Entertaining
3 Tried-And-True Family Recipes From Bonnie Stern & Anna Rupert
Updated on October 16, 2023
Celebrated cookbook author and teacher Bonnie Stern is here to help with your next meal, just in time for the holidays. Best known for running the Bonnie Stern School of Cooking from 1973 to 2011, she also wrote a food column for The National Post for 17 years and was inducted into the Taste Canada Hall of Fame in 2021. Don’t Worry, Just Cook is Bonnie’s 14th cookbook, and the first she’s coauthored with daughter Anna Rupert. With an intro written by Yotam Ottolenghi, the book includes stories and photos of the people who have inspired Bonnie on her food journey, plus delicious recipes, from Elizabeth Pizzinato’s sweet and savoury tartes tatin to an incredible focaccia recipe from beloved Italian food writer Giuliano Bugialli. Bonnie and Anna sat down with us to talk about the book, what makes the perfect family meal and share some of their favorite dishes. Tuck in!
House & Home: What inspired the new cookbook?
Bonnie Stern: During the pandemic, I put a recipe up on Instagram almost every day to encourage people to cook while being isolated. I got tons of questions about cooking, and I realized how much I missed that interaction. I understand how people can be intimidated by cooking because it’s how I feel about technology: Anna is always telling me, “Just try it, what can go wrong, it’s not that terrible.” And that’s what I say about cooking. There’s always another meal coming around the corner, so don’t be so afraid. That’s why we called the book Don’t Worry, Just Cook.
Anna Rupert: One of the amazing things about my mom and her recipes is that, because she taught in the cooking school for 37 years, when she’s writing a recipe, she’s thinking about people’s questions. She’ll sit with me and talk forever about whether you can get this ingredient at Loblaws. She’s put so much consideration into everything that’s gone in the book — she’s done the worrying for you.
BS: After I closed the cooking school, I was still writing for The National Post, doing three recipes a week and coming up with ideas. Most of those recipes have never been in a book that I’ve published, and I thought it would be wonderful to do something like this.
H&H: Anna, how did you get involved? Why did you decide to do a book with your mother?
AR: Well, my mom and I have cooked together my entire life. I was editing newsletters for her, and we always talked about what dinners were coming up and what we should make, so offering to help with her new book seemed like a natural progression. When we started, we didn’t have any idea how involved I was going to be, but I ended up writing quite a bit and doing a lot of the recipe testing and consulting.
H&H: What would you like people to take away from the book?
BS: That when you cook for people and bring them around the table and nurture them, it’s treating them like family. That’s what I want my recipes to do. I want to inspire people to bring others around their table and cook for them, creating a family of some kind.
H&H: What are your Thanksgiving traditions?
AR: We love Thanksgiving! More of us get to be together — including a lot of people we aren’t related to — and the food is comforting.
BS: The thing about Thanksgiving is that turkey is the biggest event, but it isn’t everyone’s favourite dish. That’s why we didn’t include a turkey in these recipes. I love all of the side dishes the most, because we like to cook new vegetable dishes and there are always new things we’re adding to the mix… and desserts.
AR: We love desserts!
H&H: Speaking of dessert, in Yotam Ottolenghi’s intro, he says he’s a fan of your rugelach. How did that come about?
BS: We’ve known each other for years. He took my rugelach recipe — it’s a traditional Jewish cookie — made it a little bit fancier for an Ottolenghi recipe and put it in his Sweet book, so that was a huge compliment.
AR: They taste like my whole childhood.
Keep scrolling for Bonnie Stern and Anna Rupert’s best holiday recipes!
Roasted Beet and Orange Winter Salad with Pomegranate Dressing
“This is a great winter salad for when other vegetables aren’t in season. I love the idea of having lots of different roasted vegetables in a salad.” — Bonnie Stern
Get the recipe here.
Elizabeth’s Cherry Tomato Tartes Tatin
“Elizabeth Pizzinato is a friend who has the most amazing holiday open house every year. This is one of the things she makes, and we fell in love with it. They’re so easy and delicious, and they look sensational. They’re a wow!” — Bonnie Stern
Get the recipe here.
Braised Lamb Shanks with Dried Persian Limes
“The Persian flavours of the lamb are a different combination for most people. Now that Middle Eastern ingredients are easier to find, it makes this dish more accessible.” — Bonnie Stern
Get the recipe here.
Giuliano Bugialli’s Focaccia with Tomatoes and Oregano
“Giuliano was an Italian cookbook author and teacher who was one of the people that introduced North America to really good Italian food. This focaccia is delicious, it isn’t difficult to make and it looks impressive.” — Bonnie Stern
Get the recipe here.
Almond Cake with Caramelized Pears
“I call it THE cake. It’s showstopping and beautiful; I like to make it on a Wednesday and snack on it all week.” — Anna Rupert
Get the recipe here.
Tyler Anderson
Recipes excerpted from Don’t Worry, Just Cook by Bonnie Stern and Anna Rupert, published by Appetite by Random House, an imprint of Penguin Random House Canada. ©2022 Bonnie Stern Cooking Schools and Anna Rupert. Food photography by Tyler Anderson. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.