Nigel Slater.his budget, his kitchen, his food, him, rumble grump

[Minimammoth]

It had to be done. A Nigel Slater thread just to get it off your chest.
Do we really have the time that you have Nige?
Does he ever cook for more than one?

[Xiaoxiong]

Pootles I've asked for this one for my birthday. Ceramic, wooden handle, pouring lip, holds just under 500ml.

And it's soooooooooooo pretty

And just for you curry - m&p does all three of those jobs rather than having various different appliances:

pepper - have gone through three bastarding mills. Don't know what we do to them, they just break and break, and the last one was supposedly the rolls royce of mills. CBA to waste any more money when the m&p does it right every time.

ginger, garlic, herbs - knife and chopping board 90% of the time. But I can't actually grind things into a properly smooth paste using my knife - maybe there's something I'm doing wrong technique-wise, but for pesto or ginger/garlic paste for curries the m&p is invaluable.

spices - never got a spice mill because I already had a m&p, and I try very hard to avoid electrical things as we break them regularly. Also I like to control the texture of the spices - sometimes a bit coarser (eg. on top of roasted veg), sometimes finer (eg. whole spices for a curry).

[ZingWidge]

soup 2 grand? what? where?
I missed that!

[Xiaoxiong]

£2k! DH is getting off easy, the one I want's only £29.07 - and I thought that was spendy

[Pootles2010]

Gah can't see the link - work site blocker won't let me! How frustrating. Is it a lot?

Funnily enough our pepper mill broke on holiday, they don't seem to last long.

[SoupDragon]

Didn't someone on the thread say "I bet it costs something like £2k" ?? That's all I meant! :o

[Pootles2010]

He is lovely, I quite like him, but still remember him saying his <a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?sa=X&hl=en&biw=1229&bih=774&tbm=isch&tbnid=Hx7DmaIxDxFwpM:&imgrefurl=axsoris.com/urban-gardens-0-plant-s-17-image.html&docid=Jd9ELOJNN_O1TM&imgurl=static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Lifeandhealth/Pix/pictures/2009/8/17/1250508630931/Hedges-022.jpg&w=437&h=390&ei=Evb4UZHMH6eN4AT57YDABA&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=578&page=3&tbnh=161&tbnw=201&start=57&ndsp=33&ved=1t:429,r:66,s:0,i:286&tx=85&ty=61garden" rel="nofollow noindex" target="_blank">www.google.co.uk/imgres?sa=X&hl=en&biw=1229&bih=774&tbm=isch&tbnid=Hx7DmaIxDxFwpM:&imgrefurl=axsoris.com/urban-gardens-0-plant-s-17-image.html&docid=Jd9ELOJNN_O1TM&imgurl=static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Lifeandhealth/Pix/pictures/2009/8/17/1250508630931/Hedges-022.jpg&w=437&h=390&ei=Evb4UZHMH6eN4AT57YDABA&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=578&page=3&tbnh=161&tbnw=201&start=57&ndsp=33&ved=1t:429,r:66,s:0,i:286&tx=85&ty=61garden is a 'typical small London garden] I live in rural Yorkshire, that's still a big garden to me!

[Pootles2010]

Oops link fail - sorry!

[mrsshackleton]

I adore Nigel on the page, can't be doing with him on telly. As others say, not a natural.

He does live in North London, but his house is a set. Sorry, chaps.

[GinOnTwoWheels]

I think I like him, although he is a bit smug and irritating and somewhat separated from the real world.

I have a couple of his books and like his recipes. DP and I watched his show last night and I was trying to find out if there was a book for the current series, while at the same time looking for a recipe for chick peas and chorizo that I had seen mentioned on here a couple of times, when I spotted this

Scroll down to the end of the recipe for Fnar Fnar!!

[Steamedcabbage]

OK so having read these posts ...

concede he probably is a good bloke - having nothing against him personally -

agree that 'Toast' was very well written and an interesting book

agree he definitely shouldn't be criticised for just cooking for one

but still can't stand the pretension and poncey contrivance of the show ...

honestly, who just "happens" to have a duck breast lying around in the fridge?

[Treagues]

I love the whole simple but good food thing. I suspect he doesn't whip out the Findus Crispy Pancakes when he's rushed, no

Pasta with a bit of garlic and thyme fried in really tasty olive oil. Quick grating of cheese. Lived on that in the first years of renting/working.

I like people who are slow and gentle on tv. Monty Don's another one. Don't want to see loudmouths rushing around with fake friends and drawling or bossing. Give me a languorous shot of a fried guinea fowl breast sitting on a handmade plate any day.

[Treagues]

Steamedcabbage: people who buy duck breasts! like me

[noddyholder]

Love his kitchen and herb garden! His recipes are foolproof too

[SoupDragon]

honestly, who just "happens" to have a duck breast lying around in the fridge?

I think it's more how he shops - he buys things because he likes the look of them and doesn't have a clear purpose in mind for them. Complete antithesis of meal planning!

[noddyholder]

I don't meal plan either

[Minimammoth]

I am with Steamedcabbage. Nige probably nice bloke. Maybe I will abandon telly series and look at one of his books. But never have a spare ducks breast in fridge so will probably fail.

[Treagues]

It's not that difficult.
Have some pancetta knocking about in the meat drawer (tesco's is shite, sainsbury's is good enough)
Have a bit of parmesan going slightly dry because the triangular packet won't re-close
have green lentils on standby
a few herbs in pots and one bottle of naice olive oil

He'd make about three different meals from that lot

[encyclogirl]

Oooh Monty Don, I love that man. He's been on and off my "5 that I definitely would" for the past 10 years or more.

[Minimammoth]

Treagues, I probably have all those ingredients too, except the pancetta, but always have bacon.< Peers into fridge.... How about a bit of pork tongue, vanilla yoghurt and a few strawberries> throws down gauntlet.

[Xiaoxiong]

Honestly reading all these comments I feel like the show and the books must be poles apart!

3/4 of the "recipes" in his books are things like - here's something to use up all the heels of cheese lurking in the bottom of the fridge that are too crusty and hard to eat, or buy a pot of green olive paste, stir into pasta, eat, or here are 5 things you can put on top of a plain piece of fish to make it more interesting.

My favourite lunch of all time is fresh broad beans, boiled briefly, fried with bacon and some parsley and eaten with toast and boursin - one of the Kitchen Diaries non-recipe recipes and about 50p per person. We had it yesterday and DS (19 months) scarfed it down as well so another little Nigel convert.

He really is a food writer rather than a TV chef so that must be why he comes across so much better on the page. I bet someone told him he needs to get on TV now he's written all these books, and unfortunately he's not a natural, at all.

[Xiaoxiong]

Oh and the other Nigel standby when we are skint - spaghetti tossed with breadcrumbs fried in bacon (and its fat).

[Steamedcabbage]

Ah, ..now Monty [sighs at the thought of him straddling a hornbeam] he's permanently in my number one slot


Back to Nigel, at the risk of getting a little too pedantic ...

Treagues I buy duck breasts too but I don't often happen to have one spare ifyswim. We either eat them all (ie intended for specific dish) or don't have any.

SoupDragon Yes, I can see that makes sense about the way NS shops ...oh to have the luxury of that!

OK, will go back to the books, and have another look ...

I'm stumped Minimammoth!! My own conundrum tonight will involve cold roast lamb (which I don't much like anyway) those peaches that look like doughnuts (sort of squashed looking), Philadelphia cheese and turnips...

[Steamedcabbage]

Xiaoxiong must admit that broad bean dish sounds delicious!!!

[ZingWidge]

soup now I get the 2k comment. I committed the crime of not reading whole thread.

[Treagues]

Mash the strawbs, mix with the vanilla yogurt, freeze.
Throw the pork tongue away and get down the shops