me! Seriously, a super gift for anyone, I have just bought it for my Sisters birthday, I suggest that anyone looking for a fun and useful present does the same.

In the meantime Jamie, if you ever want to cook round mine you are more than welcome!