Home Cooking

March 20, 2009

For me, the love of food begins in my own home. A woman who spends much of her time in the kitchen, my mornings begin at the table, with a cup of good coffee and a notepad and pen. At the end of a day of creating, I return to the hearth. Despite my perceived gallivanting to the best fine dining establishments in town, in the evening, I usually cook a meal.

Often, these are Spartan affairs, nourishment for one. I’ll pop a yam into the oven, make a salad of greens with a homemade vinaigrette (2 parts olive oil, the best you can afford; 1 part vinegar, your choice; Dijon mustard; 3 crushed cloves of garlic; salt and pepper to taste. Whisk well). Occasionally I’ll add a grain, but more often than not, I’ll simply steam some broccoli or other greens, and I am very happy.

My favorite home cooked meals, though, are those I share with others, my children or close friends. I am a firm believer that one’s home does not need to turn out five course, five star meals to make one’s guests happy. In fact, I say, eschew the notion of perfection entirely!

What you are going for here is comfort—comfort food and a comfortable setting in which your guests can relax, be themselves and have fun! Enough wine for those who partake, water for those who don’t and a good, simple meal are all that’s necessary. The added bonus of a simple meal is that you can enjoy your own party.

Leave the fancy fare for the chefs. Think instead of hearty home cooking.

A foolproof recipe for me is a roasted, free-range chicken, stuffed with a lemon and stalk of rosemary, a couple of unpeeled garlic cloves and a nub of butter. Rub the clean chicken inside and out with salt, sprinkle with pepper and roast at 350 degrees for an hour and a half, basting occasionally.

Serve with basmati rice, a steamed green veggie and toss a salad of mixed greens, tomatoes, cucumber and avocado with the vinaigrette at the end of the meal. This can be served before or with a cheese course that uses up the remains of whatever bread you have at the table. Serves four.

After such a simple meal, something decadent and chocolate is brilliant! Frequently, I’ll just have cookies with bars of good chocolate and a bowl of fruit on the table with coffee.

Recently I fed a group of eight the above repast (double the recipe.) The dubious underbelly of Taos’ miscreant intelligentsia was well represented at this affair. I worried over what to feed such a spoiled bunch, these well traveled sophisticates who have indulged in the best watering holes and eateries on the planet! Rest assured, not a soul complained. In fact, many went back for seconds and remained at the table until midnight!

“I usually eat a frozen pie and frozen veggies,� remarked a famous writer who stays up all night working on his latest book. This gentleman qualified his acceptance of my invitation, with a “hope you don’t mind if I leave early, but I write at night, you know…� Now here he was, at almost midnight, enjoying his status as raconteur par excellence!

After the chatter abates, the guests filter out, the dishes are washed, and the kitchen returned to its tidy order, I retire. A creature of habit, I return to my kitchen the following morning, and with my good coffee, I begin thinking about another dinner party.

Who shall I invite this time? Can I get so and so up from Santa Fe? What shall I cook? Oh yes, next week I’m making curry!