The Nigella Theme is Family Favorites

The I heart cooking club is helping me knock off two more from my Nigella Express book. Yippee! If you are reading this and you love Nigella, or you just want to participate in cooking cameraderie, surf on over to I Heart Cooking and join in the fun!

Buttermilk Roasted Chicken

You'll need the following ingredients........

12 chicken drumsticks (approximately 3 pounds total weight)
2 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, bruised and skins removed
1 tablespoon crushed peppercorns
1 tablespoon sea salt or 1 1/2 teaspoons table salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon maple syrup



Directions.............

Place the chicken drumsticks in a large freezer bag, and add the buttermilk and 1/4 cup of oil.

Add the bruised garlic cloves to the bag with the crushed peppercorns and salt.



Sprinkle in the ground cumin and finally add the maple syrup, and then squish everything in the freezer bag around to mix the marinade and coat the chicken.

Leave the buttermilk marinated chicken in the fridge ideally overnight or out of the fridge for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 hours. I choose to let it marinade overnight.



Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Take the chicken pieces out of the bag shaking off the excess marinade, and then arrange them in a roasting tin lined with foil.

Drizzle over the 2 remaining tablespoons of oil, and then roast in the oven for about 30 minutes, or until brown, even scorched in parts, and juicily cooked through.



From Nigella Express, On the Run section, page 274


Now, pair this with New Orleans Style Cole Slaw

You'll need these ingredients.......

1 head white or savoy cabbage, weighing about 2 pounds before trimming
2 carrots
2 sticks celery
4 scallions
1 cup best quality, preferably organic, store-bought mayonnaise
4 tablespoons (1/4 cup) buttermilk
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2/3 cup pecans, fairly finely chopped

Directions..........

Trim and shred the cabbage; you can do this either by hand or with a food processor.




Peel and grate the carrots, and finely slice the celery and scallions.
I have a mini processor so it took several rounds of grating, dumping the veggies into a bowl, back to grating, etc...



Whisk together the mayonnaise, buttermilk, maple syrup and vinegar and coat the shredded vegetables with this dressing. Behold, the Nigella whisk!



Season with salt and pepper and toss with the chopped nuts.



From Nigella Express, On the Run section, page 277

These definitely work for the category Family Favorites! Some other family favorites, which I have prepared before, can be found on the posts for Brandy Bacony Chicken, Maple Chicken and Ribs and Chicken Schnitzel. Enjoy!