Nigella Kitchen: Recipes from the Heart of the Home by Nigella Lawson

Nigella Kitchen: Recipes from the Heart of the Home Reviews

• 
  Carol Bakker

  This is the first time I've read a cookbook straight through like a novel. I started with a library copy, but the delight of reading it was worth buying my own book and marking it up. I'm one of those odd birds who's only heard of Nigella Lawson a few months ago. (Shauna Niequist referenced her in her memoir, Bread & Wine.) I've never seen her on TV (yet). Part of me finds her so winsome in print and doesn't want to take a chance that my opinion would change.
  
  Each section begins with a one-page essay. These are my comfort, my cozy, my cream.
  
  She puts me in the mood to cook, reminds me of the joy that nourishing my family and my self brings. She's English. Need this Anglophile say more?
  
  Are her recipes any good? I hope so! They are certainly fun to read. But, so far, I've been feasting on her love of alliteration, her literary allusions, her zest for life around the table, her perfect choice of word, her clever wit, her unapologetic joie de vivre:
  
  [Vinyl gloves] are a must for any beet preparation, unless you want a touch of the Lady Macbeths.
  
  The green beans add to the verdigloriousness of the whole...
  
  ...a juicy tangle of onion, bell peppers, and spiced chicken;
  
  I was at the stove, pontificating and pottering, occasionally pushing and prodding what was in front of me with a pair of tongs;
  
  This [Vietnamese pork noodle soup] is good for chowing down and for slurping and for keeping body and soul together when your stomach's empty and your day's been full.
  
  Still, I need to know I can have a gaggle of friends over for supper, even when mired in the usual weekday farrago, in a way which makes me feel life is something to ease into and enjoy. This isn't about cooking, but about living.
  
  ...turning the remnants of last week's shopping into this week's treat, seems to me to be at the very heart of what being a cook — as opposed to being a chef — is all about.
  
  Anxiously producing food with an eye on the clapometer is surely the most direct route to joylessness in the kitchen I can possibly think of.
  
  I love its [Old-fashioned cheesecake] denseness and lemoniness, and the way it reminds me of tea with my granny, with her austere china and indulgent love.
  
  
  
• 
  Maria Bessette

  I will read anything she writes and cook anything she cooks
• 
  Riana Ambarsari

  I always love Nigella right from the very beginning I saw her television program. I love everything about the show: the pictures, the photography, the flow, the concept, everything. The recipes are so-so, but it doesn't matter to me. To me, recipes are more like ideas that we adapt freely from time to time rather than some sort of instruction sets. As long as they are not totally fraud, I appreciate and cherish them as the treasures I am obliged to explore more. And I love the simplicity and throw-your-caution-to-the-wind attitude she boasts which I think is more important than batting yourself with perfection. So far, I managed to try out some of her recipes, and even though I think the Triple Chocolate Brownies was not really a champ, I love her
  Cardamom Macaroons I wished I could have them everyday.
  
  So when I saw this book, I knew I would adore all the photos. They were the first thing I looked for in this book. But then I read it, and the writing,.. I heart! I enjoyed her narration so much I found myself taking notes of words I love :). I love her way of thinking incorporating gadgets and equipments, not only the ones that work for her, but also those that, in her words, "languished gathering dust in a cupboard under the stairs before being sent, defeatedly, off to the thrift store."
  
  I think my adoration and religious loyalty of sitting in front of my TV set everytime she's on is just as simple as I see myself in her. Seeing imperfection as fun, enjoying kitchen mess like it is the most interesting decoration reflecting live and liveliness, I even agree with her idea about banishing kitchen drawers except for storing mugs! :)
  
  So, from me, five stars :)
• 
  Steven Peterson

  Nigella Lawson writers some very nice cookbooks! I have used a number of recipes from her "Nigella Express" and found them quite tempting. Here is a new cookbook from her kitchen. She notes the point of this specific work (Page xix): "The life of a kitchen takes in many moods and many meals. The recipes in this book try to reflect and, more, to celebrate that fact. . . [T]his one is based on the premise that the kitchen is an enduring place of comfort and that the food which comes out of it provides essential sustenance not just for body, but for soul, too."
  
  The book begins with something like "Kitchen Confidential," as Lawson lays out her choices for tools in the kitchen (forget cast iron skillets--too much hassle and too heavy, even though they are glorious instruments of cooking), gadgets (like a slow cooker), shortcuts (e.g., boiling water or how to keep onions from browning).
  
  Part I focuses on recipes related to "Kitchen Quandaries." Recipes abound here, with those catching my fancy including "Crisp chicken cutlets with salad on the side, “Barbecued ground beef, "Chicken teriyaki, “Egg and bacon salad," "Tarragon chicken," "Lone linguini with white truffle oil," "Indian rubbed lamb chops," "Chicken with Greek herb sauce," "Minestrone soup," "South Indian vegetable curry," and "Pasta with pancetta (what a glorious element in cooking!), parsley, and peppers."
  
  Next, a section on "Kitchen Comforts." Among these that intrigue me: "Date steak" (with brown sugar, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, soy sauce, red currant jelly, gingerroot, tomato paste, garlic flavored oil, top loin strip steaks), "Chicken with 40 cloves of garlic" (a tasty dish indeed!), "Saffron risotto" (I enjoy a good risotto!), "Patara lamb shanks," "Greek lamb chops with lemon and potato," and "Pork and apple hotpot" (hotpots are pretty cool dishes).
  
  A nice addition to Nigella Lawson's body of work!
  
• 
  Julie Davis

  I have been hoping for some time for Nigella Lawson to write another book in the vein of her first one, How to Eat. However all of her follow up books have been more recipe collections than anything else, albeit with nicely written introductions and the casual recipe giving style that characterizes her breezy, accessible writing. I have just picked this up from the library and finished the introduction, yet it looks much more along the lines of How to Eat than anything yet. Much more along the lines of Nigel Slater's Appetite or Real Food, this looks like a winner. Which is a very good thing indeed.
  
  UPDATE: unfortunately the book didn't live up to its early promise. It is probably fine if you want lots of recipes with a bit of commentary. As I said before, I liked How to Eat which had a much greater mixture of overall food writing which was illustrated in a way by the recipes. Or so it seems to me ...
• 
  Hannah

  Another magical tome from Nigella Lawson. And again, I found her wit so enjoyable that I read it like a novel.
  
  It is of course filled with delicious (and ingenius) dishes. And I was particularly impressed with her cocktail suggestions towards the end.
  
  If you appreciate "real" food, and find solace in cooking, than this is for you. It is a little more special than some of her other books with dishes designed for special occasions. But the emphasis is still on making food and cooking enjoyable for all involved.
  
  Of all her books, this one (and
  Nigellissima: Instant Italian Inspiration or
  How to Be a Domestic Goddess: Baking and the Art of Comfort Cooking) is on my must-haves list.
• 
  Jamio

  I have only made one recipe from this book, and even though it was fantastic that might seem slim evidence for a five-star rating, but I don't really read cookbooks for recipes anymore. What I'm after is the feeling of talking with a friend about food. I may be reticent in real life, but if we introduced ourselves by sharing our favorite foods instead of "what do you do/what are you studying", I'd be less so. I would remember everybody's names and I would introduce them all to you. "This is Ashana," I would say. "She dips her french fries in chipotle aioli."
• 
  Jennifer

  Pretty annoying to watch on tv, but she writes a great cookbook! Have really loved every recipe so far. Stocked my pantry with a few of her must-haves.
• 
  Helen

  Home cooking, rather a lot about her children - impressed, as a mother, by what she manages to get them to eat! The theme around which everything hangs is the kitchen and its importance in her life. How one's kitchen is arranged is a very personal thing, as I am discovering at the moment when for medical reasons I can't use mine. Trying to explain to other people where things are kept and how they are arranged is well-nigh impossible, because everyone has their own ideas about it and finds it really hard to understand someone else's system. Some of Nigella's arrangements wouldn't work for me, but it is always worth a look at someone else's ideas for inspiration. She also has some useful tips about equipment, including things which were mistaken purchases. This whole chunky book is fun to read, and there are some easy and attractive recipes (I am not a seafood eater so there is also a lot to skim over, as she is very keen on seafood!). Most of the ingredients are the standard staples of (an admittedly fully stocked) store cupboard, and where something is a bit harder to obtain she also gives alternatives. Entertaining to read, nice photographs.
• 
  Nicholas McIntire

  I received this as a gift from my husband a decade ago, and after 10 years of studying it, cooking from it, I can easily say that this is one of, if not the most, important book on cookery in the past 25 years, possibly more. When A friend gets married or moves into a new house, this is the first thing I send as a gift. I say it’s so important because of both the strength of its recipes combined with their diversity. There are few cultural food practices not covered here in some way, and not only are the recipes spectacular, they’re also exceptionally easy to create. If you’re just starting out as a home cook, I can hardly think of a better volume than Kitchen.
• 
  Dawn Folley

  I bought this today. I read it from start to finish allowing time for serious poring over recipes, in about an hour. It is wonderful. Her prose is a heady mix of olfactory stimulation and astute observation. I have friends who find her TV persona over-bearing and so don't wish to read her books. A shame, as they are practical, interesting and have a remarkable clarity. The recipes are all do-able. An excellent book by a good woman.
• 
  Robin

  There is a lot of text along with the recipes in this book. I learned about some kitchen implements that I didn't know about before reading this book including a cool knife type cutting tool called a mezzaluna. The Venetian Carrot Cake recipe I made from this book was extremely tasty! I'll definitely make that one again!
• 
  Cathy

  This one was a joy for the vegans and vegetarians in the group to cook from because Nigella believes in vegetables!
• 
  Marcelo

  Cozinha pra quem gosta de comer, gosta de compartilhar e coloca amor e feeling no que faz.
• 
  Susie

  I love reading about people's kitchens!
• 
  Brita

  Great recipes with inspirational stories and a wide range of extremely appetizing photos.
• 
  Melissa Jamieson

  Great recipes and very well written. I like a cookbook that entertains with story as well as food.
• 
  Kiran

  pretty good ngl
• 
  ^

  Laying aside the pointless and unnecessary excess of padding-out photography (one of my absolute pet hates of all time) which does absolutely nothing for the usability of this book; “Kitchen” took me happily back to the balmy days of “How To Eat”. More than most cookery book writers, Nigella Lawson is not only blessed with an excellent sense of taste, but also a remarkable ability to write superbly and winsomely well simply on the subject of food and cooking. Indeed I rather wish that she’d also write recipe-less books, for which I’d find shelf-space easier to find!
  
  The first recipe that I cooked from “Kitchen” was Tarragon Chicken (p.64-65) located in the section, “Hurry Up, I’m Hungry”. Other than my disappointment over the absence of the word, ‘Please’ from the section title, the finished dish was not only quick, simple, unfussy and elegant; but also extremely edible. So very more-ish that it now forms a very practical addition to my catalogue of recipes requiring a respectable quantity of vermouth (80ml, or slightly more should the hand slip). Not that I’m an alkie; it just that there’s nothing more frustrating (and extravagant) than that gnawing irritation of forever needing to purchase ingredients of which only a splash or a sprinkle is required; whilst knowing that the ravages of time and decay will ensure irrationally rapid oxidative deterioration during subsequent storage. There again, in this particular recipe, Nigella does helpfully suggest white wine (readily available in my kitchen) as a substitute for vermouth. For those who foreswear alcohol, I’d think it worth experimenting with a little acidified unfermented white grape juice.
  
  Hardback, this book weighs in at a hefty 1.845kg (about 4lb avoirdupois), so it’s well worth avoiding a hernia by having either a solidly constructed book rest or a large bean-bag to hand, to rest it on
  
• 
  Heather

  I've made three savory recipes from the book, and all were tasty enough and easy, but I'm not sure if any of them are keepers. (I made the "sunshine soup," with corn and roasted bell peppers, the "cheesy chili," which, weirdly, features mozzarella, and the "small pasta with salami," which also includes cannellini beans.) I was tempted by several other savory recipes - the "Korean keema" with ground turkey and rice sounds great, and the Pasta alla genovese sounds perfect for summer. as does the tomato curry with coconut rice. A few of the fancier recipes seem nice as well, though they don't fit with my usual preference for one-dish/lots-of-leftovers meals - but still: mussels cooked in hard cider, lamb steaks with a rosemary and port sauce, scallops with Thai-scented pea puree… Also: beer-braised beef casserole! Pappardelle with butternut squash and blue cheese! The desserts and sweets are where I'm really tempted, but I haven't made any yet: apple cinnamon muffins, banoffee cheesecake (banana cheesecake + toffee sauce), coconut and cherry banana bread, chocolate banana muffins, blueberry cornmeal muffins, red velvet cupcakes, devil's food cake, marmalade pudding cake, lemon polenta cake. I borrowed this from the library, and am starting to think I should buy a copy and bake my way through it.
• 
  Douglas Shore

  When I turned 21 (if memory serves me well), one of the first cooking books I bought was kitchen by Nigella Lawson.
  
  I have since purchased all her books, but they will have their review as we go on.
  
  It was the first cookbook I read, front to back. The first book I sat down and studied - not just for food or recipes, but for the magical way the prose carry's me away, allowing me to escape (for however long) into the world of food.
  
  It is no secret that my food writing idol is nigella. Being one of the first cooks I watched on TV, and the first one to read has shaped my way of thinking, writing and cooking.
  
  Pictured is 'Kitchen'. The ethos is far more straightforward than any other book on my long list of books; it is recipes from the heart of the home (true to its namesake)
  
  You see, food is fashion (regardless if I wish to accept that, but it is!). This book delves into the food regardless of its style, its status, trend, whatever buzzword you can think of and just allows you to make food that tastes like food should - Unfussy and delicious.
  
  If you are new to food, the kitchen, or just cooking in general, buy this book, cook from this book (as I have, I will not be showing the many destroyed pages of my kitchen messiness) and learn to love the kitchen you are in.
• 
  Andrea

  Like with her other books Kitchen is not only full to the brim with luscious recipes and inspiring photography but it’s teeming with Nigella's own seductive musings on the way we eat and prepare our food.
  
  There is nothing unique or amazing about the recipes in Kitchen. They are all very easy, intuitive and from the looks of the lushly coloured photos accompanying them, unreservedly delicious- except maybe not the Spaghetti and Marmite recipe. Judgement reserved on that until I’ve made it. These are recipes real people can cook. Realistic ingredients, no fuss preparation and workable cooking times. There’s even a special express index in the back of the regular index listing all the recipes from the book that can be on your table in 30 minutes.
  
  What I love about this book are the practical suggestions for real life cooking. What to make with the left overs, what to freeze, what you can feed your hungry kids when all you’ve got in the pantry is a packet of spaghetti and a jar of Marmite. The photos of the food aren’t perfect either, cakes are sunken, slices broken and she uses disposable tinfoil baking pans. Not everything in Nigella’s kitchen is Le Creuset apparently which I found oddly comforting and relatable.
• 
  Richard Oosse

  Extra comfy comfort food. Even Nigella Lawson's writing style is cozy and her warm and down-to-earth personality comes through on every page. Each recipe reads more like a blog entry than just a clinical list of instructions and because Lawson is such a pleasure to spend time with, this works in the book's favor.
  
  Despite the friendly vibe, Lawson is serious about cooking; this is a very professional cookbook. Each recipe is clear and easy to follow and includes additional tips for preparing things beforehand and info on storing and/or freezing leftovers. This is a volume that feels inclusive.
  
  And what a volume it is. Almost 500 pages of 190 recipes, many full color and often full page photos on glossy paper, this is a beautiful $35 hardcover book that would look great on any coffee table.
• 
  Tina Culbertson

  f you are a fan of Nigella Lawson this is one of her many cookbooks you will want.
  
  Beautiful photos, lots of easy recipes, a huge section for the sweet tooth, a few pages of cocktails and many good dinner recipes.
  
  So far I have cooked Chicken Greek herb sauce, Lamb with rosemary and port and Leeks with mushrooms.
  
  I also adapted the aforementioned leeks and mushrooms recipe to be a side dish with a grilled T-bone steak. I sautéd the mushrooms and leeks in butter, sea salt and added a healthy dollop or two of Marsala. Very nice side to combine with a bite of grilled steak.
  
  The Crustless Pizza was very good and super easy to make. The recipe (and more photos) may be found at Squirrel Head Manor (
  www.tinaculbertson.blogspot.com )
  
  Full review and a photo of this luscious pizza is at Novel Meals.
  
  http://novelmeals.wordpress.com/2013/...
  
• 
  Cristina Pana

  Mi-am dorit foarte mult aceasta carte si m-am bucurat la maxim cand am primit-o de Craciun de la sora mea. La prima rasfoire mi s-a parut ca voi gati o gramada de retete din ea si deja ma imaginam cu un carnetel in mana planuind meniuri intregi inspirate de aceasta carte. La o rafoire mai atenta insa, dupa ce am parcurs 500 pagini, am realizat cu dezamagire ca nu voi face decat maxim 3 retete. Ingredientele nu sunt din cele ce gasesti la orice market, prin urmare este greu sa respecti reteta.
  De ce totusi 3 stelute? Nigella are darul povestirii si, asa cum am fost vrajita de vorbele ei la televizor, am citit-o cu mare drag. La inceputul fiecarei retete este o povestire, deci am avut ce citi.