Here’s some of the food I cooked from Nigel Slater’s “The Kitchen Diaries.” This food was cooked for research purposes only and was immediately disposed of because I am a professional writer and professional writers don’t mix business and pleasure. For our first slide, you will see the $7 pork loin (why was it so cheap?! Because I bought an unethical pig, I suppose) cooked with grapes, wine and seasoned with salt, pepper and juniper berries:
You deglaze the pan at the end with more wine and it makes a wonderful sauce.
Our second slide shows Nigel’s potatoes that he recommends serving with the loin. He has you boil the potatoes, drain them, then shake them in the pot to bruise them. Why? I forget but here’s what they look like after going into a hot pan and placed in the oven:
The next night we made his chicken wings with honey and mustard and all kinds of wonderful things. As you can see, the honey I used–French honey that was very sugary–burned a bit. But it still tasted smashing, especially with a cucumber salad (as Nigel suggests):
Finally, you will see Nigel’s apple cake which we made with Macoun apples bought from the farmer’s market. Here’s the cake before cooking:
(It’s topped with bread crumbs and brown sugar.)
Here it is after:
Lovely, no? I hope this works as a nice supplement to the article and that you will swoon and want to buy the book. It’s a book I’d really like to have–my editor made me give it back to her when I was done! But she was very sweet about it. I hope she leaves it to me in her will.
Abusing the potatoes a bit makes a rough surface which develops more crunchiness in the roasting. I was told to rough them with a fork, so the shaking thing sounds very modern and much easier!
AG: “This food was cooked for research purposes only and was immediately disposed”
Yeah, I bet your tummy disposal was very happy. That cake looks fab!
Oh Adam, you have shamed me. I’m going to have to send you a copy of the book. This custody battle is just making me feel too guilty! :)
I totally swooned. First when I saw the wings, and then I fell to the floor when I saw that gorgeous cake. I am definitely getting this book now!
I love Nigel. He’s been around in the UK for ages. So pleased he’s getting some recognition in the USA. I’d highly recommend this book and any others you can get your hands on. If I had to keep just one cook book out of my collection, it would be his Appetite book.
Ethical pigs make better lovers, though.
hey adam,
any chance you could tell us loyal readers who subscribe to your blog through RSS when there’s more to the post “…after the jump” (so we can tell when to go to the site, and when the whole posting has been syndicated)?
thanks! congrats on Salon.
Your bruised potatoes look fabulous–what did you toss them with before putting them in the oven? Oil? Seasonings?
For those interested, the apple cake recipe is available here.