Forever Summer

I love summer food, I like watching Nigella; how that girl can eat! In the age of cigarette-smoking, diet-drink swilling models who look at each bite of food as if it were arsenic-laden, she is a testament to healthy appetites. But is her food more than a posh fad of public television?Mmmm, yes, this lady can cook. I would keep this book just for the mustard coated salmon. Many of the recipes are Mediterranean inspired (simple mussels in wine sauce) but she strays wickedly from Europe into the Orient with cold soba noodles, a real favorite of mine. She does rely for some of the desserts on marscapone (rich Italian cream cheese) which has to be trekked in from the Italian Market in Philadelphia by caravan and only ends up on my hips, so why bother? Some of the other rare ingredients are hard for me, in semi-rural Delaware to come by as well. (rosewater, fresh figs, better add these to the caravan order.) We do have great fish here in the Chesapeake, but even if you are in landlocked Iowa, there is a lot of good stuff here for summer entertaining and for tempting you to eat healthy, interesting things in the hot months. Her use of vegetables (yellow squash soup, carrot salad, beets) is original and wonderful. High time we had a new set of creative veggie recipes and here they are.By the way, the mustard coating works well on bluefish, though one is not supposed to eat a lot of bluefish. But fishing for these little fighters is so much fun. If you eat a blue now and then, try the salmon recipe out on them, too.

My only criticism of Nigella Lawson's other cookbooks (a term that seems inadequate to describe her work) is that many of the recipes included are heavy in starch and not the greatest for low-carb eaters.This book is a lot different. Whether it's because of the fact that most people eat "lighter" foods in summer or because she wanted a lower-carb addition to her impressive lineup of books, this book is GREAT. Lots of great salads, light desserts, fish/meat for grilling. As always, the pictures and overall production quality of the book are great as well.This one is not as narrative as previous books she's released, but a must-have for Nigella fans and anyone who just wants to make some relatively simple but elegant meals in the summer.For more traditional work/recipes try "How to Eat" and for the ultimate dessert manual, "How To Be a Domestic Goddess" ..

Like the previous reviewer said, you probably already know if you like Nigella, or find her aggravating. I think she's marvelous--and one of the best cooking writers today. What this means is that this book is more than just a collection of delicious recipes: it is also full of Nigella's thoughts on memorable meals, the values of simplicity and canned broth, and suggestions for menus. Lawson has the ability to write about food in a way that makes you almost taste it. The recipes in this book are easy, many taking next to no time to cook and very few ingredients. There is plenty of ethnic cuisine (Moroccan, Mediterranean, Indian, Thai) as well as a scrumptious recipe for honey semifreddo (no ice cream maker required!) This would make a wonderful hostess or housewarming gift, but buy 2 copies since you'll want one as well. Mine arrived 7 days ago and has already got grease spots from use. With scores of cookbooks available, Nigella can be relied upon to write a book that is worth the cover price, and will get heavy use!

I am an admitted fan of Nigella Lawson's cookbooks. I bought this one on ... months ago, and it has since become a faithful friend in the kitchen. While I cannot say that I use it as much as HOw To Eat, which is a virtual cooking bible, it has some fantastic recipes that have become instant classics, such as the seared mustard coated salmon, which is light, flavorful and so easy it makes you almost feel guilty to accept all of the compliments - or the figs for a thousand and one nights that is almost effortless, but so full of flavor, with rosewater, cinnamon, butter, orange and mascarpone. YOu just have to trust me on how good this tastes. This book is full of creative and flavorful salads and soup that borrow from a few different cultures (the beet and dill salad is very Russian). There are some very nice Asian style fish dishes, as well as plenty of meat recipes, on the grill and off. The book finishes with plenty of summery old fashioned ice cream recipes, shortbreads, etc. and the last chapter is full of fun cocktails, mostly fruit based, both classic and new. The fare in this book tends to be a little bit lighter (summer!) and there seem to be even more easy to prepare recipes (that do not sacrifice flavor!) This book will be a happy addition to your cookbook collection. :)

If you already know Nigella, you already know how you feel about her. But if you don't know Nigella yet, you should know that she is absolutely unlike anyone else. Even when she is writing about things I would never in my life cook (and for me this is true of many of her recipes, even though I live to experiment in the kitchen), I learn from her. She helps me understand, by way of contrast, what my assumptions about food and ingredients and the experience of eating are. And without a doubt, my life and my eating are more pleasing because of her model and her influence. Even if you don't want to cook each of her recipes, she is inspiring and thought-provoking. And this is not to say that I don't want to cook her recipes! With each of her books, I have had almost epiphanic revelations: I can cook something I thought I never would. From this book, I think that recipe is the Rice Paper Rolls, little Vietnamese wraps stuffed with basil, cucumber, rice noodles, and a homemade sauce comprised of ingredients I always have on hand. This is the sort of thing I long to eat, but always think is too exotic for me to make at home. But Nigella helps me realize that's ridiculous, that in fact I have almost everything I need, but I just needed permission to assemble them. Other recipes I'm excited about are the Happiness Soup (yellow squash and basmati rice in turmeric-infused chicken stock), cold Soba noodles with sesame seeds and soy-honey sauce, carrot and peanut salad, ginger-cured salmon, chocolate raspberry pavlova, lemon cupcakes, roasted-peach ice cream, and margarita ice cream. Indeed the cheering part of the book, for me, is the final 3 sections, on desserts (mostly fruity ones), ice cream, and cocktails. Nigella is masterful at conjuring up that fantasied sense of pleasure and accomplishment that cooking ideally gives you, and I can happily loll around imagining a summer of her food for hours. If you have an ice cream maker that you don't use often enough, buy this book. If you're dreading the summer because you think you're going to miss cooking, this book is absolutely mandatory for you! In short: this is exciting, fabulous Nigella reading, more coherent and interesting I think than Nigella Bites. She is chatty and funny and original here. If you're not the sort of person who reads cookbooks for those reasons, then I'm not sure I can be of any use to you!