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Mumsnet webchats

Webchat with Nigel Slater, Tuesday 1 December, midday - 1pm

150 replies

RachelMumsnet · 27/11/2015 18:11

Worried about cooking Christmas dinner this year? Fret not! We've got a couple of great foodie webchats coming up so you can ask the experts for their help. First up we've got NIGEL SLATER joining us on Tuesday (1st December) between midday and 1pm.

Nigel's third instalment of his Kitchen Diaries, A Year of Good Eating has just been published and everyone who joins the discussion on this thread will be entered into a draw to win a SIGNED copy.

Join Nigel on Tuesday at midday or post a question in advance on this thread.

Webchat with Nigel Slater, Tuesday 1 December, midday - 1pm
Webchat with Nigel Slater, Tuesday 1 December, midday - 1pm
OP posts:
iklboo · 27/11/2015 18:35

Hi Nigel - what's your favourite fuss-free breakfast for Christmas morning? And any ideas for a hangover busting Boxing Day brunch?

SunnySomer · 27/11/2015 18:44

Oh Nigel. Disaster has struck: every year since I've owned Kitchen Diaries I've cooked your Christmas cake and it has been loved by all who have eaten it. This year we moved house and I cooked it in an Aga which I don't think I can have had hot enough (although it said it was) as the cake seems (now that it's cool and I've taken it out of the tin) underdone.
What can I do with a kilo of slightly underdone Christmas cake???

Cookingongas · 27/11/2015 18:45

Hello Nigel,

Firstly I love your books- thank you.

Secondly - ( hopefully without sounding too stalkery) what kind soup are you making for New Year's Day?

yongnian · 27/11/2015 20:51

Haven't thought of a question yet...but in the meantime, just to say I've been reading and using your recipes for about 20 years now (think a Steamed Sussex pond pudding was the first one I tried) and quite simply, you have taught me how to cook.
It's a combo of the joy of food you share and the quality of your writing that means great results virtually every time. I make something either directly of yours, or inspired by, pretty much every day.
I've even followed kitchen diary I the year round, once, just for fun. yes I am a bit of a weirdo
So, thanks, you have really transformed mine and my family's eating life.
Anyway, will stop gushing and look forward to kitchen diary III. Can't wait.

CheeseEMouse · 27/11/2015 21:03

Nigel - I fairly recently made your plum cake with my toddler, and the instruction to haphazardly put the plums on top of the cake was perfect (and expertly executed by my 2 year old!)

My question is for Christmas dinner everyone else will be having roast beef (but I don't eat it). I'd like to cook something easy as a main course for myself but lacking inspiration for a straightforward vegetarian main course. Have you got any suggestions that might help? Thank you

WiryElevator · 27/11/2015 22:39

Nigel - I love you. [sigh]

I have all your books. I love losing myself in them. I do also cook with them, promise. A lot.

Every single one of your recipes is a dream and works. You were the first food writer I came across that cooked proper non restaurant food.

What are your favourite canapés for a Christmas party?

IDismyname · 27/11/2015 22:48

Hello Nigel. Love your recipe books and your general approach to cooking. It fits in with my style perfectly!

I have a cooking conundrum... It's a New Years Day lunch. To feed 10 adults who'll have been with us the day before. I'm cooking pork for NY Eve, and will probably cook something along the lines of a cooked breakfast on NY Day including bacon or sausages.

What shall I do for lunch? It can't be fish and I want to do more than soup. It would be good to get it maybe cooked in advance...There will be lots of hungry teens!

Any ideas?

HoneyDragon · 28/11/2015 12:32

Uh oh....... Erm he's not the sort to do a vanity search on here is he, MNHQ?

BIWI · 28/11/2015 16:40

Do you film in your actual house/kitchen/garden, or is it all a set? I assume it must at least be your garden!

Sorry it's not a question about your book or cooking, but I've always wondered! Grin

MistressMerryWeather · 28/11/2015 19:10

Hello Nigel.

Could I come live in your garden please?

Tinklebinkle · 28/11/2015 19:34

Hi Nigel,
Do you garden? I'm assuming you must do. If so, what is your favourite item to grow and cook with? My allotment is the place I go to relax, de-stress and grow my favourite foods. I love to try and use as much of my own crops in family meals. Sadly my family are still too obsessed with perfect looking veg and too frightened of the odd beastie lurking in the lettuce leaves. Is there any food item your family refuse to eat? Grin Wine [santa]

Fatrascals · 28/11/2015 19:43

Hello Nigel

Just wanted to pop in and shake your hand Smile
In our house a Slater bolognese (from The Kitchen Diaries) is a "fast food" night. We ALWAYS have various bags of your bolognese in the freezer as I make a big pan load every so often. It's a fantastic, simple but delicious recipe. My children are always delighted when it's spag Bol night. I enjoy cooking it too....I know it by heart now and find it therapeutic to cook up a massive batch.

Anyhow, .... My question is my husband's question. He is an exceptionally good and enthusiastic cook (much to my joy). However, he says to you " I have a Weakness for eating cheap, savoury crap....what is your favourite crap crisps, Nigel"

VagueIdeas · 28/11/2015 23:17

Honeydragon - Grin

Fiderer · 29/11/2015 10:57

Grin at Honeydragon.

Have a well-thumbed & sun-bleached & food-splattered Real Fast Food. My teenagers have learned to parrot my saying "Ask Nigel" when they hope I'll get fed up of their deliberately daft questions & cook something for them.

So thanks for that, Mr Slater Grin Your Chilli Chicken Pitta is a favourite of theirs & their hordes of hungry friends.

vestandknickers · 29/11/2015 11:12

Hello Nigel (swoon)

Appetite is my go to book for everything. Thank you!

My question is custard based. My children absolutely love the stuff. I've made those little Portuguese tarts for them and they love a good crumble with custard, but do you have any other, interesting ways with custard? They don't like bananas incidentally.

80sWaistcoat · 29/11/2015 13:28

Just wanted to say that I learnt to cook from Real Fast Food. I dad to realised it was possible to out together good tasty stuff so easily.

So, thank you.

motherinferior · 30/11/2015 07:30

As did my partner. I had already fallen in love with Real Fast Food some years before. But an approach characterised by "if it tastes nice then it's supper" really took him by surprise and he has fallen back on your books ever since.

Poledra · 30/11/2015 09:24

Just popping on to say how much I love your books, Nigel - there is usually one of them by my bed as my night-time reading! Tender for using up veg I've bought on a whim and don't know what to do with, Kitchen Diaries for pure reading pleasure, Real Fast Food for getting a swift tea together after work/school. I love that your recipes are child-friendly without patronising - your spare ribs with honey and star anise are adored by my children. And I make 'paella' based on an entry in the Kitchen Diaries where you throw some bits and pieces from the fridge together for a savoury rice.

No questions, just a thank you for your books (the new one's on my Christmas list - my lovely MIL will buy it for me, I know!).

80sWaistcoat · 30/11/2015 15:40

What's your go to meal when it's just you and you want something reasonably quick but still a treat?

Varya · 30/11/2015 15:42

Great books and recipes. Also enjoyed your autbiography.

cressetmama · 30/11/2015 15:44

Adding my vote to the general adoration of your books, Nigel. I've found Real Fast Food so useful, I've got it on Kindle as well as in hard copy, and copies have been supplied to all my nieces and nephews setting up home. DS will get one when he moves out.

However, this year we are taking an abbreviated version of Christmas to the kitchen of my elderly MiL. She will eat like a bird and her cooker gives me the heebie-jeebies (it's not gas!); her cooking equipment is rudimentary and her knives are so old they won't take an edge. Any thoughts for a couple of easy vegetables? And an easy pud that is just festive enough? or shall I resort to trifle again?

Merry Crimbo to the Slater household!

Bassetfeet · 30/11/2015 16:09

Love your books and television programmes . Like others I so envy your kitchen garden . Can't pin it down but always feel better after reading ,cooking or watching your programmes .
My question is ...you seem almost zen like in your approach to cooking and living . Do you have a philosophy or belief that underpins your work and lifestyle ? Thank you .

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Fiderer · 30/11/2015 16:57

Having gushed my thanks about my "Ask Nigel" cooking teens, I do have a question.

Aubergines. Love them. Moussaka, roasted veg, pasta alla norma, have been known to just slice & fry till crunchy & dip in parmesan.

Some recipes can be on the oily side, would love a new not so oily one. Thanks.

HeadDreamer · 30/11/2015 17:07

I have the same question as BIWI. Are your shows in set in your own kitchen and garden. If it is, have you moved out of London? I'm asking because the house in your latest show, Eat Together, no longer looks like the one pictured in Tender.

HeadDreamer · 30/11/2015 17:08

I'm not a stalker. I just love your garden!

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