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Monday at 5.20pm.

About the show

Nigella is back in her kitchen at a time when most of us are up for a bit of extended kitchen work.

 As always Nigellas mantra is that cooking should be fun, if it becomes stressful then youre not doing it right. 

This series reveals how Nigella enjoys the run up to Christmas and how she will be revealing some of her sanity preserving short cuts that make even the most routine recipes redolent with Christmas sparkle!

Across this five-part seasonal special Nigella brings to viewers some very special (and fun) Christmas recipes.

Monday

This first episode will create a sense of homely Christmas industry. Home made jars of spiced peaches and hand tied boxes of Nigella's cookies are welcome gifts but the most comforting aspect of all this work is the sense that Christmas doesn't have to come "off the shelf".

Tuesday

Like a bow on a parcel or a star on a tree Nigella has a series of short cuts and culinary tips that transform the familiar into a Wintery feast. Not all Christmas recipes are Ham, Goose or Turkey but it seems wrong somehow in the magical days that surround Christmas to even entertain the idea of an everyday and familiar recipe and more to the point it's not necessary

Wednesday

Getting ahead and filling the freezer can be the answer to a Christmas prayer. Cooking at Christmas is a wonderful piece of slow down therapy but that doesn't mean that you have to be tied to the stove the entire time. This is the time to spend time with friends enjoying good food and good company but can the two work together?

Thursday

Nigella begins by gathering inspiration at the Christmas Market in Salzburg and adds a few twists of her own back in the kitchen. Nigellas Aromatic Spiced Ham and Christmas Cake are at the heart of this programme.

Friday

Cooking a Christmas lunch that attempts to marry the weight of Dickensian expectation against the determination of a bird to become a desiccated husk has been the downfall of many a cook.

There seems to be a laser thin line between Salmonella and leathery disappointment and most of us contemplating the image of spending Christmas night in A&E tend to lean towards the safety of an overcooked bird.

Nigella has an affection for the Turkey and in her mind there is no alternative to Christmas lunch and with her colours pined to the mast she has now to deliver her method of cooking a turkey that will not disappoint.

Click here for a look at three of Nigella's scrumptious Christmas recipes.

In the first episode, Nigella helps us to deal with pre-Christmas entertaining. In episode two we do some Christmas baking, including the recipes that have dropped off the Christmas list and the traditional Christmas dinner. And in the third programme Nigella delivers her method of cooking a turkey guaranteed not to disappoint.

"Christmas food is the best sort of food because it's about proper, unpretentious home cooking," says Nigella.  

"Feasting isn't about formality. It's about providing friends and family with good things to eat."

If you like this show, you may also like Jimmy's Farm, Jamie at Home, and The F Word.

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