Nigella Express: 130 Recipes for Good Food, Fast

I was actually surprised that Nigella came out with this new cooking concept, making her favorites with short cuts, suddenly being impatient and saving time while still having parties and cooking dinners ever night for her family. Honestly I never found her recipes hard, I enjoyed making everything the proper way but I have to say its fun to find way to cheat I guess, making mousses without all the fancy work, creams and cakes and stews with minimal effort, without hours of baking and slow cooking, using less ingredients ( saves tons of money) and still eating something tasty. Basically this book is filled with recipes one can make for any occasion, best yet for dinner after a hectic day of work, using 4-5 ingredients, simple and still having something to put on the table that is not the same old saver we turn to. Too often it's easy to fall into a comfortable rut and cook the same thing; with this book it is really easy to gently shake things up. Sometimes I read it at work, photocopy pages, stop at the store on my way home and make something new that's different and doesn't require me to spend 2 hours cooking and then washing lots of pots and pans. I think to write this book requires more effort, it's easy to make a complex dish using thirty ingredients, but hard to make something simple that takes the least amounts of effort but is edible. I often pick one recipe, and then make a side of my choice even if it's steamed veggies and dinner is on the table in no time. I have been using this book since last November and some of the my favorites are; Mustard Pork Chops page 11- any meat can be used but pair it with white cannolini beans, simplicity ( 5 ingredients! ) at its highest, actually writing about it now made me decide to make it for dinner tonight, yet again. Steak Slick with Lemon and Thyme - great on some toasted ciabatta bread the next day or as an elegant supper, lemon and thyme seems to be a classic combination, not I make all my steaks this way. Cheese Fondue - Gruyere, Brie, Emmental and Camembert melt into a spectacular and easy dip for anything you can find in the fridge. Some white wine in the sauce and then in the glass to drink with completes this fun dinner. Chocolate Croissants - more fun then I thought to make, sometimes I just make four, with this book there is no need to make thirty servings of something, I often make enough for just one day. Moonblush tomatoes page 126- sour, tangy, roasted and great side to savory dishes, my new favorite. I find it goes great with eggs for breakfast! Irish Cream Tiramisu - wow, interesting and make sure to reserve a nap after, packs a punch! There are stir-fries, galettes, cakes, burgers, all sorts of meats and pastas, each page has a tiny recipe with a gorgeous picture, and this book is actually very useful and makes cooking fun especially to see how the short cuts turn out. I mean if the short list of ingredients doesn't make one want to cook out of it then the pictures will, and it's nice to have a cookbook that is always used versus having one recipe in it that I have to turn to. Nigella throws things together in a beautiful way, after reading and cooking her recipes to me they are as natural as breathing and they pretty much always turn out perfect! Now that is a feat, I haven't had to apologize for making something new to anyone and it's easy to see that her ingredient pairing choices are well through out and put together. - Kasia S.

I couldn't wait. I was in London right after Nigella Lawson's newest cookbook was published, so I bought my copy immediately. The only real difference between the UK and American edition, I'm sure, is the measurements (grams versus ounces, etc.) so you get the benefit of the fact I've been cooking from this book for the last several weeks. This new cookbook, which accompanies Nigella's new series on the FoodTV network (at a really dreadful, inconvenient hour on Sunday), follows in the now-popular "make a decent sit-down dinner in half an hour" theme. Unlike Rachel Ray (to whom I have no objections, but also no particular tropism), Nigella's idea of "in half an hour" is not necessarily in consecutive minutes. That is, if something takes a short time in the kitchen, but bakes for an hour, it's fair game. That works just fine for me -- I telecommute full time, so slow-cooked fast food is compatible with my lifestyle -- but those who rush to the store on the way home from the office and still have a desire to get dinner on the table by 7pm may sometimes be a teensy bit disappointed. That might, however, be the only real disappointment in this rather exhaustive set of recipes. Because, based on the handful of things I've cooked from this book so far (and a careful reading of the rest of the book), these are just darned good meals. They aren't the special dishes she included in Feast: Food to Celebrate Life -- for holidays when spending all afternoon in the kitchen is part of the pleasure of the meal -- and they take a lot of shortcuts that Nigella admits freely *are* shortcuts. But they're far better than a takeaway meal, and it's good food, fast. (Duh.) Everything is organized in meals or moods rather than subjects. That is, there's no chapter for appetizers, another for desserts, etc. It works well given the theme of the book -- who has time to construct a whole menu during the week? -- and also because she can tell you that, while the meat is underway, turn your attention to the vegetables. So "quick food slow" collects recipes that can be prepared ahead to save time later; "instant calmer" offers super-fast soul food; "get up and go" is for breakfast at breakneck speed. So far, as I said, I've made a few things. Orange French toast is pretty simple -- your basic French toast, but with a syrup made with orange marmalade and juice -- but made a special brunch for visiting family. Her prawn and mango curry uses stuff that I mostly have in the house, such as frozen shrimp, a can of coconut milk, cilantro and bottled red curry paste. With some mango, lime juice, and butternut and sweet potato cubes (apparently available in pre-made packets in the UK, though I've never seen such things here)... in about half an hour we had a great dinner. Truly excellent. Her "sausages with sauerkraut" is a much simplified choucroute garnie and... well, that one was okay. It might have been excellent if I had made the trip to the German grocery for better sausages... or maybe some things shouldn't be simplified *too* much. There's plenty more here to try: chicken in Riesling (looks like under an hour to the table, with half that in chicken-simmer time), Swedish salmon (with dill and mustard, served with a cucumber salad and potato salad). She has lots of quickly-prepared desserts too, but since I generally shy away from refined sugar I don't pay that much attention to them; nothing personal, Nigella. Great cookbook. Recommended.

This is a practical and interesting cookbook. Nigella adds personal stories, preferences and ideas to her recipes giving a nice context for the food. The recipes are not overly complicated and some of them are just delicious.

It's funny that so many people mention the mustard pork chops as that is the first dish from this book that I made Delicious, with the gnocchi. Also made a quick arugula salad--you can't go wrong! I actually purchased this cookbook after buying "Nigellissima" - which I love so so so so much. I see fewer recipes here which I would make straight as she suggests, but there are good ideas for quick meals. Hers are the first cookbooks where I don't hold my breath in trepidation. They are so darn clear to follow. I lovehow she doesnt just say cook the meat for five minutes but also what it should look like so you know if you should go a litltle longer or less--she does this in so many recipes and its so helpful to a less experienced cook (especially one like me who has shied away from meat in the past). Everything has been beyond delicious and often beautiful to look at and healthful. I would say that where she suggests a splurge ingredient, splurge, It is probably something, like a nice dry marsala, that will pop up again and again in her recipes and won't go to waste. Most of the ingredients are simple/easy to come by--which I love. Also, I love that many ingredients repeat from recipe to recipe.. This is GENIUS. As I move through her recipes we are eating different dishes with different flavors, but getting the most out of the tub of ricotta or carton of heavy cream I buy as it pops up again in a different recipe. last, I love her permission (and suggestions for subsitutions and accompaniments). Best cookbooks EVER. Thank you Nigella--I'm loving it!

A friend and I recently started watching Nigella on Britbox and YouTube. I'd seen some of her shows several years ago and knew she'd be entertaining. My friend really likes her, so I bought this book as a gift. Nigella, a cook and professional food writer rather than a chef, definitely is an entertaining goddess of home cookery, with a subtle British sense of humor, and some clever recipes. We both wished for more photos in the book, and just personally, I'd prefer less seafood, but I highly recommend the book not only for its recipes but even just for the welcome sense of humor among celebrity kitchen gurus who may be taking themselves a bit too seriously. Looking forward to trying a Nigella's other books and watching more of her shows. And if anyone is trying to encourage any man to help with cooking, if Nigella doesn't entice him into the kitchen, might want to check his pulse, lol.

I bought the book because I love Nigella's videos on Youtube and recipes seemed to be easy. I have already made 5 or 6 recipes and the book has not desapointed me: recipes are super easy, fast and give excellent results. Even the cake ones have been super simple to follow and were perfect in the first try! (if you haven't cooked before you will discover that many times you have to adjust the recipe because the results are not as you expected, that does not happen with this book). There is a recipe per page (almost always). The structure is as follows: - Left page: brief introduction about what you going to cook, ingredients list, steps to prepare the dish and number of serves - Right page: big photo In the introduction you will find advises, shorcuts to prepare the dish, how or why did she do it for the first time... Things that make you life easier, believe me. Ingredients list is just that, what you need to prepare. If you are spanish you will need a couple of extra things: measuring cups and measuring spoons, and conversors (from farenheit degrees to celsius, from ounces to kilograms and from inches to centimetres). Steps are written in a short and precise way. She also tells you what kind of saucepan or casserole is best for the pourpouse (if any), which is wonderful as not all them fit the same for every kind of dish. Number of serves are also quite exact, al least the match what we eat at home. Big photo helps you to open your apetite, and see the result or how to serve in on the table. I hope this is helpful!

I have all of Nigella’s marvelous cookbooks but this one is very exciting if you love to cook. Very great recipes with not a lot of ingredients required. Express cooking at its finest. The French toast recipe is absolutely fabulous. So easy to prepare and so good. I’m sure I’ll make every recipe. A terrific book idea from a great cook! Try this one; you will not be disappointed.

After "Feast," which I thought was a disappointment after Nigella's other PERFECT books, I loyally but nervously ordered this. The minute I got it and started reading, my first thought was: "NIGELLA'S BACK!" I won't go on and on - if you love Nigella, just buy this NOW. You will not be disappointed ... in fact, you're going to be so happy because it's GREAT, with a much better, totally-user-friendly page layout, Nigella's trademark MILLIONS of gorgeous photos and Nigella's wonderful asides. Thank you, Nigella! (One super-small quibble ... I made the Caramel Croissant Pudding yesterday and it was AMAZINGLY GOOD. My American croissants were huge tho' - now I wish I just used one. Maybe on some of those items where the size can vary so much more Europe to the US, it would help to say something like "2 cups of stale croissant." But that's a super-super-super small quibble ... and I did "greedily" eat a very large portion. Wonderful stuff!)

I was wary of buying this. How many Nigella cookery books does one need? (I have them all.) But this is brilliant. Because they're all quick recipes, you know you can just read them before making and won't get to the end of the recipe and find it says "best made 24 hours before eating". Some of the recipes aren't super healthy, but if you like to eat healthily just avoid them. I've heard some (the croissant pudding) don't work, but all the ones I've tried have. There's a superb smoked trout pate recipe in there, ditto mirin glazed salmon that I've made many times. And a lovely loaf recipe that's wholesome, uses yeast but involves no proving. Genius! I really recommend this book to everyone, but especially those with little time on their hands as this is fab, fast, food.

This book contains many recipes which are quite easy and fast to make without sacrificing flavor or quality! Contains variety of recipes from different genre of food as well as from different regions! Nigella is truly a gifted writer and a cook!

Dieses Buch ist ein Muss für alle Fans der Sendung "Nigella Express"! Ihre Ideen für schnelle Gerichte sind zwar manchmal ein wenig gewöhnungsbedürftig, aber immer sehr lecker und super einfach nachzukochen. Auch wenn dieses Buch auf englisch verfasst ist. Ich esse unheimlich gern leckere Gerichte und habe mit einer recht umfangreichen Familie auch viel Gelegenheit zum Kochen. Besonders gut finde ich, dass sie viel auf TK-Gemüse zurück greift, das immer da ist und oft sogar noch mehr Vitamine enthält als die "frischen" Produkte, die durch das lange Liegen im Licht in Laden und auf dem Markt längst nicht mehr so viel davon enthalten. Sie benutzt generell viel vorbereitete Ware aus dem Kühlregal oder auch frisch vom Fleischer und spart so viel Zeit ein. Außerdem ist ihr der Geschmack nicht nur bei Salaten und allen anderen Gerichten, sondern auch bei Kuchen und Desserts viel wichtiger als die Kalorien oder der Fettgehalt. Obwohl das auch gern kritisiert wird, macht genau dieser Umstand sie mir noch sympathischer! Essen muss in erster Linie schmecken, besonders Süßes, und das ist hier der Fall. Wenn man sich dann vorher auch noch eines der leckeren Gerichte mit Gemüse oder einen Salat schmecken lässt, fällt das Dessert ohnehin nicht mehr so ins Gewicht. Mit ihren Rezepten sind tolle und leckere Malzeiten schnell zubereitet und, auch wenn viele behaupten ihre Ideen seien nicht sonderlich genial, man kann Familie und Gästen immer wieder mit schlichten aber schmackhaften Kleinigkeiten oder ganz großen Gerichten überraschen. Wer also gern Neues ausprobiert und bekannte Zutaten neu kombinieren möchte, macht mit dem Kauf dieses Buches keinen Fehler!

Está lleno de buenas recetas y muchas fotos. Me gusta mucho.

Livre toujours bien écrits qui donne l'eau à la bouche, Des recettes faciles, et vites prêtes je suis une inconditionnelle de NIgella Lawson