Colu Henry’s Better at Home and the Art of Entertaining on Your Own Terms

Colu Henry, a seasoned cook and author, finds joy in the simple pleasure of a home-cooked meal. While she appreciates dining at restaurants, her latest cookbook, Better at Home, scheduled for release on March 10, reflects a shift towards creating a more personalized and relaxed dining experience. This desire, she explains, stems from evolving priorities and a longing for connection with friends and family on her own terms.

A New Approach to Entertaining

Better at Home, shaped by Henry’s cooking experiences in Hudson, New York, and Nova Scotia, features over one hundred recipes designed for a comfortable and celebratory atmosphere. The recipes are described as polished yet unfussy, offering dishes like roast chicken with lemon, fennel, and pecorino potatoes, and a lentil stew enhanced with pork, walnuts, and a touch of lemon. Even simpler dishes, like smashed potatoes, are elevated with additions like sour cream and caviar.

Did You Know? Colu Henry is also the author of Back Pocket Pasta, indicating a continued focus on accessible and pantry-focused cooking.

Henry emphasizes the importance of intention in cooking, differentiating between a quick weeknight meal and a more thoughtfully prepared dish. She believes that small details—like adding fennel to potatoes—can transform an ordinary meal into something special. The recipes in Better at Home are designed to be adaptable, suitable for both casual weeknights and more elaborate dinner parties.

Pantry Staples and Flexible Recipes

The cookbook’s philosophy centers around pantry fluency, building on techniques Henry explored in her previous work. Ingredients like fennel seeds, dried mint, and anchovies reappear throughout the recipes, encouraging resourceful cooking and minimizing waste. Henry aims to avoid the “dusty drawer problem,” ensuring that purchased ingredients are used repeatedly and confidently.

Expert Insight: Henry’s emphasis on pantry staples and adaptable recipes reflects a growing trend towards mindful consumption and a rejection of overly complex or rigid cooking instructions. This approach empowers home cooks to personalize dishes and reduce food waste.

Henry encourages cooks to embrace flexibility, stating that deviating from the recipes is perfectly acceptable. She believes the true joy lies in making the dish your own and allowing the evening to unfold naturally. The book is geared towards a specific social circle—friends who, like Henry, prioritize comfortable gatherings over formal events.

Her writing style mirrors the food itself: straightforward and layered. She illustrates this with an anecdote about choosing between capers and cornichons for a pork chop recipe, highlighting the improvisational nature of her cooking. The cookbook’s dishes, like chicken pie with buttered toast or pasta with spicy crab, are designed to be shared and enjoyed in a relaxed setting.

Frequently Asked Questions

What inspired Better at Home?

The cookbook grew out of Colu Henry’s desire to create a more personalized and relaxed dining experience, shifting away from frequent restaurant visits towards hosting gatherings at home with friends.

Where did Henry develop the recipes in the book?

The recipes were shaped by the meals Henry cooks in Hudson, New York, and in Nova Scotia, where she and her husband are restoring an 1866 farmhouse.

What is Henry’s approach to following recipes?

Henry encourages cooks to be flexible and adapt recipes to their own preferences, emphasizing that the most important thing is to enjoy the process and make the dish your own.

What does a relaxed and inviting home dining experience mean to you?