My favorite TV chef/cookbook author is Ina Garten, AKA the Barefoot Contessa. I have all her cookbooks, and back when I didn't have cable, I would schedule my trips to the gym around the Food Network's TV schedule just so I could watch her show. I find her hypnotic to watch, and her recipes almost always work. If you've ever made anything by Rachael Ray, Paula Deen, or Nigella Lawson (the worst offender of them all- I have never had a Nigella recipe come out really well, and I have tried a number of them) The few times when I have been displeased with them, it was because I screwed around with her recipe, or didn't measure things exactly. You can play fast-and-loose with some recipes, but Ina Garten's are written the way they are for a reason. This means that even if a particular direction sounds crazy, you can trust her and follow it anyway.
There are a few quirks about her recipes that I have learned and must work around, however. First, she is a self-professed cilantro hater, so she never adds it to her recipes. I am of a different mind on this subject, so I will put it in dishes that I think would benefit from it. Second, she loves orange flavor as much as she hates cilantro. Many of her recipes have orange juice in it. I don't mind it, but am not crazy about it (I prefer lemon), so often I find that I can cut the amount of orange juice in about one-fourth, and occasionally leave it out altogether, with no adverse effects. Third, she seems to like black pepper. I usually try to put the specified recipe amount, but it can be a little spicy for my husband. Just FYI.
Periodically, I go through her cookbooks and do an inventory of all the recipes that I have made. I will make this list for you now, complete with a five-star rating system. Well, five-asterisk, really. I highly, highly recommend buying her cookbooks, although if you keep a close eye on the Food Network site, you can often find recipes for many of the dishes listed here, but grab them while they're up; the site only keeps Ina's recipes available for two weeks after they appear on her show.
Rating system:
* - Didn't work. Probably my fault.
** - not bad, but a lot of work, and I would think twice before making this again
*** - really, really good
**** - excellent, amazing
***** - stand-out favorites of ours
Cookbook code:
BCC - The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, published 1999
BCP - Barefoot Contessa Parties!, published 2001
BCFS - Barefoot Contessa Family Style, published 2002
BIP - Barefoot In Paris, published 2004
BC@H - Barefoot Contessa At Home, published 2006
Barefoot Contessa Completed Recipe Inventory
Beverages
- Fresh lemonade (BCC) ****
- Herbal Iced Tea (BCFS) ***
Appetizers
- Green Herb Dip (BC@H) ***
- Honey White Bread (BC@H) *** although I think my yeast was old. I haven't totally perfected the art of breadmaking yet.
Soups
- French Onion Soup (BCC) *** I did tinker with this just a little (no veal stock), but it came out great nonetheless.
- Gazpacho (BCC) *** I am not normally a gazpacho person, but my husband is, and this was quite good.
- Fresh Pea Soup (BC@H) ****
Salads
- Curried Couscous (BCC) *** I did add more yogurt, I think.
- Orzo with Roasted Vegetables (BCP) **** I used a half-pound of feta instead of 3/4 lb. It was still really good.
- Brown Rice, Tomatoes, & Basil (BCFS) **** Easy and incredibly good.
- Salad with Warm Goat Cheese (BIP) ****
Avocado and Grapefruit Salad (BIP)***** I cannot tell you enough how good this salad is. - Chicken Salad Sandwiches (BC@H) ** Minus the sandwiches. I screwed up on this too- I made it too salty, I think.
- Guacamole Salad (BC&H) *****
Vegetables
- Smashed Sweet Potatoes with Apples (BCP) *** I left off the apple topping and cut back the orange juice to a couple of tablespoons. A little sweet for my husband, but I loved it.
- Sauteed Cabbage (BCP) **** Yeah. It's that good. You think it's going to be smelly and cabbagey, but it is really good. I think the black pepper makes this dish.
- String Beans with Shallots (BCFS) ***
- Zucchini with Parmesan (BCFS) ** It was okay. Easy, but okay. I would make it again, but not mind-blowing.
- Garlic Sauteed Spinach (BCFS) ***
- Sagaponack Corn Pudding (BCFS) ***
- Broccolini & Balsamic Vinaigrette (BC@H) ***
Main Courses
- Indonesian Ginger Chicken (BCC) ***
- Filet of Beef (BCP) **** Super easy. I didn't make the gorgonzola sauce.
- Asian Grilled Salmon (BCP) ** This was really my screw-up. I made half the amount of salmon, but kept the marinade the same. The marinade is really very good, but if you don't keep it proportional, the marinade is overwhelming. I would definitely make this again, but you have to find good salmon, and also I would make sure not to make the same mistake with the marinade, however tempting.
- Chicken Chili (BCP) *** It takes some work to roast all the chicken breasts (it's not going to be as good with frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts from Trader Joe's freezer section), but it is a damn fine chili. It's not your typical chili, though, just FYI.
- Sunday Rib Roast (BCFS) **** She tells you to start with your oven at 500 degrees. Just do it. Be sure you have a meat thermometer. If you don't have a self-cleaning oven, Dawn Power Dissolver is great for getting off the baked-on grease that will burn and set your smoke alarm off if your oven isn't clean when you start cooking.
- Chicken Stew with Biscuits (BCFS) * This recipe has the bad fortune to be the worst one we've ever made. However, my husband and I have NEVER successfully made anything resembling chicken pot pie, so we still blame ourselves. We tinkered with the recipe a bit, but not so much that it should have turned out that badly. We blame our chicken pot pie curse, because apparently we have one.
- Chicken with Forty Cloves of Garlic (BIP) ** This was better the second day, but the immediate reaction was that it was a lot of work for a recipe that was fine, but... a lot of work.
- Roast Duck (BIP) ****
- Rack of Lamb Persillade (BIP) ***
- Salmon with Lentils (BIP) *** for the salmon, **** for the lentils
- Lemon Fusilli With Argugula (BC@H) *** This is best fresh, not the next day.
Desserts
- Outrageous Brownies (BCC) **** You can easily cut this in half and make it in a 13" x 9" pan.
- Chocolate Buttercream Cake (BCC) ****
- Chocolate Ganache Cake (BCP) **** I made it in cupcake form, as given on the Food Network site. The recipe in the cookbook is for a whole cake. I used Midnight Moo chocolate syrup from Trader Joe's (no high fructose corn syrup in it) instead of the can of Hershey's syrup that the recipe lists.
- Lemon cake (BCP) ***** This is a persuasive cake. We have used it to "butter up" people to get favors.
- Peach Raspberry Shortcakes (BCP) *** Just the shortcakes, though. I used them for strawberry shortcake.
- Old-fashioned Apple Crisp (BCP) ***, but the crisp topping gets ****. Be sure to cut back the orange juice. I almost certainly used different apples than the ones used in the recipe. I like Jonagold apples for my baked apple desserts.
- Deep Dish Apple Pie (BCFS) * I think this was probably my fault too- too much orange juice. I didn't even measure it, just splashed it in. However, I have another great recipe from the Food Network kitchens that I just use instead, so I have never tried this one again. Also, this recipe calls for Granny Smiths, which don't produce my favorite results.
- Tiramisu (BCFS) ***** Another five-asterisk recipe. This recipe is especially good if you can get the savoiardis from Trader Joe's, which sadly, I can't anymore. The ones from Whole Foods just aren't as good. Still fine, but not as good. I always make this dessert for dinner parties.
- Homemade Marshmallows (BCFS) ** Good, but not worth the effort. Making these was a very sticky process!
- Plum Raspberry Crumble (BIP) **** BUT I didn't use plums or raspberries. I used this recipe as a guide to make blackberry crumble. Same crumble topping as the apple crisp. That crumble topping is definitely *****.
Breakfast Foods
- Challah French Toast/Pain Perdu (BCFS/BIP) **** These two recipes are almost identical, but one uses challah, and one uses brioche.
