The Royal Chef At Home: Easy Seasonal Entertaining

telltale red lipstick stain on the rim. She was known among her set as a very good cook, and my parents’ parties were always friendly affairs with simple, delicious food to go along. Mum taught us that you don’t need to have a reason for a party, just a sense of fun. When I got older and rented my first flat, I’d invite friends (mostly other chefs) round for dinners. Sometimes I laid out cheese platters and charcuterie plates with lots of beer. Other times we would emulate the Savoy, preparing dishes off the menu. Those dinners, served with plenty of wine and riotous conversation lasted well into the night. By evening’s end the candles would be nearly burnt out, the table was littered with bread crumbs and empty bottles and there was the lingering scent of a well cooked dinner. I’d look at all that and decide that the dirty dishes could wait until tomorrow! Great evenings are homemade affairs. It’s around the dinner table with friends where we laugh, toast, share and connect. We break bread with one another and in doing so cast an invisible thread bringing us closer together. I wrote this book to encourage you to cast that thread more often. Invite friends over. Light the candles, chill down a few bottles, have something wonderful braising in the oven. Set another place at the table (or two or three) and drink, talk, eat and talk some more! Unlike royal family dinners, entertaining at home doesn’t require a larder stocked with foie gras or truffles, restaurant style ovens or hired help. At our house the formal linen and crystal are dispensed with in favor of woven placements and ordinary silverware. When I entertain friends, I want to make people feel welcome. I surely don’t want to add stress to anyone’s life, mine included.

To help, I’ve put together a well edited and seasonal selection of menus with foolproof, great tasting dishes. This is, I think, much more helpful than another hefty tome with 1,001 recipes to slog through as you try to look for inspiration. I’m also attracted to the notion that it is far better to cook simple dishes you love and which work well than complicated dishes of dubious origin fromglossymagazines. Food shouldn’t be a distraction or take over. Its preparation should not be a herculean task which leaves the cook frazzled and spent. Food for family and friends should smell and taste great. That’s all. Really, can you imagine a Michelin star chef with his tweezers trying to neatly arrange a crab and shrimp boil that had just been upturned onto a table covered in newspaper? Now here is where my first maxim comes in: To eat well, you must learn to cook. Sorry, but there is no way around this one. But here is the good news—cooking isn’t hard! It’s a craft that anyone can learn to do and do well. A freshly made salad with an interesting variety of lettuces, herbs and a simple vinaigrette is always much better than a pre-washed bagged salad with a bottle of commercial dressing. If you have good ingredients on hand, your job is already halfway done. Add easy-to follow techniques and a reasonable number of ingredients, and you’ll find the distance between start and finish pleasurably brief. Duringmy years of teaching cooking classes, I’ve noticed a growing lack of confidence among home cooks, especially when it comes to entertaining. My advice is this: Don’t forget the great home cooks you’ve known. They were mothers, fathers, aunts, grandmothers, or even close family friends. They entertained

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