I'm No Nigella!!

I love to cook.  When I feel motivated, I love getting creative in the kitchen and experimenting with new ingredients, tweaking favourite recipes and getting use out of all my items of equipment.  So when Russell Hobbs held a competition on their Facebook page to find contestants for their Cookery Challenge, I jumped in with both feet.  I was utterly shocked to be chosen as one of four, who would compete in a cook off against four food bloggers, taking part in four challenges. I immediately had a feel of dread, comparing my skills against experienced cooks.  Each week a different Russell Hobbs Allure appliance is the focus of the challenge, and we cook a dish around a theme and video ourselves doing so.  Despite my fear of humiliation, this is pretty much right up my street!  I do like to step outside my comfort zone and be inspired to try something different.  I may not ever win a Michelin Star, but I can give this challenge a good go!

The only problem is that I talk utter gibberish when on camera.  As soon as the Flip is switched on, I lose control of my mouth.  This is OK if you are just doing a vlog, you can just retake what you want to say and consign the gibberish to the virtual cutting room floor.  But when you are cooking, there can be no retakes.  No second chances. Once you have cracked that egg, whisked the mixture or fried that onion, you can't undo it.  What you say and do is captured forever.

Watching back footage of me gibbering on about what I'm doing, spouting random nonsense or overusing the word "pop" in place of put, makes me cringe!!  But there is no going back when recording a step by step recipe.  I have new respect for Nigella, Jamie and anyone who has ever been on Masterchef.  They make it look effortless and easy to chat about whisking eggs, "popping" things in the oven and serving up to make the food look good and not like roadkill.

So far I've made Lentil and Caramelised Onion Curry served with raita and chutney and an Autumnal Apple and Almond Cake.  I'm having real fun with it.  The recipe videos are going live at the Cookery Challenge page soon.  Public embarrassment awaits!!

Here's photos of my first two efforts which I am pretty proud of...I'm glad I've thrown myself into yet another crazy challenge and even though my embarrassing banter is an issue which makes editing quite tricky, I'm having a blast!!

NaBloPoMo Day 3