Ainsley Harriott's Gourmet Express (DK American Original) (Hardcover)

~ DK Publishing (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Written to accompany the TV series, "Gourmet Express", by that inimitable chef Ainsley Harriott, aims to stop people buying ready-made food and eat fresh, home-cooked meals instead. Understanding today's hectic pace of life, Ainsley ensures all the recipes are quick to make - often taking less time than reheating a pre-packaged meal. Using fresh, seasonal produce, he also ensures the recipes are healthy. Gleaned from his travels around the world, it is a cosmopolitan collection of tasty dishes: iced cafe latte cups, spicy Spanish patatas bravas and green onion chapatis mix with traditional British fare such as minted mushy chip-shop peas, golden crumb-crunch scampi and Granny's corned-beef hash and fried egg. Appealing to every taste, the recipes also cater for a range of cooking methods: grilling, woks, baking or frying to give variety and encourage cooks to alter their cooking routines. So next time you think of a takeaway or look at the cellophane-wrapped cartons in the supermarket, stop and buy something tasty instead and make a delicious, exciting meal from the innovative concoctions in this book. - Lucy Watson --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

...a stylish, compelling guide... (New York Daily News)

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: DK ADULT (December 13, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0789474999
• ISBN-13: 978-0789474995
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,018,524 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gourmet Fast Food, May 14, 2001

By	Rebecca Johnson "SeasonedwithLove.com" (Washington State) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

Ainsley Harriott is one of Britain's most loved chefs and his playful, friendly style is loved by all. He becomes completely absorbed in his cooking and his love of food is very contagious.

In Ainsley Harriott's Gourmet Express, you will enjoy the tastiest of fast foods. There are six chapters to show how fast food can be made at any time of the day. The "Snack Attack" chapter includes delicious Celtic Samosas, a Hot Crispy Cajun Chicken Sandwich and even a recipe on how to make Nori-rolled Sushi.

After learning to do the "pan swivel" from his show, in which you swirl items around in the pan while looking most confident :)...I thought I would try some of Ainsley Harriott's recipes. That one technique where he swirls the food around in the pan has been very helpful for me when I make my turkey meatball recipe. It helps to brown all the sides of the meatballs evenly. Who would have known.

Well, I tried the "Parisian Mustard Sausage Rolls" which were just smashing. Now, I did have to use Crescent roll dough, which did work quite well and I used breakfast pork sausage links. We served the rolls with eggs and orange juice for breakfast.

I find that when cooking from a cookbook by a chef, you can adapt the recipes slightly to your own taste. I left out the Dijon mustard and they were still very good. While this recipe was in the "Snack Attack" chapter, they work very well to add a gourmet flair to a breakfast plate. I will also keep this recipe in mind for a brunch.

I am looking forward to making Butternut Squash Spiced Soup, Sweet and Sour Chicken, Lightning Lamb Dhansak (great picture!), Baconeese, Citrus Couscous, Golden Raisin Salad and Banana Raita. Each recipe has a nice bold heading and the text is easy to read. There is a headnote from Ainsley to add a pleasant personal touch.

"You know what it's like: home late from work and you'd love a delicious supper, well...a touch of French pistou blended with some al dente Italian pasta and you have the perfect answer....." pg. 95, Premier Pistou-Pasta

The colors in this book are delightfully refreshing and almost tranquil. If you are a cookbook collector, you will enjoy reading the headnotes at the beginning of each recipe and the "Try This" or "Chef's Tips" info at the end of some recipes.

Chef Ainsley gives advice on how to adapt a recipe, why you shouldn't make a recipe with fresh herbs too far ahead of time, how to make use of frozen foods like rice or how to completely change a recipe by substituting various ingredients.

So, if you are looking for tasty sandwiches, hot snacks, delicious soups, mouthwatering curries, mini-pizzas and pastas you can make in a hurry, you will enjoy some great fast food at home.

If you love this book, look for Ainsley Harriott's Meals in Minutesand Ainsley Harriott's Barbecue Bible.

~The Rebecca Review

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Delicious Food, Great Recipes, January 15, 2001

By A Customer

So far, I have only tried three of the recipes but I intend to try a lot more. I love how the recipes are written in Ainsley's voice. It reminds me so much of the Ainsley Harriott show and how he would talk.

The recipes are very delicious, although one of the recipes I tried took longer to cook than indicated. The Baconese potatoes were a big hit. If there was one thing wrong with the book it is that the conversions are a little off. Where most cookbooks would say 1/4 cup of ingredient, Ainsley says 3oz. of ingredient for the American conversions. Also the book is a little inconsistent in that sometimes the British units are in parentheses and sometime the American units are in parentheses.

My overall rating is great recipes but you need to do a little math to do the conversions in you head.