Chef Nanette Smalley

A Life in Food to Inspire the Home Chef

This book is a labor of love that has taken 50 years to realize, and your support means the world to me.
Nanette, in her Introduction, page 9

Fifty years, in five dishes

Black and white photograph: Nanette in her chef’s coat, smiling broadly, spoons potato onto a row of dinner plates in a brick-walled kitchen. — Plating dinner. The photograph that opens the Entrées chapter, pages 114 and 115.

Over the last 50 years I have collected, created and developed the recipes that you are about to learn.
Nanette, in her Introduction, page 11

Of the 123 recipes in Favorite, 115 carry a note from Nanette about where the dish came from. Read five of them in order and you have her life, and the people she was cooking for.

A life in food

Her grandfatherSmalley Family EggnogPage 108Christmas in Santa Fe
Her motherOld-Fashioned Fried ChickenPage 162Picnics on the beach in California
Her restaurantBaked Eggs la QuerenciaPage 14La Querencia, Santa Fe
Her sonOak’s Chocolate MoussePage 280A tiny apartment in Santa Fe
Her neighborsMocha CookiesPage 268Hell’s Kitchen, New York

And for you

The bookFavorite, by Nanette$39.99323 pages, in hardcover

A cut-glass goblet of eggnog dusted with nutmeg, on a dark wooden table.

One of fiveHer grandfather

Smalley Family
Eggnog Page 108

My grandfather was a real-deal cowboy.
As a child, I fondly remember visiting his house in Santa Fe during Christmas, where a large punch bowl was always filled with this incredibly delicious nectar for the adult guests to enjoy.
This eggnog recipe has been passed down in my family for three generations, and it has become a cherished Christmas morning tradition that I am thrilled to share.
Nanette’s note on Smalley Family Eggnog, page 107

Two of fiveHer mother

Old-Fashioned
Fried Chicken Page 162

Fried chicken is a timeless favorite that can invoke powerful memories of shared summer delight. For me, this recipe takes me back to family picnics on the beach in California. The smell of salt in the air and a cool breeze coming off the ocean still lingers on my skin.
Nanette’s note on Old-Fashioned Fried Chicken, page 160

My mother would fry the chicken in her cast iron skillet, the very same skillet I use today.
Nanette’s note on Old-Fashioned Fried Chicken, page 160

Cornbreadpg. 238
Old-Fashioned Fried Chickenpg. 162
Old-Fashioned Coleslawpg. 50
Southern Gritspg. 164

The table as the book lays it, pages 160 and 161

A supper laid on newspaper under a terracotta wall: a plate of fried chicken in front, bowls of coleslaw and grits behind it.

Her son, Oak

My mother, Jacqueline, was an incredible woman who supported my curiosity and sense of play throughout my childhood.
Then in 1974, I became a mother.
The responsibility and joy was like a lightning bolt that struck me dead in my tracks. As a single parent at 23 years old, I had to learn how to create a life not only for myself but for my newborn son, Oak.
Nanette, from her Introduction, pages 9 and 10

Three of fiveHer restaurant

Baked Eggs La Querencia Page 14

La Querencia was so named as this translates to a favorite place, where people feel most secure, feel at home and go to be fed and nourished.
Trudy and Steve, in the Foreword, page 8

A newspaper photograph, creased: two people at lunch at a window table under lace curtains, a small vase of flowers between them. — **A window table**The one photograph of La Querencia in her papers, from an undated newspaper. Someone underlined the line beside it: “built for lovers right down to its lacey curtains and chocolate cheesecake.” Photograph by Barbaraellen Koch.

Three lines of newsprint underlined in ink, saying La Querencia was built for lovers, down to its lace curtains and chocolate cheesecake. — **A window table**The one photograph of La Querencia in her papers, from an undated newspaper. Someone underlined the line beside it: “built for lovers right down to its lacey curtains and chocolate cheesecake.” Photograph by Barbaraellen Koch.

A scrap of newsprint listing the good restaurants of Santa Fe and ending with little La Querencia. A star is drawn in ink in the margin. — **A star in the margin**The Wall Street Journal, on the good restaurants of Santa Fe, undated: “little La Querencia (no alcohol).”

Of the crab sandwich on her lunch menu, Nanette writes:

In December 1979, Gourmet magazine even featured it in their "You Asked For It" section.
Nanette’s note on Open-Faced Crab Sandwiches, page 71

Close on one white ramekin of baked eggs, golden at the edges and flecked with herbs, a spoon lifting the first bite, on a white cloth in a basket.

What people wrote back

Her clients wrote to her by hand. The book keeps some of their cards and letters on its last pages.

The cover of a small square booklet lettered by hand in blue ink, THE CAVIAR BOOK, inside a hand-drawn border, stained by water, signed at the foot: by Nanette 1977. — **The Caviar Book**A hand-lettered booklet from her papers. At the foot of its cover: “by NANETTE 1977”.

A strip of yellowed newsprint. Running head: 14, December 19, 1996, The New Saugerties Times. Headline in heavy black type: Yes, Yes, Nanette. — The New Saugerties Times, December 19, 1996, page 14.

A peach correspondence card written in black felt-tip, signed Jackie. It thanks her for a party and asks whether she is free on a date in 2001.

Are you Free Nov 29, 2001?
Jackie, a client, on her thank-you card. In the book, page 322.

Nannette, you are a dream-chef-come-true! And you are a completely lovely person to boot.
Vada, a client, in a letter of November 27, 2000. In the book, page 323.

Five lines of flowing black ink handwriting on cream paper.

The first page of a card handwritten in blue ink on pale yellow paper printed with daisies, dated Oct 18, 2010, beginning Dear Chef Nanette.

If I'd known who I was listening to, I would have been a better listener, and I would have said ok to every suggestion you made!
Anne, a client, October 18, 2010. In the book, page 323.

Black and white, seen from above: a French apple tart, its glazed apple slices laid in a spiral, on a pale plate on white marble, with a napkin at the left and two cinnamon sticks. — Favorite
DessertCakes, Cookies and Tarts

Black and white: a palette knife with a dark handle on a creased white cloth. — Favorite
DessertCakes, Cookies and Tarts

A cut-glass bowl of chocolate mousse topped with whipped cream and gold leaf, a silver spoon resting on its rim.

Four of fiveHer son

Oak’s Chocolate Mousse Page 280

The satisfaction I derive from preparing food for my son is truly indescribable. He serves as my best critic, my pillar of purpose, and an all-around wonderful support in my life. I came up with this recipe when he was just a kid banging pots and pans on the kitchen floor of our tiny apartment in Santa Fe. The happy look on his face whenever he takes his first bite lights up my entire world. Even when he travels and spots chocolate mousse on a menu, he always orders it, but never fails to mention that mine is his favorite.
Nanette’s note on Oak’s Chocolate Mousse, page 281

A tall pile of dark, crackled mocha cookies on a white plate.

Five of fiveHer neighbors

Mocha Cookies Page 268

When I lived in New York, my apartment was right next door to FDNY Rescue #1 in Hell’s Kitchen. I knew most of the brave and hardworking people of that station house by name, and will always have a place in my heart for our first responders and their immense sacrifice. As a chef, I found my own way to show appreciation by bringing them whatever I could, whenever possible. However, my most frequent offering would be cookies. Sometimes, when they would see me coming, and would shout,
“Here comes the cookie lady!”
To be recognized as a part of the neighborhood by the guardians who I admired so much was a true testament to how the simple act of sharing a plate of cookies can form meaningful and lasting memories within a community.
Nanette’s note on Mocha Cookies, page 269

Black and white: Nanette stands in a sunlit brick corridor in chef whites and a long apron, one hand on her hip, smiling at the reader.

From the Foreword

In New York City, mix together one gorgeous, passionate west-coast chef, add two transplanted Australian chefs, slowly blend together over celebrations at an Englishman’s apartment in the East Village, and watch the friendship rise for decades.
Trudy and Steve, chefs and friends, opening the Foreword, page 8

Inside the book

Have fun, make mistakes, and find the joy that I and countless other chefs have discovered through our lives in food.
Nanette, in her Introduction, page 9

Open a chapter to see every recipe in it.

All seven chapters on one page

After the chapters come her Observations, nine menus and a list of purveyors.

Gathering around a table full of food is one of the most inclusive acts we can do with family, friends, and strangers soon-to-be-friends.
Nanette’s note on Lisa’s Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms, page 217

Black and white: wine glasses meet over a long table of plates and flowers; Nanette, at its head, smiles at the toast.

On the last night of the fulfilling and winding journey that was the creation of this book, I was planning the final meal with my talented and dedicated staff; serendipitously, it coincided with my son’s birthday. The stars aligned and I knew this recipe had to be included. That evening, the flavors mingled with laughter, camaraderie, and a shared appreciation for the culinary arts, encapsulating the very essence of our exploration together.
Nanette’s note on Filet of Beef with Green Peppercorn Sauce, page 121. The photograph above follows it in the book, pages 122 and 123.

Let me thank my son Oak, who has been my constant encouragement and given me the support to finally see my dream of creating a generational cookbook come to fruition. You were my best critic in those early days and my biggest supporter. I love you with all my heart.
Nanette, in her Acknowledgements, page 5

Very close on the cover of Favorite: copper foil letters pressed into turquoise linen.

And for youThe book

I have spent countless hours preparing and reviewing these recipes to make sure that even the most novice home chef can execute them to their surprise and delight.
Nanette, in her Introduction, page 11