Thursday 14 October 2010

Nigella Kitchen, Second Helpings

Salty Crunchy Peanut Bars
Here is the next Nigella instalment, cooked from Nigella Lawson’s Kitchen, Recipes from the Heart of the Home. Having fun cooking through this huge book.
Are you watching the TV series? I am and liking it a lot. Looking forward to this weeks episode, where Grasshopper Pie is on the menu, can’t wait to try that one. Also have my liquid smoke (from Ebay) to try the Texas Brisket and the silicone cheesecake mould for the chocolate peanut butter cheesecake (£4.99 in Lidl). Not had much success with the sweet Korean chilli paste. Tried to get it on Ebay, but as far as the seller and myself could work out, it seems to be illegal to post it to this country. My local shop is currently out of stock, so will have to wait until it comes back in, ah well, that much be the Nigella effect for you!

Blondies
These ware somewhere between a blondie and a flapjack, the chocolate chips gave them an extra flavour burst, lovely!
Lime Pie
Hubby loved this pie! It was good, I liked it best a couple of days after making, the flavours all melded together so well by then. Also added a half cup of sugar to the filling, and it still had a real lime-y bite to it.
Vietnamese Pork Noodle Soup
Really healthy and so filling!

Apricot Chicken
I changed this about a bit – added more jam and less mustard, and we liked it.

Coconut Rice
This didn’t come out quite as I’d expected it, bit stodgy, will give it another go in a different pan.

Swedish Summer Cake
You have to make this on the day you serve it, but it’s a real winner, we all loved it. I split the cake in two as opposed to the suggested three, as it just seemed too high stress to try and get a thin-ish cake cut into three, maybe that's just me though. This will be a Summer event for us now, much like a buche de Noel at Christmas time.

BBQ Mince
Another winner. A different but yummy way with mince for tea.

Strawberry Crumble
We were divided on this one, half loved and half weren’t so sure!

Teriyaki Chicken
Good, quick weeknight supper this one, I thickened the sauce a little with cornflour, as we like a thicker sauce.

Salty Crunchy Peanut Bars
I used half 70% and half milk Lindt (I’m not being given anything to say this!!) and liked the result. It is a weird combination, but it works on a few levels, chocolate – peanut, chocolate – Crunchie (or Violet Crumbles) and an amazing sweet – salt pull in your mouth as you munch. It works. Don’t make this one if you are on a diet, it just finds it’s way into your hands to eat!!