Gordon Ramsay Makes It Easy

Gordon Ramsay is a chef whose style and skill is someone I admire. Unfortunately, most of his cook books are more 'style' over substance, and his use of strange and difficult to find ingredients makes large swathes of his books less than useful. I live in Utah, and so it is particularly hard to get fresh fish here, and it seems the majority of Ramsay's recipes are for fish. But this book, Gordon Ramsay Makes It Easy, is much more useful. Don't get me wrong, I own nearly every cook book he's ever written and I pick recipes out of them and work with them the best I can considering the ingredients. But this particular book, besides In The Heat Of The Kitchen , has been the most useful for me. First of all it comes with a DVD which is short... it only have a few recipes on it, but damn, I love watching him teach you and show you how to cook. Second, the breakfast section might be my favorite. From the Country Garden Breakfast to his French method of cooking Sublime Scrambled Eggs. These slow cooked eggs have become an absolute favorite in my family. Strangers who come to visit are given them and are wary their creamy texture, but are almost always won over by the incredible taste. I also love his English Breakfast. Moving on I highly recommend his Risotto of Wild Mushrooms. Every time I make it, the whole house smiles in anticipation. His Macaroni Cheese recipe is simple yet elegant. His meat section is big, and though he has a lot of fish recipes, there are more substantial and easy to make meat and chicken recipes. He also has a section of food for kids, which is brilliant, and his Pasta with Bacon has become a huge favorite in my family. The book is rounded out with some appetizers and more posh food, but all of it simple to prepare, with lots of colored pictures. He finishes with recipes designed for two people and then recipes designed for larger crowds. It is hard not to admire and respect Gordon for his hard work and brilliance. He can be quite a character, and some of his cook books are just too 'high minded' for me to get a 'lot' of use from. But this is one I would definitely rate 5 stars. It is used often in my kitchen, and has become a favorite among my friends and families. If you got only ONE Gordon Ramsay book... I would choose this one, though he has some others that have fantastic recipes in them.

Gordon Ramsey has a variety of TV shows. One of the shows he is a most patient teacher to one lucky home cook for a special occasion. It is because of watching that show I wanted to get one of his cook books. On that show and in this book the message is the same - Good cooking does not have to be difficult or intimidating. When I first glanced through the book it appeared to be a waste - ingredients that I don't like or never heard of or can't find at my store. Then I sat down to really take a good look at each one and see if there wasn't something in there. I saw how I could substitute here & there and still end up with something pretty good. The flavors may not be exactly what Chef Ramsey intended, but it will still be good. The book even encourages some substitutions: snapper is suggested instead of mullet. I can also use the internet to find acceptable options - instead of crème fraîche (which I can't find locally), I can use Crema Mexicana (locally available). Some of things that I normally would not eat, I'm going to try anyway - just to see if the way they are prepared makes a difference. All I have to loose is one lousy dinner. I may find some new favorites in the process. Already I have found out there is at least one way that I will eat eggplant - something I normally avoid. Now there are about 2/3 of the recipes that I have marked to try at least once. I tried 3 of the recipes so far: a main, a side and dessert. All three had easy to follow directions and came out pretty much as showed in the pictures. All of the techniques are easy enough for someone new to the kitchen. Above all it was simple food with great flavors. I also liked the back section talking about what's in his kitchen. While my kitchen will never be on that level, I did find a few things that I will add to mine. Other reviews say this is for the "novice". I guess they mean novice Chef. I'm sure most home cooks will enjoy this book - from the brand new beginner to a more seasoned home cook. As has been pointed out, if you are a Chef, these recipes are likely a refresher for you.

This is a wonderful intimate little book designed for the home chef. The DVD is rather short, but does have some humor to it. The recipes range from simple to fancy...but all have the common denominator of being quick and simple to prepare using fresh ingredients. All the dishes are very clean tasting and not overly fussy, and there are also fancier recipes for special occasions that do not take hours to prepare. This chef is similar to Jamie Oliver is some aspects, but his influence is more French rather than Jamie's Italian. Fans of Jamie should also like Gordon's approach to cooking. The book is arranged in themes such as great fast food, kid's, BBQs, posh, and dinner for two....it is a good reference point for new cooking ideas and ranges from classics to modern, My absolute favorite recipe in this book is the crispy skin salmon on crushed potatoes, baby leeks with tomato butter - it comes out restaurant class. Also the chocolate fondant is deceptively easy to make, but is very impressive when served up. Another one that comes out beautifully is the bacon wrapped stuffed chicken thigh and also the wild mushroom rissotto. My only criticism of this book is that the preparation and cooking times are not listed by the recipes, but rather within the recipes themselves. However this is not too much of an annoyance as the prep times and cooking times are generally not excessive. Gordan is a modern chef, and his food is trendy yet classic, simple yet classy and tastes fantastic. This book has been well worth the purchase price...

I was going to purchase one of Gordan's other books, but decided to get this one for my momma for Mother's Day because she's a huge fan (as am I), plus even though this is a bit older than some of his others, the recipes looked good. Since, she just opened it today, she hasn't made anything yet. She's looked at it (and still is) and has found some recipes she'd like to make though. I also love that there is an added DVD as a bonus - again, she hasn't opened it yet - but I hope it's of Gordan explaining/making some of these recipes. Another reason I chose this book over some of the others is because it included all meals, which I thought she'd like better than one of the other 'specialty' books (such as the just desserts one). It has a good mix of meals and recipes and I believe the value was there for what is included. I also loved that it came with both forms of measurements - metric and imperial, which I also like to refer to as US because we are one of the only countries that don't use the metric system, so it's great to have both. I love that the publishers thought of everybody that may purchase this book, so they have the option to use the system they know. Outside of that, I was disappointed that although it was a new copy, it came folded, bent and warped. I know this isn't to do with the book itself, but I wanted to point it out (with pictures) so others can see what theirs may come to them like. It doesn't stop the book from being read/used though, which is the main point of the book.

Decent cookbook gift that came with a cool DVD. Do people still use DVDs?

If you like chef Ramsey, this is a cook book to get.

The cookbook has good recipes and the processes involved in making the recipes are short and simple; however, the book lacks organizations. There is a very simple table of contents and the index is organized by the name of the recipe and not the ingredients. This book is more for the coffee table and not something to cook out of regularly. Since the book is not organized by main ingredients it is hard to say... I want to make a pork dish... and then look up pork dishes. This book requires you to be more flexible. Many of the recipes call for ingredient that are somewhat difficult to get of hold of ie. venison, pheasant, star anise. Also the book does not have very many recipes. It is full of pictures and each recipe takes up at least a full page. The lack of recipes makes the book inflexible. As someone learning to cook, I would like a myriad of recipes so that I can cook with what I have available or ingredients which are easy to find. **Update** Try the better homes and gardens new cook book. It is well organized and full of recipes. Very easy to find recipes for ingredient on hand.

My daughter loves it