Notes about Recipes in this book

• Aromatic lamb-shank stew

  • FJT on January 13, 2013

    Lovely flavours. Takes a lot longer to cook than the recipe states, but I don't think anyone seriously expects to cook something like this in under 2 hours ... mine simmered for nearer 4 and the meat fell off the bone.

  • NickiD on February 14, 2021

    Delicious. Easy to make. Made it for 2 and cooked the lamb in the oven @ 160 for over 2 hours.

• Bitter orange ice cream

  • KarinaFrancis on August 19, 2013

    Super easy and delicious. Thinking of trying it with blood orange and limes...

  • KIGirl on September 04, 2014

    I too substituted with the single orange and two limes - very easy to make

  • twoyolks on May 16, 2016

    These have a great orange flavor but the ice cream has a weird mouth feel (I'm assuming from the uncooked corn starch in the icing sugar). The orange zest also gave the ice cream a weird texture. I used actual bitter oranges but churned the ice cream in a real ice cream maker.

  • Hellyloves2cook on May 06, 2012

    Have made this by indeed substituting Seville oranges for 1 regular orange and 2 limes. Easy and quick to make. Once in freezer that's it- just leave till firm 3-5 hrs.No stirring/ churning required!

• Chicken with chorizo and cannellini

  • Hellyloves2cook on May 10, 2012

    Made this recently and substituted Silver Beet for the kale. I quadrupled the recipe as it was to serve four people( recipe was for 1 person) and I chopped the chicken breasts up and placed on the top of Cannelini bean mixture before serving. A big thumbs up from everybody! Use good quality chorizo to obtain the depth of flavour needed!

• Chickpeas with chili, garlic and thyme

  • wester on January 15, 2018

    I thought these were too soft (after an hour and a half) but my daughter loved them.

• Chocolate fudge cake

  • Elbea on October 05, 2020

    This cake is enormous, and very rich! Perfect for anyone with a sweet tooth!

• Chocolate ganache

  • wester on May 29, 2016

    Extremely simple, very nice. I used whipping cream (no double cream here in the Netherlands) and it worked fine.

• Chocolate pots

  • Alowishs on April 02, 2016

    (page 186) Made for Super Bowl party and they were Super good. Very easy to make yet comes across as amazingly gourmet. Would make these again, but may try a different recipe to mix it up.

• Creamy potato gratin

  • Miriam on February 01, 2010

    Great method for gratin, potatoes part cooked in saucepan first - ensures they're all nice and soft. Reheats well.

• Easy sticky-toffee dessert

  • KIGirl on September 04, 2014

    Way,way,way too sweet

• Halloumi with chilli

  • Carol.Furness on July 19, 2014

    This always goes down well at parties. Squeaky cheese at it's best.

• Ham in Coca-Cola

  • Carol.Furness on July 19, 2014

    Tasty and easy to make.

  • redjanet on January 08, 2012

    Incredibly easy, this was a great main dish to make on Christmas Eve. It felt rather strange pouring a whole bottle of coca cola into the pot to boil the ham in, but the result was delicious, especially after the ten minutes finished off in the oven with the treacle, English mustard powder and demerara sugar glaze. Very tasty indeed.

• Hot and sour soup

  • Hellyloves2cook on May 06, 2012

    A hot and spicy broth to clear your sinuses for sure! Once ingredients are ready to go this wonderful soup is done in less than 10 mins! Love it!

• Pigs in blankets

  • Alowishs on April 02, 2016

    (on page 78) Incredibly bland. I like to follow the exact directions when I make a recipe for the first time, but could see from the get-go this would need some spicing up. I'd expect Nigella to add her own flair to this, but it's quite boring.

• Bream with anchovies and thyme

  • wester on January 15, 2018

    Simple and good. The skin of the fish stuck to the pan, so it became crunchy bits in the sauce. It did not look very pretty but it tasted good.

• Salmon with ginger, soy and rice vinegar

  • Hellyloves2cook on May 06, 2012

    Made this many years ago and accidently used smoked salmon. It was not until the next day I realized my error- it was still very tasty.

  • KarinaFrancis on January 11, 2015

    I cut the salmon up into small cubes and served them on Asian spoons as finger food. Super simple and very tasty, was popular with my guests. Next time I will add a bit more ginger.

• Salmon with greens and shiitake mushrooms

  • Hellyloves2cook on May 06, 2012

    Made this many ,many times. I have used brown chestnut mushrooms, portabello mushrooms whatever I can get hold of if not shiitake. Lovely flavours and textures, a light but substantial meal.

• Salt and pepper squid

  • Hellyloves2cook on May 06, 2012

    Followed this recipe to the letter. At the time thought 2tbs maldon salt wa rather excessive-but went ahead with it anyway resulting in beautifully cooked squid that was basically inedible - although did eat about 4 pieces and then suffered from excessive thirst! Next time will probably try 2 teaspoons of the salt. Note to self - go with gut feeling!

• Slow-roasted aromatic shoulder of pork

  • debbyc on November 08, 2012

    This recipe takes 24 hours to cook! As she is basing this recipe on the Slow-roasted shoulder of pork (Spalla di maiale arrostita lentamente) from River Cafe Cookbook Two by Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers which they cook over night in their wood oven.

• Stir-braised savoy cabbage with nigella seeds

  • redjanet on September 04, 2011

    Quick and easy to make, with a hint of Asian flavours due to the soy sauce and toasted sesame oil. This recipe was easily halved to serve just two people.

• Sweetcorn pudding

  • KarinaFrancis on August 17, 2015

    This was really popular and very simple to make. I used a 500g bag of frozen corn instead of the canned corn

  • Carol.Furness on July 19, 2014

    Another tasty and easy recipe. Goes well with the ham in coca cola. Would be good with chicken or gammon.

• Thai yellow pumpkin and seafood curry

  • Foodycat on September 16, 2021

    My husband has been raving for 15 years about a curry that his friend made... he was sure it was a Jamie Oliver one but I haven't been able to find one that sounds similar and his friend didn't remember making it. This sounded like the one he described and he says it's very close but this one is better. Smart man. Very quick to put together.

• The Union Square Café's bar nuts

  • lilham on January 10, 2016

    This was delicious. I substituted dried rosemary for fresh, table salt for sea salt and normal butter for salted (but reduced the salt to a pinch). I used only a pinch of cayenne instead of 2 tsp, as I was serving them to children as well as adults. The recipe said to serve this warm, but it was good at room temperature too.

  • Jane on December 25, 2012

    I made a double batch of these for a party and they were universally popular. Very easy to do, just roasted nuts mixed with melted butter and herbs/spices but the warm spiciness is great. They are a bit greasy so you will need napkins.

• Vietnamese chicken and mint salad

  • sharifah on August 06, 2014

    Emmhh, this was okay......but I thought it lacked something. I compared the ingredients with another version that I tried from a Vietnamese cookbook, and the amount of garlic, lime and fish sauce ratio compared to the amount of cabbage, carrots, chicken etc was seriously 'not sufficient'. No wonder it tasted like it lacked something....I won't be making this again.

• Warm shredded lamb salad with mint and pomegranate

  • Jane on May 18, 2019

    This was so good and so easy. I left it cooking overnight on a low oven. By lunchtime it was falling off the bone tender and all I had to do was shred it and scatter over some pomegranate arils. Ran out of mint as so many other dishes at the lunch had mint in.

  • VFenner on July 17, 2021

    Firm favourite for summer lunch. So easy to prepare and cook. Perfect alternative to a barbecue. Great with peppers and feta side dish by Nigella.