Chef at Home: Cook With and Without a Recipe

Janet Arnett is the former campus manager of adult education at Ontario’s Georgian College. She is the author of Antiques and Collectibles: Starting Small, The Grange at Knock, and 673 Ways to Save Money.

Michael Smith believes you can do this. You can allow your appetite and
instincts to lead you to great flavours. You can be creative. And you
can have fun in the kitchen.

Chef at Home consists of lots of enthusiasm, encouragement, and
directions for creating 90 dishes. Smith’s approach is that you can
follow his recipes, should you feel a need to do that, or you can view
his recipes as ideas to which you bring your own flavour preferences,
innovations, and creativity. Even readers who elect to follow the
recipes will need the confidence to make choices, as the
measurements—a splash, a dribble, a dash—usually allow lots of room
for interpretation.

Snacks, salads, entrees, vegetable dishes, desserts, and sauces are
included. There are lots of old favourites: apple crisp, pancakes, tuna
fish sandwich, beef stew, chocolate chip cookies, biscuits, pizza. And
there are a few surprises: mac and cheese with lobster; watermelon with
oil, salt, and pepper; vanilla chicken; pineapple with cilantro. For
each dish, Smith reports on how he makes it, suggests some variations,
and gives a few hints on ways to achieve the best results.

The book is rich with colour photos—there’s a shot of each finished
dish, plus some close-ups of ingredients, prep, and so forth.

The author’s approach—in which he serves as guide rather than
dictator—is refreshing and makes for enjoyable browsing as well as for
great meals with a personal touch.