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

Food/recipes

For related content, visit our food content hub.

Anyone tried the new Delia book?

84 replies

bext · 25/02/2008 13:15

Is it worth buying?

OP posts:
Kewcumber · 25/02/2008 13:54

I love mashed potatoes. I never cook them now as in the 30 mins I have to myself after DS is in bed to cook (and subsequently 30 mins to eat) peeling, boiling and mashing potatoes and something to eat with them just isn't on my agenda.

If they taste OK I might be tempted by frozen mash. I love frozen peas. The perfect food. And fish fingers. Yum.

PussinJimmyChoos · 25/02/2008 13:54

(he didn't swallow it btw! I went suitably pale and grabbed it off him...deaf parents take note - watch where you put your hearing aid batts!!!!)

LadyMuck · 25/02/2008 13:55

I find that it is a rather odd book tbh. There are a few recipes where I truly wonder "why on earth", eg shepherds pie with the tinned mince and frozen potato (why not go the whole hog?), or fish soup which starts from a tin of ready made fish soup(!) or avocado and prawns (take one avocado and add Tesco Finest prawn cocktail).

However you can get past these to some other workable recipes but she has overstated named ingredients - I don't want to be told which brand of mayonnaise to use etc. And in these recipes her main cheats are buying ready chopped items, so not really something sensational - if you were so inclined to spend your money then you probably already did this. And as someone who has used lazy garlic/ginger etc for some time, i don't think that you need specific recipes for how to cheat using such ingredients.

Personally I rate Nigella's Cheat book far more highly. In there there are recipes where you can put something good together with very little effort. Delia's recipes either are too close to simply trying to liven up processed food, or are just rather random, and I'm not sure that they are really "cheating". I can see why supermarkets would be excited about it, but I really don't rate it at all.

Kewcumber · 25/02/2008 13:57

New recipe - "chicken surprise" the surprise being the battery?

DS east well I'm lucky. Given the choice would live on choclate buttons and icecream but in the absence of that (cruel mummy) will pretty much eat what I give him.

Even creme fraich not very practical for me (ho long does it keep?) I'm cooking for one (and a bit if you count DS aged 2) a pot of creme fraiche would last me weeks. perhaps I could have a creme fraiche week where every thing I cooked had creme fraiche in it!

PussinJimmyChoos · 25/02/2008 13:58

That would make it a battery chicken no???

AitchTwoOh · 25/02/2008 13:58

kewcumber, try making mash in teh micro. just bake the potato and put it through a ricer and add butter. seriously, it's lovely and takes about 3 mins.

Kewcumber · 25/02/2008 14:00

isn't Nigellas cheat book full of fat and sugar though?

Out of interest do those of you who wouldn't consider frozen mash owrk? I just can't summon up the energy after coming in form work and bathing/bedding DS then at 9pm starting to peel and cook and mash a potato. PAsta and couscous are great but the occasioanl frozen mash sounds good to me.

MadamePlatypus · 25/02/2008 14:01

The Lynne Barber interview in the Observer wasn't very enthusiastic. Allowing for the fact that they didn't hit it off, from the recipes that were mentioned it did seem you needed alot of ingredients.

I'd rather look at whats in my veg box and spend 10 minutes chopping up what is there than have to go to the shops with children to buy chopped onions, smash etc.

Kewcumber · 25/02/2008 14:01

pmsl Puss.

Thats a good idea Aitch. Does it really taste Ok - surely it takes longer than 3 mins to micrwave a potato? I never microwave them because they taste vile more like steamed but I can see that would work with mash.

nailpolish · 25/02/2008 14:01

kew i think if you want healthy fresh food then you ahve to cook from scratch. its bloody worht it as far as in concerned. unless you are in the house all day long you surely go past a shop?? [grin}

and as for the creme fraishe - that recipe i linked to you would do you and ds - its for one - and you can buy creme fraishe in tubs that size and freeze them

Kewcumber · 25/02/2008 14:02

I cancelled my veg box - Abel and cole stuff was going off before I could use it and Riverford kept sending me stuff I didn;t like.

nailpolish · 25/02/2008 14:04

couldnt you ahve made pots of soup with your veg box then frozen in portions?

we have soup almost every day for lunch

edinburghmummy · 25/02/2008 14:04

i made the shepherd's pie last night using the frozen mash and tined mince. I am ashamed to say that I was quite embarrassed by my basket when I got to the till. HOwever, lots of us must be trying the cheat's way as there was hardly any tined mince in M&S left on the shelves and I heard that Sainsburys was doubling its orders of the frozen mash. Won't be making it again though

MadamePlatypus · 25/02/2008 14:05

I think you have to like soup to get the most out of a veg box!

Kewcumber · 25/02/2008 14:05

does creme fraiche freeze then?

No I don't go past any shops - and don't have time in my lunch half-hour to queue up at M&S or tesco in the City with the queues for sandwiches. Shopping is defintiely a once a week thing chez Kewcumber.

Kewcumber · 25/02/2008 14:06

how big a freezer have you got! certinaly wouldn;t have room in there with all the creme fraiche I will now have as well as bread, frozen peas and fish fingers!

Kewcumber · 25/02/2008 14:06

edinburghmummy - no good then?

Kathyis6incheshigh · 25/02/2008 14:06

Is there anything wrong with frozen mash apart from the mark-up?
I can't imagine buying it (and yes I do work ) but I have frozen my own leftover mash before now and it's been fine....

hannahsaunt · 25/02/2008 14:07

Not convinced by a book about cheating and the ingredients then used. Nigella's book isn't cheating - it's about speedy cooking - using proper food and whizzing it together to make good, nutritious, tasty food in a short amount of time. It's all reinventing Nigel Slater's fabulous Real Fast Food; that's what I want; not processed food.

nailpolish · 25/02/2008 14:07

you are not going to be convinced are yo kew?

AitchTwoOh · 25/02/2008 14:09

depends on the size of the potato, i suppose. longer, i suppose, if it was a big tattie. but in any case no peeling and mashing, thank god, and really hot and buttery and instant. i started doing it for dd when a quick lunch was required and dh pointed out that it was actually nicer.

AitchTwoOh · 25/02/2008 14:10

hannahsaunt, that nigel slater book is great i think. and it's proper cooking. although i do often substitute yoghurt for cream with his recipes.

TheDevilWearsPrimark · 25/02/2008 14:19

My idea of a cheats dinner is to spread out loads of chopped veg, pickles, olives, cheese, fruit, breadsticks, crackers etc and let the DC eat at their leisure.

Much faster and healthier than any of elias suggestions.

I also agree with the point a few of you have made. Why buy m&S tinned mince and make it up with frozen mash, when a ready meal is just the same. If you are going to eat rubbish then why put ANY effort in?

IamTheSpeedingHam · 25/02/2008 14:20

delia gets on my huge tits

Kewcumber · 25/02/2008 14:31

I'm whinging aren;t I nailpolish?

Actually Primark has teh right ide - cut out the middle man and buy meals. I was trying to save money and be a bit healthier with some halfway house recipes.

Never resist mash long enough to freeze any of it I have that Nigel slater book - perhap I should dust it off again.