Gordon Ramsay Makes It Easy by Gordon Ramsay, Mark Sargeant, Helen Tilott
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Book Reviews of Gordon Ramsay Makes It Easy
Book Review: Delightfull
Summary: 5 Stars
The book was a birthday gift but i brefly looked at the book and it is really eazy to followBook Review: I guess "easy" is a relative term
Summary: 4 Stars
I guess I should preface this review by saying that I know how to cook some stuff. I don't necessarily cook a lot of meals (because I'm a bachelor so it's just me at home) but I do cook tons of steaks, burgers, chicken breasts, tilapia, pasta, and things of that nature. So I bought this book because I thought "I should step up my game and cook real meals" and it's really unimpressive when I cook for a girl and just make her a nice, medium-rare steak. All the time.
Also, it's probably important to note that this is my first cookbook, so I have no frame of reference for what a cookbook should be like, or how easy it should be to prepare meals. So having said all that...
This book has a lot of recipes that look delicious. I say "look" as opposed to "are" because I haven't cooked any of them. First off, he mentions ingredients that I don't have lying about. And he uses cooking equipment I don't own. I just don't own a pasta maker or three different kinds of pots and pans! (I buy the fancy noodles at the store and use my same anodized metal cookware.) I might just be making excuses, or it might be the fact he's a world-class chef who is used to stuff not bought at Target. In any case, I suppose you can use your normal cookware, but you need to have really high-quality ingredients. I don't think this is an area you can skimp. I have used the recipes in the book to a certain extent: I use the recipes as a launching pad for things I can build on with ingredients I have. It has helped me tremendously in that regard. For example, now I really know how to present and garnish the steak I make.
As for the build and quality of the actual book, it's pretty nice. It's good material. It's not like some of the cheaper paperback ones I've seen at the bookstores in town.
Would I recommend it? Yes. I'm sure if you're someone who has more cooking experience than I do and isn't afraid to get more involved with meals, then you'd be fine. I think I might actually just give my mom this book, then go to her house when she's made the stuff.
Book Review: Teaching my husband to cook!
Summary: 4 Stars
My husband was inspired while watching Hell's Kitchen to learn how to cook, and so I bought him this recipe book as a birthday present. I thought it seemed a little risky, as he is BRAND NEW to cooking and he could have been intimidated by the seeming complexity of some of the recipes. But, nope! 20 days after getting the book he has cooked the macaroni and cheese, perfected the scrambled eggs, dabbled with several other recipes, and has plans for many more of them. He shows his book of to everyone and recommends recipes from it.
What Ramsay has done is taken 5 star recipes and made them accessible to even the most inexperienced of cooks. He teaches in a way that is easy to understand and get right. The one drawback, which has been brought up before, is that some of the ingredients are not the sort you find in a normal household. In fact, in our small town, some of them can't even be found in the nicest of grocery stores. But, with a little bit of thought, many of them can be successfully omitted or exchanged for more familiar ingredients.
A good buy for those who are willing to experiment a little and who really want to learn the art of upscale cooking.
Book Review: Great Food . . . Easily
Summary: 4 Stars
Eating great food excites and entices me. Preparing great food however, is a challenge.
"Makes It Easy" shows how to make 100 great recipes at home without spending a fortune or hours in the kitchen. The ingredients are easy to find and more importantly, easier to combine. There are recipes for breakfasts, formal or informal dinners. The flavors are balanced and enhance the tastes and textures of the ingredients. There is little masking or overpowering found within the 256 pages of this book.
Part of the joy I receive from reading a cookbook is derived from its photography. Too often, Photographer Jill Mead's shots are uninspired and therefore, uninspiring. I recognize author Gordon Ramsay, a London chef who holds three Michelin stars and budding television star, sees himself as central to the book.
I disagree. To me, it's the ingredients and the dishes. Seeing multiple shots of the author in his two outfits leaves the impression this book is the product of a one-day photo shoot; an impression the quality of the book's recipes does not support.
Book Review: Definitely best for the Novice cook,
Summary: 4 Stars
As an owner of several of Gordon Ramsay's other cookbooks this one is probably my least favorite of the lot I own. Though, I do like this cookbook. This cookbook is definitely the easiest of any of the Gordon Ramsay cookbooks and the recipes are all very fast. If you're not a cooking novice, you would very likely have your own versions of the included recipes. The recipes are very good even though they are simple.
The book is separated into sections of breakfast, dinner, appetizers, & drinks, etc. As in Gordon's other cookbooks there are several seafood and fish recipes, which might be a problem for some people. Though, there are several other meat recipes too. A bonus is an included DVD with Gordon cooking a few of the meals.
One thing I would've liked to have is a photo of each recipe, like in his other cookbooks. Most of the recipes here have several photo's but, a few did not.
Overall, a very simple cookbook yet, the meals taste exquisite. Definitely, for the novice cook.