THE DELICIOUS MISS DAHL ..... bear with me, you non-chefs, there's a lovely white house in this !!!! ..........

Tuesday evening saw the start of a new cookery programme, featuring Sophie Dahl, grand-daughter of Roald Dahl.

Is Sophie the new Nigella ?....the new sex- kitten on the butcher's block ? She confesses that she has been a yo-yo dieter and has been 'as round as Ruben's' and 'a little slip of a thing'.When you see the menu that she cooked in her first programme, entitled ' A Purely Selfish Day', I think that maybe the Ruben's look is on the cards !! Her first menu racked up several thousand calories and, used rather expensive ingredients.

Her day begins at breakfast, a good place to start, with her take on an Arnold Bennett omelette. Arnold Bennett was an English novelist and theatre critic who frequented The Savoy Hotel Grill on a regular basis in the 1920's and put his name to this smoked haddock, cheese and creme fraiche omelette. Sophie shows us how to make this adding this wide-eyed afterthought ' I can't remember the first time when I had Arnold Bennett'.......... get the picture ? She prepares Peanut Butter Fudge for a mid-day snack (have you seen the size of this woman- she is soooo slim !!).......... Next comes a Buffalo Mozzarella Bruschetta with shaved fennel and courgette salad for lunch. You can imagine the double entendres when the mozzarella makes its appearance !!

Finally, it's dirty martini's (the dirty bit is a spoonful of juice from the olive jar) and a dinner of Roasted Halibut with Spinach and Watercress Sauce followed by Rich Chocolate Pots with Brandy soaked Cherries !!

Between courses, we get to see Sophie shopping in Cheese shops and searching out antiques and little bits of shabby chic for her 'pretend' house !!

Although we could probably do without another cookery programme, I actually rather liked it. Sophie Dahl is very likeable and, as a fan of Nigella, I like her sensual presentation skills ! ......... but, I think that the main reason I liked it was for the house that they are using for the series..........

The house that was used is located in Crouch End in London, a very trendy area where many actors and musicians live and a lot of yummy mummies !! The house is currently for sale for £1.45 million !! It belongs to photographer Paul Massey.

This is the kitchen where you see Sophie cooking. It has been dressed up for the programme with shabby chic paintings and little touches of Victoriana.

Here are some other rooms in the house ..........









Isn't it gorgeous ? If I had a cool £1.45 million spare, I would be onto the estate agents in a flash.
Sophie Dahl recipes can be found on the BBC web site. I'm not sure what she will be cooking next week, but, lets hope it's slightly more healthy !!


Have a delicious weekend.




Jackie