Nigella Recipes

[NigellasLoveBuns]

I have every single Nigella Lawson book and I really enjoy reading all of them but a lot of the recipes seem to contain one or more ingredients that I suspect I would buy and then find months later at the back of the cupboard.
I have had varying degrees of success with the recipes that I have tried and I wondered if anyone else feels the same way. Which of Nigella's recipes have worked and which have been a disaster.

My copy of How to Eat is well-thumbed. I love her Irish Stew, and my kids love her butterscotch and banana muffins (different book but I don't remember which). Oh, and I love her baking book (Domestic Goddess?) - especially her apple and blackberry pie for which I bought some rose water, but never make blackberry pie without it now as it tastes delicious. I know what you mean about buying one ingredient that stays at the back of the cupboard but I think that is the trend with most cookbooks these days, not just Nigella. My Mum was complaining that Jamie Oliver's new cookbook was like that as well.

I did her Lemon Polenta cake and forgot to add the last egg. I realised just after the cake went in the oven. I whipped it out, whipped in the egg and popped it back in the oven. It was fantastic.

I share your distrust of her recipes but the following are v good:

Chocolate Guinness cake
Barbados cream
Baked plums in red wine and honey
The veggie chilli in Feast is good (but mine is better!)
The mattar paneer in Feast is good (But needs more spice)

I think I did best with express, but agree Nigella can be v dodgy

• We like the spaghetti with prawns for when I have leftover cherry toms and bags of leaves.
• like the Asian salmon with noodles
• love love love the salted peanut chocolate thingy. Is that in express?
• also enjoy 'snickerdoodles' nothing to do with snicker bars, they are like mini round rock cakes without the currants! That was from one of the earlier books.

Other than those 4 which have all been repeated multiple times, I don't think I've ever repeated other any nigella recipes. I suppose 4 isn't too bad but I have well over 20, maybe 30 or 40 Delia go-tos so pretty bad in comparison.

The low fat section of How to Eat is surprisingly good, particularly the Cambodian beef salad. And the herbed bulgar wheat salad which I think is from Feast is sooo lovely (worth the bottle of pomegranate molasses you need for it, but probably not the barberries).

Second the Guinness cake and the plums, mmmm.

I asked the same question in a thread on here some time ago, which of course I can't now find. I can remember that the banana muffins from Domestic Goddess got the thumbs down.

I tried snicker doodles chewbecca and didn't like them at all!

One thing I have noticed is that if she gives someone else's name in the title, it is a bad sign. So Flora's Famous Courgette Cake from Domestic Goddess was, I thought, uneatable. I would say the same about Granny Boyd's Biscuits and Soot's Flapjacks from the same book.

Nigella recipes I like include the No Fuss Fruit Tart from Kitchen, and I do agree with chewbecca about the salted peanut chocolate bars from Kitchen - there is a batch in my fridge now and I know they won't last long!

I made the Grasshopper Pie yesterday and I quite like it, but will reduce the creme de me the next time as it is almost toothpaste- like in its mintiness.

Also, the margarita ice cream is heavenly. Think this is in Nigella bites.

TempusFuckit what are barberries?

Roasted double potato, veg and halloumi. Just the main ingredients and oil....yum!

Hi you can substitute dried sour cherries or normal cranberries for barberries. Barberries are hard to get in the UK because they spread some kind of blight to other crops so they have to be grown under special conditions, but you can get them from middle eastern grocers and sometimes Asian corner shops.

I absolutely adore Nigella's cooking and definitely her books are my favourite of all time. I've only really had two misfires - vodka steak and lamb shanks with figs and honey, both from feast. Otherwise I think she's both reliable and quite forgiving if you leave out the odd ingredient here or there.

I have dark memories of spending hours one New Year's Eve making the Girdlebuster pie. It was rank. Never trusted her recipes since.

I have used loads of her recipes in the past and found them all to be excellent. I don't use any of her savoury recipes though, I think they are all look lazy, loads of shortcuts and scrimps on time spent on getting flavour into the dishes. But she does lovely brownies, the malteaser cake is a real family favourite, the millionaire shortbread is the best ever and my DDs absolutely love it when I make snickerdoodles (although I can't stand them!).

I've got How to Eat and Domestic Goddess.

Have found her cake recipes pretty reliable. Her victoria sponge is unbeatable imho and fairy cakes good too. Also like the easy almond cake, banana cake and lemon drizzle. And the cut out biscuits. Oh and the scones, the scones are fabulous.

From How to Eat my favourites are the beef casserole with red wine and anchovies (totally delicious and really do make the horseradish raita thing to go with it) and also the ham cooked in cider. Her carbonara is a staple in our house, really excellent. Agree re some of the low fat stuff too. Should have another look at How to Eat, haven't cooked much from it for ages.

i only have Kitchen,and use a lot of the recipes,never tried any of the cakes though except the chocolate orange loaf which was nice and popular with the kids.

the fajitas are good and we eat them every week,and the chilli with chorizo in it.(charley)

Also have a recipe for her veggie chilli (the one topped with cornbread) that I got from a magazine. I've never bothered making the cornbread but the chilli itself is gorgeous.

We love Greek Lamb Stew from How to Eat, its a real cook and freeze fav here :-)

I use her mince pie pastry recipe, it's the best. Yy to beef with anchovies, one pan sage and onion chicken and sausage, Madeira cake, cherry almond cake, old fashioned chocolate cake, pink grapefruit marmalade.

I loved the Guinness cake even though it sunk

From Nigella Express I like the pork chops in cider and the potato and mushroom gratin thing.

I only have How To Eat but from that I particularly like the minestrone, the chicken and chickpea tagine (cook ahead so good for dinner parties) and the cheesey stars for children's parties.

I have all of nige's books too. Christmas is my all time favourite.

Best recipes IMO:
Choc chilli
Chocolate fondants

Really want to try chocolate Guinness cake!

Oh God, Barbados Cream

Is the watermelon and feta salad in Forever Summer? It's lovely.

I love her books. I read them like novels

From Feast, the cider and apple gravy to accompany sausages is now my staple gravy. Also the snow flecked brownies and fully festive ham are essentials at Christmas.

From Express, my usuals are the prawn and mango Thai curry and the pork chops in cider.

From Kitchen, I recently did the tarragon chicken and pasta with bacon and roasted peppers - both amazing. But I didn't like the Spanish Chicken thighs with potatoes and chorizo.

Can't think what I make from How To Eat other than hams. Oh and the lemon linguine is delish.

From Nigella Bites: Pasta and meatballs; ham in coke.