Let's discuss the things we've made from Nigella's new book.

[AgentProvocateur]

I know there are a few Nigella threads, but I thought it would be useful to have one to discuss what we've made, and how it turned out.

I've made the marmalade cake, which was nice, but not terribly marmalade-y. If I do it again, I'll buy darker marmalade to use.

The African chicken was good, but I added chilli the second time I made it, and it was better.

The Guinness Gingerbread is baking at the moment, and it's not smelling good! When I added the flour and bicarb of soda, there was a fishy smell...

I'll post back when it's out the oven.

Just made my Blackberry Vodka, cannot wait to make the Drunken Fool dessert in 8 weeks!

we have had the chorizo chicken tonight, it was nice but i did add spanish chicken seasoning and peppers as it seemed like it would be bland. we also part boiled the pots first, they were perfect!

her choc muffins however were MING!! will not be making those again, not sweet at all, dry and tasteless. Jamies fifteen brownies are divine so will make those whenever choc is needed.

Not from this book tho is the quadruple choc cake......this is fantastic, expensive to make but soooo worth it.

I will try a few more this week, we are not very impressed so far.

I love the tahini sauce for lamb from How to eat.

bump.....as i need inspiration for next week, anything fab in there that i must make?

have just made the choc chip cookies, still warm but not the best out of the oven for taste :(.....hubby has banished her to the top of the dresser with smug furnley-shittingstool!

becca, the African chicken was nice and easy to make - tasty rather than spicy. She used drumsticks, but I used thighs to make it a more substantial meal. And I did rice, and poured the excess sauce over it.

we've just had the thai chicken noodle soup for tea. was nice, haven't got the book so cooked it following the tv programme on iplayer. she's a bit vague about how much chilli, i put in 1 small red chilli, and it was nicely spicy.

Really interested to read this thread - bought the book but find it quite difficult to get to grips with. It seems such a mishmash of 'themes', iykwim.

Was hoping to hear the definitive 'winners' from the book so save me trawling through reams of recipes [lazy emoticon].

I find her recipes extremely hit and miss, but have all her books (bar Domestic godess) and somehow still feel there's something compelling about her ott prose style, and the sheer diversity of her recipes. Date steak, for example - has anyone made this?

The idea of barbeque sauce on steak sounds horrendous, but maybe it's delicious, who knows? Actually feel I'm going to have to make it, just to see.

I made the rose harrissa stew and lamb meatballs last week (Think getorf recommended it before) and it was fab. Also love the Involtini from Feast.

Anyway, sorry for rambling, will def keep an eye on this thread. Would love to hear other recommmendations for good nigella recipes, even from her other books.

OK I tried one more recipe 2 nights ago. I made the crisp chicken cutlets for friends & served them with roast potatoes & green salad. They were delicious, the chicken very tender (which is rare for chicken breast) so the buttermilk marinade works beautifully.

BUT they were a hassle to make since they involve frying, and it's really important to bang / flatten the breasts & make them as thin as possible because otherwise- and this happened to me with some of them- the batter will burn before the chicken is cooked.

All in all, a good recipe for once in a while but as I said needs a bit of attention (but to be fair, Nigella does specify this in the recipe).

Yes the chicken does look nice, but as you say a bit of faffing involved.

Also I've used that buttermilk marinade before (I think from How to Eat) and while it is very good, it's not exactly a new recipe from her.

Similarly the choc peanut crunch bars are the same as the rocky road bars from Nigella Express, except substituting crunchies and peanuts for marshmallows and biscuits.

Maybe she's just running out of steam? How many epic tomes can one cook have 'in them' so to speak?

this made me laugh

I don't have the new book - is it worth it, given that I have How to Eat, Feast, Domestic Goddess and another (crap) one?

Have never found her recipes very well tested - my books are covered in adjustments - but she (well, someone) does know quite a lot about lots of different food cultures and styles, and I (sometimes) share her love of American kitsch.

Made me laugh too!

Couldn't really say the new one is worth it, unless you want it for (unintentional) entertainment value.

Yes I did recommend the rose harissa stew in another thread - glad you liked it olivia. Mind you, I think I added far more harissa than she said to. My main criticism of her recipes is that they can be very bland indeed.

I never did make that cheesecake in the end, however I am going to make the jerk chicken with coconut rice this week.

The swedish cake looks lovely - will be well worth making in the summer with some nice sdtrawberries, not those woolly winter ones from Madagascar or wherever they import them from.

I think the new book, it's true, lacks a theme & also does include lots of rehashes of recipes from her earlier books. For example, the flourless chocolate lime cake (which I've made) is really just a flourless chocolate cake to which she's added lime ()- and she has included many flourless chocolate cake recipes in her earlier books.

However, personally I have a fondness for Nigella's writing & TV shows which continues through the years & I see as one of my guilty pleasures in life! I find her writing comforting & I do like how her recipes turn out, but I suppose one has to get used to her idiosyncrasies as a cook (and cookery writer). I certainly don't buy that all that she describes in Kitchen is her home-cooking during the week, I'm certain she has a whole team of assistants (well she's open about this) & just dreams up these stories of 'family meals' & writes about them.

I feel by far her best best best book was How to eat and in fact it's the only one that was convincing that this is indeed the way Nigella eats at home.

I still can't help but like her .

Totally agree with you Maria.

How to Eat is the best book by far, as you can imagine her actually eating like that on a day to day basis, with two young kids.

Now, though, I am less convinved that she cooks those recipes in Kitchen for her teenagers.

Feast was also a brilliant book - a really cohesive theme and also some excellent recipes which really worked.

However, I love her still and find her trifle recipes are excellent in all books. But her recipes in general do need a bit of tweaking - sometimes you read the list and know that it will taste underpowered if you cook it her way.

Well I've ressurrected this thread to tell you that I made the Marmite Spaghetti for my kids tonight and it was an absolute triumph.

I think it could become the ultimate quick, cheap and easy, failsafe food of the Gods.

Also made her cheesy chilli with chorizo. Was a bit perturbed to find that the recipe contained no onions, no garlic, and no actual chilli , in fact no spices of any sort - very odd - I'm assuming an editing/printing error, or she's turning under-seasoning into an art form!

So, I just spiced it as would any chilli, and added her extra touches - ie, cocoa, lots of chorizo, and huge hunks of melting mozzarella to the pot. It was scrummy.

Oh, and forgot to say, bought some shin of beef (found it in Waitrose) for the Carbonnade de boeuf. Will do it tomorrow. Have a ham hock in the freezer waiting...

Marmite spaghetti? [pricks up ears] Must try.

I really haven't got space for any more cookery books - not that I've got that many, it's just that they're all so big these days, by the time you've got five on the shelf you've almost run out of space. I would definitely take Feast with me if the house flooded though. I dislike How to Eat really because every recipe takes up about four pages, it's just boring to actually use.

I made a version of the orange and blackberry trifle, but used leftover fairy cakes (the squashed ones that i didn't take to the cake sale), pineapple instead of orange, apple juice instead of Cointreau, yogurt instead of cream, and a sprinkling of sugar instead of blackberries. Otherwise, exactly the same . It was delicious.

I want to try the crustless pizza, has anyone done it?

Marmite spaghetti is exactly as it sounds. Cook your spaghetti. Large knob of butter in a pan, stir in a good teaspoon or so of Marmite, stir until melted, add a good splash of the pasta water to 'let it down' and toss into drained spaghetti. Add loads of parmesan. Yum.

I'm not thrilled with this book so far. I cooked the chocolate chip muffins which were not as good as my regular recipe from the little 'Muffins - Fast & Fantastic' book.
Last night made the Chorizo & Chickpea stew thing with bulgar wheat. Tasted like a lot of ingredients put in a pan and heated up - which is exactly what it was. No identity to the dish IYSWIM. Made the spring chicken a few weeks ago - think that is in this book - quite like that one.
Typical Nigella really - very up & down. Think I might give Jamie a try fo 30 mins!

Just made the chocolate chip cookies and reminded myself why all my Nigella books are covered in cross notes: the cookies don't taste of anything, despite containing piles of chocolate, butter, vanilla, etc.

Also, if you melt the butter, as she instructs, the cookies turn out flat, not attractively rugged as in the lavish pics. If you cream the butter/sugar/eggs, they're peakier. Yes, I tried both ways.

Baked egg custard now in the oven. Am not holding out much hope...

I'd forgotten I'd started this thread!

I've had a second wind, and this week have made the chicken in a pot (precious chicken?), which was OK-ish, but not hugely tasty.

I've also made the marmite spaghetti, and DH has made the pesto (which is in a jar in the fridge).

I'm sure I've made something else recently, but I can't remember what.

On a slight tangent, I was in Waterstones today, and I was very tempted by the Leon cookbook. Anyone else bought it?

Baked egg custard nowhere near ready at the suggested cooking time, and tasted of... not much. DH bewildered by my irritation: "But it's not really a recipe book, is it? It's for reading on the sofa with a cup of tea."

He's probably right. Sigh.

I've got the first Leon book and really like it. Bit waffly in the first part though as it's lots of stuff about ingredients, would prefer they just cut to the chase and got to the recipes.

Those that are there are nice though, good balance of recipes and 'chat' if you know what I mean.

Am feeling a bit re Nigella at the moment. Loved How to Eat, Feast etc but think the new one is a bit cut and paste/quick fix-y. Also hate the tv prog and presenting style these days.

Loved the thai chicken noodle (added an extra birds eye chilli with seeds for more oomph); crisp chicken was a disaster, v tender but totally stuck in the pan (too much parmesan maybe).

DD liked turkey meatballs but I think they are a bit chewy and sauce would be sooo bland if I did add the amount of water she suggests.

PS marmite spaghetti was nice