It seems 'indifferent' is the best way to explain the results of our latest visitor poll.Jamie Oliver: Yes or No?
Not many votes but the yeses just about have it. Personally, I like Jamie but I am a bit confused by his sudden swing from Dinner Lady to Lord of the Manor on his latest and let's face it, a bit boring, new tv show. The new book of the series, Jamie at Home however, is very, very lovely. I did hope to steal a recipe from it for Landcroft House but it's not out until next month so I'd probably get sent to prison. Here's a modest old salad of his instead.
The Easiest, Sexiest Salad in The World
"... I love this salad. Apart from being a great combination, it always seems unbelievably effortless, which is the kind of recipe I like. The constant success of this is due to the common-sense marriage of salty Parma ham, milky buffalo mozzarella and sweet figs, which obviously need to be of a good quality. The best figs to use are Italian and the best time to buy them is June to August when they are in season. Greek figs are a good second-best and are in season from September to November. The best figs always seem to be those that are about to split their skins. Use green or black figs - it doesn't really matter.
One thing I do is to criss-cross the figs but not quite to the bottom - 1 fig per person is always a good start. Then, using your thumbs and forefingers, squeeze the base of the fig to expose the inside. At this point you'll think, 'Oooh, that looks nice, I think I'm quite clever ...' or at least I do. More importantly, it allows your dressing to get right into the middle of the fig. All these little things really help to make a salad special. Simply place the figs in a dish, weave around 1 slice of Parma ham or prosciutto per fig, throw in some slices of buffalo mozzarella and rip over some green or purple basil. Mix 6 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, 3 tablespoons of lemon juice, a tablespoon of good honey and some sea salt and freshly ground black pepper together in a bowl and drizzle everything with this dressing. As far as salads go, it's pretty damn sexy.
PS It's a good idea to have some spare bread on the table to mop up the juices - always a treat..."
6 comments:
Last night was the first one we've seen and we did kind of think it had all been done before by Hugh FW. The gardener was a bit like a comedy character. Who is he? Why does he have to act like a straight man to Jamie's more 'madcap' persona?
Jamie Oliver is polarising.I like his recipes and his books, but I can't stand his rampant commercialism. Heinz Beans on the menu at 15, that terrible Sainsbury's Christmas ad, drippy Jools bringing out a recipe book, etc, etc. I think he's the lovechild of Margaret Thatcher and Norman Tebbit.
I was hoping to review the programme for my Blog but had a campari after work and woke up just as he was eating a deep fried courgette and the credits rolled doh! next week then. On the whole I like him. Did Se the dreadful kitchen criminals it's a real shame that 2 decent chefs have signed up to such a poor show, can't cook crossed with x factor sounds like the result of a long charlotte st lunchto me.
I met JBR last year just after he had signed up for Kitchen Criminals and he was very excited about it. I guess he didn't know how it was going to turn out. He was just talking about the cooking element of it, but how do you know if someone can't cook? Is it just because they can't be bothered? Anyone with half a brain can cook simply if they are taught properly.
He was saying how he would never devalue his name by appearing on something like I'm A Celebrity. But what does devalue a chef's reputation? They all seem to be appearing on dross at the moment. Even Marco Pierre White is going to do Hell's Kitchen. Is there any programme a chef can do that they can't recover from?
I must say that admiting you can't cook is akin (in my book) to not being able to look after your other bodily needs and is not something to brag about. The contestants had a wacky "look at me aren't I Krazy, I just want to be on the telly thing going on " too not good. I fear the beeb is going for more of the same with "the resturant" with Raymond Blanc. Sorry rob and silvana I should rant elsewhere :)
No, we like ranting!
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