Nigella’s At My Table Christmas Special Cookalong

Happy New Year everyone! As many of us have recently overindulged in food and drink, I decided to make a couple of the lighter (and easier) recipes featured in Nigella’s At My Table Christmas special.

Before I share how I got on with the recipes, I wanted to share (better late than never) what was on my own table at Christmas. This was the seventh Christmas dinner for which I’ve been responsible for (I feel so old), here’s a quick breakdown:

• Chicken drumsticks marinated overnight with paprika, chilli powder, cumin seeds, ground coriander, salt, oil and yoghurt
• Carrots, parsnips and potatoes coated in the same marinade as the chicken
• Cheesy mashed potatoes
• Sprouts cooked in a garlic and cinnamon butter
• Chilli yoghurt sauce

For the first five Christmas dinners I made, I kept dessert traditional with a trifle. Last year, the rebel in me made a Terry’s chocolate orange cheesecake and this year, the rebellion continued (call me Robert Baratheon, I certainly look like him  following the Christmas break). Given the sheer amount of chocolate we have received from friends and colleagues, I didn’t want to make a particularly rich Christmas dessert.  Nigella’s Forgotten Cookies or “Merookies” (meringue cookies as you may have guessed) are so easy to make that I implore you to do so. Green cardamom, pistachio and dark chocolate are three fabulous flavours but  I was yet to combine them in one bake, they work so well together, excuse the fangirling but Nigella really is a culinary genius. I made these on Christmas Eve evening and admittedly, the cynic in me wasn’t convinced that these would actually bake in a switched off oven overnight during the middle of winter but they magically did!

We snacked on these bejewelled, crunchy, soft-centred snowballs on Christmas Day whilst watching television and they kept well in Tupperware for four days following (if you can make them last that long). The recipe for Forgotten Cookies can be found here.

If you are looking to use up leftover vegetables and/or want a cheap and easy one pot dish to warm you up in January, Nigella’s Moroccan Vegetable Stew is the perfect recipe. The stew contains leek, potatoes, garlic, parsnips, carrots, aubergine and the chickpeas, preserved lemons, dried apricots and olives add the Moroccan twist. Cinnamon, ginger and cumin add the warmth. Nigella recommends having the stew with couscous but I served it with homemade chappatis. This is a healthy, simple stew and any leftovers are great for lunch the next day. It’s also vegan 🙂

 

At My Table has become one of my favourite ever recipe books due to its simplicity and versatility. I’m looking forward to trying many more recipes from it in 2018!