Product reviews

I love this book.

Its so useful in so many ways.

Firstly its full of recipies and new ideas, so if I feeling a bit bored of the usual meals I have cooked, I have a flick through for some new ideas.

Secondly, if I have lots of a particular ingreadiant or want to use something particular, I can refer to the book for inspiration because it has more than one recipe for lots of fresh ingreadiants.

And thirdly, its given my mum and dad lots of ideas. They are vegetarian and have their own allotment, so its shown them new meal ideas and inspired them to grow new types of things.

I bought the Jamie At Home cookery book because I enjoyed the TV series and it was reduced to £15 in WHSmiths, with an RRP of £25 that was a good saving I think on a book that has had a lot of use in the six months or so since I bought it. Jamie Oliver has come in for a lot of stick since he tried to overhaul school dinners but I think he makes a lot of sense in what he says and he comes up with some lovely recipes so I can justify buying his books.

Jamie At Home is a great collection of recipes which are easy to follow and use ingredients I usually have already in the cupboards. I’ve tried probably 50% of the 100 or so recipes in the book and all have turned out wonderfully, whether I followed the recipe to the letter or made a few adaptions here and there.

I like the way Jamie At Home is set out to cover each of the four seasons: Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. Each section has an introduction about what is so good food wise in this particular season, it’s interesting to read the introductions of each section because it helps to give me an insight into Jamie Oliver’s thinking when he talks about getting back to nature.

The recipes themselves are nicely laid out and Jamie gives us a brief introduction to the dish before launching into an ingredients list and method details. They are written in such a way that this book would appeal to cooks of all levels, I consider myself an accomplished cook and find it very simple to follow the recipes but my friend who has only recently started cooking has also had some brilliant results from this book. I like the chatty way Jamie has worded his recipes because it makes them so much more fun to follow that a simple list of instructions, I think he comes across in writing as the exact same kind of cheeky chappy person that he is on the TV.

The very first recipe I tried from this book was the day I bought it and that was Eggy Breakfast Crumpets, it was a roaring success with both us adults and our daughters’ that I couldn’t wait to cook from the book again. Since then I have made Rhubarb and Custard Souffle, Squash Soup, Wild Mushroom and Venison Stroganoff (which was absolutely delicious) and lots of other meals using this book. Jamie Oliver has also given the number of servings per recipe, although I generally find these servings a little on the small size but perhaps that’s just me being greedy?

My favourite recipe from the book is Sweet Cherry Tomato and Sausage Bake which is simplicity itself to cook and tastes delicious. I've cooked this probably 15 times now and no longer need to look at the recipe in the book, everyone who has tried it loves it and if you buy a good quality flavoured sausage then you can tweak the recipe to suit your families tastes.

This book is not just a recipe book though. Jamie Oliver is passionate about healthy eating and this shines through when he is talking about factory farmed chickens and other serious issues, he is quite scathing at times and puts his point across very well.

Growing your own food is another big part of the book and there are lots of useful tips and tricks in Jamie At Home to start you off growing your vegetables. Jamie Oliver grows a lot of his own ingredients and a lot of the dishes in this book could be made using at least part of what you’ve grown yourself, if you have a big enough garden. Another thing worth mentioning is my vegetarian friend owns this book too, I remember from when I was a veggie cookery books do not generally cater well for non meat eaters. My friend tells me that most of the recipes can be adapted to suit vegetarians and she has had some very successful results, plus her husband who is not a veggie can gorge on the sausage and meat dishes.

I would definitely recommend buying this book because there is a recipe to suit everyone. At first glance the list of recipes might look daunting, but don’t be put off by the odd names because here Jamie Oliver has come up with simple healthy recipes that the whole family will enjoy.

I was given this book as a present, it is really good.

This is a great book for anyone trying to do more cooking using in seasonal British food and therefore avoiding airmiles/supporting farmers markets, as well as those keen to start growing their own. the recipes I've used so far have been simple, and quick to prepare, and also full of vegetables - therefore healthy, as well as tasty. I was struggling a bit with inspiration for food before - although I have a lot of cookbooks, there was a real lack of tasty English food that is a bit different. my only complaint is that Jamie's matey written style is a bit irritating, but I imagine this will make it a real period-piece when my boys are teenagers and laughing at 2000's slang....

As well as having some really nice recipes, that do work at home, this is a good read as well. It has plenty of interesting articles within it on growing and choosing vegetables and cuts of meat, about battery farming, and about choosing organic and free range.