Stuart OKeeffe - The Quick Six Fix: 100 No-Fuss, Full-Flavor Recipes - Six Ingredients, Six Minutes Prep, Six Minutes Cleanup

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But if you take it more literally, it simply shows the folly in making too much of a fuss over anythingincluding cooking. I find that people tend to unnecessarily stress out over preparing a meal. It neednt be hard, and it doesnt have to require a lot of time. Were modern people living in modern times with all of the savvy, tools, and tricks to cook efficiently without sacrificing delicious results. Think about it: What good is a twice-boiled anything? Theres a reason for my affinity for Irish proverbs: Im from Ireland, the small town Nenagh in County Tipperary, population just shy of eight thousand. Traditionally, its a market town with one of Irelands leading creameries.

And we do love our cream and butter. In my family, we were three boys and one girl, along with my parents. My mom always loved cooking and she never spared anything with food, even though we didnt have much money. Still, every Saturday shed buy quality ingredients at the farmers markets, including fresh meat, poultry, fruit, and vegetables along with all of that great dairy. And she cooked with great enjoymentit was her hobby away from long hours working at her clothing store. By the age of seven, I had become her miniature sous-chef, helping to roll out dough for pastries, chopping vegetables for stew, and performing with glee any task she had given me.

I relished the one-on-one time with her, not to mention the tasty treats shed slip me in the process. When I wasnt cooking with my mom, Id help my aunt, who was endlessly baking. She taught me how to achieve that perfectly flaky crust and a featherlight meringue. Id assist her with everything from apple tarts to her Guinness cake to pavlova, still some of my favorite taste memories today. Both my aunt and my mom didnt need a long list of ingredients. Nor did they use elaborate methods to prepare good food.

From them, the first inklings of my Quick Six Fix philosophy were born. I went off to culinary school when I was nineteen, then cooked in kitchens in France, Dublin, and the Napa Valley. Those professional kitchens taught me how to respect my space, working efficiently while keeping it clean. Another component of the Quick Six Fix took hold then. I realized theres no reason why those ethics cant apply to the home kitchen, too. Once I arrived in Los Angeles and I started to cook for parties and events, speed, efficiency, and flavor were always intertwined and became more essential.

Celebrity clients relied on me for food that tasted great with a seemingly effortless approach (they certainly never wanted to walk into a dirty kitchen!). Cooking on television, on shows such as Private Chefs of Beverly Hills and Stuarts Kitchen, helped me streamline my kitchen, and methods, even more. All of these influences, from my family to culinary school to cooking professionally to playing a chef on TV, all contributed to what I will share in this book. Once you get the hang of the Quick Six Fix philosophy, youll never cook the same way again. Youll discover theres nothing half-baked here, with no cutting of corners. Nor, for that matter, is anything twice-boiled.

The Quick Six Fix is simply an easy method yielding fully delicious food. The Quick Six Fix is my approach to quick and easy, full-flavor cooking. It is designed to get you in and out of the kitchen fast so that you can take the time to enjoy your meal and your company. Each recipe in this book features no more than six minutes of prep, six minutes of cleanup, and six key ingredients. And most recipes are designed to be made in 30 minutes or less.

If you keep your pantry stocked with these go-to items, youll always be prepared to make a quick, easy, tasty meal. Some of those items will figure into the six ingredient count, but note that a few essentials, like salt and olive oil, dont factor into the count. (The six ingredients that amount to the count are denoted by bold text, while the essentials are in regular type.) The bottom line is that a well-stocked pantry also allows for more efficient grocery shopping.

I cant stress how important this is (and in fact, I will annoyingly remind you of it throughout the book): Before starting a recipe, read the recipe through several times! Three times should be the charm so that you have a good understanding of whats needed, whats going to happen, and how you can best manage your time. Its also a great idea to quickly read the text at the beginning of the chapter of the recipe to brush up on general tips and tools. Once you have a grasp of whats to happen, there will be no surprises, and youll breeze through the prep. By my Quick Six Fix definition, prep means anything that requires laborchopping, peeling, and grating, for example. Measuring and boiling water are not considered prep, in my book.