Jamie Oliver's Meals in Minutes: A Revolutionary Approach to Cooking Good Food Fast [Hardcover]

Jamie Oliver (Author)

Book Description

Release date: October 4, 2011

I’m going to show you how to put a whole meal on the table in a matter of minutes! Not just one dish, a whole spread of beautiful things.

If, like me, you love food and have hungry mouths to feed when you get home after a long day, then allow me to let you in on a totally revolutionary new way of cooking. In this book I’m going to show you how to make a complete meal in the time you’d normally spend on one dish. What you’ll be able to achieve in 30 minutes or less will absolutely blow your mind. It’s certainly blown mine!

This is not about compromising on quality. It’s about being organized, working fast, and using shortcuts and clever tricks to put insanely delicious plates of food on the table in no time. Each of the 50 meals inside has been carefully written so there’s no messing about—just good, fast cooking. I’ve created complete menus of foods that go beautifully together and planned recipes in a really unique, easy-to-follow way. This kind of cooking is all about using every minute wisely, having fun, and reclaiming your kitchen for the job it was meant for.

You might think it can’t be done, but I promise you it can. Have a look inside to see the sort of meals you’re going to get. Once you start cooking this way, not only will you absolutely love it; you’ll never look back.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jamie Oliver grew up in his parents' country pub, the Cricketers in Clavering, where he started cooking at the age of eight, before studying at London's Westminster Catering College. He then went on to work with some of the top chefs in England namely Antonio Carluccio at the Neal Street Restaurant and Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers at the River Caf . The author of such popular titles as The Naked Chef, Jamie's Kitchen, and Jamie's Italy, among others, he has written for the Saturday Times , served as Food Editor at GQ and Marie Claire magazines, and hosted the popular television show "The Naked Chef." The second season of the ABC show Food Revolution will air in Spring 2011. He is thirty-five and lives in London with his wife Jools and their children, Poppy, Daisy, Petal, and Buddy Bear.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion (October 4, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401324428
• ISBN-13: 978-1401324421
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 1 x 10 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (81 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,626 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #65 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Quick & Easy

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

87 of 89 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Meals in Minutes or "jamie's 30-minute meals" October 4, 2011

By Fretwurst

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

A new cookbook from Jamie Oliver arrived today. A collection of 50 meals, spread over 288 pages with not just a few, but a ton of pictures and spreads. The images are beautiful photographic art work, and often they aim to illustrate either ideas for presentation or preparation of the featured meals. Essentially you buy a collection of round about 150 recipes, nicely combined into complete small family meals with ingredients and amounts listed to serve 4 to 6 people at a time. Each of the 50 meals featured in this book can easily be broken down in smaller units, if you only want to make a salad, the main dish, or the desert on its own; and of course you can manually adapt the amounts for smaller or larger household units.

For those already familiar with books or the iPod/iPad app from Jamie Oliver there will be an occasional item throughout this book that is either similar or basically the same as in one of his previous publications, for example the mango desert with a distinctly British touch. Overall the book certainly offers many new ideas and recipes, and will allow the avid home cook to mix and match as needed. The 10 page index allows to quickly search for ideas based on specific items at hand, and many may find it helpful that the index has additional denotation for all vegetarian dishes.

Meals in Minutes offers many healthy meal options, especially if you skip or go easy on the desert. Most of the ingredients can easily be obtained at your local farmers market or grocery store, of course with certain limitations based on season and the area of the country that you live in. To make this book fun and easy to use, it will be helpful to read the meal or recipe instructions in advance, to help you plan out the various steps and to have all equipment at the ready when you need it. If approached this way, this book will deliver many new ideas for home cooked meals to your lunch or dinner table, or to take to school and work. I have found that I can prepare most of Jamie Oliver's meals in 30 to 45 minutes, but it certainly will take some practice for those still learning to cook to set up all needed tools, equipment and ingredients in advance to allow for an efficient flow during preparation.

Overall I think this is a good book, and I am sure my wife and children will appreciate the many new ideas coming to our dinner table or their lunch box soon.

Interesting to note is the change of the title of this book depending on the market you are in. On Jamie Oliver's website for the British book market it is listed as "Jamie's 30-minute meals", while the U.S. version shipped through Amazon is titled "Meals in Minutes". The later title is perhaps a little more accurate, as it will be a challenging for most to actually serve the featured meals in 30 minutes flat.

37 of 40 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars LOVE THE RECIPES, BUT THE TIMING??? October 9, 2011

By Gail Cooke HALL OF FAMETOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

As Jamie Oliver writes in his challenging, taste tempting book, "There's no denying that this is an energetic workhouse of a book. These 50 meals are going to keep you busy and make you multi-task, but you'll soon get used to it..." Promise, Jamie?

For most of us just take the "Minutes" out of the title and we can relax and enjoy some of the most delicious meals to be found. We especially like the steps for preparing an entire meal rather than trying to decide for ourselves what vegetable would go with what chicken dish, etc. But, believe, me there's no way we can put these meals on the table in minutes. However, while time is certainly of the essence when it comes to eating taste is the most important element for us. Those caveats aside we're more than happy with Jamie Oliver's Meals In Minutes.

His Tapas Feast rich with Tortilla, Glazed Chorizo, Manchego Cheese, Cured Meats & Honey, Stuffed Sweet Peppers and Rolled Anchovies is a delight. A meal anyone would be proud to serve the boss or very important guests. Which, is another plus for Oliver's book - any one of the 50 meals is company perfect.

We couldn't possibly choose a favorite but the Super-Fast Beef Hash, Baked Potatoes, Goddess Salad and Lovely Butter Beans & Bacon found on page 210 was tops at our house.

It's also fun to select just one dish from a meal and pair it with a longtime family favorite.

The photographs by David Loftus are incredibly beautiful and definitely tickle taste buds.

Enjoy!

- Gail Cooke

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Great concept and recipes January 11, 2012

By beckygardens TOP 50 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

Length: 4:34 Mins

Jamie Oliver had put together 50 complete and quick meals in a beautifully photographed, easy to follow cookbook. At first I was put off by the layout of putting each recipe together instead of on separate pages or paragraphs, but once I cooked from the book it was easy to follow along, even if I wanted to skip a component of the meal. Each step of the recipe stars in bold and the ingredients are all in their own list, so if I want to cook everything but say the cabbage, it's very easy to do.

The book has a lot of pictures, including a lot of Jamie squeezing a lime, standing over steaming pasta, etc, maybe it could have been 60 meals and ten less pictures of Jamie? But the rest of the pictures, the pictures of the ingredients, finished product, are lovely and helpful for presentation.

The only reason this book isn't a five star to me is the faded print. I find it annoying and wish the print were darker. Otherwise this is a good book that does the work for me of a whole meal and not trying to figure out what to make with a main dish etc, the recipes are easy to follow with commonly found ingredients and do come together quickly.