Product Description

Gordon Ramsay Easy sees Britain's most celebrated chef moving out of the restaurant and into the home kitchen. Having reached his zenith in the culinary establishment, Gordon is now focusing on making his food accessible to a wider audience. This book features dishes which have all the hallmarks of Gordon's cooking - the best ingredients, great taste combinations, superb culinary skill - but the overall feel is more informal and the emphasis is on ease of preparation and simple techniques. Arranged around actual meals - Breakfast & Brunch, Great Fast Food, Family Lunches and Posh Dinners, Summer Bar-B-Qs and Cooking for Crowds, Bellinis & Blinis and Romantic Dinners for Two, High Teas and Midnight Feasts - each chapter contains 6-10 recipes either arranged as a selection or as menus. In addition, each chapter features a classic dish - such as an omelette, risotto, souffle, sauce or style of pastry - which Gordon demonstrates in close-up step-by-step photographic detail. The end result is therefore a great selection of dishes and an invaluable culinary handbook. Glorious photographs, 100 sophisticated but effortless recipes, and smart graphic design will make this book a must for all Gordon Ramsay's fans.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4646 in Books
• Published on: 2005-05-06
• Released on: 2005-05-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 192 pages

About the Author
Gordon Ramsay has earned an extraordinary 12 Michelin stars for his restaurants in London and New York. Now a celebrated television presenter too, his award-winning television series include Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares, The F Word and Hell's Kitchen. His other bestselling cookbooks, A Chef for All Seasons, Just Desserts, Secrets, Sunday Lunch, Fast Food, Healthy Appetite and 3*** Chef, are all published by Quadrille.

Customer Reviews

Includes a five-recipe DVD filmed in GR's kitchen!
'In this book, GR shows you how you can eat great food at home - all the time - without breaking the bank or spending hours in the kitchen.
Still using the very best ingredients (but not too many of them), brilliant combinations of flavours and uncomplicated cooking methods, he's produced a selection of over 100 recipes for every possible occasion - from breakfast through to formal dinner, informal and formal, for family and friends.
There recipes are, of course, smart and sophisticated - but they are also simple.....'

Includes a c 30 minute DVD, showing Gordon cooking in his own kitchen and explaining every step of the way, (plain cooking, and NOT a single 'F' word to be heard..... football.....or anything else)!

Durable hardboard covers, with GR looking on, open to 256 high quality, shiny pages, split over 9 main chapters:-

Breakfast & Brunch
Great Fast Food
Family & Friends
Summer Barbies
Just for Kids
Bellinis & Blinis
Posh
Dinner for Two
Cooking for a Crowd

plus an intro, an index and notes including 'My Store Cupboard & Equipment'.

The fresh, cornflower blue colour from the cover follows on throughout the book, as the title headers as well as the chapter opening narrative and main 'notes boxes'(the latter two having white text).

Each recipe is clearly laid out with the lower case title, the number of servings, the list of ingredients and a clear method, the main steps being enhanced in a bold text.

The aforementioned 'notes boxes', laced with typical GR humour are littered throughout the book, e.g.:-

'The secret of cooking fish is mastering the 'cuisson' or the point at which it is ready but not overcooked. Fish firms up during cooking and when it has reached 'cuisson' it will feel firm but give slightly if you press the flesh gently with your index finger.'

'Ready cooked lobsters are never as good as those you cook yourself, so I recommend that you get to grips with handling a live lobster! Their claws will be wrapped in thick bands so they won't nip you!'

A small taste of the recipes contained within:-

Gordon's Trifle
Sublime Scrambled Eggs
Sandwich of Crispy Pork
Banana and Passion Fruit Smoothie
Macaroni Cheese with Beenleigh Blue and Mushrooms
Roasted Cod and Tomatoes with Oven Chips
Fillets of Red Mullet with a Rustic Ratatouille
Braised Shin of Beef
Saddle of Lamb stuffed with Spinach
Barnsley Chops with Fresh Mint Sauce
Lemon Tart
Chunky Vegetable Soup
Party Biscuits
Cheese Toasties
Mini Meg Burgers
Roasted Pumpkin Crostini with Pancetta
Seared Tuna with Herbs
Steak Tartare
Pina Colada
Lobster Thermidor
Oven-Roast Duck Breast
Aubergine Gateau
Fondant Potatoes
Clam Soup with Samphire
Crab Salad
Chateaubriand for Two
Tagine of Lamb
Pecan Pie with a Cinnamon Crust
Hot Chocolate Fondant - 'Whenever I am asked for my favourite recipe, this is the one - it has a divine melting texture and the liquid centre is sublime.'

From the introduction:-

... 'Cooking still excites and entices me...Food is constantly evolving and I love the challenge of creating new dishes for my customers. However, I am not a fan of trendy, contrived food - it doesn't satisfy me. I would rather eat a tasty homemade fish pie than a tower of fish smothered with an unidentifiable sauce......'

A simple statement and the main reason why I like this book so much!
And I have to admit that 'Gordon's Fish Pie' is one of the tastiest recipes I have tried, especially followed by his 'Chocolate Pots with Grand Marnier'..... with a tiny 'tot' of the latter, along with a coffee and an 'After Eight', or two!
Simply heaven!

However, although 'Gordon Ramsay makes it easy', is certainly one of my most used GR books to date, it does come in at just under the maximum five stars, (in my opinion) due to the light number of illustrations of the finished recipes!
Having said that, what is pictured is excellent, naturally, and there a fair number of full colour shots of family and 'on-location' ones to balance the book.

The DVD foreword:-

'This book is not about the food I cook in my restaurants. Every dish is designed specially for you at home. The recipes are simple and sophisticated, they use the absolute best ingredients and they work every time. BUT they don't take hours to make or break the bank. And to make it even easier, I've cooked five at home - just to show you how to do it. GR'

BUT.......I couldn't possibly spoil it by telling what the recipes are!

Good Food
Having always found his cooking wonderful but his style a little abrasive, I was pleasantly surprised by this book. As always the recipes sound delicious and are beautifully complimented by the photography, but this time it seems to be that the whole ethos is different.This book is not about reproducing a five star restaurant meal in your own kitchen, more a sensible, pragmatic approach to modern cooking for family and friends. The chapters are divided into different occasions ('summer barbies','just for kids','posh'etc), and the recipes whilst short and to the point are still distinctly Gordon Ramsay. One for both old and new fans, experienced and not so experienced cooks.

Deceptively Simple
Having bought all of Gordon Ramsay's books along with a library of others, on my initial flick through I was slightly dubious as to the value of the content. After watching the accompanying DVD a couple of times and going back to the book I have found loads of things to use on an everday basis both in the recipes and the methods. I would thoroughly recommend this book.I wonder if others will follow with the DVD idea - it's great.