title: Save with Jamie
author: Jamie Oliver

publication date: September 10, 2013
publisher: Harper Collins Publishers Ltd.

Banh mi

I hope Save with Jamie serves you well, gives you beautiful, nutritious food and some great mealtime memories, with the reassurance that none of it will break the bank.
— Jamie Oliver (Save with Jamie)

I have a lot of Jamie’s books – in fact, a couple of his first titles were among the first I ever bought for my cookbook collection. Love him or hate him (I love him), it’s hard to deny Jamie’s drawing power and clout.

After revolutionizing school meals, Jamie is now out to help everyone save money. Ok, yes, so it seems a little ironic to be taking money-saving tips from an uber-rich guy, but I still decided to pick up Jamie’s Save with Jamie cookbook. Don’t worry, I got it on sale – see? Saving money!

the first nibble:

Right at the start of the book, there’s a great section on shopping ‘smart’ – pages of things you should stock in your freezer, fridge and pantry. Also included is a fun and visual bunch of shopping tips to help you save money and a list of basic, must-have kitchen equipment.

The book isn’t only about saving money, it’s also about being more economical and efficient overall in the kitchen – “Shop smart, cook clever, waste less”.

Sunday roast pork

On my first pass through the book, five recipes that jumped out as ‘must try’:

• Brisket Puff Pastry Pie, pg. 126
• BBQ Pulled Pork Waffles and Slaw, pg. 170
• Jerked BBQ Rips, pg. 174
• Bad Boy BBQ Burritos, pg. 196
• Mussel Pasta e Fagioli, pg. 252

 
the nitty-gritty:

number of recipes (as stated by book): “120 tasty money saving meals”

recipe list? Yes, at the start of each chapter, there’s a list of recipes contained in that chapter

table of contents: The Table of Contents (and the book) is divided up by meat categories (and one for veg!)

photography:  Almost every photo in the book is done in one of two set-ups – straight down from the top or angled from the front. The straight-forward photography isn’t spectacular, but it’s still attractive and delicious in its simplicity. Sometimes you’ll get a blurry Jamie offering up (in focus) food or a shot of his super-adorable kids with the food.

There are a few step-by-step photos and every recipe has a photo. Even when there are several recipes listed on a single page (like condiments), this book still includes a shot of each condiment. Have I mentioned how much I love cookbooks that have a 1:1 photo:recipe ration? I probably have, but it’s worth mentioning again – I LOVE it.

photo to recipe ratio*:  out of 121 total recipes**, 121 recipes had at least one accompanying ‘finished dish’ photo or step-by-step photo (photo : recipe ratio = 1 : 1)
notes:
* this is a manual count, so numbers may be slightly off due to human error (mine)
** only ‘main’ recipes are counted – recipes that appear as part of another dish are not counted

Humble brisket stew – 4 ways

recipes:
– separate ingredient list? yes
– serving info given? yes (plus calorie info)
– prep/cook time given? yes
– recipe format: paragraphs

Every recipe is accompanied by a quick intro that includes either a personal story from Jamie, a background on the dish’s origins or some fun facts about the dish or its ingredients.

The recipes are grouped in a really fun and practical way. Each chapter starts with a ‘mothership’ recipe – a fancy, usually large, meat dish – which is then followed by a bunch of the recipes that use up the ‘leftovers’. A perfect way to showcase the “Cook Clever, Waste Less” motto of the book.

For example, the chapter on Chicken begins with the ‘mothership’ recipe, Sunday Roast Chicken. The next seven recipes are filed under ‘leftover recipes’ and include dishes like Singapore Noodles, Smokin’ Chicken Chowder and Humble Chicken Stew. After that, there are a bunch of other chicken recipes to round out the chapter.

At the back of the book, every recipe’s nutritional info is given in a very beautiful, visual chart.

the last bite:

Besides the abundance of easy-to-follow and delicious-looking recipes, another great inclusion in this book are the pages on how to waste less (some great tips to be had), and the people you need to know (your green grocer, butcher and fish monger).

This book is a treat for the eyes – it makes great use of fonts, graphics and photos, plus I adore the visual nutritional info index and the Thank You photos.

As usual, Jamie delivers another useful book that I’ll be pulling recipes from constantly. The fact that this one is aimed at saving me money (which leaves me with more pennies to buy cookbooks with – oh wait, we don’t have pennies in Canada anymore…nickels then) is a nice bonus.

Click here to purchase Save with Jamie from The Book Depository (free worldwide shipping) or Amazon.

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