Nigella's Express Recipes???!
PS Normally I am a big advocate for Nigella and own many of her books.
Answers: I understand not everyone can buy fresh organic produce on a daily basis, have their fridge filled with an array of exotic ingredients or even buy seasonally. But is it just me or do you think Nigella's Express recipies are absolutly crap? I beleive she is going over the top with alot of her ingredients and really playing on the fat is good and indulgent side of her reputation with the food siding on the edge of repulsive. Understand her reasoning for using some bought and pre packed materials but once again I beleive she has taken it to far and lost the ethos of a cookery program.
PS Normally I am a big advocate for Nigella and own many of her books.
Yes, I totally agree. I love Nigellas cook books normally (although have never enjoyed watching her TV programmes).
But I have to say I find the new series a bit ridicoulous....I mean, she couldn't even be bothered to take off her coat to make her dinner the other night.
I know the whole point of the series is that it is speedy food, but you really don't need to go to such extremes as using a jar of caramelised onions rather than peeling and chopping an onion! Its pretty lazy cooking and although some of the recipes look quite good, I certainly wouldn't want to be encouraging people to start eating like this on a regular basis!
I'd rather watch Paula Deen or Ina Garten (the Barefoot Contessa), any day! LOL
I stopped watching Nigellas Express just 5 mins into the first programme when she said "I'm going to add now some plastic lime juice. It's not really plastic it just comes in a plastic bottle"
I don't need a TV "chef" to be that condescending towards me, the viewer. One doesn't have to be Einstein to work out the lime juice isn't plastic.
I think Nigella would be far better off being a model for things like tights, stockings and swimwear, rather than being a "chef". That way she can still look amazingly beautiful and not say a condescending word.
I wish someone would come up with a whole book of recipes that are old fashioned, with just basic ingredients from the cupboard. None of these spices and herbs that many don't have and are expensive to buy. Like broth (you don't need fancy herbs, just meat and vegetables and salt and pepper).
I usually love her recipes too but I've seen one programme from the series. Not in a rush to get back to it for several reasons.
First reason being, why on earth is she permanently grinning? It's like she has meta-morphed into a Stepford wife, which I find incredibly annoying. I'm not overly bothered about the health benefits (or in this case, not) of her cooking, after all, indulgent cooking has been her bread and butter, so to speak. But the use of lime Jif is awful, what effort does it take to cut a lime in half and squeeze?? It's not like she had to grow the thing!
It's less a cookery programme than a throw ready made ingredients together and spend another 2 hours in front of the tv instead of cooking programme. Fine for some but where will it end. The next Jamie Oliver series....Jamie gets a different takeaway each episode? The Hairy Bikers cook the top ten ready meals?
I like Heston's Search for Perfection at the moment. I have no intention of copying him completely though (I'd have to take a week off work to do his chicken tikka masala) but I pick up the odd tip or two!
Hear, hear!!! You're completely right, my main problem with her is that her recipes are mostly comfort foods, which you can do once in a blue moon, but I'd prefer recipes to include in my usual "repertoire" to serve my family. Another problem is the unseemingly lack of proper kitchen hygiene, the way she wears her hair, putting food in her mouth with ther fingers, I won't go on, but as you said she seem to have lost something along the way.
With me all came to a halt when she did a ham with Coca-Cola. Call me a snob, but as the American's would say: trailer park white trash cooking? No, thanks! We already have enough work trying to rise the levels of our own country's cuisine.
It's the old story - her (???) recipes may be "express", but I don't think the washing up and clearing up afterwards that she creates are quite such an express idea ! ! !