• Eat Your Books

  Previously published in the UK as "The Kitchen Diaries II"(2012).

• janbernstein on December 07, 2013

  Just made the lamb "osso buco" and it was incredible. Made spinach with balsamic, pine nuts and currents,which was a perfect accompaniment.

Notes about Recipes in this book

• A cider loaf

  • Ganga108 on January 11, 2021

    Wonderful bread with a sour-dough type flavour.

• A soup of bacon and celeriac

  • Astrid5555 on November 05, 2014

    This is not your usual silky smooth celeriac soup, but none the less incredibly delicious! Loved the addition of bacon and mustard to the celeriac and the fact that the soup is only partly puréed.

  • 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.

• 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.

• Baked quince with orange and mascarpone ginger crunch

  • Melyinoz on August 14, 2017

    This recipe is so simple to make and the finished product is delicious. This is the first recipe I ever used for cooking quinces and it has turned me into a life-long fan. The second time I cooked this I made it for a dinner party and my friends oohed and aahed. Highly recommended.

• Almond, marzipan and berry cakes

  • milgwimper on January 17, 2014

    This was really good. Left out the confectioner sugar, I felt it did not need it. I used black berries only berries in the house, therefore used more than 100g of fruit.I topped each cake with 3-4 berries. The cakes were baked in cupcake tins. It took shorter time to bake but not by much. The cakes were crumbly and moist. They went really well with coffee and/or tea. I did have the problem with butter pooling on the bottoms of the cake, but that could have been the baker's error.

  • JFM on December 18, 2012

    15.12.12: very good!

• 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

• Chicken with potatoes and dill

  • JFM on November 11, 2012

    im Ofen braten

• 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.

• Nigel's chocolate muscovado banana cake

  • Melyinoz on April 11, 2020

    I had a second attempt at converting this to a gluten free cake and fared better this time. Instead of 250g flour I used 100g of sorghum flour, 75g of brown rice flour, and 75g of tapioca flour. I also reduced the sugar to 200g and used brown sugar, as it was all that I had on hand. I didn’t have the full 400g of bananas, so I added a very ripe pear to make up the weight. This ended up being an excellent addition. I don’t know if the resulting banana, pear and chocolate cake is anything like the original gluten version (having never tasted it), but it wasn’t bad.

• Little spring onion omelettes

  • Melyinoz on August 14, 2017

    p.190 These little ricotta cakes are delicious. Perfect for breakfast or for brunch with a salad. I recommend doubling the dressing that is suggested as it is wonderful and doesn't go far.

• Orecchiette with aubergine, basil and lemon

  • Melyinoz on January 27, 2018

    p.269 I made this for a degustation menu I put together for friends. Of the five mini courses we had that evening, this one did not make anyone's favourite. A lot of caramelised onions were needed to amp up the taste. I improved the leftovers by adding extra basil and toasted pine nuts. The crunch from the pine nuts was very welcome, and in fact Nigel said that the recipe originally started with these before he removed them. The leftovers grew on me as the week went on.

• Thyme and garlic chicken wings

  • twoyolks on March 12, 2019

    The marinade never really cooked down for me so the sauce was runny instead of thick. Don't crowd the wings at all or they will not brown.

• Baked chicken with tomatoes and olives

  • Melyinoz on February 01, 2018

    p. 322 Simple and packed full of flavour. I've made it two weekends in a row and I am seriously considering a third. My colleagues have been salivating over the aroma when I heat up leftovers for lunch. Simple enough to go into my regular rotation and more than tasty enough to serve to guests. Winner!

• A dark and sticky fruit chutney

  • eliza on July 19, 2016

    This is a bit of a strange recipe. First, I can't imagine how 8 figs could ever weigh 1 kilogram, so I went by weight alone. The recipe also doesn't tell you if the figs are supposed to be fresh or dried. I'm assuming fresh, but since I had none of those, I used very soft dried ones and added some water to the mix. It was an easy chutney to put together, and the results tasted good right away, so I'm assuming the flavours will be that much better in a few weeks. My jars must be smaller that Mr. Slater's since I got 3 jars out of a half-recipe.

• Slow-cooked oxtail with five-spice and tamarind

  • Grinsall on August 18, 2013

    Used rose, orange peel and cinnamon. As a recipe variation.

• 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.

  • bellatavia on December 04, 2015

    We loved this recipe, it's a one-pot meal that tastes much more complex. We will make this again and turn up the spice.

• Courgette and ricotta tart

  • twoyolks on July 13, 2016

    This didn't really work out well for me. The recipe was obviously directly converted into standard units which meant that common sizes didn't match the recipe. The puff pastry didn't cook all the way through. The zucchini tasted unpleasant. The cheese mixture was nice but not enough to save the recipe.

• A simple pear tart

  • Glinys on October 17, 2022

    Good simple recipe with rich pastry Best eaten warm from the oven

• 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.

• Chocolate hazelnut slice

  • bellatavia on December 04, 2015

    We found the cake itself a little dry but perhaps I cooked it a bit too long. The Hazelnut praline is delicious enough to eat on its own!

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• Almond, marzipan and berry cakes

  • JFM on December 18, 2012

    15.12.12: very good!

• 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

• Chicken with potatoes and dill

  • JFM on November 11, 2012

    im Ofen braten

• 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.

• 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.

• Slow-cooked oxtail with five-spice and tamarind

  • Grinsall on August 18, 2013

    Used rose, orange peel and cinnamon. As a recipe variation.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• Advocate by Diane Anderson-Minshall

  It chronicles a year in the kitchen in his normally idiosyncratic jottings woven together with more than 250 recipes.

  Full review

• Food52 by Amanda Cohen

  The 2014 Piglet Tournament of Cookbooks vs. Saving the Season by Kevin West

  Full review

• Food52 by Andrea Gentl

  The 2014 Piglet Tournament of Cookbooks winner vs. The Art of Fermentation by Sandor Ellix Katz

  Full review