Canadian Food Focus

Everything Grows

Cookbook Author Claire Tansey’s Canadian Food Story

food-story-claire-tanseyClaire Tansey is an author, teacher and food expert. She started her food career cooking in fine dining restaurants, then transitioned to recipe development and writing. In 2010 she was named Food Director for Chatelaine, Canada’s most iconic women’s brand, and became a regular guest expert on Cityline. She now inspires home cooks on Cityline, CBC Radio and at Claire Tansey’s Kitchen.  Best known for easy, reliable and delicious recipes, fun TV and radio segments and engaging classes, Claire also knows food inside and out. Her bestselling cookbook, Uncomplicated: Taking the Stress Out of Home Cooking, was published in October 2018 by Penguin Canada.

 

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Claire Tansey is an author, teacher and food expert. She started her food career cooking in fine dining restaurants, then transitioned to recipe development and writing. In 2010 she was named Food Director for Chatelaine, Canada’s most iconic women’s brand, and became a regular guest expert on Cityline. She now inspires home cooks on Cityline, CBC Radio and though her great cooking videos on her Youtube channel – Claire Tansey’s Kitchen. Best known for easy, reliable and delicious recipes, fun TV and radio segments and engaging classes, Claire also knows food inside and out. Her bestselling cookbook, Uncomplicated: Taking the Stress Out of Home Cooking, was published in October 2018 by Penguin Canada. Originally from Montreal, Claire lives in Toronto with her partner, Michael, and son, Thomas.⁣ We are happy to welcome Claire on board as one of our #CDNFoodFocus contributors. Check out the next few posts to learn more about Claire and her #CdnFoodStory. Watch for more posts from Claire in the future and follow her on Instagram @tanseyclaire

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“I grew up in a family that ate dinner together every single night. At⁣ the time it didn’t seem unusual—in 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, between working full-time, us three kids and living in the suburbs. Of course, she didn’t really have any choice. Frozen and prepared foods weren’t 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.⁣ Hers was the kind of simple home cooking that moms have been making for generations: little lamb chops sizzled under the broiler with baked potatoes and mint sauce from a bottle; Cheese soufflé made with neon-orange Imperial cheddar served with buttered frozen peas; Stir-fried beef with broccoli and cashews. We sat at our old wooden table every night. 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 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 kitchen—but 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. That’s what “uncomplicated” means to me.”⁣ 📷: #CdnFoodFocus contributor @tanseyclaire Follow her profile for more #cdnfoodstories 🌱🌱🌱 #EverythingGrows #CdnFoodFocus #CdnFarmStory #CdnFoodStory

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“Uncomplicated dishes start by being easy to shop for—either with a quick run to the local grocery store or (even better) just by opening the pantry.⁣ The ingredients aren’t expensive, hard to find or tough to sell to the discriminating eaters in our lives. Uncomplicated meals are easy to prepare and need neither fancy equipment nor intricate techniques. They’re easy to eat because everyone loves them, and they’re easy on clean-up because, really, who wants to spend a Tuesday night washing the blender, two frying pans and a casserole dish?⁣ Some of my all-time favourite uncomplicated dishes are Garlic⁣ Spaghetti, Herb and Garlic Meatloaf, Lentil and Vegetable Soup, Three⁣ Ingredient Mac and Cheese, and Sheet Pan Sausage and Kale Supper.”⁣ 📷: #CdnFoodFocus contributor @tanseyclaire Follow her profile for more #cdnfoodstories 🌱🌱🌱⁣ ⁣ #EverythingGrows #CdnFoodFocus #CdnFarmStory #CdnFoodStory #lovecanadianfood

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“When people ask if my recipes are healthy, my reply is a resounding⁣ yes. For many years as a magazine editor, I focused tons of energy on making sure our recipes’ nutritional numbers met the standards. I made sure the sodium, calories and saturated fats weren’t too high and that the fibre was high enough. And yet, even though I know all the standard daily recommendations by heart, I still get confused by it all. If that’s how I feel—and this is my life and business—then everyone on earth must be confused.⁣ The word “healthy” these days means something different to everyone,⁣ and with food and nutrition science progressing quickly, it’s hard to keep⁣ track of what’s good for me and what isn’t. ⁣ Instead, I forget all the numbers, trends and fads and just cook. I wholeheartedly believe that when I cook real food, nothing else matters.⁣ Instead, I focus on enjoying the process of cooking, and doubly enjoying the⁣ time I get to spend with friends and family when there’s a home-cooked meal on the table. That’s as healthy as I strive to be.”⁣ 📷: #CdnFoodFocus contributor @tanseyclaire Follow her profile for more #cdnfoodstories 🌱🌱🌱 #EverythingGrows #CdnFoodFocus #CdnFarmStory #CdnFoodStory #lovecanadianfood

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“Although I live in a big city, I’ve always fancied myself a farm girl (must have been all those Little House books I read!) and I follow the seasons with my shopping choices. When asparagus is in season, we eat it almost every night for a month. In the middle of winter, we eat potatoes and apples, cabbage and carrots. I love the rhythm this brings to the year, the variety, and the inspiration I get from eating with the seasons.⁣ That’s the heart of Canadian cuisine to me. We don’t really have a traditional national dish, as many other cultures and countries do, but what we do have is an extraordinary, unparalleled bounty of homegrown ingredients. Take⁣ these ingredients, spin them in the kitchen using any number of the diverse⁣ cultures that contribute to the Canadian mosaic, and you’ve got Canadian⁣ cuisine.”⁣ 📷: #CdnFoodFocus contributor @tanseyclaire Follow her profile for more #cdnfoodstories 🌱🌱🌱 #EverythingGrows #CdnFoodFocus #CdnFarmStory #CdnFoodStory #lovecdnfood

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“Life isn’t complete without pancakes.Nothing tastes like the weekend more than pancakes, but they’re also an easy way to make any weekday morning special. They’re a Canadian classic, and showcase some of our very best ingredients, from our spectacular flour, to dairy, eggs, and flax or hemp hearts.⁣ Like many kids, I started cooking by making pancakes. My mother’s Joy of Cooking opens naturally to “Sour Milk Pancakes” (bad name, great pancakes) because the page is so heavily splashed with pancake batter, but by the time I was 12 I knew the recipe by heart.I also knew my mom’s admonition by heart: “Just a few swift strokes!” she’d holler as I was mixing the batter. The pancakes were impossibly fluffy and delicious, and we could never get enough.”⁣ 🌱Canadian Food Focus Article and Recipe🌱⁣ https://canadianfoodfocus.org/in-your-kitchen/how-to-make-the-worlds-best-pancakes/⁣ ⁣ 📷: #CdnFoodFocus contributor @tanseyclaire Follow her profile for more #cdnfoodstories 🌱🌱🌱 #EverythingGrows #CdnFoodFocus #CdnFarmStory #CdnFoodStory #lovecdnfood

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More articles by Claire:

Spicy and Sweet Chicken Cashew Stir Fry

How to Make the World’s Best Pancakes

Claire Tansey

Claire Tansey is an author, teacher and food expert. She started her food career cooking in fine dining restaurants, then transitioned to recipe development and writing. In 2010 she was named Food Director for Chatelaine, Canada’s most iconic women’s brand, and became a regular guest expert on Cityline. She now inspires home cooks on Cityline, CBC Radio and at Claire Tansey’s Kitchen.

Contributor PostsClaire Tansey