The Plonker Club

In what is an amazing offer, Gordon Ramsay’s cookbook that was only released days ago, is currently on sale through Amazon in the UK for and amazing £9.00.

Get it now before it returns to its recommeded retail price of £20.

Here is what one Amazon reviewer had to say about it!

“Say what you will about Gordon Ramsay, he has done a bang up job with this book. Not least because of the photography (I’m a big fan of Christopher Terry’s photography), but because the recipes, albeit they are recipes for very typical fare from 8 countries/regions around the world, are good and done obviously with attention to detail. Yes, I do think that braising ribs before grilling them is CHEATING, but I don’t have another option at my house, so I’ll settle for his way of doing it.

This is a book for anyone who wishes to have a good collection of recipes from around the world in one cookbook (all the dishes you’d crave if you’ve only experienced the cuisines in a restaurant) with beautiful photography.”

For a more in depth description, see our previous post on Gordon Ramsay’s World Kitchen here.

Chief Plonker
The Plonker Club
The Unofficial Gordon Ramsay Fansite

With two contestants elimintaed from Hell’s Kitchen yesterday, you now have an even better chance of winning the autographed copy of Gordon Ramsay’s Great British Pub Food that the Plonker Club is offering to celebrate the new series!

With Chef Louie not even making through the first service and Chef Melinda punted at the end of it, even people not watching the show can have a guess and win! Although another contestant has now enetred the show (Robert from Season 5), we can almost bet that Joseph is on his way out – after losing it and offering to take Chef Ramsay out into the carpark (I’m guessing he failed marine training if he can’t handle that verbally assault??!!). Your odds of winning just got much better!

So get on over to the Plonker Club Forums by clicking here and guess the winner of Hell’s Kitchen Season Six – entries close in five days.

Chief Plonker
The Plonker Club
The Unofficial Gordon Ramsay Fansite
www.theplonkerclub.com

With only hours until the sixth season of Hell’s Kitchen aires, promotional videos are bombarding the internet and social media pages such as Facebook. Whether it is to drum up lagging interest or just announce that Hells Kitchen has moved from its regular slot, we have seen an unprecedented amount of ‘teaser’ clips this time around. Just like the television show itself, many of these have focused on the biggest confrontations and fights and this new clip is no excpetion, showing Chef Tennille yelling back at Chef Ramsay “Get off my back!”.

I know it is part of the editing process and making good television for US audiences, but why do so many people have attitudes towards their potential future boss and also have such an extremely high level of confidence that they are the greatest? I suppose that what makes the show what it is. Here’s the latest clip – enjoy!

If you wanted to see the other clips just go to the Hell’s Kitchen section of this website or click on the following stories;
Another Teaser Video from Hells Kitchen – Season 6
Gordon Ramsay and the Latest Hell’s Kitchen Previews
Gordon Ramsay Talks About Hell’s Kitchen Season 6 Plus New Preview

And don’t forget to pick your winner in order to have a chance at winning an autographed copy of Gordon Ramsay’s Great British Pub Food

Chief Plonker
The Plonker Club
The Unofficial Gordon Ramsay Fansite
www.theplonkerclub.com

4.0 out of 5 stars What’s that all about?, 31 Oct 2008
By Discrepancy (Oxford, UK)

I am usually not impressed by Gordon’s “rushed” which he calls “high-energy” approach to cooking. Nevertheless his recipes are usually easy to follow and as tasty as it gets – if that’s what you are looking for you won’t be disappointed. Cooking books do not need anything else than that – so why have I rated it as 4 stars only? The simple answer is I do not like his non-cooking, not recipe related introductions and the title. On one occasion he’s ranting about Delia’s “cheat approach” which led him to donate all his Delia cooking books to a charity shop. My second “favourite” is the revelation that his wife has started to cook something vegetarian for the kids once a week. These statements are not only unnecessary they distract from the subject which is food. I do love cooking and great food but hey in the end it’s food not world peace so stop ranting, argueing and self-praise. In my humble opinion the only absolute in the world of cooking is to COOK YOURSELF and avoid fast food/ ready meals. So it does not matter if you are using cheats and cheap ingredients if this creates the basic conditions to make you cook.

The other annoying point is the title. Nothing in this book relates to “cooking for friends”, it’s just a selection of recipes, which are suitable everyday and anytime.

To summarise: A decent cookbook with a misleading title but a good selection of very nice recipes written by a chef with an attitude.

5.0 out of 5 stars Gordon Ramsey: Cooking for Friends, 10 Oct 2008
By Cook book Addict “GC” (London)

I have all Gordon Ramsey’s books and this one is ideal for people who think everything he creates is expensive
This book deals with things like Oxtail soup which is a simple recipe and easy to make
I really recommend this title for everyday cooking with the Ramsey touch

David Driscoll
The Plonker Club
The Unofficial Gordon Ramsay Fansite
www.theplonkerclub.com

3.0 out of 5 stars Cooking for Friends, 30 Dec 2008
By Mr. G. Kania (UK)

I concur with other reviewers here who have said that there are rather too many mugshots of the Grand Cuisiner himself. It IS offputting to try and cook, for example, Artichokes Braised with Onions and Lardons, with the lardon himself staring out at you rather than a picture of the dish itself.

In addition I was somewhat disappointed when I decided to try out his method of making shortcrust pastry for some mini-quiches. Referring to the ‘basics’ section at the back he mentions the ingredients – butter flour, beaten egg and water etc, but in the method omits to tell you what to do with the beaten egg ! What a contrast with the cookbook I normally use – Julia Child’s classic where she has gone to the trouble of six pages of instructions with line drawings and NO mug shots.

However, this book is in a different league and is aimed at doing things simply and straighforwardly. His recipes give inspiration, are simple enough to follow, and as he says, they are but a guide. It’s a useful addition to my library – but I shan’t be watching his TV show.

4.0 out of 5 stars er…. is this a Gordon Ramsay authored book?, 9 Dec 2008
By S. Hampton (London, UK)

Firstly the recipies in this book are excellent and I’ve really enjoyed those that I have cooked so far.

However, the 1st page of text reads:

Food: Mark Sargeant
Text: Emily Quah
Photographer: Ditte Isager
Stylist: Christine Rudolph
Art Director: Patrick Budge
Publisher: Harper Collins

This begs the question what exactly did Gordon Ramsay do for this book? I think it has been mis-sold as a Gordon Ramsay book. There are indeed pictures of him in the book, perhaps an addition to the above should read:

Photographer’s Model: Gordon Ramsay

I do recommend buying this book as the recipes are great, it is a shame that it seems to me to be mis-sold.

5.0 out of 5 stars I love everything about this book, 16 Nov 2008
By Gayle Hartley “Orce Serrano Hams” (Andalucia)

This book is full of inspiring and easy to follow recipes, delicious photography and lots of personal touches and anecdotes which make it a ‘real’ book. I like the way the dishes are made using accessible ingredients as sometimes celebrity cook books are full of ingredients which are difficult to come by or expensive. In fact I love the old fashioned and ‘simple food’ element, but above all the recipes are for ‘proper’ good food, ideal for family meals and social gatherings without days of worry and preparation beforehand.

A must have for everyone who loves to cook good food with simple, quality ingredients.

David Driscoll
The Plonker Club
The Unofficial Gordon Ramsay Fansite
www.theplonkerclub.com