My guest this week is Nadine Levy Redzepi.
Nadine has just published her first cookbook called Downtime: Deliciousness At Home. Nadine knows a thing or two about amazing food, as she is married to Rene Redzepi, co founder and chef at Noma. Noma is thought by many to be the world's best restaurant and Rene is commonly referred to as the King of Food.
She has lived in Portugal, France and England as a child before moving to Denmark with her mother which made me excited to hear her childhood food memories. She now lives with Rene and their three daughters in Copenhagen.
Nadine has been inspired by a life long love of food and has created a very personal collection of recipes to inspire the every day. This is a book for everyone and through Nadine's reassuring and friendly way of writing she ensures that even the most timid cooks will be able to create sensational dishes without getting stressed.
This is a genuinely lovely book written in such a friendly and reassuring way. The recipes are delicious but not daunting and it's full of great tips and tricks to get you feeling more confident in the kitchen. Poaching eggs can be one of those things people get a bit afraid of, and Nadine has a great tip in there for how to poach them perfectly each time....genius. She even gives us the perfect technique for porridge which I need to try. Nadine says to simply make the porridge by bringing the oats and milk to the boil, and then to remove them from the heat immediately and allowing to sit for 10 minutes. She swears this is perfect porridge everytime and do you know what? I believe her. I mean it would be foolish not to.
Since meeting Nadine I am now hooked on her favourite sandwich! Mortadella is one of my favourites and I think it's underrated. The simple combination with the rye bread, cream cheese and tomatoes is just perfect. I like it with lots salt and pepper and a small drizzle of olive oil, just as Nadine says.
Nadine has cooked for some of the biggest names in food, from world-renowned chefs, to top restaurant critics and everything in between. I can't imagine her every getting into a flap in the kitchen. As she points out, to her these people are just her friends, so she feels more relaxed then perhaps you or I would if we were asked to cook for them. But still. Because of this you feel very reassured when reading her book and her recipes that you are in safe hands.
I like Nadine's relaxed style of cooking very much. She loves one pan cooking with minimal washing up which I think is very relatable because WHO LOVES WASHING UP? Because of this she loves roasting and slow cooking meat which I really love too and is such a great option when you are entertaining, cooking for a crowd, or even the family. Her go-to dinner party dish is something like a slow roasted pork belly for the main with maybe some homemade potato chips to start or poached artichoke dunked in butter to start with. Finished off with a beautiful vanilla ice cream. All I can say is that Rene is a lucky man.
We find out what Nadine cooked for Rene the first time she cooked for the King of Food, which didn't go according to plan in her mind but luckily he loved it, and we discover what the seal the deal pasta he cooked for her consisted of.
Desert Island Dish:
Nadine would go to Noma for a feast - in particular the scallop fudge
Follow by chocolate brownies, pound cake, or do-it-all cake
Luxury item: Espresso machine with Elon Musk solar panels
Nadine is so lovely and down to Earth, have a listen to us chatting using the button below:
Don't forget to have a look at the recipe I created this week in honour of Nadine, it's a cracker and perfect for cooking this weekend.
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