I know people like to criticise Jamie Oliver but I've saved a fortune this week with his ministry of food recipes

[deaconblue]

I know the book is aimed at novice cooks, but I cook a lot and don't think it's patronising. Have had a go at 4 recipes so far, not one has taken more than 15 mins preparation time and we reckon each meal has cost about £5-6 (feeds 4 or 3 pigs). Am impressed so far.

Yes there is, there is a mince chapter and it's in there. I haven't tried it though.

Thanks.

Would it be too much to ask you to type it out for me?

Deffo Return of the Naked Chef. My copy is really grubby and dog eared where i use it alot.

I have 101 cookbooks but a large proportion of the shelf is Jamie and cut outs from mags of his recipes.

[Charlee dons Jamie Stalking attire and heads out the door]

there's this one but not sure if it's the same one as his Ministry of Food one. Have a read through while I go upstairs and find my book to compare - was reading it last night in bed!!!!

'A mince chapter'

That's so funny. I have to get this book, it is my life since finances went pear-shaped when I went on maternity leave.

Thats the recipe from Jamies Dinners.

MOF one slightly different. I'll type it out.

2 Rashers of bacon
2 onions
2 cloves garlic
2 carrots
2 sticks of celery
olive oil
2 tsp oregano
500g minced beef pork or he suggests a mixture
2 x 400g tins of toms
sea salt and pepper
50g parmesan

250g egg lasagne
500ml creme fraiche
100g parmesan
1 large ripe tom

This is a truley divine meal for a dinner party or sunday lunch - its from Return of the Naked Chef. Its one of my faves!

Smear This on the chops and its divine.

Forgot to add small bunch of basil to ingediant list

Finely slice bacon
Finely chop onions garlic carrots and celery
Heat 2 lugs olive oil in cass dish
Fry bacon and oregano until lightly golden
add veg and stir for about 7 mins until softened and lightly coloured
Stir in mince meat and toms
Fill one empty tin with water and add to pan
Stir in salt and pepper
Pick basil leaves and place in fridge for later
Finely chop basil stalks and stir in
Bring to the boil
Turn down heat and simmer with lid on for about 45 mins stirring every now and again to stop it catching.

Pre heat oven to 190/375/GM 5
Remove sauce from the heat
Finely grate parmesan and stir a quarter of it into the sauce
Tear and stir in any larger basil leaves keep smaller ones for later
Taste sauce and season if required
Boil some water in kettle and pour into a pan add lasagne sheets with a drizzle of oil and blanch (slightly soften) for 3 to 4 mins
Drain sheets in colendar pat dry with kitchen paper

Spoon a third of sauce into the bottom of an earthenware oven proof dish
Follow with a layer of lasagne
Dolllop over a third of creme fraiche and smooth and cover lasagne sheet
sprinkle with pinch of salt and pepper and another quarter of parmesan
add another layer of lasagneand repaet the layers twice more finishing with a layer of creme fraiche and the remaining parmesan
top with some slices of tomatoes scatter small basil leaves and drizzle with olive oil
Cover with foil place in pre heated oven and bake for 20 mins after that remove the foil and cook for a further 35 mins until the lasagne is bubbling and golden.
Serve with a fresh green salad and dig in!

Thanks Charlee have saved those as I don't have the Return of the Naked Chef but have most f his others.

Charlee that is really interesting, I thought of getting MoF but I have so many Jamie books I thought there couldn't really be anything new.
Is it good for things that are quick without being boring?

Thanks. Thats great.
I saw the other one when i googled and it looked quite complicated with all those ingredients. This one looks much easier.

I was also given this at xmas and I love it. I cook everything from scratch so don't need lessons in how to cook, but the recipes are just really good straight forward family food.

We love the pasta shells with bacon and peas.

I have a lot of recipe books. Is it good enough to jusitfy another one?

I got it for christmas too and have batch cooked loads of stuff from it already. I wanted a book with basic recipes in that was a modern update of my battered old copy of the 'Dairy book of home cookery' ( my favourite cookbook - they were produced by the Milk Marketing Board and you used to be able to buy them from your milkman, oh god I am showing my age!)I would reccommend Jamie's book to anyone, It's totally at the opposite end to the 'Nigella Christmas' book I also received, but I can tell it will be a well thumbed book throughout the year.

As someone who has about two dozen too many cookbooks, i think MOF is one of the most user friendly. I have tried more than about 20 recipes from it and am really happy with it. Especially the lasagne.

has anyone tried the minced beef wellington yet? am about to, but was wondering if anyone else needed to adjust anything.

gosh such a long thread in 24 hours
I ahve also made the beef in ale stew (yum!) and the chicken and leek stroganoff (well dh made it whihc was a nice change)oh and the moroccan fish stew which was the best of the lot as it took about 3 mins to prepare and was sooooooooooo tasty. I did it with frozen prawns as had some spare and was still lovely.

NAB3 I think it's well worth it, just for the saving in cash. I've been taking the leftovers round to my 86yr old grandma and she's impressed too as it's proper cooking like she used to do.

I think I will ask MIL for it for my birthday.

I think she might have bought the Delia cheat book for me and then kept it for herself when I wasn't impressed by what Delia was doing!

I also like this book. Normally I look at cookery books and fantasise about meals I could make, but I don't actually do it. This is not fantasy food, just good, affordable, everyday stuff.

McDreamy, I have also been reading it in bed

Did anyone read the interview with JO in the Radio Times? (next week's) He made some hint about how he was interested in a new business involving re-employing the redundant Woolworth's staff.

What did you use in the rogan josh - my butcher didn't have any lamb neck fillet so was wondering about using vegetables instead?

Am making the chicken and leek stroganof over the weekend and the camembert pasta next week.

I am making the sweet and sour pork, chicken korma (oleftovers into the biryani) and stew this week.

Oh and I have cooked the lasagne and I would also recommend using turkey mince instead of beef/pork. You can't tell the difference once cooked. (I think it's a bit healthier too...then again if you're having lasagne every night you're not looking to trim down your waist )