Kitchen Heaven: Over 100 Brand-new Recipes [Paperback]

This is a fantastic book for lovers of Gordon Ramsay and for people who just love good food. I've really enjoyed watching Gordon on his Kitchen Nightmares series so I was fascinated to see if his perfectionism could help me out in the kitchen - and it has. It's not quite as good as having him there to shout at me but so far I've made 4 dishes and my wife and friends loved them all (and they can't quite believe their eyes that I'm in there cooking). This is a f***ing good book as Gordon might say.

A thoroughly enjoyable book to accompany the excellent series.

The recipes are 'something for everyone', including a vegetarian section with easy to follow recipes so no vegetarian guest would accuse you of not caring!

There are some nice, amusing comments throughout the book from the Top Man, which make flicking through, selecting a meal an absolute pleasure.

Gordon may seem an ogre in the kitchen, but he appreciates food and what you can do with good, fresh produce, His love of creating wonderful dishes shines through and makes you understand how important it is to do your very best and you will eat the very best.

There are none of his infamous expletives in the book, so even your nan would appreciate unwrapping this one on Christmas day.

Fabulous!

'As seen on Channel 4', over 100 brand new recipes.

From the back cover:

'......'Hellishly good' heat
Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares presented viewers with a vision of culinary hell.
Now Britain's foremost chef shares the secrets of how it should be done - and allows us a glimpse of kitchen heaven.'

For the large part this is a useful recipe and reference book where 'tweaked' old favourites e.g. 'Burger and Chips' and 'Black Forest Gateau' mingle with the lesser well-known, such as 'Puff Pastry Pizza' 'Smoked Haddock Soup with Quail's Eggs' and 'Pheasant baked with Crepes'.

A pensive GR decorates the front cover which opens to 255 high quality, shiny pages split over main chapters:

1. Salads
2. Things on Toast
3. Vegetarian
4. Soups
5. Fish
6. Meat
7. Puddings
8. Vinaigrettes & Dressings
9. Sauces, Stocks & Basics

sandwiched between an introduction, 'Essential Techniques' including:- 'How to Poach an Egg', 'How to Dry Salad Leaves' and 'How to Fillet, Pin-bone and Skin Fish', a two page glossary and a concise index.

Each chapter opens with a helpful tip, e.g.:

* Salads: - 'The thing to remember with salads is not to fuss over them too much and always use the best, freshest ingredients you can get hold of.......and GR's experiences from the TV programmes:-'Caesar Salad' is a great test for any chef to make properly as it really doesn't need much messing with......After seeing the mess they made at '...........', I gave the chef this recipe, which is my interpretation.'

A recipe for the 'Ultimate Caesar Salad' follows.

Opening the 'Vegetarian' chapter is a quote, with the typical GR attitude, we have come to either love or hate:-

* 'I was mis-quoted a few years ago, so I want to set the record straight: I absolutely love vegetarians, adore them, and enjoy eating vegetarian food myself......'

or ........ahead of the GR

'Cottage Pie' recipe:

* 'This has to be my all-time favourite comfort food dish. My wife, Tana, and I go out and have dinner once a week, by ourselves. We usually go to The Ivy and I always order the same thing - 'Caesar Salad' and 'Cottage Pie'. The waiters there think I am boring because I always have the same, but I just love it. I'll sit there with a dinky bottle of ketchup and one of Worcestershire sauce and that is just it for me. Nothing more, nothing else, just my cottage pie.....'

...and GR goes on to recommend using Desirée potatoes in his version.

Throughout the book, each recipe is clearly laid out with the title and ingredients list in dark red type, followed by the method, in black type. Each also has a relevant opening note.

Photography throughout with a fair number on-location and some of the dishes but not all, which may prove slightly negative to those of us who like to see what we are aiming for on the plate, particularly in a less obvious to picture dish, e.g. 'Lobster Roll'!

The book is interspersed with the aforementioned 'narrative sections', entitled:

* Being a Waiter
* Turning Your Restaurant Nightmare into a Dream
* Putting Chefs on the Spot
* Too Much Sleep
* Making Mistakes

Other recipes include:

* Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese Croque Monsieur
* Baked Asparagus and Parmesan Loaf
* Crispy Duck Salad
* Warm Oriental Marinated Chicken with King Prawns and Posh Prawn Toasts
* Daube of Squid
* Venison Pie
* Baked Pumpkin
* Minestrone
* Grilled Lobster and Chips
* Marinated Duck Breasts
* Turnip, Marrow and Potato Soup
* Whisky Bread and Butter Pudding
* Lemon Confit
* Taramasalata
* Brown Chicken Stock
* Calvados Rice Pudding with Caramelized Apples

My favourite recipe, to date, tried and tasted, is:

* 'Braised Shank of Lamb with Parsnip Purée', from page 148/149

The recipe is an easy and relatively cheap dish to replicate, benefitting from a long slow cook on the hob and gives my oven a well deserved rest for a night! The purée makes a sweet and pleasant change to potatoes and I serve with some steamed greens, for a colourful presentation.

Delicious!