Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Food/recipes

For related content, visit our food content hub.

Original poster

What are Nigella Lawson's recipies like????????

49 replies

drosophila · 18/12/2006 20:34

My sister who is a fantastic cook said that she has never really had success with them and has heard others make similar comments.

I wanted to try her ham for Christmas and now I'm concerned

OP posts:
HoHoHorsewoman · 19/12/2006 09:58

Not naff at all - my mum is getting a basket of homemade goodies from me this year (a la Martha Stewart).

whensantagotstuckupAITCHimney · 19/12/2006 11:43

not even slightly naff. i'd be delighted to receive a gift like that.

janeite · 19/12/2006 17:35

Guiness cake is in Feast. Might try making it now it's been recommended on here. I find her recipes very hit and miss and can't afford to keep throwing expensive ingredients out in kitchen disasters. Dh loves guiness so I think he'd really appreicate it.

My biggest success with her is the baked plums from "How To Eat" which are gorgeous. Also the veggie chilli in "Feast" is good. Have tried brownie and flapjack recipes from "Goddess" which were both utter disasters.

MadamePlatypus · 19/12/2006 17:41

Generally quite good, however many of the recipes assume ownership of a food processer, mixer, microwave, e.g. remarks like "This pastry is so easy, just mix x y and z ingredients using your dough attachment...". Unfortunately for those of us with teeny weeny kitchens and therefore very few kitchen gadgets, the rubbing in method takes a little longer.

TurkeyTrotter · 19/12/2006 17:43

made her pastry today with trex and it is THE BEST!!! So light i am overly impressed. My mince pies are delicious . word of warning though - i quadrupled her ingrediants and there were still not that many!

CarolTheAncientYuletideTroll · 19/12/2006 17:56

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

CarolTheAncientYuletideTroll · 19/12/2006 17:58

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

SueW · 19/12/2006 18:14

I made her sticky toffee pudding which is a similar method to the choc pudding - pour on hot water. It wasn't great but I have nice friends I think it's the batter used in these 'surprise' pudding recipes which is a bit tough and leathery tbh.

SueW · 19/12/2006 18:19

Somewhere on her website there are corrections for the books. I posted a link a while ago but I can't find it now.

There are some pretty significant errors in the books

SueW · 19/12/2006 18:20

here

vitomum · 19/12/2006 18:35

her basic sponge did not work when i tried it. it was hard as a brick. She had suggested using some conrnflower also which i have never heard of. That's the only think of hers that hasn't worked for me though (she syas keeping everything crossed that the boxing day cola ham turns out ok)

have also made:

-her christmas clementine cake
-store cupboard chocolate / orange cake (lovely but not orangy enough though - would add some orange zest next time)
-Chocolate biscuits

all a success

sarahhal · 19/12/2006 18:43

Has anyone made the last minute christmas cake she made on the first of the Christmas programmes? Am tempted as never got round to making one but quite fancy being labelled a domestic godess for once!!

motherinfurrierfestivefrock · 19/12/2006 18:45

Her biggest successes are other people's recipes, I slightly suspect. The clementine cake is actually a Claudia Roden recipe, as even she acknowledges...

motherinfurrierfestivefrock · 19/12/2006 18:46

The gingerbread she nicked (and acknowledged) from Linda Collister is divine, as is the microwave chocolate pudding she pinched from The Microwave Gourmet.

PeachyIsNowAChristmasFruit · 19/12/2006 19:32

Vitomum- try varying the marmalade, I make the orange one loads and it's fine.

Especially nice with lime marmalde- yum!

We're having the orange one as an alternative to pud on Christmas day, with cointreau cream , made with fabby chocolate and marmalade obv.

Original poster
drosophila · 19/12/2006 19:55

Most people seem to do her sweet recipies. It looks like that is a strength of hers.

OP posts:
crunchie · 19/12/2006 20:27

sarahal I do that choc christmas cake each year, it is yummy. I am making an extraine tonight as a pressie for my next door neighbours

crunchie · 19/12/2006 20:30

btw drop I do loads of her stuff sweeta nd savoury. The vension in white wine casserole was a massive sucess at a dinner party recently, her mushroom ragout is brilliant too. A coupl eof years ago I did almost her entire christmas collection from Dom God and Feast, it was all amazing

potoroo · 19/12/2006 20:31

Drosophila - DH made Nigella's Christmas ham on the weekend and it was fantastic and very easy. We didn't have fennel though.

whensantagotstuckupAITCHimney · 19/12/2006 21:41

oooh yes, that reminds me.. the mushroom stroganoff... a certain mner called vitomum made that for me once (or was it beef and mushroom?) anyway, it was delicious. and i am reminded that i too had problems with her sponge... it wasn't as light as i'd hoped, although it wasn't brick-like.

Heathcliffscathy · 19/12/2006 21:42

very good ime

vitomum · 19/12/2006 21:45

ooh thanks for flashing my nigella creds Aitch.

Yes i'd forgot about that beef and mushroom stroganoff - another easy yet gorg one.

whensantagotstuckupAITCHimney · 19/12/2006 21:49

but i don't know if it had enough butter and cream in it, though...

Original poster
drosophila · 20/12/2006 09:16

Right that's it I AM doing the ham

OP posts:
New posts on this thread. Refresh page