Tuesday 31 August 2010

Almost a domestic goddess

I love to cook and I love to try new recipes. I love to taste other people's cooking and I love people to cook for me. I am a collector of cookery books, although I tend to have 'old favourites' that I go back to time and time again. I cannot resist a new cookery book, especially once it is half price in Waterstones ;-)
There is a new book coming out by Nigella Lawson which is being serialized in one of the Sunday supplements. I was browsing through it at the weekend and came across her version of Toad in the Hole. {I suspect this may be a British dish, so if anyone from overseas is horrified by the name, it has nothing to do with toads or frogs of any kind! It involves sausages!} As the weather on Bank Holiday Monday was horrible, cold and cloudy with outbreaks of showers, it seemed a perfect dinner. I dashed outside between raindrops and picked some runner beans from the garden and set to work. My husband is often taken out for meals by building contractors and various agencies that his company uses and frequently gets taken out to very posh places in London. Only last week he was taken to the Park Lane Hilton for lunch in their rooftop restaurant. Thank goodness someone else was paying the bill! But despite enjoying all that fancy food, he is the kind of man who absolutely loves traditional food. When I suggested Nigella's dish with heaps of creamy mashed potato, veggies off the garden and onion gravy, his eyes glazed over and he gave a contented sigh!
Now, I'm not Nigella's greatest fan. There's a bit too much finger licking and looking seductively under eyelashes while pouting for the camera (it may not do it for me, but my husband is entranced!) but I do like her recipes. The toad in the hole wasn't that much different to my normal recipe except that she de-skinned the sausages, halved them and flattened them into little burger shapes that she browned off before pouring over the batter. It made quite a difference, and is something that I will do again.
So tonight I am trying her 'My mother's praised chicken' recipe which sounds lovely and then there should be enough left overs for tomorrow for her 'Thai chicken noodle soup'. I like the idea of cooking one dish that makes two days worth of dinners! I'll let you know how it goes ...

10 comments:

Liberty :) said...

looking forward to seeing how it goes Deb! When questioned, my 25 year old office mate said he fancied Nigella more than Cheryl Cole or Kelly Brook!!! What does this woman have that I don't know about?! LOL! Good luck!

humel said...

Please do! Sounds yummy :-)

When I saw the title of your post, I naturally assumed that it was about me....

Rachel Brett said...

I would agree with you there Deb, Nigella's food is amazing and the pouting is far too much! I really like Nigella's Christmas recipes.... opps the 'C' word!!!! :)

scrappyjacky said...

Like Rachel I love Nigella's 'C' recipes....and these new ones sound great.

Cheri said...

I don't know a blessed thing about Nigella, but I say if you make meals that don't involve simply heating something that was made in a warehouse or factory somewhere, flash frozen, and boxed... then, in my book, you ARE a domestic goddess!!!

Jennifer Grace said...

I have an addiction to cookbooks too. Seriously, so many that the cupboard shelf I keep them on broke last month! oops!

Jamie's my fave TV cook, I like his cheeky chappie approach. Tried his meatball recipe recntly and it was really yummy. I spent last week teaching my 19yr old sister how to cook - trying to get her to appreciate veggies more, but I think her fave recipe of the week was choc brownies! Will look forward to seeing what you think of Nigella's chicken recipes. xx

Maria Ontiveros said...

Oh, the idea of mashed potatoes, fresh bean, onion gravy and sausage sound divine!
Rinda

Anonymous said...

Toad in the hole is a fav in this house but due to the consistancy of my batter it is often called 'Frog in the Bog!

Sian said...

I'm looking forward to the new Nigella book - more for the reading than for the cooking I have to admit. Though anything involving sausages is always a big hit in this house.

Denise said...

Toad in the Hole is not my forte - am totally useless at the batter bit...you ARE a domestic goddess,I can always rely on you for a lovely recipe.Look forward to seeing how it goes x