Avid food fanatics will no doubt recognize the famous name attached to the Jamie’s Recipes app: it was created by none other than celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, the British culinary master best known on this side of the pond for his stint on Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, along with his ill-fated campaign to reform public school lunches. But what makes him really special is that he is one of the few chefs out there using his fame and fortune to try to bring the world around to a healthier way of eating. An Italian chef by trade, his culinary style is marked by simple recipes and fresh ingredients. And those who would like to adopt his minimalist cooking practices will now find the task easy to accomplish thanks to the app that brings all of his best recipes right to the kitchen. As Jamie himself would say: brilliant!

The app itself is free to download, but like many additions to the app-sphere it requires users to pay for access to additional content (although unlike most, it warns you of this in the first line of the descriptor on iTunes). Of course, you don’t have to pay a dime to try it out. The freebie will net you ten recipes and three instructional videos. If you like them you can get started downloading any of several themed packs, each of which is guaranteed to supply you with at least ten new recipes and some additional video content. They’re priced at $1.99 apiece and you can choose from packs like “10-Minute Meals”, “Classic Comfort Food”, “Cakes and Bakes” (just in time for the holidays), and “Tasty Tray-Bakes”, just to name a few. There’s even a pack for vegetarians. But how does the app actually help you in the kitchen?

The app can give you value before you ever turn on the stove and start chopping. If you choose to peruse recipes beforehand and select a few that you’d like to try, the app offers you a handy shopping list that populates with the ingredients you’ll need, sorts by aisle at the grocery store (corn and sweet potatoes here, pasta and sauces there, and so on), and allows you to cross off items as you go (so you never miss an item and have to double back). In addition, each recipe comes with tabs that offer a summary, a list of everything you’ll need, and of course, the steps to prepare your dish. Full-color pictures will whet your appetite and instructional videos will help to ensure that you complete every step perfectly. While not every recipe comes with a video, there are photos for every step. And with new retina support you can see them all on your iPad with stunning clarity and color that will make your mouth water.

While you will be limited to recipes penned by Jamie Oliver (unlike some other cookbooks, which offer a variety of recipes) you’ll be hard pressed to complain about the fare, especially if you’re already a fan of his work. With intuitive functionality, easy navigation, and beautiful graphics, the average cook simply couldn’t ask for a better interface. And with new packs added on and off you’ll always have something new to try.

Editor’s Note

Thanks to Evan Fischer for this guest post. He is a freelance writer and part-time student at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, California.

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