AUBURN – Diane Uwaechia enjoys providing her family with a meal that not only tastes good but looks good, too. She describes cooking as a “work of art.” She likes to look through cookbooks and sometimes just looks at the pictures for inspiration.
To create her masterpieces, Uwaechia uses French cast-iron pans with coated enamel.
“I think a good set of pots and pans is really helpful. They conduct heat well,” says Uwaechia.
She also believes that you should never rush cooking. “The more relaxed you are, the better it goes,” says Uwaechia. That’s why she loves to cook on holidays, when everyone has the day off.
Uwaechia credits her mother, Lorraine St. Pierre, with inspiring her cooking. She says her mother was a “terrific cook.”
“My mother watched Julia Child a lot and I remember a Time-Life cookbook collection that she had. We (my siblings and I) used to each receive a turn to pick recipes out of that book for her to cook.”
This Cook of the Week is now passing her love of cooking along to her children, Jennifer, 17, and Bryan, 10. Her son has been learning how to make his favorite dish, his mom’s cream of broccoli soup. “I think it’s good for young men to know how to cook,” says Uwaechia. Bryan can also look to his dad, Joe, for some cooking pointers. Joe is from Nigeria and often cooks African dishes.
Uwaechia and her family live in Auburn. When she’s not cooking, she runs her business, SunBright Cleaning Service. Uwaechia also enjoys reading, painting and gardening. While Uwaechia spends lots of time shuttling her kids to and from their activities, she makes an effort to bring the family together for meals. “I remember back as a kid … enjoying sitting down together. … It’s an enjoyable time.”
Chicken curry
Ingredients:
½ cup chopped onions
½ cup chopped celery
¼ cup olive oil
1/3 cup flour
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup tomato juice
½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon curry powder
4 cups chicken
4 cups cooked white or brown rice
Salt and pepper to taste
Method:
For chicken preparation, fry chicken over medium-high heat in a pan evenly coated with olive oil, until lightly browned.
Separately, sauté onions and celery in olive oil over medium heat until onions are lightly brown. Add flour and blend. Add chicken broth and cook until thick, stirring constantly. Add tomato juice, Worcestershire sauce and seasonings. Blend in 4 cups of cooked bite-size pieces of chicken. Heat thoroughly and serve over hot rice.
Artichoke salad
Ingredients:
1 can artichoke hearts
1 tablespoon olive oil
¼ cup vinegar
¼ cup chopped scallions
2 tablespoons chopped red pepper
2 tablespoons chopped green pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
Dash of pepper
Dash of paprika
Salt to taste
Method:
In a bowl, combine olive oil and remaining ingredients, except artichokes, to make dressing. Cut artichokes into quarters, scrape out and discard center of artichoke, leaving the leaves and bottom of the artichoke. Pour dressing over artichokes and gently mix the two. Garnish with small black olives.
Cabbage salad
Ingredients:
4 cups light green cabbage, shredded
1 cup chopped green pepper
1 cup chopped red pepper
1 cup chopped celery
¼ cup chopped scallions
2/3 cup Wishbone Italian dressing
Method:
In a large bowl, combine cabbage, peppers, celery and scallions, and toss with dressing. Cover and marinate in refrigerator, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes.
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