Working My Way Through Jamie Oliver's Cookbook

It started just before.  You know.  Before.  BQ.  Before Quarantine.  I caught a segment of Jamie's Oliver's 5 Ingredients - Quick & Easy Food on our local PBS station. The next time I watched it I took notes.  Then I got smart and bought the cookbook off of ebay for $8 (free shipping!)

Cooking from it has been a bit of a challenge during the corona virus quarantine.  Sometimes the haggard grocery store employees give me puzzled looks.  (They are doing such a great job keeping the shelves stocked!)  While every other shopper is staring at shelves where pasta, dried beans, paper goods and flour once resided -- I am asking if they have fresh ginger or blood oranges (Yes and No). My little local grocery store never carries things like fresh clams or mixed-color carrots, even without the pandemic. So recipes with "exotic" ingredients are ignored or substituted.

When I say that I am working my way through it, I don't mean it literally. Nothing like Julie & Julia.
I am not going in any particular order, and only making the recipes that appeal to me.  I don't like lamb (which has a whole chapter dedicated to it) - or squid. Chili Crab Omelet? No thank you.

Some were huge winners -- that I will want to make again and again.  You have got to try "Flaky Pastry Pesto Chicken" (I used canned croissants instead of the puff pastry -- even though my little store actually had the puff pastry.)  You can find the recipe easily on line -- so yummy.  Jamie also gave me some great tips for cooking rib eye -- my son said it tasted like it came from a restaurant.

And tonight I made "Sticky Kickin' Wings".  Which got four thumbs up.  If we have sports on TV ever again, this would be great football food.

 I did make the "Hot Smoked Salmon Pasta" and it received four thumbs down.  I marked "Sticky Hoisin Chicken" as not so good.  But keeping me motivated to cook is worth the risk of making a couple of flops.

I am supposed to be eating healthy.  Well, healthier.  So most of the desserts are out.  At the risk of sounding snobby -- most of the desserts don't appeal to me anyway.  "Berry Meringue Ripple" says to use two store-bought meringues (meringue is gross anyway, why would a store sell them?).  "St Clement's Polenta Biscuits" -- if you haven't seen every episode of THE GREAT BRITISH BAKING SHOW (repeatedly) you may not know that they are talking about cookies.  And if I am using up my fat and calories on cookies, I am not going to add polenta (fancy name for cornmeal) to them.... Well, I may eat my words and try them anyway if the quarantine lasts much longer.)