Nigella's best cooking advice revealed

Top tips from Nigella

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British author, cook and television personality Nigella Lawson has just released her latest cookbook, Cook, Eat, Repeat, accompanied by a BBC TV series – and it's like she's right next to you in the kitchen. There's nothing cheffy or pretentious about Nigella and her fans love her comforting, conversational style. She says: "Food, for me, is a constant pleasure. I like to think greedily about it, reflect deeply on it, learn from it..." Read on for some of her great cooking tips and tricks.

Always brine a turkey

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As Nigella states in her book Feast: "for me the only turkey is a brined one. Not only does it tenderize and add subtle spiciness, but it makes carving the turkey incredibly much easier. You have only to try this method to be utterly convinced." She waxes lyrical about its simplicity too: "how hard is it to fill a pan or large plastic bin or bucket with water and spices and lower a turkey into it?"

Get perfect roast potatoes

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Nigella says there are three crucial things that make all the difference to roast potatoes. These include using searingly hot fat (her preference is goose fat) and opting for relatively small potatoes, to optimise the crunchy outside to fluffy interior. She also says you should dredge the potatoes in semolina, rather than flour, after parboiling, and rattle the pan around to make the potatoes a little mashed on the outside, so they catch more in the hot fat.

Make your Christmas pud with sherry

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For her Christmas pudding, Nigella soaks the dried fruit in Pedro Ximinèz sherry – a sweet, dark sherry. It's less of an extravagance than rum or brandy, and she says it gives a sensational result: "the Queen of Christmas puddings. It has to be tried, and clamours to be savoured".

Use 00 flour, in place of plain

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Nigella always uses Italian 00 flour in place of plain flour in the kitchen. She says it is more finely milled, meaning it makes light cakes and "desirably elastic" pastry.

Look for Japanese breadcrumbs

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When she makes her fish goujons, the beloved cook prefers to use seasoned Japanese breadcrumbs (panko crumbs) in place of everyday white breadcrumbs. She feels they give a much lighter, feathery result, while still producing a delightfully crunchy casing.

Cook steak to perfection

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For a perfect steak, Nigella always cooks the meat over a very high heat for a short time, until the outside is charred and crisp. She then rests it under foil for around 10-15 minutes, without slicing or touching it, before sprinkling with sea salt and serving. Delicious.

Now check out more chefs' tips for the perfect steak

Fix a split mayonnaise

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Making your own mayonnaise? Nigella says there are two ways you can fix it if it splits. It typically splits because you have added the oil too quickly, and often a small drop of boiling water can remedy the problem. Otherwise, take a new egg yolk and whisk the split mixture into it very slowly.

Check out our authentic mayonnaise recipe here

Remove pomegranate seeds with ease

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Nigella makes a fiddly job so much simpler. She suggests you halve the pomegranate, hold it cut side down over a bowl, then give it a good whack with a heavy wooden spoon. Do this and the seeds should simply come tumbling out.

Try this simple stuffing trick

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Rather than stuffing a turkey or chicken, Nigella prefers to cook her sausage-meat stuffing in a terrine dish alongside the roast, to make life easier. She says: "a roasted slab of stuffing can be carved up to feed great numbers of people easily".

Make a tasty beetroot soup

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In her book, Feast, Nigella makes a beetroot soup with cranberries, which she calls "Red Soup". She says to peel the beetroot with rubber gloves on, and because beetroot "takes hours to cook", cut it into chunks then blitz it in the food processor until shredded to speed things up. Even if you're not making soup, it's a handy tip for handling beetroot.

Invest in a mixer

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Nigella swears by her free-standing KitchenAid mixer, which we've seen in all her cookery programmes. She says that the dough hook makes bread-making a far lighter task, and the other attachments – paddle and whisk – mean that you can let your cake batter be mixed, or egg whites whisked, while you get on with other things.

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Make ample chicken stock

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One chicken carcass is never enough to make a good chicken stock, so Nigella suggests you save the bones and carcasses and freeze them. Once you have at least three, you can crack on with your stock making.

Turn off the fan function in your oven

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Because a joint of meat or a chicken contains a high proportion of water, Nigella says to turn off the fan function in your oven, if you can, as it can make the meat dry and tough.

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Try this nifty pasta-sauce trick

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When cooking pasta to go with a sauce, Nigella always reserves a ladleful of the pasta water before draining it. She then adds it to the sauce, which helps to lubricate the pasta. Don't even think about tossing your cooked pasta in oil, either, or it won't absorb the sauce.

Whip up the perfect cauliflower cheese

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If you've ever come out with a slightly runny sauce when you make cauliflower cheese, try Nigella's tip. Put the cauliflower florets into cold water, bring them to the boil, then drain immediately. Refresh with cold water to stop them cooking, then leave to drain fully in a colander. You can then put the florets in an even layer in an ovenproof dish and they won't release too much moisture.

Bake your fish cakes

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Frying fishcakes for a large number of people is "hellish", Nigella says, especially "with a load of people floating about the kitchen". Try her tip, which is to bake them in a hot oven instead. Even better, instead of breadcrumbs, she coats them in crushed Ritz crackers or matzo meal.

Discover burger heaven

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Nigella unashamedly uses sirloin steak for her favourite cheeseburger. She trims off the fat, cuts the steak into strips, sprinkles it with a little sea salt, then leaves it, covered, in the fridge overnight. She allows it to come to room temperature, then minces it (she suggests using your food processor if you don't have a mincer), before making them into patties. To finish, she brushes them lightly with oil before cooking on the griddle and topping them with ready-sliced Swiss cheese, too.

Make a winning guacamole

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Nigella is not a fan of "digestion-searing" raw onion in her guacamole. She suggests using spring onions instead, which are lighter on the palate, but still give an onion kick.

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Make the most of orzo

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Orzo, a small rice-sized pasta shape, is a "non-negotiable staple in my kitchen", says Nigella. She says it's extremely versatile and works wonders in a variety of recipes – from salads to one-pot pasta dishes – or swapped in as a side in place of potatoes or rice. Try it in one of her family favourites: chicken in a pot with lemon and orzo.

Try "schmalzy" roast chicken

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"Schmalz" is the Yiddish word for chicken or goose fat. For a perfectly crisp skin on a roast chicken, Nigella suggests you take the nugget of fat out of the cavity of the chicken, render it down to a liquid in a small saucepan, then brush it over the breast before roasting.

Don't throw out the potato water

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In her book At My Table, Nigella makes a garlic-mashed potato. But instead of discarding the water the potatoes were cooked in, she suggests using it to make vegetable soup. Nigella whips up "the best vegetable soup in the world" by adding frozen peas to the water, then blitzing until smooth. The water keeps for up to five days in the fridge, too.

Get yourself a rice cooker

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Nigella wouldn't be without her rice cooker in the kitchen. Hers is by Zojirushi: it cooks rice so well, and she loves the fact that you can just pop the rice in and turn the machine on with no fuss. The rice will stay good for 12 hours, too.

Use scissors on dried apricots

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Chopping dried apricots (and other fruits) is a fiddly job, as the sticky apricots always cling to your knife. Nigella always uses scissors to cut them instead. She also uses scissors to snip, rather than chop, bacon.

Get rid of the garlic crusher

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Rather than using a garlic crusher, which is a bit of a pain to wash up, Nigella crushes garlic in her pestle and mortar. She adds a pinch of her favourite Maldon sea salt, too.

Cook ham in cola

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It's now around 20 years since Nigella introduced her fans to the notion of cooking ham with cola in her book, Nigella Bites. As she says: "no one who cooks it, cooks it just once: it always earns a place in every repertoire." She also has recipes for ham cooked in ginger ale and cherry cola, but the original is still utterly delicious.

Make use of leftover mashed potato

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Looking for weekend breakfast inspiration? Nigella gets out her waffle maker to make crisp potato waffles from leftover mashed potato.

Now find out more brilliant tips for perfect potatoes every time

Boil eggs like a pro

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Nigella's tip for boiling eggs? If they are fridge-cold, they should go into cold water, then brought to the boil. If they are at room temperature, which is better, they should be lowered into the water once it starts boiling. She loves her breakfast egg boiled for four minutes, for the perfect ooze.

How to make shoestring fries

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Why not use your spiralizer to make light work of shoe string fries – just like Nigella does. These light potatoey treats make seriously great snacks or a nice accompaniment to a juicy burger too.

Discover the best chicken soup

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When Nigella makes her "special chicken soup" for Passover, she says using chicken wings is one of the best, and least expensive, ways to do it, since they give more flavour, pound for pound. She also freezes extra matzo balls for a quick midweek supper to eat with rice, toasted pine nuts and fresh parsley.

Use a mezzaluna

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Nigella is a big fan of the mezzaluna, or "half moon" chopper, for its speed and ease of use. She uses it to chop herbs, chocolate and anchovies. She also uses her food processor to chop onions and garlic quickly for pasta sauces, a process she says makes them meld into the sauce better.

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