Nigella Bites Read Online Free Page A

it’s an essential here.
    Makes 7–9 x 7cm-diameter fishcakes.
    for the fishcakes:
    350–500g cold mashed potato
    418g tinned salmon, preferably organic
    15g unsalted butter, melted (if the mashed potato hasn’t got any butter in it)
    fat pinch cayenne pepper
    grated zest of ½ lemon
    salt and pepper
    1 egg
    for coating and frying:
    2 eggs
    100g matzo meal, preferably medium
    50g unsalted butter
    2 tablespoons vegetable oil
    In a large bowl, and preferably with your hands, mix together all the fishcake ingredients.
    Cover a baking sheet with clingfilm, plunge your hands back into the mixture and form fat, palm-sized patties. Place these on the baking sheet and stand in the fridge to firm up for about 20 minutes to an hour – or considerably longer if that helps.
    Beat the eggs in a shallow soup bowl and sprinkle the matzo meal onto a dinner plate. One by one, dip the fishcakes into the beaten egg and then into the matzo meal, sprinkling and dredging over as you go to help coat them. When you’re all done, put the butter and oil in a large frying pan, heat till it begins to fizzle and then fry the fishcakes on each side until the crusts are golden, and speckled brown in parts, and the soothing centres are warmed through.
    DOUBLE POTATO AND HALLOUMI BAKE
    I first made this for a piece I was writing for Vogue on the mood-enhancing properties of carbohydrates, as promoted by such books as – and how’s this for a title? – Potatoes not Prozac. The fact that shortly after filing the article I went on a low-carbohydrate diet should not worry us too much here, for I should say that no one has eaten this without being mad for it. It’s a simple idea, and as simple to execute. What’s more, there’s a balance between the components – bland and sweet potatoes, almost-caramelised onion and garlic, more juicy sweetness with the peppers and then the uncompromising plain saltiness of the halloumi (which you should be able to get easily in a supermarket) – that seems to add to the eater’s equilibrium in turn. You could substitute feta, or do without the cheese altogether if you wanted to serve this as a side dish to roast chicken, say, but in which case be generous with the Maldon salt once the bake comes out of the oven.
    And forgetting about pseudo-scientific and other optimistic theories for a while; this is so upliftingly beautiful to look at: real good-mood colours.
    Serves 2–3.
    1 large sweet potato, the orange-fleshed American variety
    1 large Desirée potato or other red/firm potato
    1 red onion
    1 yellow pepper
    1 red pepper
    ½ head of garlic
    4 tablespoons olive oil
    black pepper
    125g halloumi cheese, sliced as thinly as you can
    ovenproof baking dish, 25 x 15cm
    Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6.
    Cut the sweet potato into rough 4cm cubes and the Desirée slightly smaller (2½cm) as the sweet potato will cook more quickly. Halve the red onion, then cut each half into 4–6 segments, discarding any tough outer skin. De-seed the peppers and cut into 2½cm squares, and separate the cloves of garlic. Put everything into a large roasting tin or whatever you want to use (it should be big, otherwise use two dishes) and, using your hands, give the vegetables a good coating of olive oil. Season with black pepper, but no salt as the cheese will make it salty (and anyway, the salt will make water leech out). Cook for 45 minutes, by which time the vegetables should be cooked through and here and there tinged with brown. You’ll need to turn the oven up to maximum or light the grill for the endgame: so place the thinly sliced cheese on top of the bake, and put it back in the very hot oven or under the grill until the cheese has melted and turned slightly brown on top, about 5–10 minutes. Serve straight out of the roasting tin.
    CHICKEN SOUP AND KNEIDLACH
    Yes, this is quite a palaver to make (although it’s time-consuming rather than laborious, which is a significant distinction) but there is nothing more