Food Network Nigella Lawson Recipes

ETON MESS

Steps:

• Hull and chop the strawberries and put into a bowl and add the sugar and pomegranate juice and leave to macerate while you whip the cream.
• Whip the cream in a large bowl until thick but still soft. Roughly crumble in 4 of the meringues nests - you will need chunks for texture as well as a little fine dust.
• Take out about half a cupful of the chopped strawberries, and fold the meringue cream and rest of the fruit mixture together.
• Arrange on 4 serving plates or glasses or in a mound, and top each with some of the remaining macerated strawberries.

CHICKEN FAJITAS

Steps:

• Over a shallow bowl, cut the chicken with a pair of scissors into thin, lengthways, 1/4 to 1/2-inch strips. Halve the long strips across to give 2 shorter strips (to echo the size of the bell pepper strips). Don't get too hung up on precision, though; you're just trying to cut the chicken into uniform shapes.
• Add the oregano, cumin, salt, sugar, 1 tablespoon garlic flavored oil, and the lime juice to the chicken. Stir to combine and let marinate while you get on with the onions and bell peppers. Preheat the oven to 225 degrees F if you wish to warm your tortillas.
• Warm the peanut or olive oil in a large frying pan or wok and fry the onion slices over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes.
• Spread the tortillas out on a cookie sheet and put it in the oven to warm.
• Add the bell pepper strips to the pan with the onion and cook for 10 minutes. When both the onions and peppers are tender, remove them to a bowl.
• Warm the remaining 2 teaspoons garlic flavored oil in the pan over medium heat and add the chicken with its marinade. Cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes. Check that the chicken is piping hot and cooked through, then add the onions and bell peppers. Stir together, then transfer them to a serving dish.
• Take the warmed tortillas out of the oven and put them on the table alongside the chicken mixture and all the other accoutrements. Wrap what you fancy in the tortillas and eat straightaway.
• Make Ahead Note:
• The onion and bell peppers can be cut 1 day in advance. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate. The chicken can be cut 1 day in advance and tossed with the oregano, cumin and garlic flavored oil. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Add the lime juice and salt just before cooking.

CHICKEN WITH 40 CLOVES OF GARLIC

Steps:

• When I was young, this old French classic was still - though in a quiet way - very much in vogue. I dare say it was because the novelty of using so many garlic cloves had not worn off; it seemed somehow dangerously excessive. Even so, I don't think anyone would think it quite unremarkable now to put 40 cloves of garlic in a casserole. Certainly, if you peeled and chopped - let alone minced - the garlic, it would be inedible, but garlic cloves cooked encased in their skins grow sweet and caramelly as they cook, like savory bonbons in their sticky wrappers, rather than breathing out acrid heat. This is a cozy supper, not a caustic one.
• This dish entered my canon under someone else's auspices. A few years ago, for the fortieth birthday of a then-colleague and friend of mine, Nick Thorogood, his partner asked everyone to contribute something written expressly for purpose to be compiled in a fat tribute of a book. Since most of Nick's and my conversation dwells, with almost fetid passion, on food, it seemed only proper to write a recipe for him. And given that it was his fortieth birthday, this seemed the right recipe.
• It is not quite the classic version (not that there is only one: food is as variable as the people who cook it) but it sticks to the basic principles. Maybe because the white meat on chicken tends towards the utterly tasteless these days, I prefer to use not a whole chicken, but thigh portions only. Naturally, this wouldn't make sense if you were raising your own chickens, then slaughtering them for the pot, as was the custom when this recipe came into being (and very good it would have been, too, for adding oomph to an old bird) but if you're following the contemporary shopping model, it works very well. For some reason, I veer towards recipes that can easily be cooked in one of my wide and shallow cast-iron Dutch ovens and this fits the bill perfectly.
• By all means, add some steamed or boiled potatoes alongside if you wish, but I'd prefer, by far, a baguette or two to be torn up and dunked into the flavorsome juices; though don't rule out the option of sourdough toast, which is the perfect vehicle for spreading the sweet-cooked garlic onto. Otherwise, some green beans or baby peas or a plain green salad is all you need for a sure-fire salivation-inducing supper.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Heat the oil on the stovetop in a wide, shallow ovenproof and flameproof Dutch oven (that will ultimately fit all the chicken in one layer, and that has a lid), and sear the chicken over a high heat, skin-side down. This may take 2 batches, so transfer the browned pieces to a bowl as you go.
• Once the chicken pieces are seared, transfer them all to the bowl. Finely slice the scallions, put them into the Dutch oven and quickly stir-fry them with the leaves torn from a few sprigs of thyme.
• Put 20 of the unpeeled cloves of garlic (papery excess removed) into the pan, top with the chicken pieces skin-side up, then cover with the remaining 20 cloves of garlic. Add the vermouth (or white wine) to any oily, chickeny juices left in the bowl. Swish it around and pour this into the pan too. Sprinkle with the salt, grind over the pepper, and add a few more sprigs of thyme. Put on the lid and cook in the oven for 1 1/2 hours.
• Make Ahead Note: Chicken can be browned and casserole assembled 1 day ahead. Cover tightly and store in the refrigerator. Season with salt and pepper and warm the pan gently on the stovetop for 5 minutes before baking as directed in recipe.
• Making Leftovers Right: If I do have any chicken left over - and I don't think I've ever had more than 1 thigh portion - I take out the bone then and there and put the chicken in the refrigerator. Later (within a day or two), I make a garlicky soup, by removing the chicken, adding some chicken broth or water to the cold, jelled juices, placing it over a high heat and, when that's hot, shredding the chicken into it and heating it through thoroughly, till everything is piping hot. You can obviously add rice or pasta. Otherwise, mash any leftover garlic into the concentrated liquid (which will be solid when cold), chop up some leftover chicken, and put it all into a saucepan with some cream. Reheat gently until everything is piping hot, and use as a pasta sauce or serve with rice.

CUT-OUT COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Cream the butter and sugar together until pale and moving towards moussiness, then beat in the egg and vanilla. In another bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the butter and eggs, and mix gently but surely. If you think the finished mixture is too sticky to be rolled out, add more flour, but do so sparingly as too much will make the dough tough. Form into a fat disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and let rest in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
• Sprinkle a suitable surface with flour, place disk of dough on it, and sprinkle a little more flour on top of that. Then roll it out to a thickness of about 1/4-inch. Cut into shapes, dipping the cutter into flour as you go, and place the cookies a little apart on 2 parchment or silpat lined baking sheets.
• Bake for 8 to 12 minutes; obviously it depends on the shape you're using and whether they are on the upper or lower shelf, though you can swap them around after about 5 minutes. When they're ready expect them to be tinged a pronounced gold around the edges; they'll be softish still in the middle, but set while they cool.
• Remove the cookies with a flat, preferably flexible, spatula to a wire rack. When they are fully cooled, you can get on with the icing. Put a couple of tablespoons of not-quite-boiling water into a large bowl, add the sieved confectioners sugar and mix together, adding more water as you need to form a thick paste. Color,as desired. I think pastes are much better than liquid, not just because the range of colors is better but because they don't dilute the icing as they tint. Ice cooled cookies, as desired.

CHOCOLATE CHOCOLATE-CHIP MUFFINS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Put the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa, sugar, and 3/4 cup of the chocolate chips into a large bowl. Pour all the liquid ingredients into a measuring jug. Mix the dry and wet ingredients together, remembering that a lumpy batter makes the best muffins. Spoon into the prepared muffin cases. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup chocolate chips on top and then bake for 20 minutes or until the muffins are dark, risen and springy.

MUGHLAI CHICKEN - NIGELLA LAWSON

Steps:

• Put the ginger, garlic, cumin, coriander, and chili into a food processor, or into a mortar and pestle, and blend to a paste. Add the ground almonds and water and then blend again, set aside.
• Heat the oil in a large pan and add the chicken pieces - in batches so they fry rather than stew - and cook them just long enough to seal on both sides, then remove to a dish.
• Add the spices and turn them in the oil. Add the onions and cook them until softened and lightly browned, but keep the heat gentle and stir frequently, to avoid sticking. Pour in the blended paste, and cook everything until it begins to colour. Add the yogurt, half a cup at a time stirring it in to make a sauce, then stir in the stock, cream, and sultanas.
• Put the browned chicken back into the pan, along with any juices that have collected under them, and sprinkle over the garam masala, sugar, and salt. Cover and cook on a gentle heat for 20 minutes, testing to make sure the meat is cooked through.
• It's at this stage, that I like to take the pan off the heat and leave it to cool before reheating the next day.
• So either now, or when you've reheated it, pour into a serving dish and scatter with the toasted flaked almonds.

RAPID RAGU (NIGELLA LAWSON)

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a wide, medium saucepan; fry the pancetta until it begins to crisp.
• Add in the lamb, breaking it up with a fork in the bacony pan as it browns.
• Add in the tomatoes, water, Marsala, lentil, and caramelized onions; bring to a boil.
• Simmer the ragu for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally; sprinkle the cheese on top before serving.

NIGELLA LAWSON CHOCOLATE CHESTNUT CAKE ( GLUTEN FREE )

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C, gas mark 4. Grease a 23 cm spring form or cake tin.
• Break the chocolate into pieces and melt in the microwave or in a double boiler (au bain-marie), and set aside.
• Whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff, but not dry.
• In another bowl, whisk butter and chestnut puree with the sugar. Gradually whisk in the egg yolks, then add the rum and chocolate.
• Stir in a dollop of the egg white, whisk well to mix everything together, then carefully fold the rest of the egg white in the chestnut mixture.
• Pour the batter into the tin and let bake for 40 to 60 minutes. You could do the toothpick test, but it should not come out completely clean. Let the cake cool in it's tin on a rack before you unmold it on to a plate.
• Decorate with whipped cream and candied chestnuts.

ROCKY ROAD CRUNCH BARS - NIGELLA LAWSON

Steps:

• Melt chocolate, butter and golden syrup together over low heat.
• Put digestive biscuits in a ziptop bag. Bash with a rolling pin until you have a mixture of coarse and fine crumbs.
• Remove 1/2 cup of the melted chocolate mixture and set aside. Add biscuit crumbs and marshmallows to the chocolate remaining in the pan. Mix thoroughly. Turn out into a 9" square pan. Pat out flat. Drizzle reserved chocolate over the top.
• Refrigerate several hours or overnight. Dust top with powdered sugar and cut into 24 bars.

NIGELLA LAWSON'S BAKED SPINACH

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F, and butter a small ovenproof dish.
• In a wok or wide, heavy pan, warm the olive oil with the garlic clove and cook until the garlic is bronze. Over a low heat stir in the spinach until reduced. Turn up the heat, throw in the wine or vermouth, and toss gently until the spinach has wilted (roughly 30 secs.)
• Remove from the heat and stir in the parmesan and ricotta and season to taste, adding a good grating of nutmeg.
• Beat in the eggs, then transfer the eggy spinach to your buttered oven dish. (Remove garlic clove) Bake in the oven for 10 minutes, until set. Let it stand for at least 5 minutes, but no longer than 15 minutes before serving.

BREAKFAST TRIFLE - NIGELLA LAWSON

Steps:

• Puree frozen strawberries.
• Add sugar (this way it will melt and mix better).
• Mix lightly with a spoon.
• In a single-serve trifle glass or cocktail glass, arrange these layers.
• Add raspberry puree. Then put a layer of Greek yogurt (use Greek yogurt as its more creamy and luscious than ordinary yogurt).
• Add some cookie crumbs.
• Add another layer of raspberries, then Greek yogurt and again cookie crumbs, finishing off with the cookie layer.
• Serve chilled.