Barefoot Contessa How Easy Is That?: Fabulous Recipes & Easy Tips: A Cookbook

by Ina Garten

Overview

Ina Garten, bestselling cookbook author and beloved star of Barefoot Contessa on Food Network, is back with her easiest recipes ever.
 
In Barefoot Contessa How Easy Is That? Ina proves once again that it doesn’t take complicated techniques, special equipment, or stops at more than one grocery store to make wonderful dishes for your family and friends. Her newest must-have cookbook is all about saving time and avoiding stress while having fun in the kitchen.

These are not recipes with three ingredients thrown together in five minutes; instead home cooks will find fantastic Barefoot Contessa recipes that are easy to make but still have all that deep, delicious flavor Ina is known for—and that makes a meal so satisfying. Think Pink Grapefruit Margaritas served with Smoked Salmon Deviled Eggs—two classics with a twist. For lunch, Ina makes everyone’s favorite Ultimate Grilled Cheese sandwich and Snap Peas with Pancetta. For dinner, try Jeffrey’s Roast Chicken (tried and true!); Steakhouse Steaks, which come out perfectly every time and—with Ina’s easy tip—couldn’t be simpler; or an Easy Parmesan “Risotto” that you throw in the oven instead of stirring endlessly on the stovetop. Finally, Ina’s desserts never disappoint—from Red Velvet Cupcakes to Chocolate Pudding Cream Tart.

To top it all off, Ina also shares her best tips for making cooking really easy. She leaves bowls of lemons and limes on the counter not only because they look great but because they also remind her that a squeeze of lemon in a dish brightens the flavors. She shows us the equipment that makes a difference to her—like sharp knives, the right zester, an extra bowl for her electric mixer—and that can help you in your kitchen, too.

Filled with 225 gorgeous full-color photographs, Barefoot Contessa How Easy is That? is the perfect kitchen companion for busy home cooks who still want fabulous flavor.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780307238764
Publisher:	Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed
Publication date:	10/26/2010
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	79,525
Product dimensions:	10.38(w) x 11.80(h) x 0.87(d)

About the Author

Ina Garten is the author of six bestselling cookbooks and host of the popular Barefoot Contessa television show on Food Network She has a line of Barefoot Contessa baking mixes available nationwide and writes a monthly column for House Beautiful. Ina lives in East Hampton, New York, with her husband, Jeffrey.
 
Visit Ina at BarefootContessa.com

Read an Excerpt

easy cranberry & apple cake
 
Serves 6 to 8
 
12 ounces fresh cranberries, rinsed and picked over for stems
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and diced
½ cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1 tablespoon grated orange zest (2 oranges)
¼ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
11⁄8 teaspoons ground cinnamon, divided
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
¼ pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
¼ cup sour cream
1 cup all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
 
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
 
Combine the cranberries, apple, brown sugar, orange zest, orange juice, and 1 teaspoon of the cinnamon in a medium bowl. Set aside.
 
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs on medium-high speed for 2 minutes. With the mixer on medium, add 1 cup of the granulated sugar, the butter, vanilla, and sour cream and beat just until combined. On low speed, slowly add the flour and salt.
 
Pour the fruit mixture evenly into a 10-inch glass pie plate. Pour the batter over the fruit, covering it completely. Combine the remaining 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar and 1⁄8 teaspoon of cinnamon and sprinkle it over the batter. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean and the fruit is bubbling around the edges. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Recipe

easy cranberry & apple cake

Serves 6 to 8
This recipe is inspired by a cranberry pie from Sarah Chase’s book Cold Weather
Cooking. My friend Barbara Liberman calls it “easy cake”—I call it delicious.
It’s even better served warm with vanilla ice cream.

12 ounces fresh cranberries, rinsed and picked over for stems
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and diced
½ cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1 tablespoon grated orange zest (2 oranges)
¼ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
11/8 teaspoons ground cinnamon, divided
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
¼ pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
¼ cup sour cream
1 cup all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon kosher salt

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Combine the cranberries, apple, brown sugar, orange zest, orange
juice, and 1 teaspoon of the cinnamon in a medium bowl. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment,
beat the eggs on medium-high speed for 2 minutes. With the mixer
on medium, add 1 cup of the granulated sugar, the butter, vanilla,
and sour cream and beat just until combined. On low speed, slowly
add the flour and salt.

Pour the fruit mixture evenly into a 10-inch glass pie plate. Pour the
batter over the fruit, covering it completely. Combine the remaining
1 tablespoon of granulated sugar and 1/8 teaspoon of cinnamon and
sprinkle it over the batter. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, until a toothpick
inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean and the fruit is bubbling around the edges. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Editorial Reviews

If you can somehow get beyond the delicious-looking desserts on the dust-jacket, you can learn to widen your palate with scores of new recipes from Food Network Barefoot Contessa star Ina Garten. As viewers of her show and readers of her half-dozen bestselling cookbooks know, the Contessa favors healthy, ordinary ingredients put together in imaginative ways. How Easy Is That? pampers us with recipes for Provencal lamb, potato basil puree, Smoked Salmon Devil Eggs, and Chocolate Pudding Cream Tart. And don't even try to resist her rightly named Easy Parmesan "Risotto." A TV chef whose recipes live up to her reputation.

The focus is on creating simpler yet appetizing dishes that save time and minimize stress in the kitchen in bestselling author (Barefoot Contessa Cookbook) and Food Network guru Garten’s latest. She showcases recipes that utilize fewer ingredients, limited to those easily found in supermarkets or specialty food stores. She also stays away from time-consuming cooking techniques, instead making unusually good use of her oven for everything from easy parmesan “risotto” and French toast bread pudding to spicy turkey meatballs. Despite the relative simplicity of these dishes, they are still elegant enough to be served at dinner parties, especially the roasted figs and prosciutto, fresh salmon tartare, and the mouthwatering, easy Provençal lamb. Garten’s vegetable dishes are particularly appealing and varied, including scalloped tomatoes, garlic-roasted cauliflower, and potato basil purée, and her desserts are equally strong, with easy cranberry and apple cake and fleur de sel caramels. Full-color photos accompany each recipe and are enough to send any hungry soul immediately into the kitchen. True to her trademark style, Garten once again shows that delicious food can be prepared with a minimum of fuss, even with guests on the way. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

Garten, author of six best-selling cookbooks and host of the Food Network's Barefoot Contessa, has produced another beautiful, accessible book on easy entertaining. "How easy is that?" is a familiar refrain for fans of her show, and here it's become a philosophy. Garten shares her method for recipe writing, revealing that if an ingredient can't be detected, it's eliminated. She's a home cook's cook who understands that in our time-starved lives there's no reason to be denied the simple pleasure of great food. Few of the recipes are more than a page long, and most require easy-to-find ingredients. Standouts include Stilton and Walnut Crackers, Greek Panzanella (a riff on the Italian classic), Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms, and Fresh Peach Cake. Like other Garten books, this one is filled with over 200 color photos, a table of contents, and a well-organized index. VERDICT Garten's popularity and simple style make this an essential purchase. [Ten-city tour.]—Rosemarie Lewis, Georgetown Cty. Lib., SC

Library Journal