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Forever Summer with Nigella

Nigella Lawson is back and if she has her way, it will be summer forever. In this eight-part series, Nigella cooks irresistible summery recipes that can be enjoyed at any time of the year. Featuring food from around the globe, Nigella ventures out of the kitchen to give picnics, barbecues and beach food a touch of her inimitable culinary style. In each episode, Nigella’s recipes reflect a different colour with some amazing and unexpected results.

Episode 1

Even when sunshine is a distant memory and the only trace of holiday is the sand on the bottom of your discarded holiday flip-flops, don’t consign yourself to winter blues – NIGELLA LAWSON is back and it’s going to be Forever Summer. In the new eight part series Nigella cooks irresistible summery recipes that can be eaten at any time of the year, and ventures out of the kitchen to give picnics, barbecues and beach food a touch of her inimitable culinary style. The Food ranges from Italian-inspired trifle, to Moroccan roast lamb, while Prawn and Black Rice with Vietnamese Dressing sits alongside food that conjures up the traditional strawberries-and-cream feel of an English summer afternoon. Keeping the sun shining, there’s a fabulous selection of unusual ice creams and puddings, plus cocktails and new. In the first programme of the series, Nigella turns her attention to the apparently humble lemon, with Happiness Soup, Lemon Drop, and Slow-Roasted Garlic and Lemon Chicken. There’s a Nigella take on the unpretentious picnic and the supremely summery Caramelised Pineapple with Malibu Chocolate Sauce, cooked on the barbecue.

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Episode 2

It’s summertime and the cooking is easy as Nigella Lawson continues her quest to capture the flavours of sunshine before the autumn draws in. The series will be taking taste buds on a worldwide tour with influences ranging from Morocco to Vietnam and Japan to the essence of an English summer afternoon. And whether you’re stuck in the city or out in the country, there’s still time to venture out of the kitchen for picnics, barbecues and beach food. This week Nigella gives us her personal take on Italian food, from the classic Pasta with Mussels, through Black Rice with Vietnamese Dressing, Black Rice and Avocado and Black and Blue Beef.

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Episode 3

Nigella Lawson continues her one-woman campaign to banish Autumn blues with the tastes of summer in her new series. While the recipes may draw on influences from around the world, this week Nigella takes a nostalgic look back at food we all associate with an idyllic summer: strawberries and cream. As well as a classic recipe for Strawberry Ice Cream and picking the plump red fruit with her children, she looks at how more unusual accompaniments can bring out the nest of the humble strawberry. Nigella also cooks more unlikely combinations guaranteed to set taste buds tingling, including Spiced Pink Soup, made with roasted beetroot and sour cream, Watermelon, Feta and Black Olive Salad and Pink Seared Lamb with Bulgar Wheat Salad.

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Episode 4

Self-confessed cityphile Nigella Lawson packs her bags and heads to the seaside for a weekend away in Whitstable. Concealed in her luggage are some of those must have accessories that metropolitan girls can hardly live without: whisks, mixers and exotic ingredients that are a little difficult to find. But Nigella isn’t one for just sitting in the sun, preferring to potter around in the kitchen knocking up delights such as Ricotta Hotcakes with strawberries and a golden coconut and tumeric-infused fish curry from Kerala in Southern India. Whitstable is the perfect place to rediscover one of Nigella’s favourite cocktails –  a White Lady and to carry on the theme her guests are treated to Vietnamese rice paper rolls followed by a White Chocolate And Passion Fruit Mousse.

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Episode 5

It may be getting cool outside, but the summer heat is still coming from the Nigella Lawson’s kitchen. This week she looks at some ingredients that can keep the temperature high, whatever the weathert. Fiery red chillies are the essence of her Sticky Spare ribs, Indonesian spiced chicken and the improbable, but delicious; Ice cream with red-hot chilli syrup. As a journalist Nigella is naturally reticent to reveal her sources, but credit where credit is due and here she introduces some of the people and places she goes to, to swap ideas and recipes. One of her recent discoveries from an Australian friend is Slut Red Raspberries in Chardonnay: “Could any recipe live up to this name?” Another is a spin on an Italian classic; Crab Linguine with chilli and watercress.

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Episode 6

Nigella Lawson takes us on a magic carpet ride through the culinary treasure trove of the Middle-East, starting with Za’tar Chicken with Fatoush Salad: “I make this every other time friends come over in the summer,” she says. Next are Figs For 1001 Nights (and not a cruel medical remedy, but a heavenly recipe of grilled figs with cinnamon and mascarpone). Her transcontinental journey continues to take in Japan; cold Soba Noodles With Sesame Seeds and a ruby pink, Pepper seared Tuna. The circuit of the global kitchen is completed somewhere between Sydney and Rome with a deliciously chewy Chocolate and Raspberry Pavlova: “A killer combination.”

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Episode 7

Nigella Lawson dips into her family’s cookbooks and even literature for mint-related recipes “to instantly evoke hot-shouldered summer.” Wether adding a pungent, herby background to a squid salad or bringing a fresh tang to traditional gimlet, made with vodka and gin, mint has the ability to transform whatever it touches. Nigella also looks at some food combinations so natural that “you can’t imagine someone having to invent them” : Green Salad With Fresh Mint And Grilled Haloumi and a Corsican Omelette with goat’s cheese. Other successful combinations include Courgette Fritters and Ceasar Cleopatra. Nigella also turns to the ultimate leftover food – chicken – for a golden Jubilee Chicken, inspired by one of her maternal grandmother’s recipes, and a Chicken, Parsley anD Almond Salad. Finally there are Mint Julep Peaches, inspired by The Great Gatsby.

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Episode 8

Nigella Lawson believes that “to travel culinary is better than to arrive” and in the final part of her series on summer-inspired food, she draws on the rich, spicy flavours of the southern and eastern Mediterranean for twists on familiar recipes. Saffron brings a “rusty egginess” to Safrron Scented Chicken Pilaf, while honey adds a rich sweetness to Semifreddo – “ice cream without that hard bite, it makes me glory in every bee’s existence.” Middle Eastern flatbreads provide the perfect base for a different take on pizza, whether with tomato and haloumi, chilli and coriander or Za’tar – a regional spice blend. Finally, Moroccan Roast Lamb adds spices to transform the traditional Sunday Lunch, and accompanies it with Turkish Cacik – cucumber and Greek yoghurt with garlic and dried mint.

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