Notes about Recipes in this book

• Nigel's chocolate muscovado banana cake

  • Jane on April 15, 2020

    A lovely banana bread - very moist, not overly sweet. I couldn’t get muscovado sugar so used dark brown.

  • Astrid5555 on March 04, 2017

    A little bit too grown-up tasting for the kids, maybe because of the 70% chocolate I used, but the adults enjoyed it very much. Reduced the sugar to 200g, still sweet enough. As Zosia mentioned subtle banana flavor that is not overwhelmed by the chocolate. The loaf was done 5 minutes earlier than indicated in the recipe.

  • joneshayley on February 05, 2019

    Beautiful cake - moist and tasty. The cake took an extra 20 minutes in my oven, and the banana and chocolate ratio is perfect - neither overwhelms the other. Lovely for picnics and packed lunches, or with a cup of tea.

  • Zosia on May 13, 2015

    Moist and buttery loaf with a soft crumb and excellent banana flavour that isn't overwhelmed by the chocolate. I recommend weighing the bananas as my 3 medium came up 80g short. Fortunately, I had a stash in the freezer to make up the balance. The loaf took 20 minutes longer to bake in my oven (to reach internal temp of 200F).

  • Lilyinthevalley on August 21, 2020

    Lovely cake, I used dark Muscovado sugar so the colour was darker than in the photo, but it tasted delicious. It took a full 30 minutes extra to cook through though.

• Orange and pomegranate cake

  • Jane on January 20, 2013

    Not a success. The cake sank in the middle, which has very rarely happened to me in baking. So pouring the syrup on meant a disproportionate amount went into the hollow in the middle. The syrup was really sweet and it didn't create the pretty red top layer that the picture showed. Not a cake I will be repeating.

• Almond, marzipan and berry cakes

  • milgwimper on January 16, 2014

    This was very good. I had not blueberries so used blackberries, and ended up using more than 100g of berries.Each cake had 3-4 berries on top. I do not have the bun tins specified.The I baked them in the cupcake tins but I found that it was hard to tell when it was done, and I had butter pooling on the bottom. Other then that, the recipe was tasty, fast to put together, and it all disappeared in two days. The texture is crumbly and moist the first day and a little drier the next. They go great with coffee, and tea.

• Chicken with apricots and coconut milk

  • RosieB on January 17, 2016

    A friend made this for a large dinner party. It was a perfect dish. The chicken was tendy and juicy. The sauce delicious and thai style. I dont usually like cruit in savoury dishes but this was great with the not too spicy sauce. I will definitely make this.

• Brussels sprouts, bacon and almonds

  • RosieB on June 09, 2014

    My husband loves Brussel,sprouts but I am not a big fan. I made this recipe with our home cured and smoked baon. I didn't blacken the sprouts but cooked so they still had a slight crunch and were nicely browned. It was delicious. If you don't really like Brussel sprouts, try this recipe. It's a winner.

• A slow-cooked rabbit with herbs

  • RosieB on August 29, 2014

    This was a very simple tasty dish. I was uncertain about cooking the rabbit in ale but it was delicious. One rabbit fed 3 with a couple of pieces left over. I will definitely make again.

• Chard and feta tart

  • mziech on April 13, 2019

    Delicious, thinking about blind baking the next time.

• A mild and fruit curry of salmon

  • Astrid5555 on October 24, 2012

    Absolutely delicious, even curry hating husband had seconds. Very easy and quick to make, perfect for a weeknight dinner.

• Pear and chocolate oat crumble

  • Astrid5555 on November 01, 2012

    Absolutely delicious! The chocolate really adds a new twist.

  • JFM on October 25, 2012

    Made it twice already - brilliant! Crumbles in general are very satisfiying to eat, and this one especially.

  • Zosia on September 09, 2014

    Adding good dark chocolate to the crunchy crumble topping and caramelizing the pear halves before baking makes this a very special dessert that will definitely be repeated.

  • Varundel on April 06, 2015

    Without doubt one of the most delicious desserts I know and a regular favourite. Dark gooey chocolate, caramelised pear, buttery crumble - and absolutely stunning with homemade vanilla icecream. Only change I make is to increase flour to 150g to make more crumble topping.

• Chicken, olives and lemon

  • Astrid5555 on April 21, 2015

    When I read the ingredients I thought that this would be delicious, but the end result just did not do it for me. There was something off with the taste (too much lemon, adding the saffron, not sure). The kids also did not like it. Will not repeat.

  • chaffinski on April 11, 2017

    Too acidic, needs to be balanced with some sweetness or creaminess.

• Mincemeat cheesecake

  • lilham on February 28, 2015

    I made a half recipe and used a 15 cm cake tin. I also used 75g of butter for 150g of digestive biscuits to get the texture I wanted for a cheesecake base. This is a lovely use of leftover mincemeat from christmas. Delicious.

• Butter beans with mustard and tomato

  • saladdays on April 10, 2014

    The butter beans were rather overwhelmed by the dominant taste of the tomatoes and treacle. A quick version of traditional baked beans but the flavours aren't as mellow as they would be after a longer cooking time.

• Gooseberry crumble cake

  • saladdays on July 14, 2020

    A delicious dessert recipe to use a glut of gooseberries. The cooking time is quite long and my cake was a bit caramelised on the outside. Suggest checking after 50 minutes.

• A risotto of smoked cod and spinach

  • sharifah on January 11, 2013

    I used smoked haddock instead of smoked cod. Liquid quantities worked perfectly. Creamy and soothing dish for the cold weather - very nice

  • Pamsy on February 27, 2020

    Somehow I had run out of Arborio rice so used Calasparra instead, so not so creamy, but still very tasty. Used a grated courgette rather than spinach, which gave a lovely green flecking, also a red onion for even more colour. Definitely worth repeating.

• A way with leftover turkey

  • sharifah on January 08, 2013

    Quite an unusual sauce; easy to make and tastes lovely. Works well with the oranges but a little odd with the grapefruit. I would probably omit the grapefruit next time.

• Pumpkin, tomato and cannellini soup

  • veronicafrance on January 31, 2013

    I wasn't that impressed by this -- the result is rather ordinary. I always roast pumpkin before adding it to soup, to get rid of some of the water -- this would be an improvement.

• Poached apples with ginger and anise

  • veronicafrance on January 25, 2013

    This was very nice, with an unusual flavour, although the juice seemed a bit thin -- I'd use a bit less apple juice next time. Better warm or cold than piping hot. If served cold, I'd be tempted to add a scoop of stem ginger ice cream.

• A soup of bacon and celeriac

  • veronicafrance on January 25, 2013

    This was really delicious. Celeriac and smoked bacon are a match made in heaven, and the mustard gives it an extra zing.

• Roast plums, gin and juniper

  • veronicafrance on October 06, 2016

    Having just made Nadine Abensur's delicious roast plums with Cointreau (from the Cranks Bible), I can safely say I won't be making this version again. It's nothing special -- maybe my juniper berries were a bit old and lacking in flavour, but still ... Also, Nigel tells you to roast the plums whole, but it's worth spending the few minutes necessary to halve and pit them so that people don't have to deal with stones at the table.

• A lentil and pumpkin soup-stew

  • veronicafrance on November 22, 2013

    This was quite good, but it would have been better with some sausage or scraps of ham in it. I'll certainly add some kind of cured pork product to the leftovers. The amount of squash Nigel specified seemed a bit excessive so I only put half in. The squash also took longer to cook than he suggested, about 25 minutes, so I'd put it in earlier next time.

• Plum (or greengage) and almond tart

  • veronicafrance on October 07, 2014

    This looked good, but was rather disappointing. Could be my fault: I used greengages which weren't very tasty. There was too much frangipane for the fruit, which didn't help. On the plus side, the pastry, blind-baked for 20 minutes at 200C (longer and hotter than I normally do it) was excellent. I glazed the top of the tart with sieved greengage jam, not suggested by Nigel, which made it look better. I wouldn't recommend this recipe unless your plums are really tasty. If they aren't, use apricots instead.

• Duck breasts with damson gin and duck-fat potatoes

  • veronicafrance on August 31, 2014

    I used PX sherry because I didn't have any damson or sloe gin, and only marinated the duck breast for an hour. The flavour was a bit blah, but I expect it would have been better if I'd marinaded it for longer. Nigel uses one duck breast per person -- I find one between two is plenty. The potatoes are good and very trouble-free, even when you forget to spread them out in one layer.

• Roast duck with apples, clementines and prunes

  • joneshayley on January 21, 2018

    The recipe doesn’t state how long to leave duck in oven once the heat is increased. I left it for 18 minutes- for crispy skin, but medium cooked breast. Perfect for me. The gravy ( I blended it) is a revelation, it’s sweet, savoury and unctuous. The perfect gravy to stand up to the strong flavour of duck. As a stuffing, the apple/prune combo wasn’t to my taste, but worth doing for the 1/2 that is added to that delicious gravy.

• Tuna, pickled ginger and cucumber salad

  • Zosia on July 24, 2014

    I must admit I chickened out and didn't make tuna ceviche as the recipe directs but seared the tuna steaks and served them sliced on top of the cucumber-carrot-ginger salad. Dressed with ingredients you associate with sushi, including the juice of the pickled ginger, this was light and very flavourful.

• Mozzarella salad with tomato crumbs

  • Zosia on August 20, 2014

    This is a fantastic way to serve tomatoes at their peak. I combined the breadcrumbs with the oil and Parmesan cheese and sprinkled them on top of the chopped tomatoes before roasting rather than mixing them in. The crumbs came out crisp and the tomatoes soft and sweet.....really delicious served hot on top of prosciutto and burrata cheese.

• Thyme and garlic chicken wings

  • Zosia on June 02, 2014

    I used drumsticks instead of wings and they baked up with crisp, golden skin and moist meat and were nicely flavoured by the marinade/glaze that wasn't too sweet thanks to the lemon juice. I'm glad I had the presence of mind to line the roasting pan with foil since the baked on glaze would have been very difficult to clean.

• Another wonderful sandwich

  • Zosia on April 08, 2014

    Delicious take on a grilled cheese especially made with baby bellas and Gruyère.

• Spiced lentils, mint labne

  • Zosia on July 24, 2014

    As a novice when it comes to curries, I found this one to be quite easy to put together and very flavourful, with spices and aromatics melding together during the relatively short cooking time. It was good the day it was made, but even better reheated the next day. The yogurt with mint added a nice cooling element to the dish.

• Bacon-wrapped salmon

  • Zosia on March 14, 2020

    The first time I made this, the salmon was cooked before the bacon had a chance to cook through and crisp, and though the presentation was nice, the sprig of thyme didn't add any flavour. This time, I partially cooked the bacon first and sprinkled thyme leaves on the fish. Good combination of flavours.

• A cider loaf

  • Zosia on July 24, 2014

    Delicious artisanal-like loaf with a moist, chewy crumb and crisp crust. The dough was quite wet and required a little folding between rest periods rather than kneading but not so wet that it couldn't be shaped before the final proof. I used only 7g instant dried yeast which I think is much less than the conversion from fresh would be, but it was enough. I helped the crust development by creating steam in the oven at the start of baking (ice cubes added to a hot pan). The loaf had a wonderful nutty flavour with a subtle sweetness and was great freshly baked or toasted.

  • Ganga108 on July 31, 2021

    Divine!

• Hot, sweet baked pumpkin

  • Zosia on January 31, 2016

    A great way to liven up this winter vegetable. Roasted until caramelized then glazed with a Thai-inspired dressing, calling it merely hot and sweet really doesn’t begin to describe the bursts of flavour in every bite. I used butternut squash and soy sauce in place of fish sauce.

  • Ganga108 on July 31, 2021

    Absolutely Divine! The dressing is out of this world. I've used my chilli paste that is a little sweet anyway and my coriander paste. Dressing is hot and sweet. Yum.

• Wheat with mint and Alphonso mango

  • Zosia on March 26, 2014

    Refreshing salad with great flavour. Be sure to use a perfectly ripe mango - it's the star!

• A salmon and spinach tart

  • Zosia on March 26, 2014

    Great end use for leftover roast salmon but good enough that I would cook some just to make this tart. I added a little garlic and some spring onions to the filling for extra flavour.

  • TCDunlop on November 16, 2020

    Made mini versions to use up ends of pastry and salmon in freezer - added nutmeg and black pepper - really lovely.

• A stir-fry of greens and mushrooms

  • Zosia on April 08, 2014

    Simple stir-fry with good flavour. I made it with baby bok choy and shiitake mushrooms and used only soy sauce to keep it vegetarian.

• A goat's cheese and onion tart

  • chaffinski on April 15, 2017

    Tasty short pastry (I made mine with goat's butter) with balanced filling. Served with radish salad from the same book. Delicious good looking plate of food. Would make a great fancy lunch, or as a starter in a smaller portion.

• Sausage and egg hash

  • lpa on March 13, 2017

    Page 225

• A thyme and lemon cake

  • ChelseaP on May 22, 2021

    A nice afternoon tea type cake. The thyme in the cake and in the syrup was subtle and made the cake look beautiful.

• Hot cross bread and butter pudding

  • ChelseaP on May 22, 2021

    Delicious way to use up leftover hot cross buns (not something that often happens in this house so I actually bought them to make this recipe specifically). We had it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream while it was nice and warm from the oven.

• Baked tomatoes

  • Ganga108 on January 11, 2021

    Of course, a much loved dish, baked tomatoes topped with parmesan cheese. I came across it while browsing through his book, and decided to bake a tray of tomatoes - some destined for cheese toppings, some for use during the week, and others to be pureed for a Roast Tomato Fresh Chutney to go into the freezer.

• Kitchn

  Recommended? Absolutely. ... This book will especially appeal to those who read their cookbooks in bed (although perhaps not the bath due to the fact that it is heavy and needs propping up...

  Full review

• My Recipe Book Blog

  It's a brilliant book for anyone who likes reading diary style books, for anyone who enjoys watching Nigel's lovely relaxing way of cooking and for any foodies out there.

  Full review