Cooking for Friends

by Gordon Ramsay

"As a chef, I work at a thousand miles an hour, but when I'm at home, I want to slow down."

way from the high-octane energy of the professional kitchen, Gordon Ramsay makes meals at home that are more re-laxed, where cooking is fun and everyone gets involved in preparing food for family and friends. The way Gordon cooks here embodies his strongly held use in-season, fresh ingredients at their peak; support local producers and farmers' markets whenever possible; and celebrate the food culture and its many influences.

And while Gordon loves to celebrate traditional food, he proves that it doesn't have to be boring, bland, or uninventive. Cooking for Friends is full of Gordon's best-loved versions of classic dishesâ try a slow-cooked dish like Honey Roast Ham or Corn-Fed Chicken Legs with Braised Peas and Onions, or invite people around for a Sunday lunch of Roast Rib-Eye with Caramelized Shallot and Red Wine Gravy. Cook the ultimate in comfort food, Shepherd's Pie with Branston Pickle or Bakewell Tart, and get the kids involved in making Farfalle with Bacon, Peas, and Sage or Grilled Vegetable Lasagne.

Cooking for Friends contains more than one hundred of Gordon's favorite recipes that he loves to cook and eat with friends and familyâ uncomplicated recipes but all with Gordon's remarkable feeling for flavor and his extraordinary technical know-how.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Nonfiction, Food, Reference, Biography, Autobiography

269 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Gordon James Ramsay is a British celebrity chef, restaurateur, television presenter, and writer. His restaurant group, Gordon Ramsay Restaurants, was founded in 1997 and has been awarded 17 Michelin stars overall and currently holds eight. His signature restaurant, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in Chelsea, London, has held three Michelin stars since 2001. After rising to fame on the British television miniseries Boiling Point in 1999, Ramsay became one of the best-known and most influential chefs in the world.
Ramsay's TV persona is defined by his fiery temper, aggressive behaviour, strict demeanour, and frequent use of profanity, while making blunt, critical, and controversial comments, including insults and sardonic wisecracks about contestants and their cooking abilities. He combines activities in the television, film, hospitality and food industries, and has promoted and hired various chefs who have apprenticed under his wing. He is known for presenting television programmes about competitive cookery and food, such as the British series Hell's Kitchen (2004), Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares (2004–2009, 2014), and The F Word (2005–2010), with Kitchen Nightmares winning the 2005 British Academy Television Award for Best Feature, and the American versions of Hell's Kitchen (2005–present), Kitchen Nightmares (2007–present), MasterChef (2010–present), and MasterChef Junior (2013–present), as well as Hotel Hell (2012–2016), Gordon Behind Bars (2012), Gordon Ramsay's 24 Hours to Hell and Back (2018–2020), and Next Level Chef (2022–present).
Ramsay was appointed an OBE by Queen Elizabeth II in the 2006 New Year Honours list for services to the hospitality industry. He was named the top chef in the UK at the 2000 Catey Awards, and in July 2006 he won the Catey for Independent Restaurateur of the Year, becoming the third person to win three Catey Awards. Forbes listed his 2020 earnings at US $70 million and ranked him at No.19 on its list of the highest-earning celebrities.

Reviews

[Alex Cotterill · Rating 5 out of 5]

great selection of meat dishes that are both simple and delicious. The intros to each meal are written as if he was saying it in an interview or something 😂😂

[Jesse Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome cook book its a mix of easy and difficult recipes mostly because some of the ingredients are a little tough to find sometimes but other than that its a great cookbook so glad I got it .....

[L.K.Mirza · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing recipes and great narration. So many recipes I'm planning to try, starting with the chilled cucumber soup.

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have slightly mixed feelings about this book (I think he has better ones out there). It's a slightly odd mix of simple and quite complex. A little too much for everyday use though I guess his intent is more the dinner party variety.

My other issue is that there are a few recipes where he forgets to mention when/how to use an ingredient - shortcrust pastry - where do the eggs go? Confusing the first time if you don't know what you're doing. Or, fillings are way too big for pastry cases. Still, adapt and experiment and the flavours are pretty spot on.

There are some nice recipes here and a few I make regularly.

- broccoli, stilton and pear soup (swift and very tasty)
- oxtail soup (great but way too much hassle to make)
- linguine with lemon, feta and basil (simple and very tasty)
- poached rabbit legs with gremolata
- Angus beef olives (first time I's every had these - great for families)
- chicken legs with braised peas and onions
- honey roast ham (fantastic for christmas)
- cider and honey roast lamb (never looked as good as the photo but tasty)
- lamb stew with bacon, sweet onions and prunes (wonderful stew)
- duck breast with port and cherry sauce (Mmmmmmm)
- Cornish chicken pie (good though I add a little to fill the flavour out)
- spinach, feta and pine nut tart
- lemon, leek and dolcelatte tart (way too much filling for the pastry but really tasty)
- caramelized fennel and red onions (nice but too much hassle)
- braised red cabbage with apple (one of my favourites and worth the time)
- pear and frangipane tart (lovely tart for dessert)

[Abbe]

"As a chef, I work at a thousand miles an hour, but when I'm at home, I want to slow down." way from the high-octane energy of the professional kitchen, Gordon Ramsay makes meals at home that are more re-laxed, where cooking is fun and everyone gets involved in preparing food for family and friends. The way Gordon cooks here embodies his strongly held views: use in-season, fresh ingredients at their peak; support local producers and farmers' markets whenever possible; and celebrate the food culture and its many influences. And while Gordon loves to celebrate traditional food, he proves that it doesn't have to be boring, bland, or uninventive. Cooking for Friends is full of Gordon's best-loved versions of classic dishes—try a slow-cooked dish like Honey Roast Ham or Corn-Fed Chicken Legs with Braised Peas and Onions, or invite people around for a Sunday lunch of Roast Rib-Eye with Caramelized Shallot and Red Wine Gravy. Cook the ultimate in comfort food, Shepherd's Pie with Branston Pickle or Bakewell Tart, and get the kids involved in making Farfalle with Bacon, Peas, and Sage or Grilled Vegetable Lasagne. Cooking for Friends contains more than one hundred of Gordon's favorite recipes that he loves to cook and eat with friends and family—uncomplicated recipes but all with Gordon's remarkable feeling for flavor and his extraordinary technical know-how.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was impressed with some of the recipes he added in here, such as the Goat Cheese, Beet, and Lentil Salad (with baked and marinated beets)and the Cider & Honey Roast Leg of Lamb (which looks supremely drool-worthy in the photo). His more everyday recipes looked awesome too. The cookbook was definitely British-inspired with the number of references to Branston Pickle, eels, Shepard's Pie, Homemade Bangers (sausages), and even Piccalili. Plus there is the types of recipes, such as shortcrust pastry savory pies, tarts, and trifle. Lucky for him I like that kind of stuff, though the Homemade Sausages and Oxtail Soup is more up my hubby's league than my own. It was also not meant for people who have a limited amount of time to throw together a dinner party as I'm pretty sure most of the recipes would take over an hour to make a single thing. Gorgeous photos throughout though.

[Karen Elizabeth Mejia Vigil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspirador

Ramsay no descepciona con sus libros,variados, verstailes, cargados de tips y recetas inspiradoras e interesantes; con opciones que van de sencillas a sacarte de la rutina culinaria

[Ben Norrod · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another Great Book

As always the chef delivers! This book has some great dishes and ideas. Easy read for anyone who enjoys cooking.

[Jeanne Carter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid writing, straight-forward, but nothing caught my eye in terms of recipes to try.

[Paschalis]

elibrary

[Magnús · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stórfín bók frá meistaranum. Ég dró samt eina stjörnu frá fyrir nokkar uppskriftir sem engin mun elda, nokkurntíman. Það er samt góður fílingur yfir bókinni og ég kann að meta þetta upplegg hjá höfundi, að elda fyrir vini.

Ég merkti við slatta af uppskriftum sem mig langar að prófa. Það er mikið af einföldum, en áhugaverðum réttum í bókinni. Eitt af því sem ég hlakka mest til að prófa er viðbót við brokkólísúpuna hans, sem er mikið uppáhald á þessu heimili. Í staðinn fyrir ost út í súpuskálina, setur hann steikta peru. Nom, get ekki beðið.

Las bókina á kindle, sem var ný reynsla fyrir mér. Venjulega kýs ég að lesa matreiðslubækur á föstu formi. Ágætt að mörgu leyti, en ég saknaði þess að geta flett fram og til baka á auðveldan hátt.

[Ninja Neko · Rating 2 out of 5]

I know what Gordon Ramsay looks like. I don't know what half the recipes in this book look like. Why was it necessary to have so many shots of Gordon, and so little pictures of the completed dishes? Very odd choice of editing. Also odd introduction where Gordon is bashing Delia Smith.
Based on text mostly I did bookmark some of the soups. A lot of the main dishes and desserts seemed very elaborate, not really my thing at the moment.

[Elizabeth Elyse · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gordon Ramsay ... what can I say, it's a cookbook. LOVED the recipes. Many I will probably not use but there are some great ones I have used others I plan to use plus it has his shepherds pie and some good ones for stock.! I was not keen on many of the photos but then I don't buy recipe books for the photos. This is good to have on hand as part of any kitchen.

[Mckinley · Rating 3 out of 5]

A couple to try. Will see.

Tried the coffee cake for getting together with some friends. It is very good both warmed up and room temp. We were a like disappointed in the consistency of the crumb topping and will tweak next time we make this. Yes, there will be a next time.

Now onto making a savory dish and seeing how that goes.

(Too many pictures of Gordon - could have been more of food!)

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bought it on sale the day before yesterday, baked a cake from it the next day. That's a good sign. Recipes are main stream enough to actually make and feed your family, while each has a nice twist so that it satisfies your curiosity for making something special as well

[Krystal Hamlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gordon's recipes are a bit meaty for my liking, but interesting none the less. This book also features several editorial sections where he describes his home life, and cooking with his family, which I found particularly enjoyable.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was interesting reading a cookbook by Ramsay but unless you are into gormet cooking it's not really practical. Most of the recipes in the book were closer to fine dining than dinner with close friends.

[Ayesha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I rarely go to this cookbook for during-the-week cooking but that's okay because it is meant to be used for special occasions, i.e. when cooking for friends! I have tried several of the recipes to great success and find them clear and easy enough to follow.

[Kit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worth it for the hilariously uncomfortable-looking pictures of Ramsay alone, this cookbook has me itching to try some new things in the kitchen. Also, if you think Gordon is a jerk, you can kindly go do your research. :)

[Ann Mah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recipes are appealing (the fish pie is absolutely delicious) but, alas, many are too unhealthy to make everyday. Wish I still had the arteries of a 20-year-old!

[Yasmeen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a huge fan of Gordon Ramsey but this is a lovely cookbook.

[Kerry · Rating 1 out of 5]

Read. Finished 12/2/13. Most of the recipes are a little too abritish or gluten/lactose/sugar heavy for me. Lots of other options out there in Pinterest recipe world ;)

[Tonya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pork roast was a huge hit! Wish it had more pics and stories around the food.

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the conversational intro to this cookbook. I'm captivated by the recipes esp the soup recipes. Planning to try a few of them next week!

[Chrissie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Only having the bbc to watch in English, Gordon and I spend a lot of time together. The least I could do is buy his book.

[Pat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lot's of good recipes to try. I liked the personal approach to the recipes - made it a more interesting cook book

[Eve · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm in love with Gordon Ramsay - I beg to be notified if he ever ask Tana for a divorce:)

[Amy Broome · Rating 1 out of 5]

We obviously don't have the same sort of friends.

[Jeremy Noble · Rating 4 out of 5]

He's a good cook ... :))

[Chris, RN · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just finished; but keep referring back to it and like what I've read. Hard to navigate, but that's because of Kindle format