Tansey - Uncomplicated: taking the stress out of home cooking

Hi, come on in. Let me tell you how I got here.

I grew up in a family that ate dinner together every single night. My mom worked full-time, and then came home and whipped up supper while my brother, sister and I bickered about who would set the table and who would walk to the train station to meet Dad on his way home from work.

At the time it didnt seem unusualin fact all of our friends were also expected home for some kind of homemade supper. But now, as an adult, I marvel at how my mom managed it all. Of course, she didnt really have any choice. Frozen and prepared foods werent as common then as now, and we never ate in restaurants. Like most of the other moms in our neighbourhood, she just needed to feed her family.

Those meals were simple home cooking, but they live large in my memory: little lamb chops sizzled under the broiler with baked potatoes and mint sauce from a bottle; cheese souffl made with neon-orange Imperial cheddar served with buttered frozen peas; stir-fried beef with broccoli and cashews. We each had our assigned place at the table (I was in a direct line of my older sisters elbow), and we ate and chatted (usually) politely. My dad ate everything with immense delight, my brother told tall tales, and my sister shoved me at every opportunity.

Today, that model seems obsolete. Between long commutes, chockablock schedules, fussy eaters and special diets, who could possibly have the time, the energy and the know-how to cook supper every night, right? Now that I have a family of my own, I face the same challenges. Just getting the grocery shopping done is sometimes more than I can manage. And what about all the confusing messages about health and environment? Should I buy cage-free eggs or organic? Are avocados causing drought in California? And what the heck is chia? Its just too complicated. And yet we recognize that home cooking is good for us and benefits our families, our finances, our health and our planet. We want to come back into the kitchenbut how?

The solution is to simplify. Forget all the bells and whistles, the TV chefs, the fancy knives and gadgets. Strip away all that unnecessary noise and just cook simple, good food. Thats what uncomplicated means to me.

I started cooking pretty young, but by the time I left home for Mount Allison University in New Brunswick, I was only cooking the basics. Then, in my third year of school, I got a job cooking in the school presidents house for big parties. The pay was good, the crew was fantastic and the work waswell, not work at all. I was hooked. After graduating with my bachelor of arts degree, I bought knives and chefs whites and apprenticed as a chef in fine dining.

But much as I loved the pace and energy of restaurant work, its a young persons game, and by the time I turned thirty I transitioned out of that gruelling work and into a gentler life developing recipes for magazines and teaching cooking classes. Focusing on home cooking was much more satisfying. Much more me. I love fine cuisine, but really, Im just hungry. Sure, I know how to fillet fish, slow-roast duck breasts and caramelize shallots, but Id rather boil a pot of pasta and have garlic spaghetti on the table in fifteen minutes so my partner Michael, our son Thomas and I can sit together. And thats miles better for me and my family than a store-bought frozen anything.

The recipes in this book are the ones I cook at home for my family and friendsreally! Im a working mom who tries to get a tasty home-cooked meal on the table seven nights a week. Thats a tall order, I know, but after more than twenty years as a food professional, Ive figured out how to get to delicious with as little stressand as few dirty dishesas possible (though sometimes, when I dont feel like cooking, this means bread and cheese, and thats okay, too).

So on those days when youre wandering the supermarket aisles trying to think up something new and exciting to do with chicken, or trying to remember the results of the latest salmon-farming study, remember my little mantra: Just cook it yourself. Nothing else matters. And if youre all out of dinner ideas, Ive got you covered.

If you think you cant cook, youre in the right place. Because you can, and youre going to love it.

Lets get started.

These recipes were developed in my home kitchen. I have a domestic gas range and an electric oven without convection. I shop at an ordinary supermarket, and all the ingredients in the book should be widely available. The only exceptions to the weekly grocery-store shop are fish and steak (see ).

All these recipes were also tested by a crew of over a hundred volunteer home cooks in their own kitchens.

Here are some specifics about uncomplicated ingredients and equipment.