Cold-weather comforts

For TV chef Nadiya Hussain, family comfort food means fresh seafood noodles and crumbly caramel cheesecakes.

ABOUT NADIYA HUSSAIN

Nadiya Hussain is a British TV chef who rose to fame after capturing the hearts of audiences across the world when she won season six of The Great British Bake Off in 2015. Since then, Nadiya has been busy presenting several successful family style cooking shows on BBC Lifestyle, DStv channel 174, writing bestselling recipe books as well as baking a 90th birthday cake for Queen Elizabeth II. Her cooking style is rooted in bringing the family together at meal times, to enjoy tasty, accessible and varied foods from across the world.

PAD THAI SERVES 4

In Nadiya’s Asian Odyssey – on BBC Lifestyle, DStv channel 174 – Nadiya used squid, but at home she adds mussels, so we’ve included them here.

PICKLED PAPAYA

200ml Rice wine vinegar 75g Palm sugar, grated 1 Young papaya, sliced

PAD THAI SAUCE

3 Tbsp tamarind paste

2 Tbsp fish sauce

2 Tsp turmeric

2 Tbsp light soy sauce

2 Limes, juiced

NOODLES

1kg Mussels, scrubbed

2 Tbsp vegetable oil

400g Cooked rice noodles

6 Thai shallots, finely chopped

2 Red chillies, finely sliced

250g Squid, cleaned,

prepared and cut into rings

TO SERVE

Lime wedges Celery leaves Cashew nuts Chilli flakes

For the pickled papaya, bring the vinegar to a boil in a small saucepan. Stir in the sugar until dissolved. Remove from the heat, stir in the papaya and set aside until the pickle has cooled.

For the pad Thai sauce, mix all of the ingredients together in a small bowl until combined into a smooth sauce.

For the noodles, discard any mussels with broken shells and any that refuse to close when tapped. Heat a tablespoon of oil in a large, lidded wok and add the mussels. Cover with the lid and steam for three to four minutes, or until all the mussels are opened. Discard any that remain closed and remove the mussels from the remaining opened shells. Tip the noodles into a bowl and add the mussels.

Wipe the wok and add a tablespoon of oil. When hot, add the shallots and chillies and stir-fry for one minute. Add the squid and stir-fry for two minutes. Keep the wok on the heat, add the mussel and noodle mixture and toss everything together. Pour in the pad Thai sauce and toss through the noodles until everything is coated and warmed through.

To serve, spoon the noodles into warmed bowls and garnish with the pickled papaya. Serve immediately with the lime wedges, celery leaves, cashew nuts and chilli flakes alongside.

BACK-TO-FRONT CHEESECAKE

ServeS 9

Nadiya’s cheesecake, from Nadiya’s Family Favourites – on BBC Lifestyle, DStv channel 174 – has its base on top. But all the best cakes are a little back-to-front. CHeeSeCAKe

900g Full-fat cream cheese 200g Caster sugar

150ml Soured cream

3 Tbsp plain flour 3 Free-range eggs, beaten 2 Tsp vanilla bean paste

HONEY SALTED CARAMEL

50g Butter

170g Set honey 300ml Double cream ½ Tsp salt

TIFFIN CRUMBLE

150g Digestives, roughly crushed

75g Unsalted butter, melted 30g Demerara sugar

50g Dark chocolate chips 50g Toasted hazelnuts,

roughly chopped Preheat the oven to 160°C. Grease the base of a 20cm round cake tin (not loosebottomed), and line it with baking paper.

Put the cream cheese, sugar, soured cream, flour, eggs and vanilla paste into a large bowl and give it all a good mix, just for a minute, until it’s all well combined. You don’t want to mix for too long and incorporate any air.

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin, tap it on the worktop to release any trapped air, then level the surface. Bake on the lower shelf of the oven for one hour.

As soon as the hour is up, open the oven door, leaving it slightly ajar. Pop a wooden spoon in the door to keep it slightly open and let out the heat slowly. Turn the oven off.

Don’t take the cheesecake out until the oven is completely cold – this recipe is more about patience than anything else. Once the oven is cool, put the cheesecake into the fridge to chill overnight.

The following day, make the honey salted caramel. Melt the butter in a small pan over a medium heat. Add the honey and cook on a medium– high heat for 10 minutes, until the caramel is golden brown. If it starts to catch, turn the heat down slightly.

After 10 minutes, pour in the cream, give it a mix and allow it to just come to a boil. Take off the heat and stir in the salt. Set aside.

For the tiffin crumble, put the biscuits into a zip-lock bag and crush them very roughly. Empty into a bowl.

Melt the butter and pour onto the biscuits. Leave to cool for 10 minutes while you take the cheesecake out of the fridge and turn it out on to a serving plate or platter. Add the sugar, chocolate and hazelnuts to the biscuit chunks.

Now for the back-to-front bit. Pile the tiffin mixture on top of the cheesecake. Reheat the caramel if it’s cooled down too much, and serve with slices of cheesecake.