In Nigella Bites, Nigella shares her favorite recipes that are easy to make after a busy day at the office, perfect to linger over during a lazy weekend, or fun to make with kids on a rainy afternoon. All the recipes are delectable to read, dreamy to look at, and, of course, delicious to eat. Whether cooking Pasta E Fagioli or baking Orange Breakfast Muffins, Nigella knows just how to achieve maximum flavor with minimum effort.
Lawson, who is the first to point out that she is not a professional chef, favors the hands-on approach to food, literally -- if there's a point where plunging one's hands in the dish will work just as well as anything else in the preparing, she's not going to get food-safetyish about it. Her tactics are not just about ease. She wants people to appreciate food's sensual and pleasure-giving qualities more than to achieve culinary greatness. Her stated motto: "To achieve maximum pleasure through minimum effort." Her carefree demeanor comes through most in her show, where she can be seen snacking and finger-licking her way through a recipe. Here's a pertinent citation from How to Be a Domestic Goddess: "Perhaps the greatest joy of pastry-making is that it's mud-pie time; you get floury, sticky, wholly involved. I don't mean by this that you shouldn't use any equipment.... But you still need to use your hands for that last crucial combining, the rolling, and draping into the pan, and the piecing together of your pie. Just do it."
And while Lawson isn't exactly topping her BBC predecessors Two Fat Ladies on butter and lard consumption, save for a single chapter in How to Eat, she does generally ignore calorie counts, low-fat substitutions, and other concessions to the fitness establishment. If this philosophy means venturing forth on ham baked in Coca-Cola, lamb shank stew, or chocolate fudge cake, then so be it. "If it's something I don't want to carry on eating once I'm full, then I don't want the recipe," the famously voluptuous Lawson said in a Guardian interview in 2000. "I'm quite ruthless. I have to feel that I want to cook the thing again, and more than once. I need to feel that I have to stop myself from cooking it all the time."
The table of contents of Nigella Bites -- named for the BBC-TV/Style Network show she films at her West London home -- shows that Lawson is more concerned with the everyday than with stunning parties and dinners. Categories in the book include "TV Dinners," "Trashy," and "Family Food." She is not administering advice that is going to keep you running to specialty stores or trapped in your kitchen. She does not turn up her nose at frozen peas or other store-bought ingredients. She also acknowledges that mistakes can be made and tells you how to fix them (even if that just means throwing the whole thing out). For those who just want to make something delicious without a lot of fuss, Lawson's kamikaze approach is refreshing and should keep her in our kitchens for quite some time.
Lawson's husband, journalist John Diamond, passed away in 2001 after the couple had been married nearly ten years. They have two children, Cosima and Bruno. In 2002, Lawson became linked with Diamond's friend, advertising tycoon Charles Saatchi.
Lawson began her career writing the restaurant review column for Britain's The Spectator. She has also been food editor of British Vogue and had a makeup column for the U.K.'s Times magazine. She is also a staple on ABC's Good Morning America.
Easy Sticky-Toffee Pudding
This draws on a the culinary technology of the surprise pudding — that amazing affair by which, on baking, a layer of sponge is formed, under which evolves a thick and luscious sauce — while playing with the flavours of a traditional sticky-toffee pudding. True, if you're feeding 12 people you'll need to make two, but given how almost provocatively easy it is, that's no big deal. I can see this stretching to 8, maybe even a little bit beyond, but I wouldn't want to ask much more of it... Better to have too much than give rise to even the slightest tremor of ration-anxiety at the table. Never Knowingly Undercatered, that's me.
For the cake:
100 g dark muscovado sugar
175 g self-raising flour
125 ml full-fat milk
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
50 g unsalted butter, melted
200 g chopped, rolled dates
For the sauce:
200 g dark muscovado sugar
approx. 25 g unsalted butter in little blobs
500 ml boiling water
Preheat the oven to 190°Cgas mark 5 and butter a 1 12 litre capacity pudding dish.
Combine the 100g dark muscovado sugar with the flour in a large bowl. Pour the milk into a measuring jug, beat in the egg, vanilla and melted butter and then pour this mixture over the sugar and four, stirring — just with a wooden spoon — to combine. Fold in the dates then scrape into the prepared pudding dish. Don't worry if it doesn't look very full: it will do by the time it cooks.
Sprinkle over the 200g dark muscovado sugar and dot with the butter. Pour over the boiling water (yes, really!) and transfer to the oven. Set the timer for 45minutes, though you might find the pudding needs 5 or 10 minutes more. The top of the pudding should be springy and spongy when it's cooked; underneath, the butter, dark muscovado sugar and boiling water will have turned into a rich, sticky sauce. Serve with vanilla ice cream, crème fraîche, double or single cream as you wish.
Serves 6–8.
Anonymous
Posted February 4, 2004
I loved this book. It is filled with interesting recipes that you want to try. It's a cookbook to use and try substitute ingredients. Try the Bread & Butter Pudding. Delicious. The Bitter Orange Ice Cream is rich and wonderful!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted April 26, 2003
I enjoy watching Nigella's show, mostly to check out how she manages to be so fabulously seductive and hope I pick up a few tips in that department. I was really disappointed in the book, however -- I had hoped it had more to offer. If you don't cook, it could be helpful, and the recipes are fine. If you DO cook, though, you won't find anything you don't already know. I mean, I know how to make sausages and lentils or how to roast some lamb. She can yak on all she wants about it, but a recipe for salmon cakes ain't new.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted May 13, 2003
I got this book after enjoying her show, and wasn't let down. It's wonderful to read, and not just to get recipes from. The full color pictures are fantastic. All of the recipes use pretty common ingredients and they are creative. She doesn't make steadfast rules, but gives leeway for alteration. I find myself using her tips everyday in the kitchen. I love this book! I would recommend it to anyone.
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Posted December 25, 2002
This book is a wonderful addition to anyone's kitchen. The linguine with garlic oil and pancetta is wonderul.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.This cookbook was given to me as a gift because I am a fan of the way she cooks - using fresh ingredients in her dishes - with no short cuts. Even though I wouldn't call myself an expert Chef, I'm not a slouch either, and some of her dishes are just darn over-the-top complicated. I attempted the chocolate cake a few times and I just could not get her frosting recipe the right consistancy. I've also make her Pasta Figioli and it was to die for! Her meatball recipe is now MY recipe, tweaked it just a tad, and now it's a family tradition. Thank you Nigella. Overall it is a beautiful cookbook, written as if she's in your kitchen telling you about the dish in her British Italian accent. Often, however, some recipes spur questions as they are not detailed enough (in my opinion). Highly recommended.
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Posted February 25, 2012
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Posted September 8, 2010
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Posted January 31, 2010
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Overview
In Nigella Bites, Nigella shares her favorite recipes that are easy to make after a busy day at the office, perfect to linger over during a lazy weekend, or fun to make with kids on a rainy afternoon. All the recipes are delectable to read, dreamy to look at, and, of course, ...