Intro:

This list is far from official, but I think it’s fairly accurate. I’ve included links to Amazon so you can read portions of the books on their website and because Amazon will show me a little love if you click over to their site from here.

Gordon Ramsay’s 9 Most Popular Cookbooks:

1. Gordon Ramsay’s Fast Food: The book is divided into short sections. Many of the dishes can be prepared and cooked in as little as 15 minutes, and none take longer than half an hour.

2. Gordon Ramsay Makes It Easy: This work, which more than lives up to its title, allows Ramsay to showcase his softer side with anecdotes about his wife and photos with his children, while offering recipes where complex taste and elegant presentation belie simple preparation.

3. Gordon Ramsay’s Healthy Appetite: A fit chef, marathon runner, and high-energy television presenter, Gordon Ramsay is a walking advertisement for eating well and staying in the peak of good health. In this new book, which includes recipes from The F Word, he has put together over 100 dishes that reflect the way we want to eat today.

4. Gordon Ramsay’s Three Star Chef: Describing both the restaurant methods for preparation, along with a down-to-earth guide to recreating the dishes at home, this beautifully photographed book showcases Ramsay’s immense talent. This cookbook is both a valuable cook’s resource and an arresting look at a man who has been dubbed “the best chef of his generation.”

5. Chef for All Seasons: Do we need another by-the-seasons cookbook? Yes, emphatically, if it’s Gordon Ramsay’s A Chef for All Seasons. Ramsay has done a rare thing: he’s created a chef’s cookbook of impeccable yet unfussy food that’s truly approachable.

6. In The Heat Of The Kitchen: This is a collection of superb recipes, every one tested to ensure success in the home kitchen, including gorgeous full-color photographs of finished dishes and photos of step-by-step techniques as well. With chapters on fish, poultry, meat, vegetables, salads, fruits and breads, this is a cookbook you will turn to whenever you want to cook with lots of style and a minimum of fuss.

7. Passion for Flavour: More than 100 recipes – many of them Ramsay’s most famous – from the fiery, 3-star Michelin chef on Fox’s hit series, “Hell’s Kitchen.” Each recipe puts a premium on lightness and flavor using a low-fat approach.

8. Kitchen Heaven: With over 100 brand new recipes-including some of the most accessible and delicious he has ever produced-Kitchen Heaven is a cookbook for everyone who loves food, from the complete novice to the more accomplished cook.

9. Gordon Ramsay’s Just Desserts: is a very fine book of last courses from energetic three-star Michelin chef Gordon Ramsay, expertly marshaled for the domestic kitchen by Roz Denny.

Can you think of another great Gordon Ramsay cookbook I’ve left out? Can you help make the list a perfect ten?

I posted a recipe a few weeks ago for Gordon Ramsay’s Crayfish Salad. Getting edible crayfish in my region is almost impossible unless you catch them yourself.

I was able to get one trap built a few days ago! It’s warming up around here and I think I’ll finally be able to go catch some crayfish in a couple of weeks! I’ll keep you guys posted on my progress with this whole recipe adventure.

I got my plans for building the trap from this adventure website. The instructions where clear and concise. I would suggest wearing gloves, as I poked a few holes in my hands getting this thing fully put together. You can see my trap in the picture below.

My Crayfish Trap

PS I apologize if my writing style today isn’t up to par. I’ve been under the weather lately and I’m on some over the counter medicine.

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Over the last few months I’ve started to notice a central theme with Gordon Ramsay’s Recipes. Almost all his recipes contain rosemary, thyme, or both. Garlic is another very prevalent ingredient as well as sea salt and pepper. Occasionally there will be some white or red wine vinegar. Creme Fraiche is very common in Gordon’s dishes.

I’m going to try out a dish on my own which mimicks the types of ingredients Gordon Ramsay uses on a regular basis and see how it turns out. Let me know if you have any dishes you’ve come up with on your own. I’ll post back and let you know how this project turns out.

Today I went to check the mail and was delighted to find that after only a few days, my new paring knife set had arrived! I promised to post back with my opinion of these bad boys after using them, so here you go.

I made Shepherd’s Pie again and used the little curved paring knife to skin my potatoes. I love these little knives! Although the knives are definitely not the craftsmanship of a Wustof, they cut right through the potato like a hot knife through butter! The handle is made of some kind of plastic and is very rough, which makes the grip on it very secure. The knives themselves are a polished stainless steel. I also used the straight edge knife to cut the ends off of my carrot and onion with no problem at all!

Overall, I’m very pleased with my $5 purchase and will recommend these knives to anyone on a budget. Click on over to Amazon.com and pick up a set of Forschner Knives by Victorinox if you don’t already have a quality set of cooking knives and you can’t afford to drop big bucks!

Today my fiance told me that she will never be a great chef since she can’t keep track of so many things at once. In essence, cooking scares her. As a matter of fact, she just had a nightmare last night that she was cooking, lost control of all the things happening and not only ruined dinner, but set the house on fire!

Like so many things in life, cooking requires not only skill but bravery and daring. One must not rely on strict measurements and instructions, but be willing to make the dish theirs. We see this very often in F Word recipes. There is no exact measurement. Pork IN! Salt, pepper, herbs! Pork off! Plate done!

So, does Gordon give his instructions out of laziness or out of understanding? I would say that all of his instructions are perfectly clear! Do not make Gordon’s Beef Wellington, make your own. Any great artist is more than happy to give you advice on how to be great. Only a hack will actually give you a paint by numbers canvas. Painting by numbers limits you to the extent of each numbers outline.

Each and every dish we make starts with a blank canvas. Should you limit yourself to the recipes you read here? Can you break free of recipes you find elsewhere? Dare to estimate the measurements to your taste. Do not use measuring spoons or cups (unless you’re baking cookies). Break free of all the fear you hold in your heart and have a glass of wine while doing so! I hope you find this advice not only improves your cooking and kitchen experiences, but your life as well.

Until the next post…

Foodie

Eating Snails from the Garden – Part 2

Not to long ago I posted an article on eating snails from the garden, this is the second half of that article where you get delicious instructions on cooking them!

This recipe is based off of Gordon Ramsay’s Escargot salad recipe from the F Word. As lunatic as this seems, I’m excited about it and experimenting myself.

I’ve added a video at the end of this article of the whole snail catching, snail cooking process. You can find the cooking instructions about half way into the video.

Ingredients:

• Smoked Pancetta (1-2 strips)
• Fresh Sage (nice handful)
• Fresh Parsley (small handful)
• Fresh Lemon Juice (as in squeezed out of a lemon)
• Olive Oil (1-2 tbsp)
• Snails
• a nice spring mix salad (lightly dressed)

Cooking this dish is a snap. Boil enough water to cover your snails and dump them in to give them a bath. Let the snails boil for a couple of minutes and then take them off the range and strain them.  Use Escargot tongs or any other small kitchen device (tweezers anyone?) to remove the snails from their shells.

Dice the Pancetta and fry until nice and crispy. Add fresh sage and snails and toss a bit then add some fresh parsley and olive oil, then toss a little more. Success! You have finished cooking your fresh, organic, free range snails!

Add snail mixture to a bed of fresh, lightly dressed salad and enjoy.

I can’t wait to try this recipe! I’ll let you know how it turns out when my snails are ready.

Admit it, you’ve suspiciously eyed those little snails in your backyard and wondered if they were the same thing being sold at the posh french restaurant down the street. If you’re a fan of Escargot, you’re in luck, because you can get it right out of your garden!

I was watching Gordon Ramsay’s F Word a few days ago and he paid his kids to get some snails out of the garden and cooked a great looking salad with them! Now before you run outside and begin greedily stuffing snails in your mouth, you should be aware that there’s a little bit of work which should be done before cooking the snails. Snails in your garden may have consumed toxins so you should purify them.

I would suggest gathering the snails right after or even during a heavy rain. Snails like to come out onto the sidewalk when it rains (they probably don’t like drowning). If you don’t anticipate rain anytime soon, you can spray the yard down with a garden hose and then wait awhile for the little guys to come crawling out. I don’t know how long it takes them to come out when it gets wet, but they are snails, so it’ll probably take a few hours.

After you’ve gathered your snails, place them in a jar with a tight fitting lid and a few holes for breathing and leave them alone for two days without feeding them. You want to make sure you don’t skip this step as it’s the detoxification process and will allow your snails to purge any toxins they’ve consumed recently. Gordon suggests putting a carrot in their jar after two days of detox and leaving them until their poo starts turning orange. I’ve also heard that you can feed them cornmeal which is supposed to make them taste good (I’m going to go with Gordon’s suggestion on this one). After they’re pooing orange, put them in an airtight jar and leave them in the fridge until they stop moving. Your snails are now ready to cook!

I’ll post a great recipe or two for Escargot and link to it soon. For now, I’m off to collect some snails since it just stopped raining (really, it did)!