Just how busy are you? Are you too busy to slice the odd courgette? Do you have time, once in a while, to peel a potato or open a can of tuna? And just how good a cook are you? Can you scramble an egg or smash a clove of garlic or cut open a lemon? Can you make a bacon sandwich? If you ... Read review
Nigel Slater presents over 350 creative delicious and nourishing recipes and suggestions ... more
for those who'd rather spend more of their time eating than cooking. From simple snacks to dinner-party desserts all the dishes in "Real Fast Food" can be ready ...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
Advantages: Inspirational cookery Disadvantages: No good for reading in bed - you have to get up and try it out.
Just how busy are you? Are you too busy to slice the odd courgette? Do you have time, once in a while, to peel a potato or open a can of tuna? And just how good a cook are you? Can you scramble an egg or smash a clove of garlic or cut open a lemon? Can you make a bacon sandwich? If you can do any of the above, or even if you are willing to try doing any of the above, then you can cook fabulous fast food.
The premise of this book is ... ...want to find good quality food, then you can have it – and fast. You can eat well by simply putting good quality ingredients together so that they complement each other. By ‘fast food’ Nigel Slater means dishes that take around 30 minutes to prepare. He does not use complicated techniques, often the actual cooking involved in these recipes is minimal or even non-existant. The aim of this book is largely to guide the reader towards combinations that ... more
Just how busy are you? Are you too busy to slice the odd courgette? Do you have time, once in a while, to peel a potato or open a can of tuna? And just how good a cook are you? Can you scramble an egg or smash a clove of garlic or cut open a lemon? Can you make a bacon sandwich? If you can do any of the above, or even if you are willing to try doing any of the above, then you can cook fabulous fast food.
The premise of this book is tremendously appealing. If you love good food, if you want to find good quality food, then you can have it – and fast. You can eat well by simply putting good quality ingredients together so that they complement each other. By ‘fast food’ Nigel Slater means dishes that take around 30 minutes to prepare. He does not use complicated techniques, often the actual cooking involved in these recipes is minimal or even non-existant. The aim of this book is largely to guide the reader towards combinations that work well and ingredients which shine in their own right. The better the quality, after all, the less you need to do to an ingredient to make it delicious.
The recipes in this book are mainly supper or lunch dishes, but there are plenty of tempting snack meals along the way, this is definitely not a guide to formal dining. The quantities given are usually for 2 or 4 people, and they are helpfully categorised according to food types: eggs, fish, pasta, vegetables, leftovers and so on. Each section has a brief introduction covering things like where to buy and how to find the best quality, how best to store different kinds of food, and seasonal and organic produce.
Slater recommends doing store cupboard supermarket shopping once a week and looking around more frequently, every day if possible, in smaller specialist shops for single ingredients or small quantities of very fresh produce. This is not practicable for many people. What if you are very busy, or you live in an isolated place and don’t have a great butcher or fishmonger or delicatessen nearby? I have a reasonable high street near me, but the nearest butcher that I trust is some miles away and I don’t get to him very often. I don’t know of a single fishmonger nearby. (What has happened to fishmongers, where have they all gone?) But I think it is possible to adapt Slater’s ideas to one’s circumstances.
I may not have a snazzy little market on my doorstep but I do have a reasonable greengrocer. I have to walk slightly out of my route to go past him, but it can be worth it. If I happen to see a particularly gorgeous, plump and purple aubergine in his shop, then I will buy it, bring it home and cook it, sliced and dribbled with oil, under the grill with bashed coriander seeds. Slater doesn’t use garlic with this one, but I do, though not too much. He does use fresh basil, which I never have on hand, so I don’t bother with it. Once the slices are done, stick them on a plate with lemon juice and a little smashed garlic and eat. Yummy. I’ve often done this with mint and black pepper, drizzled with greek yoghurt and lemon juice too. It’s not as Nigel Slater does it, but it works, and his recipe for grilled aubergine with cracked coriander, basil and lemon juice, inspired me to have a go. Now I look out for good young tempting aubergines whenever I pass the greengrocer’s display.
And this is, I think, the point of this book. Nigel Slater wants us to try things out and he wants us to be spontaneous with food. He adores delicious food, his love for it shines through in his writing, and he wants us to share his experiences. He relishes every bite, whether he is slapping a 1lb block of gruyere in the oven and then smearing the oozing melted result on to crusty bread, or grilling a lamb chop with a tangy mixture of mustard, garlic and lemon. He does not insist that we follow his ideas slavishly though, he sees his recipes as a starting point for the reader. Often Slater lists alternative ingredients for a dish. I love the lists that he includes in this book. Take ‘Good things to top a baked potato’ which includes garlic mayonnaise and roasted peppers, or what about ‘Good things to put in your porridge’ which gives blackberries, honey and cream amongst other suggestions. Yet another list is of ‘Good things to stir into rice’ and includes toasted pine nuts and garlic and herb cheese. Oh yes, Nigel Slater caters extremely well for us carbohydrate junkies!
As for healthy eating, well Slater uses cream, cheese, mayonnaise and oil with abandon. You won’t find it easy to maintain a skinny chic figure eating from this book unless you have a metabolism that supermodels would kill for. On the other hand, why not have cream now and then if it tastes wonderful and complements the amazing variety that you can include in your diet? I have gained enormous pleasure from reading and being inspired by this book, and I use it constantly to remind myself that there is an abundance of good, fast food for the eating, if I only slow down a little in the course of the daily whirl, and spend just a few minutes choosing it.
You can get this for £6.39 on Amazon at the moment (rrp is £7.99) ISBN 0140469494, published by Penguin Books. I bought mine in a second hand bookshop a few years ago for a couple of quid. You can also find it on Abebooks for around £2.50 upwards. Read, eat and enjoy!
minigrile 30.11.2003
Ciao members have rated this review on average:
very helpful
Review of Real Fast Food (350 Recipes Ready-to-Get in 30 Minutes) - Nigel Slater
Advantages: Simple to follow, huge variety, quick and easy Disadvantages: Don't read whilst hungry, too much to choose from!
Ok, so let's get the confession out of the way first - I'm not a big fan of cooking. It's not that I can't cook, every time I do force myself to make something a little more creative than scrambled eggs it comes out great.
It's just that I can't be bothered spending the time, especially when it's only me on the receiving end. If you're cooking for someone else, or for a group of mates it's one thing, but when it's just little old me the microwave ... ...approached Nigel Slater's book with such interest. 350 recipes it says (I've not counted them, so that may not be true) and all can be cooked in under 30 minutes. Although about 2 paragraphs through his introduction, Nigel admits that most of them can be cooked in this time, some a little longer. But who's counting?!
From someone put off by the regimented approach of other "celebrity chefs" such as Jamie, Nigella and Delia, it was refreshing to ...
redmonkey 08.03.2004
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Real Fast Food (350 Recipes Ready-to-Get in 30 Minutes) - Nigel Slater
Advantages: some unusual suggestions, all quick to make Disadvantages: you'd have to be organised enough to find the ingredients in advance
Nigel Slater's book is designed to provide you with recipes for good food you can cook in under 30 minutes. The quantities given tend to be for either 'two as a main course or four as an accompaniment' and are laid out with a description, the ingredients and then the recipe. It is a good idea, but sadly it is badly executed. I am a whole-hearted supported of the slow food campaign but there are some nights after work when you just want to eat like, ... ...or things you would have to hunt down in advance. This is not a book of meals to make from your store cupboard but a book to keep the local delis in business. A lot of these recipes are impossible outside of London, and I speak as foodie who used to live in London and now resides in Cardiff. My local tescos may be 24 hours but it does not sell goat's cheese, however lovely it may be with broad beans.
Secondly, vegetarians are not well catered for. ...
anna_mcnally 11.07.2003
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Real Fast Food (350 Recipes Ready-to-Get in 30 Minutes) - Nigel Slater
Advantages: It'll be the best book on the shelf Disadvantages: Needs laminating!
This was the first Nigel Slater Book I bought, and judging by the state of the pages today it's proved its worth.
This book is organised into chapters based on the main ingredient (the classic chapter being Garlic). And all the recipes are interspersed with Nigel's comments on the ingredients and what else you can do with them. I've never read a cookery book where the author has had such enthusiasm for simple things. He conjures up images in your ... ...some meat for a meal you can already taste. The best things about the book is that most of the recipes contain around five ingredients, they serve two people, they take around half an hour, the methods are simple and clear, you aren't expected to have every utensil under the sun, and the food is always amazing. Two classics are chicken with garlic, cider and cream, and croissants with hot apples and creme fraiche.
The only downside is that most ...
andy-T 22.02.2001
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Real Fast Food (350 Recipes Ready-to-Get in 30 Minutes) - Nigel Slater
Advantages: cheap to make,tasty Disadvantages: none
This soup recipe is my favorite and ive been making it for many years.
My children always ask for 'mummys soup',so I keep some in the freezer ready.
INGREDIANTS..
1 onion chopped
5oz mushrooms chopped
14oz carrots chopped
8oz potatoes diced
1 clove garlic crushed
2pt chicken stock(I use oxo,but any make will do)
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp thyme
salt and pepper
Saute the onions until soft, then add the carrots and potatoes,saute for a further ... ...and thyme.
Bring upto the boil, then simmer for 50 mins(covered).
When done,blend to a liquid in a food processer.
Thats it,very easy and I normaly make double and freeze half of it for another day.
Its alot nicer than tinned soup and a lot cheaper!!!
Also its alot healther for the kids. ...
beth74 01.05.2001
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Real Fast Food (350 Recipes Ready-to-Get in 30 Minutes) - Nigel Slater
Advantages: Quick and easy Disadvantages: Gives you GHANDI REVENGE!
No its not junk food or a takaway. Heres how to cook your healthy filling Indian curry meal in just under 20 minutes.
INSTANT CHICKEN CURRY
Serves 2
10-12oz (300-350g) boned chicken breasts skinned
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tspns of bottled minced garlic
2 tbspns of Tandoori curry powder
2 tbspns of tomato puree
1/2 tspn salt
1. cut the chicken into bitesize pieces 2. mix all the remaining ingredients together in a large bowl, then add ... ...Heat a wok or a large frying pan. Add the contents of the bowl and stir fry on medium heat until the chicken is cooked(between ten and fifteen minutes). Uf it begins to dry up, causing sticking and smoking add a tspn or two of water or red wine from time to time.
Serve with salads,bread and a chutney or two. ...
laura 23.10.2000
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Real Fast Food (350 Recipes Ready-to-Get in 30 Minutes) - Nigel Slater
Similar products and search queries by other users »
Real in, Real Fast in, Real Food in, Real 350 in, Real Recipes in, Real ReadytoGet in, Real Fast Food in, Real Fast 350 in, Real Fast Recipes in, Real Fast ReadytoGet in, Real Food 350 in, Real Food Recipes in, Real Food ReadytoGet in, Real 350 Recipes in, Real 350 ReadytoGet in
Are you the manufacturer / provider of Real Fast Food (350 Recipes Ready-to-Get in 30 Minutes) - Nigel Slater? Click here
![Real Fast Food; 350 Recipes Rady-To-Eat In 30 Minutes [Penguin Cookery Library] - Nigel Slater](http://images.ciao.com/ide/images/icons/no_pic_generic_S1.gif "Real Fast Food; 350 Recipes Rady-To-Eat In 30 Minutes [Penguin Cookery Library] - Nigel Slater"){kind=icon}
