Cookbook Roadtest: The Nation’s Favourite Food – Fast

When Neven Maguire’s newest cookbook ‘The Nations Favourite Food – Fast’ popped through our letter box last week we were only too delighted to put it to the test. A gorgeous hard-backed tome, there is an image for every recipe; super important for those of us who don’t trust ourselves completely in the kitchen.

We chose two recipes to road test; one savoury and one sweet.

The first midweek meal that stood out to us was the Crispy Buttermilk Chicken with Celeriac Slaw. We could not get celeriac in the supermarket so we substituted red cabbage. We also left out the sourdough so you may want to serve something on the side as we felt it didn’t really need it. This recipe was incredibly easy and surprisingly very quick to make. We only marinated the chicken in buttermilk for 15 minutes which is the minimum but would say it would taste even nicer if you left it over night. This dish was so tasty and was a hit with the whole family (including one fussy small person). A definite addition to the weekly menu!

 

 

Next on the list was the gorgeous Lemon Sponge. We would recommend to any novice baker ALWAYS measure your ingredients for baking. To this recipe we also included some Avonmore Freshly Whipped Cream and strawberries (We love strawberries and had some in the fridge) we also used shop bought Chivers Lemon Curd.

The sponge came together very easily, even without an electric whisk… though we will be using one in the future for ease and speed.

 

Then we  simply spread the lemon curd onto one of the sponges, adding Avonmore Whipped Cream on top and finished off with raspberries and strawberries.

 

Finally we popped the other sponge on top then a quick dusting of icing sugar and a couple of raspberries on top… and viola! The final product

Overall we were really happy how both dishes turned out and needless to say neither dish lasted long! This is a brilliant every day cookbook, and we’ll be dipping in and out of it over the next few weeks.

Most of the recipes in The Nation’s Favourite Food Fast! take just 30 minutes. Try the Crispy Tacos, the Rib-eye Steak with Chimichurri or maybe Neven’s own favourite, Lamb Tagliata with Puy Lentil and Goat’s Cheese Salad. The Pumpkin Pizza with Cashel Blue and Pickled Red Onion from the takeaway section can be made before any delivery person could get to your house!

You can purchase a copy of Neven Maguire’s The Nations Favourite Food Fast online here for €18.39

Review by Sarah Carbery