Nigella Kitchen

Nigella’s Apple & Cinnamon Muffins

Posted by annauk1 on June 20, 2012

Posted in: muffins, Nigella, Nigella Kitchen, Off the Shelf. 8 Comments

Who doesn’t love the classic combination of apple and cinnamon? Nothing brings these muffins quicker to mind than a couple of apples sitting languishing in the fruit bowl. Warming and homely, the entire kitchen smells divine! Rushing around today, on my morning off, I wanted to whip up a little something to treat my family and the staff who work for us in our business. What could be nicer? So, amidst thoughts rushing round my head, of new cameras (Canon or Nikon?) The Gym (Which class can I try next? Am I good enough to try advanced step?) they came into being.

Nigella’s Apple & Cinnamon Muffins
Adapted from ‘Kitchen’ by Nigella Lawson.

2 eating apples
250g plain flour
2 tsp. Baking powder
2 tsp. Ground Cinnamon
125g light brown sugar, plus 4 tsp. for sprinkling
125ml honey
60ml runny natural yoghurt
125ml flavourless vegetable oil
2 eggs
75g natural, unblanched almonds.

1. Preheat oven to 200deg.C. (180deg.C Fan oven)

2. Peel and core the apples and chop into small dice.

3. Measure flour, B.P and 1 tsp. of the cinnamon into a bowl.

4. Whisk together the brown sugar, honey, yoghurt, vegetable oil and eggs in another bowl or jug.

5. Chop almonds roughly and add half of them to the flour. Put the other half into a small bowl with the other tsp. of cinnamon and the 4 tsp. of brown sugar.

6. Fold the wet ingredients into the dry, add the chopped apples. Stir to combine, but don’t overmix.

7. Spoon mix into muffin papers, top with the nutty, cinnamony, sugary mix.

8. Bake for 20 mins.

9. Once they are golden brown and cooked through, let them stand out of the oven for 5 minutes, before transfering to a wire rack to cool.

10. Serve with a lovely big cuppa! No, not in that mug…..in that BIG one…..should last while you’re scoffing a muffin….or two.

1. Off the Shelf ~ Japanese Bible by Fiona Hammond

Posted by annauk1 on January 20, 2012

Posted in: Chicken, Nigella Kitchen, Off the Shelf. 15 Comments

D’you know, the funny thing about kicking off my ‘Off the Shelf cook book challenge’ with this book, is the fact that it’s one of my latest purchases! It’s hardly had time to settle in, before it’s being whipped off the shelf!
It’s a cute little book, which has achievable, yet tasty, Japanese recipes. I’ve always wanted to know a little bit more about Japanese food, so this easy book is the ideal, painless way in.

The recipe I chose was the Chicken Teriyaki, a family favourite of ours.
Easier, even, than the recipe I usually follow from Nigella Lawson’s book ‘Kitchen’.
Authentic? I don’t really know…

Chicken pieces are fried off in a little vegetable oil to colour them, removed from the pan and set aside.

A Teriyaki sauce is made up from: half a cup of sake, half a cup of mirin, half a cup of soy sauce and 1 tablespoon of caster sugar.

This bubbles away for a few minutes, reducing slightly, the chicken is added back and it’s cooked for a few more minutes so that the chicken cooks through.

That’s it!

Marks out of ten? 6.

Would I make it again? No.

Would I do anything differently? I’m sticking to Nigella’s recipe from now on, a little more complex in the taste department!

…and carrying on with the Asian theme…

Posted by annauk1 on August 17, 2011

Posted in: Nigella, Nigella Kitchen, Recipes using mince. 13 Comments

…….Nigella’s ‘Korean keema’.

Perfect for those days when you need a quick family meal, that fills tummies, but is tasty and a little spicy.
We enjoyed this, but I’d definitely add more Gochujang next time.

Korean Keema:

Serves 2, generously.

150g Basmati rice
250g turkey mince
6 thin, or 3 fat spring onions, chopped
125g frozen peas
1 tsp veg. oil
2 tbsp rice wine
1-2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander

for the sauce:
2 tbsp Gochujang (red pepper paste)
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp rice wine
2 tbsp soy sauce

Cook yer rice as you would normally do!

Whisk together the sauce ingredients and stir in the minced turkey, leave to steep for about 5 mins.

Heat a wok. While it’s heating up, pour boiling water over the peas which are in a colander (to defrost them)

When the wok is hot add the oil then the peas and spring onions and stir-fry for 3-4 mins.

Add the turkey mince and sauce and stir-fry for 4-5 mins until cooked.

Add the rice wine along with 4 tbsp water to swill out the residue sauce from the meat-steeping bowl, pour into the pan and fry for a further 30 seconds until everything is piping hot.

Serve over the rice sprinkled with fresh coriander.

Marks out of ten? 8

Would I make it again? Yes.

Would I do anything differently? I’d add more of the spicy pepper paste – we like spicy in this family!

Arancini Di Riso

Posted by annauk1 on July 30, 2011

Posted in: Cheese/Cheese products, Family recipes, leftovers, Nigella Kitchen. 23 Comments

Here’s a great use for any kind of left over rice!
As long as it’s not plain rice and is left over from either a risotto or some kind of flavoured rice (mine was left-over chicken, chorizo and prawn rice. Highly flavoured and ideal for turning into aranci (Italian for ‘oranges’ and you can see why in the finished dish) The more subtly flavoured the rice, the more subtle the arancini.
If you want to add flavour to the arancini, for instance if your rice is a little on the plain side, you can stuff the arancini with left-over ragu sauce, if you have some in the freezer, or with little cubes of mozzarella, or indeed, both.

Left-over rice

First of all form the cold rice into large walnut sized balls:

If you are going to stuff the arancini, then make sure the filling is properly enclosed.
It’s not as fiddly a job as it looks really, as the cold rice will hold itself together really well.

Coat the arancini, first in egg, which has been thinned down with a little water so it’s not too thick and ‘eggy’ for want of a better word, then in breadcrumbs, the staler the better, shop-bought will do.
Deep fry on a medium heat, so that they have a chance to cook through and ensure the cold rice is piping hot, before they become wonderfully golden.

How can anything coated in breadcrumbs and deep-fried not taste great, right?

Before I go, I want to wish you all a wonderful Sunday and show you Nigella’s old-fashioned cheesecake from her latest book ‘Kitchen’.

I love baked cheesecake, but don’t feel that I can recommend this one, it was neither sweet enough, lemony enough, or tasty enough. Mediocre is the only word I can think of to describe it.
A shame, but there you go. Not everything is worth making again, right?

Recipes from Nigella Lawson’s ‘Kitchen’.

Posted by annauk1 on March 23, 2011

Posted in: Nigella, Nigella Kitchen. 14 Comments

I’m just going to come right out with it.

I write down on a sticky note attached to the inside cover of my Nigella Lawson books, which recipes I make.

And then I give them marks out of ten.

What’s that? I heard you! OCD you say? Well, OK, maybe just a tad…..

1. Rapid roastini:

Marks out of ten? 4.

Would I make them again? Not unless I had a packet of gnocchi in the fridge, that I couldn’t use in any other way!

Would I do anything differently? I used to much oil to fry these in, so instead of becoming all lovely and caramelised, they kind of took on a very pale golden colour all over. Not half as appetising as Nigella’s. Boo Hoo.

2. African drumsticks:

Marks out of ten? 7.

Would I make them again? Yes. Definitely. In fact I want them now!

Would I do anything differently? I did already. Can’t help it. Ok, so I have a sweet tooth and doubled the amount of apricot jam!

3. Chicken teriyaki:

Marks out of ten? 10. We adore this, make it regularly, best recipe thus far!

Would I make it again? Answered above..

Would I do anything differently? Not differently, but I always steam some cabbage to serve with it. That’s how Yo! Sushi do it and we love theirs too.

4. Coconut & cherry banana bread:

No photo sorry. It was too ugly by far.

Marks out of ten? 7.5

Would I make it again? Not if it was for company.

Would I do anything differently? My notes scribbled in my copy of ‘Kitchen’ read: “Made into 12 muffins, Hideous looking, didn’t rise at all!”

5. Apple & cinnamon muffins:

Marks out of ten? 10.

Would I make them again? Everyone adored these – my family, the bosses downstairs, their family, everyone!

Would I do anything differently? Not a thing!

6. No fuss fruit tart:

Marks out of ten? 8.

Would I make it again? Yes, but with a fresh fruit topping.

Would I do anything differently? I loved this tart, how easy it was to assemble. I’d definitely make it with beautiful, fresh fruit.

7. Chocolate banana muffins:

Marks out of ten? 9.

Would I make them again? Yes, even children could make this recipe with only minimum help.

Would I do anything differently? I added white chocolate chunks to mine as you can see above. It’s that sweet tooth rearing it’s head again readers….

8. Everyday brownies:

No photo, sorry. Looked very erm, brownie-ish.

Marks out of ten: 8.

Would I make them again? Yes, I like the fact that they’re made with cocoa powder, so they’re not too rich.

Would I do anything differently? Be extremely careful not too overbake, as they go from fudge-like to cake-like very, very quickly.

9. Chocolate chip cookies:

Marks out of ten? 10.

Would I make them again? I’ve already made them quite a few times….maybe too many….

Would I do anything differently? No. They’re perfect as they are. Crisp on the edges, chewy and soft within. Perfect cookies!

10. Blondies:

Marks out of ten? 7.

Would I make them again? May do. If I fancy a flap-jacky sweet. They’re definitely not blondies as we know them (A brownie made with white chocolate)

Would I do anything differently? No.

11. Crustless pizza:

Marks out of ten? 9.

Would I make it again? Yup! Very quick and easy!

Would I do anything differently? No. But it’s more like a cheesy Yorkshire pudding than pizza…

12. Cheesy chilli:

Marks out of ten? 2.

Would I make it again? No. No way. The chorizo was overpowering and I missed some veggy additions like onion, peppers, sweetcorn….anything vaguely veggy…

Would I do anything differently? Yes. Stick to my own in future!

13. Sunshine soup:

Marks out of ten? 5.

Would I make it again? er, dunno really, jury’s out on this one (guess that’s a no…)

Would I do anything differently? Yes. Make a different soup recipe.

14. Peanut butter humous:

Marks out of ten? 8.

Would I make it again? Yes, for my Mum!

would I do anything differently? No.

15. Red velvet cupcakes:

Marks out of ten? 8.

Would I make them again? Yes!

Would I do anything differently? No, the frosting and cupcakes were delish.

Cheers Nigella! Here’s to the next 15 recipes!

Wonder what they’ll be…….

I’m so happy I could jump for joy

Posted by annauk1 on August 30, 2010

Posted in: Nigella, Nigella Kitchen. 8 Comments

Yes, only 3 more sleeps and I can rush to Waterstones clutching my pennies in my hot little hands to exchange them for Nigella’s new book ‘Kitchen’.
I literally CANNOT wait!

After my, shall we say, lukewarm response to Nigella’s Christmas book, I have been a little aprehensive that Nigella’s recipes will be a little ‘ordinary’ and that I wouldn’t fall head over heels in love with them…but what can I say? After about 15 of the recipes appeared in the ‘Mail on Sunday’s ‘You’ magazine, I really needn’t have worried! The recipes are cosy, homely, comforting, but with that certain Nigella quirkiness which sets them apart.
How about mixing cream cheese with lemon curd for a ‘no-fuss’ fruit tart filling? Inspired I say! I would never have thought of doing that!
Like I say….only 3 more sleeps…..

Watch a short clip of Nigella talking about ‘Kitchen’.