I’m just going to come right out and admit it… I’m a complete Nigellaphile. I love the woman.

Actually, I should probably qualify this statement somewhat.

I love her books. I can do without the ridiculous finger licking and hair flicking that she does on television, but the way she writes is heavenly.

Her books {of which I own many} impart more than just delicious recipes. There’s a warmth that emanates from them, a certain kind of homeliness that makes them deeply comforting to me. There are few things I enjoy more than sitting down to read a Nigella book with a mug of tea. I’ve even been known to take How To Be A Domestic Goddess to bed with me. I adore drifting off to sleep while flicking through its pages. It’s guaranteed to fill my dreams with muffins and drop scones and bundt cake. Bliss.

I added her latest offering, a rather large volume entitled Kitchen: Recipes from the Heart of the Home, to my Amazon wish list ages ago. In the midst of ordering some sensible lofty academic tomes for my dissertation recently it somehow ended up in my shopping basket. Ooops.

Once I had the book in my possession I poured over it for a few days, soaking up all the beautiful imagery and well-crafted prose.

Let’s take a quick look inside…Nigella’s books make me want to cook in a drop-everything-and-get-in-the-kitchen-now kind of way. Her enthusiasm is infectious and the recipes in Kitchen had me salivating instantly. It wasn’t long before I put the book through its paces properly. I mean, the only well to tell if a cook book is any good is to actually cook, no?

The handful of recipes I’ve tried so far have really impressed me and all those that have dined at my table of late. The Mexican lasagna with avocado salsa was delicious {using tortillas instead of pasta ~ genius} and the flourless chocolate lime cake with margarita cream made for a heavenly dessert {mmmm… tequila}.

But what has really impressed me about this book is how well thought out the content is. Each recipe has a note about making ahead of time as well as clear freezing instructions, simple details that will make this book indispensable to many cooks. It is also packed full of tips on ‘making leftovers right’, meaning that one recipe can actually add up to 2 or 3 meals. There is a whole section devoted to chicken and you could probably feed your family for almost a week on the things she does with that bird. Added to this, the book has 2 indexes. The first is a standard full index but the second is an express index that marks out all the recipes that take 30 minutes or under from first move to plate.

All of this adds up to an incredibly easy to use book that goes just a little bit further than your average collection of recipes. Of course, it’s also peppered with Nigella’s usual anecdotes and stories, all of her personal kitchen rituals that I find so fascinating. All in all, it makes a pretty perfect addition to my {rather large} collection of cookery books.

If this doesn’t sway you here are a few of the recipes I’m currently itching to try out…

~ South Indian vegetable curry {this will be dinner tomorrow actually, the perfect way to use up any leftover veg that’s hanging around the fridge}
~ Chorizo chickpea stew
~ Jumbleberry jam
~ Guiness gingerbread
~ Chicken with 40 cloves of garlic
~ Soup made with garlic and love {described as ‘perfect fodder for the low-energy, high tension mood of a Monday-eve supper’}

… and many, many more besides! I have a new love ladies, and it’s a recipe book!

Do you have Kitchen? Are there any recipes from it that you would urge me to try next? Am I missing out on something else, should I have bought the new Gwyneth Paltrow book instead? Tell me about your favourite cook book…

Loveaudrey xxx