Comfort food

I'll admit it.  I'm always somewhat suspicious of Food Network chefs/stars, even the good ones with sound food.  So when my friend raved about Nigella Lawson's Nigella Express cookbook, I was skeptical.  Since she knew I'd never buy the book for myself, she gave it to me for Christmas earlier this week.

Let me just tell you, I stand corrected.

The whole focus of Nigella's book is how to make yummy food without a lot of extra prep work or fancy ingredients.  What I like about it is that it's not a gourmet cook's version of "easy."  The recipes are actually realistic and doable, without sacrificing taste, relying on nasty precooked stuff (ahem, Semi-Homemade Lady), or using the microwave a whole bunch.

I've been borderline sick from a cold all week, and wasn't really in the mood to cook anything, so I flipped through the book to the "comfort foods" section.  I knew when she described "the holy trinity of cheesy comfort foods" (cheesy risotto, mac n' cheese, and potatoes au gratin) that I had found my section.  I decided to make the macaroni and cheese, which substitutes evaporated milk and eggs for the traditional, time-consuming and tricky roux and bechemele.


Yum.  Definitely yum.

My texture was more on the lumpy than smooth side, but I also got a little crazy and used some Swiss and Parmesan rather than just cheddar.  It wasn't off-putting and still tasted delish, so I couldn't complain.

Thank you, Nigella!

You are my new favorite cookbook.