Kitchen Heaven: Over 100 Brand-new Recipes - Books (Gordon Ramsay, Paperback)

Never mind the b*****ks, here are the true gems that place Gordon Ramsay at the apogee of contemporary British cuisine. In Kitchen Heaven, Gordon's a man with a mission: to give back to the industry that has given him so much. And if he can impose his excellence into our home kitchens, so much the better.

His beautifully illustrated book includes many of the recipes he uses in his TV series, Kitchen Nightmares, to replace tired and misguided fancy food with hearty fare focused more on local produce and fresh, good-quality ingredients simply presented. Don't be intimidated by Ramsay's reputation for three Michelin star perfection. The man whose previous book, Gordon Ramsay's Just Desserts, includes a recipe for a roasted rhubarb and apple crumble (an easy and warming comfort pudding), is surprisingly accessible as a creator of cookbooks for anyone's kitchen. He is a master of great classics such as bouillabaisse, fish pie, Caesar salad and a stuffed loin of roast suckling pig with crispy crackling that you'll be calling your mum about. Aware that any kitchen needs to be aware of the bottom line, he revels in the possibilities of a rich, intensely-flavoured braised oxtail in beef tomatoes and a braised shank of lamb that falls off the bone onto a soft parsnip purée. In kitchen heaven, kids are always first to the table to enjoy friendly and healthy fare such as lamb stew with parsley dumplings and young carrots, or for a more grown-up palette, pheasant baked with ceps. And the aforementioned crumble may have to make way for calvados rice pudding with caramelised apples, while his reinvigoration of black forest gateau will spoon away any bad memories you have of the sweet trolley. For the unbelievers, he even builds bridges between himself and vegetarians, demonstrating how seriously he takes vegetarian food with recipes such as baked asparagus and parmesan loaf and braised lentils and Swiss chard, turnips and parsley ravioli.

Ramsay's tips on how to create ambience and write a good menu is all fantastically useful whether you are running a restaurant or having a dinner party, with interesting insights on the techniques, processes and personalities that have contributed to his success. If the horror stories turn your stomach, Kitchen Heaven is divine intervention indeed. --Fiona Buckland

Customer Reviews of Kitchen Heaven: Over 100 Brand-new Recipes

Amazon Reviewer

24th October 2006

A useful book where 'Tweaked' basics meet the more sophisticated........and the odd rude word in the narratives!
Cover quotes:-
`As seen on Channel 4', over 100 brand new recipes.
'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' basics e.g. `Black Forest Gateau' mingle with the more sophisticated `Cold Chocolate Mousse with Lavender Ice Cream'; 'Puff Pastry Pizza' with `Twice Baked Cheese Soufflés`; `French Onion Soup' with `Smoked Haddock Soup with Quail's Eggs' and `Lasagne' with 'Pheasant Baked with Crepes'.

255 high quality, shiny pages split over 9 main chapters:-

Salads
Things on Toast
Vegetarian
Soups
Fish
Meat
Puddings
Vinaigrettes & Dressings
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`.
I'll just 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.'

Throughout the book, each recipe is clearly laid out with the title and ingredients list in red type, followed by the method, in black type.

On location photography with pictures for a large percentage of the recipes, but not all, which may prove to be slightly negative to readers who like to see what finished product they are aiming for, in a less obvious to picture dish, e.g. `Crispy Duck Salad', 'Peppers in Red Wine' or `Lobster Roll`!

The book is interspersed with narrative sections, e.g. `Being a Waiter', `Turning Your Restaurant Nightmare into a Dream', `Putting Chefs on the Spot', 'Too Much Sleep' and `Making Mistakes'.
(Please be warned that there is some typical GR 'x'-rated language in these sections!)

Other Recipes include:-

Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese Croque Monsieur
Baked Asparagus and Parmesan Loaf
Fish Pie
Venison Pie
Marinated Duck Breasts
Turnip, Marrow and Potato Soup
Burger and Chips, (which includes a very nice `Onion Relish' recipe)
Whisky Bread and Butter Pudding
Lemon Confit
Taramasalata
Brown Chicken Stock
Calvados Rice Pudding with Caramelized Apples

Mr. M. Randall
Sale, Cheshire United Kingdom
6th June 2006

You fu**ing bl**dy etc etc
The book from the kicthen version of South Park (i.e. lots of swearing) This book has a few great recipes in it. especially the banana soufle recipe, some of the soups & the fish pie is a great 1. overall a good book.

Brad Thiele

7th February 2005

Interesting, but not for beginners
This is an interesting (if not a bit light on content) cookbook. A short word of warning though to less-than-confident cooks. Many of the recipes assume a reasonable level of culinary skill which may have some starters a bit lost - Delia Smith it ain't!

sqiddlybob

17th November 2004

Not a great deal here!
Ramsay may be one of my favorite chefs, but this book really isn't worth the stretch. It dazzles you with fantastic pictures and interesting prose, but seems to be lacking on the recipe front. When I rate a cookery book I always have Nigella Lawsons "How to Eat" in the back of my mind. Not sure what Nigella offers in the cost per recipe ratio, but Ramsay falls well short of what I'd expect these days.

His restaurants are great though!!

mcleary24

10th November 2004

He makes a fine dish....
As one might now expect from Ramsay this is more than just a cookbook. Full of inspirational recipes to lure the reader to the hob; meat, fish and vegetarian dishes, aswell as a selection of sauces, puddings and things on toast.

Some amusing anecdotes, such as the kitchen porter with a fish phobia, who thought Ramsay's mackerel on toast was, 'the best thing he'd ever eaten'.

And the way to treat vegetarians? Stuffed courgette flowers and braised lentils with Swiss chard. Thats the way.