Recipes from a 3 Star Chef Limited Edition

3 Reviews For This Product

1. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   03

   by Jonathan Stevens September 15, 2023

   I am a fan of Gordon Ramsey – his passion and search for perfection is truely inspirational. Unlike his previous Made Easy and F-Word books (and most like his early book “Passion for Flavour”), this book is pitched at the foodie in all of us. It is based on food served at his 3 Michelin starred restaurant in Chelsea, London. This book oozes class, from its slip case to quality production throughout – best of all though, the food looks absolutely stunning. The photography, by Quentin Bacon, is worthy of the production Ramsey has achieved on the plate – from Ravioli of Lobster, Pan Roasted fillet of halibut to the (oh my God!) amazing desserts. The raspberry, lemon and basil millefeuille is a work of art!

   This level of food, for the home cook like me, can be very intimidating. How can I possibily make this food? This brings me to the whole crutch of the book. As a photoessay on the quality of Ramseys food it works beautifully but does it work as a cook book for the amateur? As my first dip into the book I cooked the Roast Venison as main and then the Pineapple soup and Toffee souffle as dessert. I am happy to report that the recipes are clearly laid out (I recommend that you read them throughly a few times before you start – there can be a lot going on in the recipes). I particulary like the bullet point-like sentences that are incredibily helpful when the pans are bubbling away and you need a quick reminder.

   Best of all, the recipes worked! I had never made souffle before but my souffle rose really nicely and tasted great on the night. I think this is crucial to what Gordon Ramsey is doing in his recipe books and I think perfected in the current book: giving the amateur cook an opportunity to share in his incredible talent and achieve delicious food. I want to visit his 3-stared Chelsea restaurant to compare my creations with his!

   This inspirational book should become a classic. My first Michelin star is on the way!

   Thanks for reading my views

   Jonathan

2. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   03

   by red0209 October 13, 2023

   Just like a three-star restaurant is quite different from your average restaurant, then this book is a complete contrast to the standard recipe books that you can buy, including others by Gordon Ramsay. It comes in a cardboard case, and the book itself is very heavy (over 2kg) and big (34cm x 26cm). The first recipe within the book does not appear until page 134, with a succession of glossy photographs preceding it. The book in its introduction gives you a little of Gordon Ramsay’s personal history and a feel of what a three-star restaurant and kitchen are like. The book is anything but economical with space, sometimes featuring one brief sentence or paragraph per page. Normally this would be an unwelcome development but I think that the layout and style of this book is perfectly suited to its content. You could accuse it of being frivolous and over the top, just like a three-star restaurant experience should be. The recipes are beautifully presented, with a full list of ingredients on the left hand-page and an extremely detailed method described on the right-hand page. As you would expect, the food photography is as good as any recipe book as I have ever come across, leaving you in no doubt as to what you are trying to create. Knowing what the objective is and achieving it are two very different things of course. I have attempted maybe ten of the recipes in the book, mostly the simpler ones (relatively speaking). Some ingredients are hard to come by, others are expensive to acquire. Most of the recipes require some of the basics to be made, adding to the preparation time. If you were starting any of the main courses from scratch, you probably could expect to be slaving away in your kitchen for four hours minimum. I’m as far from a three-star chef as it’s possible to be, but I can follow the recipes closely and make something that loosely resembles the photograph in the book that tastes quite good. My presentation is lacking, but some of the starters and desserts in particular are at least partially achievable for an amateur chef. If it were easy, I suppose there would be more than four three-star restaurants in the UK. This book gives you a great insight into what it takes to be a leading chef, even if most of us will never reach anywhere near that standard.

   The contents page looks like this:

   Introduction 6
   The 3-Star Experience 8
   The Recipes 128
   Starters 130
   Main Courses 166
   Desserts 204
   Basics 244
   Glossary 252
   Index 253
   Acknowledgements 256

   The full list of recipes (and basics) is as follows:

   Pan-fried scallops with a millefeuille of potato, parmesan velouté and truffle smarties
   Scallops with sweetcorn purée and quail’s eggs
   Mosaic of fruits de mer with saffron potatoes, tomato consommé and oscietra caviar
   Ravioli of lobster, langoustine and salmon with a lemongrass and chervil velouté
   Salad of lobster with octopus carpaccio, roasted watermelon, baby squid and a shellfish sauce
   Seared loin of tuna with poached veal fillet, spring truffles and caper dressing
   Carpaccio of tuna and swordfish with a mixed herb salad and brown butter dressing
   Fillet of red mullet with cod, spring onion and pearl barley risotto, and a sweet and sour pepper sauce
   Ballotinee of foie gras with Label Anglais chicken, marinated shimeji mushrooms and a port vinaigrette
   Pressed foie gras with Sauternes and camomile jelly
   Fricassée of snails with spinach, baby artichokes, mushrooms, pancetta and Jerusalem artichoke purée
   Tartare of beef fillet with oscietra caviar and marinated red and yellow peppers
   Salad of asparagus, baby artichokes and Périgord truffles with a creamy truffle dressing
   Griddled asparagus with sel de Guérande, served with a tomato vinaigrette
   Butternut squash velouté with sautéed ceps, parmesan crisps and mushroom and white truffle tortellini
   Chilled tomato consommé with asparagus, peas, tomato concassé and basil

   Line-caught turbot roasted on the bone, with a garnish of stuffed baby peppers and spring vegetables
   Pan-roasted fillet of John Dory with Cromer crab, crushed new potatoes and a basil vinaigrette
   Char-grilled monkfish with confit duck, red and yellow peppers, and a red wine sauce
   Pan-roasted fillet of halibut with carrot and coriander pappardelle, baby turnips, salsify and passion fruit sauce
   Halibut fillets larded with smoked salmon, served with candied lemon, braised vegetables and smoked horseradish velouté
   Pan-fried sea bass with roasted baby artichokes, borlotti beans and a cep velouté
   Oven-roasted Bresse pigeon wrapped in Parma ham with foie gras, creamed mushrooms and a date sauce
   Roast Gressingham duck breast with honey glazed baby onions and salsify, minted peas and a Madeira sauce
   Roasted saddle and leg of rabbit on cauliflower, haricot blanc and baby gem lettuce, with a red wine sauce
   Roasted loin of venison with braised red cabbage and parnsip chips
   Navarin of lamb with buttered vegetables, celeriac purée and thyme jus
   Best end of lamb with confit shoulder, Provençale vegetables, spinach and basil lamb jus
   Roasted fillet of beef with a truffle and root vegetable infusion
   Slow-braised pork belly with langoustine, crushed peas and Madeira sauce
   Pork cheeks with pork fillet wrapped in Parma ham, black pudding, baby turnips and sautéed morels
   Veal osso bucco with boulangère potatoes, Savoy cabbage, turnip purée and its own braising jus
   Risotto of ceps with spring onions, grated truffle and parmesan

   Caramelised pear tatin with gorgonzola ice cream and walnut cream
   Caramelised apple tarte tatin with vanilla ice cream
   Carrot and white chocolate fondant with dark chocolate sorbet
   Toffee soufflé with a banana and lime ice cream
   Lemon meringue with marinated strawberries
   Plum crumble tart with almond frangipane
   Raspberry compote with tarragon cream
   Pineapple ravioli with mango filling, berries and mint sorbet
   Pineapple and chilli soup with fromage frais foam
   Sablé breton with raspberries, vanilla cream and vanilla ice cream
   Tiramisu with coffee granita
   Raspberry, lemon and basil millefeuille with milk ice cream
   Palet d’or with chocolate and hazelnut ice cream and passion fruit cream
   Slow-baked quince with crème catalan, Pedro Ximenez gelée and acacia honey granita
   Chocolate parfait with passion fruit and guava coulis
   Bitter chocolate mousse with coffee granita and light ginger cream
   Apple parfait with honeycomb, bitter chocolate and champagne foam

   Fish stock
   Shellfish stock
   Chicken stock
   Veal stock
   Vegetable stock
   Lamb jus
   Red wine sauce
   Madeira sauce
   Lemongrass with chervil velouté
   Herb crisps
   Tomato concassé
   Tomato sauce
   Classic vinaigrette
   Pesto
   Mayonnaise
   Basil vinaigrette
   Tapenade
   Shallot confit
   Celeriac purée
   Saffron pasta dough
   Garlic purée
   Turnip purée
   Tomato chutney
   Tempura butter
   Vanilla ice cream
   Stock syrup
   Crème anglaise
   Dried pear slices

3. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   03

   by josh November 17, 2023

   I remember sitting in the library whilst at catering college, gently turning through the pages of this book, amazed at what I saw inside. 8 years on, my time in the hospitality industry came and went rather quickly, but I still love to cook. I can’t say why it suddenly came to me to search for this book whilst watching Masterchef US. I’ve watched hundreds of Ramsay shows, but on this day, it did come to me to search for it, and here I found it.

   I picked up a copy in good condition for £3, and had it delivered to my door for another £3. Its a big, beautiful book that isn’t going to fit on your bookshelf. Stunning pictures of exceptional food. Certainly an ego trip for the author, but having eaten at Royal Hospital Road, these dishes deserved to be photographed in this way. And only £6, there seems no reason not to own this book.

   The recipes are complex and require skill. They also require you to purchase expensive ingredients. But the techniques can be learnt, and I’m sure the dishes still taste great without that shaved truffle on top. What is nice is that most of the recipes can be made with the equipment that is already in the kitchen. No need to expensive new gadgets. Its a treat to see something that goes beyond the standard everyday cookbook and provides a real challenge for the home cook who wants to improve.

   Chances are, if you made it this far, you’re at least considering buying this book or like food in some way. For £6, you simply cannot complain about this book. Its a really great piece.