Cooking: Simply and Well, for One or Many

Product Information

The book is arranged with a chef’s eye for ingredients, and favourite things to eat throughout the seasons, rather than in courses or meals.

Jeremy Miner - Wikipedia Jeremy Miner - Wikipedia

An almond tart is a testament to faites simple – a recipe requiring simple ingredients of superb quality. Divide into two, wrapping one half tightly in greaseproof paper for use another day, storing in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3-4 months. We had a lot of catching up to do with all the esteemed French and Italian cuisine, but because we’re an island nation and have imported and exported so much, we have this phenomenal freedom of thought and practice which is less confined than countries not surrounded by a coastline. Like his cooking, Lee’s long (very long) awaited first book, the gorgeous Cooking: Simply and Well, For One or Many, with photos by Elena Heatherwick and illustrations by John Broadley, is authoritative, substantial, witty, romantic, beautifully presented and completely moreish.

Arabella Boxer, who was an early champion of British and seasonal cooking, helped tear up the rigours of publishing with her extraordinary two-volume set of First Slice Your Cookbook, then, A Second Slice. To the recipes themselves, and in typical Lee style they are laid in a logical yet higgledy-piggledy fashion. His incredible dedication to British produce is apparent in his simple, delicious food, coming out of the kitchen at the beloved Quo Vadis in Soho. But none of them had the questions that I needed to ask to get my prospects to persuade themselves in a step by step sequence rooted in human psychology. In the kitchen, a small pile of cookery books (pulled from laden shelves), with a pad and a pencil for notes, awaited my mother’s interest.

Super-Chef Jeremy Lee’s Debut Is the Cookbook of the Year

Jeremy's extravagant personality was transferred effortlessly onto the book's pages with his too brief potted life history and general observations that make the introduction a beautiful overture for what's to come.A chapter on blood oranges sits between Biscuits and Breadcrumbs, while Impromptu Dinners provides meals (such as a perfect pork chop and pan juices) that can be made for one or scaled up; and there are simple, joyous meals to feed a crowd (little meatballs, or fennel and lemon spaghetti). So, in us, the likes of David had a following, but they didn’t get the wider attention they deserved until, perhaps, the 80s. Loved by the London food world since making his mark at Terence Conran’s Blueprint Cafe, it seems like an oversight that Lee has not published a cookbook until now. Letting the salsify cool in the water, then rolling it in leaves of brick pastry, liberally buttered, seasoned and generously strewn with finely grated Parmesan, then baked crisp in a hot oven, makes an excellent little something hot with drinks or as a starter at table. The late Joyce Molyneux worked with Perry-Smith until he retired when she continued his tradition of fine European cooking when, in partnership with Tom Jaine – Perry-Smith’s step-son – they opened the Carved Angel in Dartmouth.

Cooking: Simply and Well, for One or Many - Jeremy Lee

Plunge it into a bowl of water with a couple of slices of lemon to prevent that happening, but beware, too much lemon and the delicate, elusive flavour of salsify will disappear. After running the Frith Street Restaurant and Euphorium, in 1994 Terence Conran offered Jeremy the head chef role at Blueprint Café in the Design Museum. Our purpose is to share our passion and knowledge with everyone to teach how they can cook more and have a good time while doing it.Some of them I recognise; he posted them on social media at the time and I remember feasting on his creations, even though I couldn’t eat them. I like the small new season’s tender beetroots both steamed and baked in foil, or, if there is time to soak, in a diable. But what is really interesting to me is when after you’ve done that, when you do come home again and see those old familiar things again, you are reminded of how lovely they are. When Jeremy Lee received the very first copy of his new cookbook from his publishers, he immediately threw it in a drawer, then cycled from his home in east London to get on with his day at Soho’s Quo Vadis, where he is chef-patron.