Who is your favourite celeb chef and who is most reliable?

[Jo-Bridge]

I have A LOT of cookery books (I used to work in a book shop and I'm a big foodie!) and I sometimes just like to curl up with a cookery book and just drool!

 

I've ended up with a few celeb offerings by Gordon Ramsey , James Martin, Jamie Oliver and others and I just got to thinking who is everyones go- to celeb chef! I'm a huge Nigella Fan and hers are my favourite books to flick through for ideas but I have found ainsley harriotts books are the ones I use most often and always work!

 

Which celeb chef is your favourite and whose book is most reliable?

[Nici]

I really like Nigella, Jamie Oliver and James Martin.

 

I find the Jamie Oliver books reliable and easy to follow, my sister has cooked quite a few of his dishes!

[happyanddandy]

Delia is Queen, nobody else comes close (Princes or Princesses!)

[madcow]

I'm a big fan of Rick Stein, love his dishes.

[Echo]

My favorites are Nigella Lawson, Giada DiLaurentiis, Tyler Florence, and Jamie Oliver. I don't have any of their cookbooks, though. Those are expensive!

[grabit]

i watch a lot of cooking shows on our Food channel here in Australia, there's a lot of shows featuring british chefs.. but i find a lot of them are not to my liking at all, Jamie Oliver seems so up himself these days, i didn't mind him in the past.. really don't like Gordon Ramsey. i like Nigella.. love watching any show with Heston Blumenthal!

 

our favourite shows are Great British Menu, Masterchef and the River Cottage series.. i quite like watching Market Kitchen too..

 

i don't buy cook books, i do look at recipes online, altho i am a rotten cook, unless it's really simple. my husband watches some cooking shows with me, and he is a good cook, he gets a lot of good ideas from watching cooking shows, altho he rarely follows a recipe..

[Freewheeling Andy]

Favourite to watch on telly: Ramsay

Favourite to eat at the restaurant: Blumenthal, on the one occasion I managed to get a booking (although the Ramsay restaurants are very good, and his Plane Food at Heathrow Terminal 5 makes the airport almost infinitely more tolerable)

Favourite to browse the books of: Blumnethal

Favourite to cook: Well, probably most useful is Delia.

[Stephanie2008]

I still like Delia Smith. I use a lot of her recipes for desserts and pastry dishes. Classic recipes but I'm not a fan of her TV shows. I like watching Gordon Ramsey - whether it's the kitchen nightmares or the F Word. He is entertaining.

[poppy]

Jamie Oliver .... I love his no nonsense, chuck it all together style. I hate fiddly cooking.

 

Madcow, you reminded me of Rick Stein again, haven't seen him for a while but he is excellent.

 

And I used to love watching Hugh on River Cottage.

 

Can't stand Gordon Ramsey, he is a foul-mouthed, bad-tempered *bleep*.

[Kylie]

I love Gordon Ramsay! I'd never work with him though - I don't know how the others stand being yelled at all the time.

 

I think he's mellowing as time goes on though. I watched about half of Kitchen Nightmares last night and I don't recall him yelling or swearing at all (or maybe I've become immune to it).

[poppy]

Lol, Kylie, I won't hold it against you Actually I think it's more his horrible temper that gets to me (I hate it when people shout all the time) than his swearing. After all, I love Billy Connolly and he swears like a trooper.

[scottishbookworm]

I like Ken hom! his cookery books are great!

[Roland Butter]

Jamie by a country mile. I used to think he was an irritating @%$**&^, but then I watched his School Dinners series and was really impressed by his commitment and decency.

 

And Nora came to my wedding .....

[Jo-Bridge]

I like Ken hom! his cookery books are great!

 

I like Ken Homs books too- he did a thai cook book which is fab.

 

I saw him at the good food show a few years ago and he was a bit dull! The co-presenter was trying to liven up the show with comments such as "How are you chopping that pepper Ken?" He can still cook for me though (bet he will be thrilled to hear that!)

[MissLibrarianUK]

I like Nigella but for some reason I don't seem to have much success with her recipes. =( I love Delia Smith and her books are brilliant, I use them often.

[Angel]

I love watching cookery programmes and DH and I are foodies. We mainly collect and use:-

 

Rick Stein

Gordon Ramsey

Gary Rhodes

Jamie Oliver

Delia.

 

All of them are used a great deal and so far I have had no failures - as I've said in other threads a good session out in the kitchen can be very therapeutic. When all else fails my basic cookery book is Mrs Beeton for anything and everything.

[magicstar]

James Martin and Jamie Oliver for watching (cant think why). For reliability its Delia, but like someone else said I dont like watching her but her books are excellent. Especially cakes and baking, I have her Delia Collection - baking and everything I've tried has been lovely, also like the way its illustrated, I like to see how something should look when its made, cant do with cookery books with no pictures.

[knitnat]

For the most scrumptious cakes, slices etc I can't go past Belinda Jeffries Mix and Bake. Her things aways work! And she tells you what freezes well. So what I do, is make whatever, cut it, pop it in the freezer so there is always something yummy there...well not at the moment. Kids are on hols, so not much thinking time for that type of thing.

[Ceinwenn]

For me, it's James Martin. I love his cookbooks & I have never had a recipie of his fail. His chocolate cola cake is especially fab! I've met him a few times (book signing & I used to live in Winchester where he lives) he's lovely, too!

[Raven]

I quite like the Hairy Biker's attitude "Use butter, 'cause margarine is ****!", but I can't help but feel that most of their dishes are a little on the heavy side.

 

I quite like watching Masterchef as well.

 

Also, I've not seen any of her programs, but I quite like the look of Ching-He Huang*.

 

*That doesn't have anything to do with cooking though . . .

[poppy]

I've just remembered the Two Fat Ladies. I don't know if either of them is still alive, but they were worth watching just for entertainment value.

[Raven]

I've just remembered the Two Fat Ladies. I don't know if either of them is still alive, but they were worth watching just for entertainment value.

 

Clarissa Dickson Wright is still alive - I think she had a book out recently - but Jennifer Paterson died a number of years back now.

[poppy]

I saw the Two Hairy Biker's programme for the first time last night I was trying to place the blond one's accent ...is it the same as Neville off Auf Weidersehen Pet?

[Inver]

I quite like the Hairy Biker's attitude "Use butter, 'cause margarine is ****!", but I can't help but feel that most of their dishes are a little on the heavy side.

They just make me laugh....never were two guys so unlike what the programme are about. Loved when they doing posh sponges at the Women's Institute and were cheating

I've just remembered the Two Fat Ladies. I don't know if either of them is still alive, but they were worth watching just for entertainment value.

I used to watch that too...forgot about them.

 

I saw the Two Hairy Biker's programme for the first time last night I was trying to place the blond one's accent ...is it the same as Neville off Auf Weidersehen Pet?

Love their accents:D

[Ruth]

As someone who never cooks (I'm lucky to be married to a wonderful cook), I don't really watch cookery programmes. Hubby does though, and he really likes Jamie Oliver. I like him too, because I do think he's trying to make a positive difference, and his receipes translate easily to someone's kitchen - just good, wholesome food.

 

I like Gordon Ramsay too, and am booked for lunch at his NY restaurant in four weeks!

 

The Hairy Bikers are hilarious!