V. disappointed in Nigella Express

[morningpaper]

Well I have been working through a few Nigella Express recipes and frankly I am v. disappointed. It all seems like a waste of (rather expensive) ingredients.

It should really be called "Nigella Processed" because there is a bit too much reliance on crap which makes things taste nasty. Sprinkling chopped coriander on a MCDonald's Ready Meal does not actually make it a delicious home-cooked meal. Is the use of caramalised onions from a jar REALLY that much quicker than frying an onion?

You get the feeling that some of her recipes are things she made 4 years ago and she is guessing what she put into it. The Eton Mess seems to have double quantities of cream - and what's the fun of eating mouthfuls of CREAM? The cookies are incredibly dry and really should NOT be called cookies which I think need a little bit of chewiness - I have never made chocolate cookies before that no one wanted to eat! The lamb tangine was only nice because it had been cooked for 2 hours and the prawn and mango curry had too much red thai paste in it and was overpowering, she could have made something much nicer with just a few spices.

SO if it's on your christmas list, I'd take it off. Stick with Delia, who you know has made every recipe 100 times and when you've cooked one of her recipes you feel like a better person.

Mind you Nigella does LOOK a treat. I would happily go to her dinner parties just to stare at her.

Damn. Just gave this to DH for his birthday last weekend. Hated her new tv series but I thought that the recipes would be good.

DH did (from memory rather from her recipe) the one with the chicken and using the puy lentils to mop up the juices rather than making gravy - was delicious.

Oh, and I believe she's off for a few weeks while Autumnwatch is on, but back on again afterwards.

LL that French Laundry cookbook looks amazing, that will def be on the list for DH xmas this year. He loves that sort of finiky (sp?) cooking. Thank you!!!

I am swapping my Nigella Express with The French Laundry for my xmas cookery book! BTW my fairy cakes look fabulous!

Bloody hell LL do you live in a library

oh yes hopkinson, very good too

Glad there are other people out there as obssessed with cookery books as much as I am. DH laughs evertime an Amazon box arrives! Some great recommendations!

Do you do alot of entertaining?

So you would recommend the French Laundry Cookbook as a good one for dinner parties? We often have people round and I'm getting bored of my usual stuff!

I love Nigella's books, she writes well. Delia's books are boring but agree that her recipes are very precise and work (I am not a quarter of a teaspoon or anything type of person). Great for beginners. If you are a fairly proficient cook, I would recommend Cuisine Gourmande by Michel Guerard. It is briliant and surprisingly simple to follow.

Yes I would say I'm a pretty good cook! Think I will give it a go!

i find nigella hilarious to watch. i have the domestic godess book and LOVE her buttermilk birthday cake recipe, though.

although i must admit that i havent made any other recipes.

agree that express recipes seem to rely on processed foods. yuk.

Before kids I used to make stuff out of the river cafe cookbooks and all that ponce; since kids it is almost 100% nigella and I find her recipes bloody fantastic. Have never had any problems with them (though the ham and coke thing was one I won't bother doing again). I just love the shortcuts like ketchup and marshmallows and so on, and I will adore her to my dying day for enlightening me with regard to cocoa in chilli con carne.

The really fab fab recipe book though in our house is the 'Ivy' cookbook - once you get beyond all the AA Gill bo***s the recipes are great - all comfort food and English classics. Marvellous

Oh and I luuuuurrrrvvvve eton smash - have been making that one for DH fo ryears and years (and for BF's before that) - that's a recipe that predates Nigella by decades.....

other than 'how to eat', i find her stuff WAY too faffy and i've had some of it not work.

i don't bother with her stuff anymore.

i agree, i stick with delia these days.

I like a few of Nigella's recipes, which have become staples in our household - especially the veggie chilli and chocolate Guiness cake in "Feast" and the baked plums with barbados cream in "How To Eat" but so many of her recipes are a)meaty so not relevant to me or b)unreliable - truly dreadful brownie and flapjack recipes which to this day I don't know how they can't have worked but they didn't.

It's really frustrating as I feel scared to try thingsout in case they are a disaster, as they are not cheap - but I love reading her - and looking at the pics of the food. Can't stand watching her though.

I have this book and pretty much everything has turned out okay.

I made her peanut butter noodles the other day and they were absolutely DISGUSTING!!!
The super quick mushroom pasta has become a favourite though. I got recipes from the tv though, not getting the book

I love the ham in coca cola recipe, that's a favourite in the McDreamy household!