Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics : Fabulous Flavor from Simple Ingredients: a Cookbook

by Ina Garten

Book Overview

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics is the essential Ina Garten cookbook, focusing on the techniques behind her elegant food and easy entertaining style, and offering nearly a hundred brand-new recipes that will become trusted favorites. Ina Garten' s bestselling cookbooks have con-sistently provided accessible, subtly sophisticated recipes ranging from French classics made easy to delicious, simple home cooking. In Barefoot...

Customer Reviews

Simple. Stunning. Simply Stunning.

I've had this since it came out and have cooked the heck out of this book already. And while I usually use cookbooks as inspiration and then go off on my own to fiddle around, I've found myself reading and following every recipe verbatim, line by line. (Well, okay. I added a teaspoon of cinnamon to the french apple tart. So sue me for being an American.) In an easy, conversational style and a direct, uncomplicated approach, I have to say Ina nailed it with this one. The wild mushroom risotto was the perfect foil for my head cold last night. The marinated pork tenderloin made my dinner guests ask when they could come back last weekend. The french chocolate bark was the most coveted thing at the office holiday party on Wednesday. And if I gain a couple of pounds thanks to the number of times I plan to make her baked sweet potato fries ... then so be it. I've honestly never wanted to cook every recipe in a cookbook before. Based on my experiences so far, I find myself toying with the idea of turning to the first page and getting started. Only flaw in this logic is I'd have to wait waaaaaay to long to try her chocolate pudding cake. I just don't see that happening.

Basically Outstanding!

I purchased this book as a gift recently. Before I gave it, I paged through it to see if it was something I wanted. It didn't take me long to figure out that I needed to add it to my cookbook collection. The first recipe I made was the Roasted Butternut Squash Salad with Warm Apple Vinaigrette. My husband, who is not a salad (nor a vegetable) lover, cleaned his plate and asked for more. And Ina has greatly improved upon one of his favorite dishes - Shrimp Scampi. The Baked Shrimp Scampi is a fast entree and elegant enough for company. I served it on spaghetti drizzled lightly with olive oil. An extra squeeze of lemon right before serving adds just the right touch. We're looking forward to Thanksgiving tomorrow, when we're having Roasted Turkey Roulade, and Pumpkin Roulade with Ginger Buttercream. I have no doubt these dishes will be oustanding. Thank you, Ina, for another fabulous book and for creating consistently delicious recipes.

A delicious winner!

I got this book the day it came out. Today I made the sole meuniere and the wild rice dish with the pecans. The sole was very easy and very delish. The lemon juice added to the pan really made the dish very tasty. I usually eat wild rice in a cold salad, so when Ina said she wanted to make the wild rice hot for a change, I thought that sounded interesting. It was easy, but I made the mistake of adding a teaspoon of regular salt to the pan with the rice instead of Kosher salt. It tasted a little salty, but after I added the orange juice and the other ingredients, it tasted fine. I did not add the other teaspoon of salt at the end, though, because of my mistake. Otherwise, I probably would have, since a teaspoon of Kosher salt is not as salty as regular sea salt. She specifies Kosher salt, so make sure you pay attention to that and don't do what I did. I also added the nuts right at the end, so they stayed crunchy, and you must roast the nuts like Ina said. It makes a huge difference in how the nuts taste. They go from boring to outstanding. The real judge of my cooking is my husband, because he is always brutally honest. If he doesn't like something, he tells me. He couldn't rave enough about these two things. He said it tasted like what you would get in an expensive restaurant. Ina's instructions are precise. I hate recipes that don't give you necessary specifics, but Ina doesn't leave anything out. The pictures are beautiful and helpful. I like the paper the book is published in, too, nice and heavy. I can hardly wait to try the other recipes and there are many in there that are very appealing. I will also try to catch her show on the Food Network more often, since she is cooking from this book. That makes it even more fun. Thanks, Ina!

Cooking well by going back to basics

Cookbooks are so much fun to read. Every author will have different approaches and even provide differing recipes for the same dish. The comparisons are fascinating. Today, I'm marinating chicken in the old "fireman's barbecue" sauce. Over times, I've collected a variety of recipes for this single sauce, and it's fun to experiment, compare, and finally select the one I like best. Same with cookbooks. . . . In essence, the author, Ina Garten, lays out her approach in the following quotations (both from Page 11): ". . .I don't see any reason why we can't buy perfectly good ingredients in a grocery store, cook them simply, and serve an absolutely delicious meal that will delight everyone at the table." And, "What truly fires my imagination is taking ordinary ingredients and cooking them--or pairing them--in a way that `unlocks' their true flavors." She also argues strongly in favor of cooking by the season, since different foods are at their most flavorful at different times. Earlier, I quoted her as saying that certain ingredients unlock flavor. Among the "unlockers," she says, are Reggiano Parmesan cheese, wine vinegar, freshly squeezed lemon juice, Pernod, coffee, cream, etc. Throughout the book, Garten scatters "Top 10" lists, such as the "10 No-cook things to serve with drinks," "Top 10 Flavor Boosters," and "10 Things Not to Serve at a Dinner Party." But let's take a look at some of the recipes. I enjoy Potato Leek Soup, and have tried out several different recipes (enjoying all). Garten adds a new one to my collection. One ingredient that distinguishes hers from others is the use of arugula. Delicious. Her "Creamy Cucumber Salad" is another little treasure, featuring hothouse cucumbers, red onions, yogurt, sour cream, vinegar, dill, and black pepper. I have not yet made this, but find that it sounds delightful as a starter for a meal. "Coq au Vin" is one of my favorite tried and true French recipes. Garten provides her recipe, basing it on a Beef Bourguignon. As her producer once said, triggering the experiment, "Well, [coq au vin] is just beef bourguignon with chicken." Boy, this sounds interesting, richer than the normal recipe that I use. Finally, one more example, "Parmesan-Roasted Broccoli." I try out a lot of broccoli dishes, and varying how I prepare them, from steaming to grilling to stir frying. Her version features roasting broccoli with pine nuts, parmesan cheese, and basil leaves. All in all, a fine cookbook. Garten lays out her views on cooking at the outset and then illustrates how to implement those views in her recipe collection. People who want to create tasty dishes without major hassles will find this a good cookbook to add to their collection.

The Barefoot Wins Again

I waited eagerly for this, the sixth of Ina Garten's books. I love it. It's beautiful and the recipes are both simple AND exciting. She always reminds me that I don't have to eat boring, redundant meals every day just because I work and have limited cooking time at night. Many of these recipes require only a handful of ingredients and no more than an hour of preparation from start to finish. And they're elegant meals that provide nourishment and beauty. The scallop dish is lovely. The mustard fish surprising with the touch of salty capers. The wedding soup I'm planning to make tomorrow, but already I see that her recipe respects the cook's time while not sacrificing creativity and flavor. I love The Barefoot.