30 minute miracles

About a year ago, 'the book man' came into my workplace. A few days later he returned with cardboard boxes full of copies of the same book. Most of the two adjoining offices had been swung by the rumours. It had turned into actual gossip. Everyone was talking about Jamie's 30 Minute Meals.

I have a huge pile of cookery books, many of which are looking sad, collecting dust and grease in my kitchen. But I've cooked more recipes from this book than any other. As I fell for the office gossip, I've become a bit of a preacher about this book myself....

Fear no evil

Everyone questions whether these meals can be done in 30 minutes. They can. But there's small print. 
You need  certain equipment to get you through. If you don't have a food processor you can pretty much rule out about 70% of the book. It's there to create the sauces, pastes, marinades which create the big flavours. It's also there for short-cutting the slicing and dicing when you don't have the knife skills of Senor Oliver.

The path of the righteous man

I'm boring old White British. We don't have a lot to sing and dance about when it comes to food unless you're willing to go foraging for regional produce on the roadside. So I don't have anything to be protective over when it comes to cuisine. I think everyone knows that, thanks to his surrogate father-son relationship with mentor Gennaro, Jamie's speciality is Italian. 
In this book, Jamie spreads himself pretty thinly. You're given elements of Mediterranean, Malaysian, Thai, Indian, Moroccan, Jamaican and Mexican. But don't expect 100% authenticity. On cooking the Satay recently, I was offered an alternative authentic recipe to try by somebody who had grown up in Malaysia and questioned Jamie's methods. So one recipe leads to another - bonus!

Praise be

So, my favourites? WITH a star rating? Oh, go on then...

• Broccoli Orecchiette - Sounds boring, isn't. ****
• Pregnant Jools' pasta - Leftover sausages = gorgeous comforting ragu ****
• Curry Rogan Josh and carrot salad - perfect for friends (including vegans) ****
• Chicken pie, French style peas and carrot smash - Absolute favourite - mega moreish *****
• Mustard chicken, quick dauphinoise - A great beginner's guide to dauphinoise ***
• Tray baked chicken, squashed potatoes - One of the healthier options but still loads of flavour ***
• Chicken skewers, satay sauce and fiery noodle salad - Gorgeous, sweet and spicy (but not authentic!)****
• Tasty crusted cod, mashy peas, homemade tartare sauce - Bit fiddly, bit expensive but very tasty, better for a big crowd ***
• Asian style salmon, fiery noodle salad - ***
• Kinda sausage cassoulet - So easy, even my kitchen-fearing fella will cook it ****

I'm not on commission from Jamie (or Gowd) but I do worship at the altar of food. Enjoy!
Nx