At My Table: A Celebration of Home Cooking

by Nigella Lawson

Overview

Nigella Lawson, the international bestselling author of such classic cookbooks as How to Be a Domestic Goddess and Simply Nigella: Feel Good Food, shares recipes of the meals that she loves to cook for friends and family.

Warm, comforting, and inspiring, Nigella’s At My Table: A Celebration of Home Cooking offers a collection of recipes that are simple to prepare, giving you an opportunity to enhance your culinary skills and create a variety of delicious dishes—featuring a host of new ingredients to enrich classic flavors and tastes.

From main courses including Chicken Fricassee, Hake with Bacon, Peas and Cider, and Chili Mint Lamb Cutlets through colorful vegetable dishes such as Eastern Mediterranean Chopped Salad and Carrots and Fennel with Harissa to treats of Emergency Brownies, Sticky Toffee Pudding, and White Chocolate Cheesecake, Nigella will help you serve up savory and sweet foods for a fine dining experience straight from your own kitchen.

Includes more than 100 color photographs of dishes to whet your appetite.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250154279
Publisher:	Flatiron Books
Publication date:	03/26/2024
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	276
Sales rank:	235,814
File size:	38 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Nigella Lawson has written numerous bestselling cookbooks, including the classics How to Eat, How to Be a Domestic Goddess and Simply Nigella. These books and her many television series such as Nigella Bites, Nigella Feasts, and Nigellissima have made her a household name around the world. She was a mentor on ABC's The Taste, and her books have sold more than eight million copies.

Hometown:

London, England

Date of Birth:

January 6, 1960

Place of Birth:

London, England

Education:

Degree in Modern and Medieval Languages, Oxford University, 1979

Website:

http://www.stylenetwork.com/Shows/Nigella/

Read an Excerpt

CHAPTER 1

TURKISH EGGS

If I hadn't eaten the Turkish eggs at Peter Gordon's restaurant, The Providores, I most certainly wouldn't be tempted by the idea of poached eggs on Greek yogurt. I say that only to preempt any hesitancy on your part. For çilbir, pronounced "chulburr," is a revelation and a complete sensation.

If you can't get the Aleppo pepper, also known as pul biber or Turkish red pepper flakes, which has a mild, almost sweet heat and a distinctive lemoniness, you could substitute paprika, adding a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes. But, in these days of online grocery shopping, I'd encourage you to go for the real thing.

If you have an egg-poaching method of your own that you're perfectly happy with, ignore my instructions below. But if you're interested, this is how I, having tried just about every way in order to overcome an almost pathological fear of egg poaching, go about it. I know the business of putting the eggs in a strainer seems like a fussy step too far (and I admit I don't always follow my own instructions), but here's the thing: the crucial element in creating beautifully formed poached eggs is how fresh they are, as the longer they sit after they've been laid, the more watery the egg whites become. And since a freshly laid egg is generally held to be one that has been laid no longer than 48 hours before it's cooked, I very much doubt the eggs I buy at the supermarket count. If you gently crack an egg into a fine-mesh strainer and swirl it over a bowl, the wateriness (which turns into a stringy kind of fluff while cooking) drips away, and the gelled white that remains holds its shape more. Having said that, I do think that unless you've worked the brunch station at a busy restaurant for months on end, you'll be hard pushed to turn out perfectly formed poached eggs every time. So do not feel that anything less than perfection is a mistake, and accept a little straggliness here and there.

It is not advisable to make ahead/store

SERVES 2

Plain whole milkGreek yogurt – ¾ cup
To serve:

Sourdough or other bread – chunkily sliced and toasted

1 Fill a wide-ish saucepan (I use one of 9 inches diameter) with water to come about 1½ inches up the sides of the pan. Put it on the heat and cover so that it heats up faster. Line a large plate with some paper towels, get out a slotted spoon, and put both near the pan now.

2 Now fill another saucepan – on which a heatproof bowl can sit comfortably – again with water to come 1½ inches up the sides, and bring to a boil. Put the yogurt in said bowl, stir in the garlic and salt, and sit it on top of this pan, making sure the base of the bowl doesn't touch the water. Stir it until it gets to body temperature and has the consistency of lightly whipped cream. Turn off the heat and leave the bowl as it is, over the pan.

3 Melt the butter gently in a small saucepan until it is just beginning to turn a hazelnutty brown (this is why, in classic French cuisine, it's known as beurre noisette), but make sure it's not actually burning. Turn the heat off under the pan, then stir in the olive oil, followed by the beautiful red pepper flakes; it will foam up fierily. Leave to one side while you get on with the eggs. And this is when you should be thinking of putting the toast on.

4 When you are ready to poach the eggs, crack the first egg into a fine mesh strainer suspended over a small bowl, then lift it up a little and swirl gently for about 30 seconds, letting the watery part of the white drip into the bowl. Gently tip the egg into a small cup or ramekin and, aiming for the white, add 1 teaspoon of lemon juice; I know everyone else says vinegar, but I just don't like the taste of it on the egg, and the lemon does the trick just the same. Proceed as above with the second egg.

5 When the poaching water is just starting to simmer, take a cup or ramekin in each hand and gently slide in the eggs, one on each side of the pan. Turn the heat right down so there is no movement in the water whatsoever, and poach the eggs for 3–4 minutes until the whites are set and the yolks still runny. Transfer the eggs with your slotted spoon to the paper-lined plate to remove any excess water. Do remember to switch off the heat. Sorry to state the obvious, but I have too often left it on this low without noticing.

6 Divide the warm creamy yogurt between two shallow bowls, top each with a poached egg, pour the peppery butter around and slightly over the yogurt, scatter the chopped dill on top, and eat dreamily, dipping in some thick well-toasted bread as you do so.

WAFFLES

I was watching an American TV show recently and missed a lot of the plot, as I was distracted by the amount of waffle-eating going on. I tried to prevent myself getting a waffle iron; I'd made that mistake once before. Reader, I didn't succeed. But I vowed that this time I wouldn't use it once then consign it to a cupboard under the stairs, and I've been as good as my word and have turned into something of a weekend waffler.

How long you cook the waffles for, as well as how many you make, will depend on the waffle iron you're using. Mine is a sturdy, non-stick stove-top Belgian waffle iron, which takes one cup of batter per batch; if you're operating a different machine, follow the directions for quantities and cooking times that come with it.

I advise you to preheat your oven to 200°F before you start so that you can put the waffles on a wire rack over a baking sheet as you make them, to keep them warm. This also helps to give them a lovely crisp crust.

For make ahead/store notes see here

I GET 5 BATCHES OUT OF MY IRON, WHICH SEPARATE INTO 20 SMALL SQUARE WAFFLES

Whole milk – 1¾ cups plus 2 tablespoons
To serve:

Maple syrup
1 Pour the milk into a large pitcher.

2 Combine the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Put the egg whites into another – grease-free – bowl ready to whisk, and add the yolks to the milk pitcher.

3 Add the oil and vanilla to the pitcher of milk and yolks and beat together, then whisk the egg whites, ready and waiting in their bowl, until you have firm peaks.

4 Pour the pitcher of wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ones, and whisk together, making sure there are no lumps (a little hand whisk is fine for this), then fold in the beaten egg whites slowly, gently, and thoroughly until you have a thick, smooth, and airy batter.

5 Heat the waffle iron following the instructions (some need to be lightly oiled before you start). The one I use requires you to separate the halves and put each on a separate ring to heat up first.

6 Fill one side of your heated waffle iron with 1 cup (or appropriate amount) of batter and close with the other heated half of the waffle iron. Cook for 1 minute, then turn the waffle iron over and cook on the other side for 2 minutes. If you're using an electric waffle iron, you will obviously not be turning it over, so you may need to cook for a minute or so longer. Just follow the instructions that come with the iron in all cases.

7 Ease the cooked waffle out of the waffle iron. Keep going until all the batter is used up. If you're not keeping the waffles warm in the low oven (see recipe introduction) each waffle should be eaten just as soon as it comes out of the iron. Generously pour maple syrup over your waffle, and tumble a few berries alongside if wished.

EGG TORTILLA PIE

This recipe for an easy, throw-it-all-together supper or bolstering weekend breakfast comes from my longtime kitchen companion, Hettie Potter, and very grateful I am, too. Impressively, she makes this a single portion. I, no modest eater, feel it is perfectly substantial for two, though it is a little tricky to divide.

Think of this as a pie that uses flour tortillas in place of pie crust and, although I have given precise measures for what to chuck in, consider them guidance only. The same goes for the ingredients themselves: replace the ham with sliced leftover sausage or leave it out altogether, and use any cheese you like. All that really matters is that you can form a pie: whatever size tortillas you use, they have to be able to line your dish, and come at least 3/4 inch up the sides.

It is not advisable to make ahead/store

SERVES 1–2 (SEE RECIPE INTRODUCTION)

Regular olive oil – 2 teaspoons
1 Preheat the oven to 400°F. Pour 1 teaspoon of the oil into a shallowish, round, ovenproof dish, and use a pastry brush to grease the base and sides lightly. Line it with 1 of the tortillas, making sure it comes up the sides a little. In effect, you are creating a tortilla bowl inside your dish.

2 Drop in the ham, crack in the eggs – sprinkling the yolks with a little salt – and then scatter about a third of your grated cheese on top.

3 Brush one side of the second tortilla with oil – keeping a little bit of oil in reserve – and place it, oiled-side up, loosely on top of the filling. Press the edges of the tortillas together, pushing them down into the dish and up the sides, then brush these edges with a little more oil.

4 Top with the remaining cheese, then add a few squeezes or shakes of hot sauce, depending on how fiery you want this to be. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes, by which time the eggs will be cooked inside, the cheese melted, and the edges of the tortilla crust crisped and browned. Ovens do vary, so you may find you need to alter the cooking time. Eat immediately. This is not a huge problem.

BLACK PUDDING HASH WITH FRIED EGG

You either hate black pudding (otherwise known as blood sausage or boudin noir) or you love it. And while I wouldn't even try to win over the former, it gives me pleasure to gratify the latter. This is not entirely selfless, since I belong firmly in this camp. Given the choice, I go for Stornoway black pudding, which has a firmer texture and crisps up more as it cooks, but I have yet to meet a black pudding that I don't like, and a softer, moussier-textured version will do just as well. I've given the recipe here assuming you're starting off with uncooked potatoes, which means you need some water in the pan as you cook them, but if you make this with leftover cooked potatoes (of whatever sort) just fry the cubes in oil until crisp.

It is not advisable to make ahead/store

SERVES 2

Regular olive oil – 2 tablespoons, plus 2 tablespoons for the eggs
1 Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a medium-sized, heavy-based, non-stick frying pan and fry the cubed potatoes in a single layer, over a high heat, for 5 minutes. Then stir for a further minute, before gently pouring the water over and sprinkling in the salt. Stir again, and once the water has bubbled up, turn the heat down to medium and leave to cook for another 7–10 minutes until the water has evaporated and the potatoes are cooked through.

2 Add most of the scallion and most of the chile, give a good stir for about 30 seconds, then push the potatoes to the edges of the pan, so they form a beautiful golden frame, and tumble the black pudding into the space in the middle. Leave to fry, without touching it, for 21/2 minutes, then stir everything together gently in the pan and cook for another minute until the black pudding is hot all the way through.

3 Taste to see if you need more salt, then divide the hash between two waiting plates. Wipe out the pan with some paper towels, making sure not to burn yourself, then add the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil, and when hot, crack in the 2 eggs and fry them, spooning some of the hot oil over, so that the white around the yolk cooks through. Top the hash with the fried eggs, and sprinkle over the remaining scallion and chile.

GOLDEN EGG CURRY

This magnificent addition to my eating life comes courtesy of Yasmin Othman (who has brought much deliciousness my way over the years) and I glow with gratitude every time I eat it. This – called masak lemak telur in Malaysian – is very far removed from the egg curries I remember from my early youth, and would much prefer to forget. What we have here are eggs poached in a rich, aromatic, turmeric-tinted, tamarind-sharp, coconutty sauce or soup.

This has definite heat, but not eye-wateringly so. If you'd like it a bit milder, do not pierce the three whole Thai chiles. And if you'd like it a lot milder, then you could seed the Thai chile that goes in the paste, and dispense with the whole ones in the soup. But even if, like me, you love fiery food, I don't advise eating the whole chiles. I won't stop you, but you have been warned.

For make ahead/store notes see here

SERVES 2

Fresh jalapeño chiles – 2, seeded and roughly chopped
To serve:

Rice or flatbreads (or both)

1 With an immersion blender, blitz the jalapeño chiles and 1 roughly chopped green Thai chile, shallots, garlic, ginger, and turmeric to a paste.

2 Heat the oil in a heavy-based wok or a pan of similarly wide diameter that comes with a lid, add the paste and the lemongrass and fry gently, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes, by which time the paste will be cooked and softened. Either don't use a wooden spoon here, or use one you don't mind being stained by the turmeric.

3 Add the coconut milk, water, sea salt, and tamarind. Make a couple of little incisions in each of the 3 whole green Thai chiles with the point of a small sharp knife and drop them in, too. Turn the heat up to bring to a near boil, then reduce the heat again and simmer gently for about 7 minutes, stirring frequently, until the sauce has cooked and reduced to a thick golden soup.

4 Crack the eggs into the sauce (if you're cautious, you could crack each of them into a cup first), cover with a lid, and leave to simmer very gently for about 4 minutes, or until the whites are set but the yolks still runny, or cook for longer if you want well-cooked yolks. You'll have to lift the lid to monitor how the eggs are cooking.

5 Divide between two bowls, trying to spoon out most of the sauce from the pan first. Serve with rice, dippable flatbreads, or both.

(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "At My Table"
by .
Copyright © 2017 Nigella Lawson.
Excerpted by permission of Flatiron Books.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Title Page,
Copyright Notice,
Dedication,
Introduction,
Turkish Eggs,
Waffles,
Egg Tortilla Pie,
Black Pudding Hash with Fried Egg,
Golden Egg Curry,
Deviled Eggs,
Tomato and Fried Bread Hash,
Chili Cheese Garlic Bread,
Whipped Feta Toasts,
Toasted Brie, Prosciutto, and Fig Sandwich,
Catalan Toasts,
Parmesan French Toast,
Beef and Eggplant Fatteh,
Spelt Spaghetti with Spicy Sesame Mushrooms,
Gemelli with Anchovies, Tomatoes, and Mascarpone,
Mussels with Pasta and Tomatoes,
Capellini with Scallops,
Radiatori with Sausage and Saffron,
Meatballs with Orzo,
Mung Bean Dal with Mint and Cilantro Raita,
Turmeric Rice with Cardamom and Cumin,
Carrots and Fennel with Harissa,
Roasted Red Endive,
Butternut and Sweet Potato Curry,
Garlic and Parmesan Mashed Potatoes,
Potato Waffles from Leftover Garlic and Parmesan Mashed Potatoes,
Red Cabbage with Cranberries,
Smashed Chickpeas with Garlic, Lemon, and Chile,
Brussels Sprouts with Preserved Lemons and Pomegranate,
Garlicky Roasted Potatoes with Oregano and Feta,
Moroccan Vegetable Pot,
Couscous with Pine Nuts and Dill,
Sweet Potato Tacos with Avocado and Cilantro Sauce and a Tomato and Pear Relish,
Tomato and Horseradish Salad,
Quinoa Salad with Walnuts, Radishes, and Pomegranate,
Radicchio, Chestnut, and Blue Cheese Salad with a Citrus, Whole Grain Mustard, and Honey Dressing,
Chopped Salad,
Beet and Goat Cheese Salad with a Passionfruit Dressing,
Bashed Cucumber and Radish Salad,
Subverting the Spiralizer,
Spiced Almonds,
Cilantro and Jalapeño Salsa,
Red-Hot Roasted Salsa,
White Miso Hummus,
Pear and Passionfruit Chutney,
Golden Garlic Mayonnaise,
Flash-Fried Squid with Tomato and Tequila Salsa,
Hake with Bacon, Peas, and Cider,
Polenta-Fried Fish with Minted Pea Purée,
Salt and Vinegar Potatoes,
Roast Loin of Salmon with Aleppo Pepper and Fennel Seeds,
Coconut Shrimp with Turmeric Yogurt,
Chicken and Pea Traybake,
Chicken with Red Grapes and Marsala,
Lime and Cilantro Chicken,
Butterflied Chicken with Miso and Sesame Seeds,
Indian-Spiced Chicken and Potato Traybake,
Chicken Barley,
Roast Cornish Hens with Couscous, Cumin, Cinnamon, and Thyme Stuffing,
Chicken Fricassée with Marsala, Chestnuts, and Thyme,
Roast Duck with Orange, Soy, and Ginger,
Cellophane Rolls,
Slow Roasted 5-Spice Lamb with Chinese Pancakes,
Herbed Leg of Lamb,
Cumberland Gravy,
Lamb Kofta with Garlic Sauce,
Spiced Lamb with Potatoes and Apricots,
Spicy Mint Lamb Chops with a Preserved Lemon and Mint Sauce,
Lamb Shanks with Dates and Pomegranate Molasses,
Bulgur Wheat with Sliced Almonds and Nigella Seeds,
Slow Roasted Pork Shoulder with Caramelized Garlic and Ginger,
Apple Pork Chops with Sauerkraut Slaw,
Pork with Prunes, Olives, and Capers,
Pork Chops with Port and Figs,
Sausages with Apples and Onions,
Flat Iron Steak with a Parsley, Shallot, and Caper Salad,
Roast Top Round with Caramelized Onions,
Sirloin Steaks with Anchovy Cream Sauce,
Queen of Puddings,
Apple Gingerjack,
White Chocolate Cheesecake,
Rose and Pepper Pavlova with Strawberries and Passionfruit,
Chocolate Olive Oil Mousse,
Ginger Wine Syllabub,
Warm Blondie Pudding Cake,
Sticky Toffee Pudding,
Maple Roasted Plums with Cinnamon Brown Sugar Yogurt,
Butterscotch Pots,
Passionfruit Ice-Cream Cake with Coconut-Caramel Sauce,
No-Churn Chocolate Truffle Ice Cream,
No-Churn Bourbon Salted Caramel Ice Cream,
Emergency Brownies,
Pear, Pistachio, and Rose Cake,
Cumin Seed Cake,
Lemon Tendercake with Blueberry Compote,
Victoria Sponge with Cardamom, Marmalade, and Crème Fraîche,
Chocolate Cake with Coffee Buttercream,
Vanilla Layer Cake with Ermine Icing,
Ginger and Walnut Carrot Cake,
Raspberry-Flecked Sour Cream Cake,
Scented Citrus Cake,
Sunken Chocolate Amaretto Cake with Crumbled Amaretti Cream,
Coconut Snowball Cake,
Double Chocolate and Pumpkin Seed Cookies,
Forgotten Cookies,
Negroni Sbagliato,
Turmeric and Ginger Vodka,
Dirty Lemon Martini,
Grapefruit Margarita,
Make Ahead and Storage Notes,
Index,
Acknowledgments,
Also by Nigella Lawson,
About the Author,
Copyright,