Nigella the Domestic Goddess!!!!

[Tigger2]

Well, having watched Nigella on UK Style and read her books as well, the woman is a God send!

Here goes and this is a recipe I made up for myself based on Nigellas marinading in the bag.

4 Lamb Leg Steak
4 Tablespoons Garlic Infused Olive Oil
1 Onion
2 Carrots cut into batons
Brocolli (as much as you want to us)
2 Tomatoes quartered
1 yellow pepper
Pinch of salt and pepper

Put everything into a food bag that seals shut, and put in fridge it tastes better if done the day before, but is ok if done in morning.

Empty the contents of the bag into a frying pan or wok and cook until the lamb is starting to colour on both sides. remove lamb and put in an oven proof dish and cook in hot oven for 15 minutes until the veggies etc are cooked in the frying pan/wok.

Serve with boiled or mashed tatties, and of course large glass of red wine!! it must be good even the kids ate it!!.

An alternative for vegetarians is to add the tatties instead of meat and any other vegetable of their choice.

Sorry forgot to add chicken with lemon done this way is excellent as well, just add 1 Lemon and a few sprigs of thyme, this can be served with noddles or tatties.

OK Now I'm really hungry. Do you think it would work to make up lots of bags of different food like that, and chuck them in the freezer? Then I can just fry them up as ready meals when I'm recovering post baby. Ready meals and no additives..hey that might catch on!

Reckon so Lil, as long as you don't keep them too long. I did Nigella's original butterflied lamb recipe and due to circumstances beyond my control had to freeze it or chuck it out. I froze it in the bag for about 4 weeks and it was absolutely fine.

Dear Lil - recipes indeed sound yummy. However - cooking raw veg that has previously been frozen is not really very tasty. You could just marinate the meat like that, and add easy things like rice etc.to finish the meal. Other easy things for freezer - if you're worried you won't have any time at all: pre cooked rice(microwave or plunge in boiling water to reheat), lots of tomato sauce for pasta, grated cheese, frozen peas(easy pasta: liquidize cooked frozen peas, cream, mint and parmesan), and a few fish pie, shepherds pie type things (if you're that way inclined). Gnocchi is also a godsend - even better if you can find the one that doesn't need to be refirgerated. Hope that helps. I found cooking a blessed relief because it meant that dh had ds! but I do do it for a living, and am somewhat biased!

I always do loads like this and freeze them since I don't eat meat. I buy those huge packs of turkey steaks or whatever, spearate them into little freezer bags, one portion in each and add some kind of marinade. Minced garlic, lemon juice and herbs, or chinese spices, or leftover tomato sauce or whatever. Then if you get them out in the morning and put in the fridge (if you are organised), or defrost in the microwave (low setting) still in the bag. By the time rice or whatever is cooked, they are done too. I add frozen veggies which seem to work better. You can get sliced peppers, great with the tomato sauce one, or mushrooms, or mixed chinese veg or whatever. I found freezer to table was less than 15 mins.

Gnocchi that doesn't need to be refridgerated - Sainsbury's and Tesco's.

Reading this thread I re-read all my Nigella books and this morning have made the orange muffins - scrummy. We've got chicken tonight so perhaps I'll have a go at this bag thing but without the olive oil (too many sins on my diet).

You can buy bags of frozen farmhouse veg in Tescos, that have carrots, peas, peppers and sweetcorn in it. Also a good tip I found out from my butcher, is that if you've had meat in the freezer for a while, then marinading it gives it more texture and it not to tough.

One thing I do like to keep in the cupboard is tins of tomatoes with garlic in them and jars of Lloyd Grossmans Tomato and Basil Sauce.

If doing a roast of meat and there is some left, either curry it and stick it in the freezer or put it in gravy and bag and put in the freezer as well. I do a lot of these things, also I keep a bag of frozen seafood in the freezer really handy for making a fish pie and not a lot of footering about either!!

Another one is chicken quarters cooked in a large frying pan with carrots, onion, turnip, and no oil potatoes, do this a lot for ourselves and it freezes ok.

Dh has banned me from buying any more cookbooks, so I am ignorant as to Nigellas greatness (am ridiculously undomesticated, have no idea how to put meals together and have amassed millions of books as I basically like looking at pictures of food...is that insanity or what?!). You all sound so knowledgable about what goes with what, I just wanted to ask....do any of you do those foil or paper packages "papillotes??" that you put meat/fish and veg in and then just bung in the cooker? Funnily enough this sounds like heaven to me; I've done one recipe like this (chicken,leeks and carrots), but would like to know what else I could put in.....that might impress dh (who has much higher culinary standards than me) and won't take all day...asking too much?

Also banned from buying anymore cook books - but what the hell. I dont take any notice of other things he says! So which is he best Nigella book to get?
Btw the last cook book I bought was a Pukka Jamie Oliver (the new one). I only bought it so I could letch at the pics - NOW HOW SAD IS THAT?

Best Nigella is "How to Eat" - she even includes a section on feeding children - her writing is funny & her approach to food is down to earth. Even if you don't cook a lot, its still a good read. I really enjoyed the feeding kids section as her approach is refreshing - can't wait for ds to start weaning so I can try her suggestions. I'd give "Nigella Bites" a miss - repetitive & none of the dishes grabbeb me.

I have found success in a number of Jamie Oliver recipes also (first book - haven't tried book 2 as I heard that they are also repetitive). His lamb shanks are pukka, as is his roast lamb (stuffed with anchovies - sounds weird but really does intensify the lamb flavour).

I love reading cookbooks & also books about food. Just finished reading Ruth Reichl (New York Times food critic) bio "Tender at the Bone" a good read on how food played a role in her life plus interspersed with recipes - wish I could try the chocolate cake w/ 7 minute frosting - if only I wasn't on Dr Atkins diet.

pob - you could try a fillet of firm white fish, or a small whole gutted fish (sainsburys has cheapish farmed seabass at the moment). Either stuff the stomach or cover on top with shredded ginger, garlic, chillis etc. Lay on the foil on a bed of finely shredded veg (a potato peeler works well for this.) Add a slug of coconut milk, some lime juice and fish sauce if you can get it / soy sauce if you can't, and cook for about 10 mins, in a hot oven until fish firm. Garnish with coriander. Put the rice on at the same time and there you go - should impress dh.
BTW - only EVER use Kikomans soy sauce - all else is from the devil!!! (Sorry - but I feel rather strongly about this!)

Nigella is the queen of our kitchen - I love her books and have cooked lots of the recipies in Nigella Bites (sorry to disagree with Pena). In fact every DP we've had since I bought the book has contained at least one course courtesy of Nigella.

that's ok Bugsy. I'd have to give Nigella credit for her bearnaise sauce - DH thought it was amazing & he's French have u tried baking any of her cakes - I'm eyeing dh's 1st birthday as my ultimate excuse to bake a scrummy nigella chocolate cake.

Pena, her chocolate cloud cake is the business. It is quite straightforward to make, has never gone wrong & looks just like it does in her book. It is extremely rich though & definitely not for dieters. Goes particularly well with fresh raspberries or strawberries.

My dh has banned me from buying any more cookbooks as well as we don't have enough shelves for them but I just ignore him. I hardly ever use them and if I do I always add bits or leave bits out. One recipe that I have followed is in Nigella Bites - the chocolate fudge cake. Its been a welcome home cake, ds' birthday cake and a want to bake today cake. Its well scrummy. My old next door neighbour who is a chef even said it was yummy. Any cake where you don't have to cream the butter and sugar together is a bonus as I don't have a food processor yet. All I can say is try it.

My fave Nigella tome is "Domestic Goddess". I have made almost everything from it. The scones, double apple pie, chocolate pistachio cake, choclate brownies, pistachio macaroons and hearthbreads are especially good. Have to agree with Pena that Nigella Bites didn't do much for me while "How to Eat" has some of my all time best recipes in it.

Manna, thanks for the idea...this is going to sound really stupid, but did you mean to put ginger, garlic and chillies all in the same packet? Don't know about the soy sauce, but if the opp. of being a domestic goddess is being a domestic devil, I'm it....and Pena, any other recipes suitable for french dh's?

Lill, not SAD AT ALL!!!!!, his cook books are very good, I've tried a lot of his recipes and they are really quick and easy and I'm all for the easy route!!

How ya been Lill, haven't heard of you for a couple of days??, nowt much happening here, first lot of lambing nearly done, just waiting with baited breath for the next lot of ladies. Oh and according to he "who thinks he should be obeyed", who is also really unwell, with Tonsillitis, Ear Infection, Nose Infection and Flu!!!! the cows possibly be at the calving, now this is the man who said I couldn't possibly be pregnant during lambing time!!!! the bull was put out earlier last year because of F&M and the bull was bored. Men, what are they like!!, and I really feel sorry for him today as he is not well at all, poor soul.

pob- yes - shove it all on together, finely julienned or chopped. If you have't got one ingredient it doesn't matter - just go with the Asian type thing!

Re: Nigella. If you try her melting chocolate pots (or some such) in 'how to eat' they need at least 20 mins or you will be eating chocolate soup! I don't think she trials all her recipes, to be honest (blasphemy!!)

Thank you (for not laughing!)...will try! As for Mr Pukka, have to say I've hardly seen anything of him (shame)..they seriously don't have cookery prog's here - everybody knows how to do it already I guess....Did Nigella have a programme too, or is it just boys and Delia nowadays?

POB - Nigella has a program called Nigela Bites which I hear is hilarious - wish we could get it in Singapore. I'm already annoyed that they banned the new Ben Stiller film "Derek Zoolander" (Piss take on male models) for "offensive" content.

Other recipes which were big hit with french dh were Jamie Oliver's Braised Lamb Shanks (in book 1 - the balsamic vinegar is the trick to sweetenning it), and this sounds naff - but Nigella's baked macaroni & cheese (in the kiddie section) was also a huge hit - apparently it brought back childhood memories for him even tho' they called it by the more sophisticated sounding name of pates au gratin/

Pena - like the macaroni cheese idea, about my level...will go sneak a peak in the bookshop, then see if it's worth the hassle of persuasion; heaven knows what dh ate as a child - he complains that on sunday nights they had chocolate...thick bars of chocolate at his grans and that was a problem!!!!!

(Understand the film frustration - went for years in S.Korea with black bits popping up on the screen, but at least we got to see the rest!