JAMIE’S 30 MINUTE MEALS

288pp Hardback
Penguin Books - RRP $65.00


In his new book, Jamie shows that by mastering a few tricks it is theoretically possible to get an entire meal on the table in just 30 minutes. The Bookman hasn't mastered it yet, the dish below took me over an hour (I'm no multi-tasker in the kitchen !) but with enough practice I may get closer to the magic 30 minutes. I doubt it and actually I don't really care, it was fun making it and the end result was superb.

He claims that in the same amount of time you’d normally spend making one dish or heating up a ready meal, Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals shows  how to create a whole meal which includes a main course with a combination of side dishes and puddings, as well as drinks.

“I’m too busy. It’s too expensive. I don’t know how. These are three excuses I always hear when I ask people why they don’t cook at home more often” says Jamie. “I want this book to help skyrocket you to another level, where you can nourish yourself and your family, and cook quickly, with a real sense of style.”

The  thing is that the 50 brand-new meal ideas in this book are interesting, varied and seasonal and whether or not you can put them together in 30 minutes doesn't really matter to me. They include main course recipes like a roast beef dinner or a chicken curry. All are meals you’ll be pleased to serve your family and friends.

The book is as practical as it is beautiful and of course for me with my admiration for this amazing and zealous young man I have to have everything he writes anyway and this is another fine addition to my Jamie collection.
I guess his main point is that with a bit of preparation, the right equipment and good organization, hearty, delicious, quick meals are possible without spending hours in your kitchen.
I wonder when the tv series will be screened here?

About Jamie Oliver:
Jamie Oliver started cooking at his parents’ pub, The Cricketers in Clavering, Essex, at the age of eight. After being “discovered” by a TV company while working at The River Cafe, his television series and books have inspired millions of people across the world to cook better food using fresh ingredients. In 2002, he founded Fifteen restaurant in London, and the associated charity, now called the Jamie Oliver Foundation, which trains disadvantaged young people to become chefs as well as engaging in Ministry of Food projects. Jamie has recently launched a successful collection of high-street restaurants in the UK called Jamie’s Italian – there are currently 14 of these across Britain. He writes for publications in the UK and around the world, including his own Jamie Magazine, and he lives in London and Essex with his wife and children.

CURRY ROGAN JOSH

FLUFFY RICE
CARROT SALAD
POPPADOMS
FLATBREAD
BEER

CURRY
2 onions
1 medium butternut squash
1 small cauliflower
optional: 1 fresh red chilli
4 cloves of garlic
a bunch of fresh coriander
½ a 283g jar of Patak’s rogan josh

paste
1 x 400g tin of chickpeas
100g prewashed baby spinach
1 x 500g tub of natural yoghurt

RICE
1 mug of basmati rice
a few whole cloves

CARROT SALAD
a handful of flaked almonds
5 or 6 carrots
1 fresh red chilli
a bunch of fresh coriander
a 2cm piece of fresh ginger
1 lemon

CHAPATTIS
1 pack of chapattis
turmeric, for dusting

LEMON PICKLE
1 lemon
2 teaspoons mustard seeds
1 level teaspoon turmeric
¼ of a fresh red chilli
1 small dried chilli

SEASONINGS
olive oil
extra virgin olive oil
sea salt & black pepper

TO SERVE
1 packet of poppadoms
cold beer

TO START Get all your ingredients and equipment ready.
Fill and boil the kettle. Put a large saucepan on a high heat.Turn the oven on to 180ºC/350ºF/gas 4. Put the coarse grater attachment into the food processor.

CURRY Peel and slice the onions and add to the large pan with a splash of water and a few good lugs of olive oil.
Carefully cut the butternut squash in half across the middle (for speed I’m only using the seedless neck), wrap up the base and put in the fridge for another day. Quarter the neck lengthways, then slice it into 1cm chunks – no need to peel them .Add to the pan.
Trim the cauliflower and remove the outer leaves. Cut it into bite-sized chunks, and throw them into the pan. If you want some extra heat, slice
up the chilli and add it now. Crush in the unpeeled garlic.
Finely chop the coriander (stalks and all). Reserve a few leaves for garnish and add the rest to the pan with a couple of generous splashes of boiled water. Add the rogan josh paste and the tin of chickpeas, with their juices. Season
and stir well, then put a lid on. Cook hard and fast, stirring occasionally.

RICE
Put the mug of rice into a medium saucepan with a lug of olive oil and a few cloves, then cover with 2 mugs of boiled water (use the same mug you used for the rice).Add a pinch of salt, then put the lid on and boil on a medium
heat for 7 minutes. Fill and reboil the kettle.

CHAPATTIS
Scrunch up a large sheet of greaseproof paper under the tap. Flatten it out, then layer the chapattis on top, drizzling each lightly with a little olive oil and a sprinkling of turmeric. Wrap them in the paper and put them on the middle shelf of the oven.

CARROT SALAD
Toast the almonds in a small pan on a medium heat, tossing occasionally until golden.Tip into a small bowl. Wash and trim the carrots. Grate them in a
food processor, using the coarse grater attachment, with the chilli (stalks and seeds removed), the top third of a bunch of coriander and a peeled 2cm piece of ginger. Tip into a serving bowl.

CURRY
Check and add a splash of water if it looks a bit dry. Stir, then replace the lid.

RICE
By now the 7 minutes should be up, so take the rice off the heat and leave it to sit with the lid on for 7 minutes. This will let it steam and will give you beautiful fluffy nutty rice.

CARROT SALAD
Drizzle a lug of extra virgin olive oil over the salad and add a pinch of salt. Finely grate in a little lemon zest, then add a good squeeze of lemon juice. Toss well. Sprinkle over the toasted almonds and half of the reserved coriander leaves, and take to the table.

CURRY
Take the lid off. Do you need to adjust the consistency at this point? If so, you can add a generous splash of boiled water, depending on whether you want it
drier or wetter. Or mash up some of the veg for different textures. Taste and add a pinch of salt, if needed, then add the spinach and stir through.

LEMON PICKLE
Cut the lemon into eighths, then deseed and finely slice. Finely slice the red chilli quarter. Put the small pan you toasted the almonds in back on to a medium to high heat. Add a drizzle of olive oil to the pan and the mustard seeds, turmeric and the sliced chilli. Crumble in the dried chilli. When everything starts to sizzle, add the sliced lemon and a pinch of salt, count to ten, then take off the heat and put in a bowl to cool.

TO SERVE
Tip half the tub of yoghurt into a small bowl. Drizzle over a little extra virgin olive oil and take to the table with the poppadoms and the bowl of lemon pickle.
Remove the chapattis from the oven and take them straight to the table. Transfer the rice and curry into large serving bowls.
Spoon the remaining yoghurt over the curry, sprinkle with the rest of the coriander leaves and take both bowls to the table.

Crack open your beers and go for it!

An extract taken with permission from Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals by Jamie Oliver. RRP $65.00, published by Michael Joseph. © Jamie Oliver, 2010. Photography © David Loftus, 2010.

See if you can do that in 30 minutes. I sure as hell can't. But I loved the end result anyway.