Globeandmail.com : Salty chef, Spicy Tongue
Jamie Oliver, The Naked Chef, dishes on his celebrity chef critics,
His side-projects include training programs for unemployed disadvantaged students to become cooks and chefs, and his attempts to revolutionize school lunches with healthy food.
Jamie also gives some thoughts on his favourite restaurants in different cities (Tojo's and Vij's in Vancouver).
Summer Express: 101 Simple Meals Ready in 10 Minutes or Less - New York Times
My lovely wife is away for the week. Now I love to cook, and I'm used to doing it often, but it's not always fun to cook for just myself and it can get tedious on a daily basis.
Mark Bittman comes through with another great Food article in the New York Times with lots of tasty simple meals for the summer. Some of the best recipes or meal plans include:
#18 "Stir-fry a pound or so of ground meat or chopped fish mixed with chopped onions and seasoned with cumin or chili powder. Pile into taco shells or soft tacos, along with tomato, lettuce, canned beans, onion, cilantro and sour cream. " Delicious tacos!
#21 "While pasta cooks, combine a couple cups chopped tomatoes, a teaspoon or more minced garlic, olive oil and 20 to 30 basil leaves. Toss with pasta, salt, pepper and Parmesan. " -That's a personal favourite!
#31 "Fast chile rellenos: Drain canned whole green chilies. Make a slit in each and insert a piece of cheese. Dredge in flour and fry in a skillet, slit side up, until cheese melts. " I've never even thought of making that before!
#57 "Dip pork cutlets in egg, then dredge heavily in panko; brown quickly on both sides. Serve over lettuce, with fresh lemon, or bottled Japanese curry sauce. " - Yum! Japanese tonkatsu.
#59 "Brown bratwursts with cut-up apples. Serve with coleslaw." Interesting, maybe I'll try that tonight.
Sure, some of the "simple meals" are easy to make, but not so practical if you don't have the ingredients on hand, such as #12: "Boil a lobster. Serve with lemon or melted butter. " Overall, this list is GREAT for sunny days in the kitchen when you run out of time and inspiration.Feed Me Better - School Dinners Pack (pdf)
UK (naked) chef, Jamie Oliver, was upset by the unhealthy junk food that was served in school cafeterias. Spurred on by new school food standards, Jamie researched, he experimented and he did some shows about it. Jamie also came up with some solutions, that is, menu plans. Today's link is essentially a free cookbook of healthy, inexpensive, easy-to-prepare meals that are scalable for groups of different sizes. Hmmm... a free Naked Chef cookbook. Interesting.
Sure, some of the recipes are better than others. I think I'd enjoy the Chicken Tikka Massala and the Slow-Cooked Balsamic Beef more than the Sausages and Mashed, but this is a really great resource! Imagine if you had to cook for a large group of wonderful people at a camp, a retreat, a big family dinner or even a school, I'm sure this recipe book could be an excellent resource.
