Barefoot Contessa with Ina Garten
Pot Luck Dinner
Scott's Short Ribs
Cheddar Dill Cornbread
Stewed Fresh Berries
I’m not entirely sure what is going on. The Food Network was running promos saying this episode of the Barefoot Contessa was the premiere of the new Barefoot Contessa series. I thought that meant they were done with “Back To Basics” and were now just calling it Barefoot Contessa. But, no, the screen says Back to Basics. Whatever! I guess the promos make as much sense as their website. Anyway, I’m just happy to see Ina…I don’t care WHAT they call her show.
Ina tells us that she likes pot luck dinners. All the guests get “their assignments” and they meet at one person’s house. She says the “proof is in the party” and how fun they are.
Today, Ina is bringing the main course of short ribs and cheddar dill cornbread to...Oh Goodie!...TR’s house and he is making dessert. Friend Kirk is bringing the wine. I don’t know who he is, but if the Barefoot Contessa likes him, then so do I.
Ina meets up with the boys for coffee, and TR comes up with the pot luck idea, even though she’s already told us about it. She assigns TR the dessert.
Ina’s three pot luck rules:
Make it ahead.
Make things that travel well.
Make it SO delicious.
Back in the kitchen, Ina takes out 9 gorgeous trimmed short ribs. She sprinkles them with LOTS of salt and roasts them at 400°F. for 15 minutes, which will caramelize the outside. LOTS of pepper goes on. She says doing them on top of the stove is annoying. I know what she means about the greasy clean-up.
TR swaggers into a bakery. He resists all these beautiful desserts and buys only heavy cream, because he’s making Ina’s Meringues Chantilly himself.
Ina chops up leeks, carrots, onions and sweats them in a large pot with ¼ cup olive oil. She chops up fennel, too, after coring it and adds it. She doesn’t love raw fennel, but adores it cooked with its anise flavor. Because the short ribs are so rich, she likes to add lots of fresh vegetables. (They won't be particularly fresh after cooking for hours, but okay...) She gives it the pot “big stir” and cooks the vegetables for 15 to 20 minutes.
Ina is such a pro. She is 100 percent comfortable in front of the camera. She never performs. She’s just THERE, cooking and showing us as she goes. I imagine that if there were no cameras and we were standing right next to her, her demeanor would be exactly the same. She is pretty much flawless. I just love her!
Ina likes that everyone feels involved in a potluck party. That is so opposite to MY way of entertaining, where if someone brings something, I stash it in the laundry room, and hope no one notices. I don’t want anyone taking the glory away from me! Ina is so generous in her entertaining.
She adds 3 cloves of garlic to the vegetables. She cooks that for a minute and then adds 2 tablespoons of tomato paste and 1 bottle of burgundy. Ina says if you cook with cheap wine, your dinner will taste cheap.
I’ve mentioned this article before about how cooking with cheap wine makes no difference. I still tend to side with Ina, but it is interesting to think that cheaper wines ARE fine for cooking. Normally, I use decent wine in cooking, maybe not the finest, but ones that I can stand to drink, certainly.
Ina cooks the wine and vegetable mixture, uncovered, for 10 minutes to reduce the wine by half. She takes out the short ribs and turns down the oven to 300°F. She seasons the sauce with 1 tablespoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of pepper. (Didn't the meat already have an ENORMOUS amount of salt?)
Then Ina makes an herb bouquet with rosemary and fresh thyme by tying them together. That makes it easy to remove. She puts the ribs on top of the sauce. She says TR’s dessert better be good to go with her great ribs. A tablespoon of brown sugar goes in with 6 cups of beef stock (she’s using homemade). The pot gets brought to a simmer and put in the oven, covered, for 2 hours.
TR used to work for the Barefoot Contessa shop, when he was 15 years old, Ina says, and that she taught him a lot. Interesting. She says tonight he’s on his own with dessert. That sounds like a challenge.
TR buys the fruits for the sauce – raspberries and blueberries. He’s going to make dessert all by himself with no help from her and next time, he says, he should make the whole meal by himself.
Ina takes the heavy pot out of the oven. She removes the short ribs and reduces the sauce to intensify the flavor, remarking that the bones have flavored and thickened the sauce.
Perhaps to justify cooking 3 (huge) short ribs per person, she says it’s amazing how they reduce in size. She removes the bundle of herbs, which is nothing but stems. She skims some fat and reduces it for 20 minutes.
She says there’s nothing like a pot luck party for stress-free entertaining, where each person only has to do one thing. I have one better, Ina, GO TO A RESTAURANT! ;-)
She stirs the reduced sauce. She tastes and loves it. She adds back in the short ribs to heat up together.
Back to TR, who is planning to make Ina’s Meringues Chantilly in a beautiful blue KitchenAid. He makes the fruit sauce with blueberries, raspberries, water and sugar and a bit of orange zest.
TR is reading from the recipe and he’s laid the recipe on top of the stove. I'm sure it's about to burst into flames...Be careful! He’s cooked the mixture for 8 minutes. He turns it off and add 2 teaspoons of Framboise liqueuer and stirs in the fresh fruit.
Then he turns his attention to the meringue recipe, where it says to bake them for 2 hours and then to let them sit in the oven for 4 hours or overnight. He says WHAT?!! He runs off camera. Meanwhile, we see Ina working on her last recipe.
Why do I think he’ll be revisiting that bakery for a few meringue shells? He broke the first rule of cooking – READ THE ENTIRE RECIPE THROUGH BEFORE YOU START COOKING.
For Ina’s cornbread, she measures 3 cups of flour, which she sort of moves around to lighten before measuring, with 1 cup of cornmeal, ¼ cup sugar, 2 tablespoons baking powder and 2 teaspoons of salt.
She melts 2 sticks of butter and cracks 3 eggs in a bowl. (This is one time she strays from her rule of cracking eggs in a separate bowl before adding them.) She mixes 2 cups of milk into the eggs and whisks in the melted butter. She pours the wet ingredients into the dry ones, telling us not to over mix. She grates 2 cups of extra sharp cheddar by hand and stirs that in.
She runs her knife along the stems of the dill and chops one cup and adds it to the mixture. She lets the batter it sit at room temperature for 20 minutes before baking, which allows the cornmeal to absorb the milk and eggs. I don’t do that. Maybe I should, but would that make the finished product less moist?
Ina grates more cheese for the topping. She puts the mixture into a 9 by 13 pan and adds more cheddar on top. She bakes it at 350°F. for 35 minutes. Her part is done.
TR is rushing around. He goes back to the pastry shop and gets the last 3 meringues and runs out the door…without paying the 12 dollars they cost. Wow, that’s pricey! He’s lucky there are only three of them eating tonight.
Ina is packing up the car. TR hopes to get home before Ina arrives. He does. Ina serves dinner. Kirk comes in with one (only?) bottle of wine. They tuck into the short ribs and cornbread. Kirk says it’s unbelievable. TR says Ina never disappoints.
TR brings out dessert and admits he didn’t make the meringues. Gosh, she got that out of him quickly. I guess Ina’s time in the government makes her a super adept interrogator. Ina wants to know how that happened. He says he’s sticking with the Barefoot motto of buying something and making something. Ina says next time HE'S making dinner and SHE’S buying dessert. Oh, and Kirk is definitely bringing the wine.
Showing posts with label TR. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TR. Show all posts
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Welcome Back, Ina
Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics with Ina Garten
Steak and Sides
Steakhouse Steaks
Sautéed Wild Mushrooms
Cornmeal-Fried Onion Rings
I admit I was a little anxious before I turned on the brand new season of the Contessa. It had been so long since there had been a new show. Would Ina remember me? Would I remember her? I shouldn’t have worried. It was as if we had been together the entire summer. She greeted me as warmly as…well, before and I felt as if we never missed a beat. She was her old wonderful self in the same beautiful setting with a slightly different spin on things. (C’mon, tell me you didn’t feel the same nervous excitement to see the Contessa again.)
We start with Ina driving in her car, telling us she’s going back to basics “Barefoot Style”. She’s going to turn up the volume on some classic recipes, this time from a steak house. AND, oooh, TR will be joining her today. Goodie!
Even her theme song has undergone a revision. I’m not sure if I prefer it to the old version, but I do love the new opening sequence (I want that cake!) of her jollily entertaining her friends and cuddly Jeffrey.
Continuing to talk to us from her car, Ina says “a great steak dinner is made up of three parts: a great steak, of course, a great sauce AND great vegetable dishes.”
She goes on to explain the entire raison d’être of this new season. “When I think about back to basics”, she says, “It’s not about inventing something new. It’s about taking something classic – changing an ingredient, a process, something that gives it great flavor. And still making it really simple to make.”
That’s a tall order, but I think the Contessa is up to the challenge.
Into the market she goes to choose the steaks. She’ll be cooking them “restaurant style” – seared on top of the stove and then into the oven, which, Ina says, requires a 2 inch thick piece of meat. Bill, the butcher, gets her perfect filet mignons. They’re cut from the whole filet of beef tenderloin, “small and lean and delicious and very tender.”
Ina arrives back at the barn. (It still looks brand new.) She blots the outside of the steaks with paper towels, so they sear perfectly. She brushes a little vegetable oil on the outside and measures out a tablespoon (that’s OUR Ina!) of fleur de sel, which she says has a softer flavor than regular salt. She adds a tablespoon of coarsely cracked pepper to the salt.
She shows us how to grind peppercorns in a coffee mill. “Why make it hard, when you can make it easy?” (Because you don’t want to clean out the coffee mill?) Ina stirs together the salt and pepper and dips the steaks in the mixture to coat them well. Okay, that amount of salt is appropriate then…She says the key is searing them is using a very hot cast iron skillet. No oil necessary.
Ina tells us that her assistant, Barbara, usually “road tests” her recipes to see how well they work. This time, TR will be trying the recipe. That works out well for all of us. She also sears the sides of the steaks, which seals in all the juices. It takes a bit of time, 10 minutes, to sear them well. She pops a teaspoon of butter on top (of course, she does) “to make sure they’re really good.” They go into a 400°F oven. She writes down everything she does.
After 8 minutes, she tests the steaks with an instant read thermometer.
Oh, I thought she might give us the tip of the nose trick, where it should feel like the cartilage on the tip of your nose. But no, straight science for Ina.
For medium rare, the reading should be 125°F to 130°F; rare should be 120°F and well done 135°F to 140°F. She covers the filets with foil and lets them rest for 5 minutes.
TR comes strolling into the kitchen. I could do without the facial hair, but he does look quite dapper. As he hugs Ina, he says "Hello, stranger.” At least, I think he did. Hmmm, did they NOT have cocktails over the summer or card parties or barbecues on the beach? Maybe he was too busy filming car commercials. Wait, no, he says “Hi SWEETIE”, not hello stranger. Oh, thank goodness.
“Make a steak and a man shows up!” Ina exclaims. She feeds him a piece. He loves it. She sends him to the store to pick up a cast iron skillet and some Roquefort.
There’s a commercial for the new Food Network Magazine. They make it look really good. I may have to subscribe, but I’ve been holding off.
Ina is revisiting sautéed mushrooms. She says sometimes it’s just about changing up the ingredients a bit. We rewind back to the store where she’s buying portobellos, crimini and shitakes. Those are gorgeous.
Back at home, Ina uses a sponge to brush off the dirt. It’s one of those exploding sponges from William-Sonoma. I really hope that’s a dedicated mushroom sponge, because that would be kind of gross if it weren’t. She doesn’t say whether it is or not.
Ina likes the delicate flavor of shallots with the mushrooms, because they don’t overpower them. She stirs a cup of chopped shallots into hot oil and cooks them for 5 to 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, Ina stems the portobellos. She slices them and then the shitakes and the crimini, which, Ina says, look like the button ones, but have more flavor.
Ina adds half a stick of butter to the shallot pan and stirs in the 2 pounds of mushrooms. She adds 2 teaspoons of salt and a ½ teaspoon of pepper. She coats them well with butter and oil and cooks them on medium heat for 8 minutes.
(Remember MC’s trick. Don’t bother the mushrooms. Leave them alone so they brown nicely on one side. If you keep stirring them, they end up looking tepid.)
TR takes his huge car to go shopping. (I don’t know if it’s a Volvo or not, but it’s BIG.) He picks up the skillet at a hardware store.
Back to Ina, she adds 2 tablespoons fresh garlic to the mushrooms and cooks that for just a minute. She chops up lots of flat leaf parsley and adds one cup to the pan with “lots” of salt. She tastes. Perfect. She takes a picture for TR.
Ina tells us that TR said the menu had to have something crunchy. So she decided on onion rings “restaurant style” with a cornmeal crust. She likes to use Spanish onions, because they’re sweet. She separates the thick rings of onion and drops them into a bowl.
She shakes up the buttermilk and pours 2 cups right on top of the onion rings. Ina adds 1½ teaspoons of salt and 1 teaspoon of pepper. She mixes it all together with her hands.
Ina heats one quart of vegetable oil in a big pot and places a candy thermometer in. (I would like more guidance when she says “vegetable oil”.)
She mixes together (also with her clean hands) 1½ cups of flour, ¼ cup of stone ground yellow cornmeal and 1 teaspoon of salt with ½ teaspoon of pepper. She drains the onion rings slightly and then dunks them in the flour mixture and throws them into the oil. (Be careful, Contessa).
Ina tells us that you can make the onion rings in advance and keep them warm in the oven for ½ hour. Using tongs, she turns them a bit in the oil. They take about 2 minutes to cook. She drains them on paper towels. (Remember what I do? Newspaper underneath to save the paper towels) OMG, those look good.
Oh, you can’t do the newspaper thing, because she has a sheet of parchment under the paper towel. She does a nifty switcheroo, where she lifts up the paper towel to reveal the parchment underneath. They’ll sit on that while they stay warm in the oven.
Ina sprinkles them with “LOTS” of salt. “That’s all part of the pleasure, isn’t it?” (I guess you might not think that when you’re on the dialysis machine, but let’s live for today!) She takes a picture for TR and they go into the oven at 200°F, where they can stay for up to half an hour.
TR is shopping for the Roquefort. Ina makes the sauce. She pours 1 1/2 cups heavy cream into a pot to reduce.
There is a healthy eating tip from Ellie during the commercial. Do they think we especially need it during this particular half hour?
We’re back and TR is in the kitchen taking notes. Ina adds 2 ounces of Roquefort to the cream. (How is TR supposed to know how much 2 ounces is? Ina doesn’t suggest weighing it. She just cuts a chunk off.) She stirs the Roquefort in to melt. ½ teaspoon salt goes in with ¼ teaspoon pepper and 1 tablespoon of fresh chopped chives.
Ina turns off the heat and pours it a gravy boat. “Come to me baby,” she purrs to TR, so he can taste the sauce. They both love it. She picks up her camera to take “another beauty shot”.
Hold on a sec. The idea of taking a quick picture so that TR can duplicate the recipe is okay, I guess, but, to be honest, it kind of annoys me (just a tiny bit). I can’t remember which food blogger (with fantastic photos) I was reading, but she said she might take as many as 100 pictures to get just the right shot. Obviously, Ina isn’t publishing these pictures, but I would have liked to have seen her take just a bit more time. I know I’m being silly, but good food photos take time. BTW, I don’t take nearly that many pictures, but maybe I should, since I often feel I don’t get the right shot.
Ina bids TR farewell with a nice kiss. He gets home to start his “Barefoot Extravaganza. “ He starts the steaks, goes on to the mushrooms and then gets to the sauce. TR fries his onion rings and then compares the color to Ina’s photo. (So I guess the pictures did come in handy.) The onion rings look good.
Ina’s at the computer typing up her recipe. TR serves dinner on the porch to a lady-friend, Beth. It does look superb. She doesn’t believe that TR cooked it. She says she’s sure Ina did it.
TR calls Ina to tell her it went great. She says she knew it would.
How did I like the start of Ina’s new season? I liked it. The earth didn’t move, but I felt right at home back with the one I love. She reinforced many things that I already knew. She put the recipes together in such an effortless way that I’m sure I’m not the only to feel that a steak dinner with those classic sides would be easy to accomplish and ever so delicious.
Steak and Sides
Steakhouse Steaks
Sautéed Wild Mushrooms
Cornmeal-Fried Onion Rings
I admit I was a little anxious before I turned on the brand new season of the Contessa. It had been so long since there had been a new show. Would Ina remember me? Would I remember her? I shouldn’t have worried. It was as if we had been together the entire summer. She greeted me as warmly as…well, before and I felt as if we never missed a beat. She was her old wonderful self in the same beautiful setting with a slightly different spin on things. (C’mon, tell me you didn’t feel the same nervous excitement to see the Contessa again.)
We start with Ina driving in her car, telling us she’s going back to basics “Barefoot Style”. She’s going to turn up the volume on some classic recipes, this time from a steak house. AND, oooh, TR will be joining her today. Goodie!
Even her theme song has undergone a revision. I’m not sure if I prefer it to the old version, but I do love the new opening sequence (I want that cake!) of her jollily entertaining her friends and cuddly Jeffrey.
Continuing to talk to us from her car, Ina says “a great steak dinner is made up of three parts: a great steak, of course, a great sauce AND great vegetable dishes.”
She goes on to explain the entire raison d’être of this new season. “When I think about back to basics”, she says, “It’s not about inventing something new. It’s about taking something classic – changing an ingredient, a process, something that gives it great flavor. And still making it really simple to make.”
That’s a tall order, but I think the Contessa is up to the challenge.
Into the market she goes to choose the steaks. She’ll be cooking them “restaurant style” – seared on top of the stove and then into the oven, which, Ina says, requires a 2 inch thick piece of meat. Bill, the butcher, gets her perfect filet mignons. They’re cut from the whole filet of beef tenderloin, “small and lean and delicious and very tender.”
Ina arrives back at the barn. (It still looks brand new.) She blots the outside of the steaks with paper towels, so they sear perfectly. She brushes a little vegetable oil on the outside and measures out a tablespoon (that’s OUR Ina!) of fleur de sel, which she says has a softer flavor than regular salt. She adds a tablespoon of coarsely cracked pepper to the salt.
She shows us how to grind peppercorns in a coffee mill. “Why make it hard, when you can make it easy?” (Because you don’t want to clean out the coffee mill?) Ina stirs together the salt and pepper and dips the steaks in the mixture to coat them well. Okay, that amount of salt is appropriate then…She says the key is searing them is using a very hot cast iron skillet. No oil necessary.
Ina tells us that her assistant, Barbara, usually “road tests” her recipes to see how well they work. This time, TR will be trying the recipe. That works out well for all of us. She also sears the sides of the steaks, which seals in all the juices. It takes a bit of time, 10 minutes, to sear them well. She pops a teaspoon of butter on top (of course, she does) “to make sure they’re really good.” They go into a 400°F oven. She writes down everything she does.
After 8 minutes, she tests the steaks with an instant read thermometer.
Oh, I thought she might give us the tip of the nose trick, where it should feel like the cartilage on the tip of your nose. But no, straight science for Ina.
For medium rare, the reading should be 125°F to 130°F; rare should be 120°F and well done 135°F to 140°F. She covers the filets with foil and lets them rest for 5 minutes.
TR comes strolling into the kitchen. I could do without the facial hair, but he does look quite dapper. As he hugs Ina, he says "Hello, stranger.” At least, I think he did. Hmmm, did they NOT have cocktails over the summer or card parties or barbecues on the beach? Maybe he was too busy filming car commercials. Wait, no, he says “Hi SWEETIE”, not hello stranger. Oh, thank goodness.
“Make a steak and a man shows up!” Ina exclaims. She feeds him a piece. He loves it. She sends him to the store to pick up a cast iron skillet and some Roquefort.
There’s a commercial for the new Food Network Magazine. They make it look really good. I may have to subscribe, but I’ve been holding off.
Ina is revisiting sautéed mushrooms. She says sometimes it’s just about changing up the ingredients a bit. We rewind back to the store where she’s buying portobellos, crimini and shitakes. Those are gorgeous.
Back at home, Ina uses a sponge to brush off the dirt. It’s one of those exploding sponges from William-Sonoma. I really hope that’s a dedicated mushroom sponge, because that would be kind of gross if it weren’t. She doesn’t say whether it is or not.
Ina likes the delicate flavor of shallots with the mushrooms, because they don’t overpower them. She stirs a cup of chopped shallots into hot oil and cooks them for 5 to 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, Ina stems the portobellos. She slices them and then the shitakes and the crimini, which, Ina says, look like the button ones, but have more flavor.
Ina adds half a stick of butter to the shallot pan and stirs in the 2 pounds of mushrooms. She adds 2 teaspoons of salt and a ½ teaspoon of pepper. She coats them well with butter and oil and cooks them on medium heat for 8 minutes.
(Remember MC’s trick. Don’t bother the mushrooms. Leave them alone so they brown nicely on one side. If you keep stirring them, they end up looking tepid.)
TR takes his huge car to go shopping. (I don’t know if it’s a Volvo or not, but it’s BIG.) He picks up the skillet at a hardware store.
Back to Ina, she adds 2 tablespoons fresh garlic to the mushrooms and cooks that for just a minute. She chops up lots of flat leaf parsley and adds one cup to the pan with “lots” of salt. She tastes. Perfect. She takes a picture for TR.
Ina tells us that TR said the menu had to have something crunchy. So she decided on onion rings “restaurant style” with a cornmeal crust. She likes to use Spanish onions, because they’re sweet. She separates the thick rings of onion and drops them into a bowl.
She shakes up the buttermilk and pours 2 cups right on top of the onion rings. Ina adds 1½ teaspoons of salt and 1 teaspoon of pepper. She mixes it all together with her hands.
Ina heats one quart of vegetable oil in a big pot and places a candy thermometer in. (I would like more guidance when she says “vegetable oil”.)
She mixes together (also with her clean hands) 1½ cups of flour, ¼ cup of stone ground yellow cornmeal and 1 teaspoon of salt with ½ teaspoon of pepper. She drains the onion rings slightly and then dunks them in the flour mixture and throws them into the oil. (Be careful, Contessa).
Ina tells us that you can make the onion rings in advance and keep them warm in the oven for ½ hour. Using tongs, she turns them a bit in the oil. They take about 2 minutes to cook. She drains them on paper towels. (Remember what I do? Newspaper underneath to save the paper towels) OMG, those look good.
Oh, you can’t do the newspaper thing, because she has a sheet of parchment under the paper towel. She does a nifty switcheroo, where she lifts up the paper towel to reveal the parchment underneath. They’ll sit on that while they stay warm in the oven.
Ina sprinkles them with “LOTS” of salt. “That’s all part of the pleasure, isn’t it?” (I guess you might not think that when you’re on the dialysis machine, but let’s live for today!) She takes a picture for TR and they go into the oven at 200°F, where they can stay for up to half an hour.
TR is shopping for the Roquefort. Ina makes the sauce. She pours 1 1/2 cups heavy cream into a pot to reduce.
There is a healthy eating tip from Ellie during the commercial. Do they think we especially need it during this particular half hour?
We’re back and TR is in the kitchen taking notes. Ina adds 2 ounces of Roquefort to the cream. (How is TR supposed to know how much 2 ounces is? Ina doesn’t suggest weighing it. She just cuts a chunk off.) She stirs the Roquefort in to melt. ½ teaspoon salt goes in with ¼ teaspoon pepper and 1 tablespoon of fresh chopped chives.
Ina turns off the heat and pours it a gravy boat. “Come to me baby,” she purrs to TR, so he can taste the sauce. They both love it. She picks up her camera to take “another beauty shot”.
Hold on a sec. The idea of taking a quick picture so that TR can duplicate the recipe is okay, I guess, but, to be honest, it kind of annoys me (just a tiny bit). I can’t remember which food blogger (with fantastic photos) I was reading, but she said she might take as many as 100 pictures to get just the right shot. Obviously, Ina isn’t publishing these pictures, but I would have liked to have seen her take just a bit more time. I know I’m being silly, but good food photos take time. BTW, I don’t take nearly that many pictures, but maybe I should, since I often feel I don’t get the right shot.
Ina bids TR farewell with a nice kiss. He gets home to start his “Barefoot Extravaganza. “ He starts the steaks, goes on to the mushrooms and then gets to the sauce. TR fries his onion rings and then compares the color to Ina’s photo. (So I guess the pictures did come in handy.) The onion rings look good.
Ina’s at the computer typing up her recipe. TR serves dinner on the porch to a lady-friend, Beth. It does look superb. She doesn’t believe that TR cooked it. She says she’s sure Ina did it.
TR calls Ina to tell her it went great. She says she knew it would.
How did I like the start of Ina’s new season? I liked it. The earth didn’t move, but I felt right at home back with the one I love. She reinforced many things that I already knew. She put the recipes together in such an effortless way that I’m sure I’m not the only to feel that a steak dinner with those classic sides would be easy to accomplish and ever so delicious.
Friday, August 31, 2007
Ina Gets Fishy
Barefoot Contessa with Ina Garten
Good Catch
Parker's Fish and Chips
Tartar Sauce
Chopped Pickles
Summer Fruit Crostata
To get the recipes:
Click here
I finally caught up with The Barefoot Contessa from last weekend. TR* has invited Ina for dinner on his dock. He'll be catching the fish and she'll be cooking it. Why does this plan sound a little iffy? Maybe because TR has NEVER fished before. But, never mind, Ina gets to work on the dessert, an open fruit tart, which they'll have fish or no fish.
She combines the ingredients for the crust in the food processor. First the flour, salt and sugar get pulsed. Then she adds the butter and pulses it until it's "the size of small peas." She adds 3 oz. of ICE water with the machine running. She pulses it until it just becomes a ball. She presses it into a disc and cuts it in half. One half she's going to freeze for later. The other half gets refrigerated for 30 minutes.
I like to work with my dough immediately. I hate having to fight with it when it comes out of the refrigerator. I put it in between two big pieces of plastic wrap, roll it out and THEN refrigerate it. You don't need to add any additional flour and it's much easier to work with.
There's gorgeous TR on the dock, confessing to his fishing failings.
Ina's making tartar sauce, which she finds "so much fresher and brighter" than store-bought. She slices pickles (using the little cornichons-type ones) and puts them in a mini-food processor with 1/2 cup mayonnaise, white wine vinegar, capers, coarse mustard and salt and pepper. She blends it by pulsing. Done.
Back to a struggling TR. What EVER will they be eating with their tartar sauce?
To serve with the fish, Ina wants to "hot rod" something she's bought. She jazzes up dill pickles by slicing them up and adding some white wine vinegar and lots of fresh dill. I wouldn't mind a garlic clove or two.
For the crostada, Ina rolls out her dough into an 11 inch circle. She lays it on a sheet pan. She cuts peeled peaches (peeled by dropping into boiling water for 1 minutes, then plunging into ice water) into big thick slices. She wedges up plums and mixes them in with blueberries, a bit of flour, sugar, orange zest and orange juice. They get tossed together and placed in the middle of the pastry. The Barefooted One leaves a half inch border around the edge. She wonders out loud about TR's fishing abilities,"I have to say, I've known him since he was 15, (ooh, do tell, Ina) I can't say I've ever seen him fish."
Ina moves on to the crumb topping. She mixes flour, sugar and butter, until it's crumbly. She sprinkles it on top of the fruit. Ina finishes it off by folding up the edges of the pastry. leaving the center exposed. She bakes it at 450 deg. F for 25 to 30 minutes.
For her fish batter (although we haven't actually seen any fish), she mixes together 1/2 cup flour, baking powder, lemon zest (interesting), cayenne, salt and pepper. She whisks in water and 1 egg. The mixture should be like a thin pancake batter. She packs it up to take to TR's.
TR gets desperate and we find him at the fish store, where he picks up some beautiful fish.
For her last dish, Ina cuts up big Idaho potatoes into long wedges. They go into a bowl with olive oil, salt and pepper, garlic and rosemary. "This is really the time for fresh rosemary. There are just a few really nice flavors and dried rosemary just won't do." She minces it finely and mixes everything together. She'll cook them at TR's.
Ina arrives at her buddy's. "Welcome to the fish shack." He shows her the fish nervously. "I don't know, TR...That looks suspiciously like you caught it at the seafood shop."
As TR cuts up his catch, Ina puts the potatoes in a 400 deg F. oven for 30 minutes. Then she'll turn them and bake them for another 20 minutes.
They drink wine on the dock. She returns to the kitchen to fry the fish. She heats a 1/2 inch of oil to 360 degrees. Use a thermometer to check the temp, she tells us. Ina dips the fish in the batter (it's quite thin) and then in the hot oil. She cooks the pieces about 5 minutes total and then drains them on paper towels.
I have a "greener" way to do that. Instead of using masses of paper towels, just put one or two on top of some folded sheets of newspaper. The oil gets absorbed and you don't waste your paper towels.
Ina takes out the "chips". They look good. She makes cones with newspaper and lines them with parchment paper. The fish and chips go in. (I like the way they eat French fries in Amsterdam...with tons of mayonnaise. Yum.) They sit on the dock, eating companionably.
Dessert is served. They eat it right off the baking sheet. I do think the informality of the occasion could have been maintained with each of them having a separate plate and fork. But the obvious affection between the two of them is heartwarming. Ina shows again that, not only can she be counted on for a good dinner, she's a pretty great friend as well.
*(who knew?)
Good Catch
Parker's Fish and Chips
Tartar Sauce
Chopped Pickles
Summer Fruit Crostata
To get the recipes:
Click here
I finally caught up with The Barefoot Contessa from last weekend. TR* has invited Ina for dinner on his dock. He'll be catching the fish and she'll be cooking it. Why does this plan sound a little iffy? Maybe because TR has NEVER fished before. But, never mind, Ina gets to work on the dessert, an open fruit tart, which they'll have fish or no fish.
She combines the ingredients for the crust in the food processor. First the flour, salt and sugar get pulsed. Then she adds the butter and pulses it until it's "the size of small peas." She adds 3 oz. of ICE water with the machine running. She pulses it until it just becomes a ball. She presses it into a disc and cuts it in half. One half she's going to freeze for later. The other half gets refrigerated for 30 minutes.
I like to work with my dough immediately. I hate having to fight with it when it comes out of the refrigerator. I put it in between two big pieces of plastic wrap, roll it out and THEN refrigerate it. You don't need to add any additional flour and it's much easier to work with.
There's gorgeous TR on the dock, confessing to his fishing failings.
Ina's making tartar sauce, which she finds "so much fresher and brighter" than store-bought. She slices pickles (using the little cornichons-type ones) and puts them in a mini-food processor with 1/2 cup mayonnaise, white wine vinegar, capers, coarse mustard and salt and pepper. She blends it by pulsing. Done.
Back to a struggling TR. What EVER will they be eating with their tartar sauce?
To serve with the fish, Ina wants to "hot rod" something she's bought. She jazzes up dill pickles by slicing them up and adding some white wine vinegar and lots of fresh dill. I wouldn't mind a garlic clove or two.
For the crostada, Ina rolls out her dough into an 11 inch circle. She lays it on a sheet pan. She cuts peeled peaches (peeled by dropping into boiling water for 1 minutes, then plunging into ice water) into big thick slices. She wedges up plums and mixes them in with blueberries, a bit of flour, sugar, orange zest and orange juice. They get tossed together and placed in the middle of the pastry. The Barefooted One leaves a half inch border around the edge. She wonders out loud about TR's fishing abilities,"I have to say, I've known him since he was 15, (ooh, do tell, Ina) I can't say I've ever seen him fish."
Ina moves on to the crumb topping. She mixes flour, sugar and butter, until it's crumbly. She sprinkles it on top of the fruit. Ina finishes it off by folding up the edges of the pastry. leaving the center exposed. She bakes it at 450 deg. F for 25 to 30 minutes.
For her fish batter (although we haven't actually seen any fish), she mixes together 1/2 cup flour, baking powder, lemon zest (interesting), cayenne, salt and pepper. She whisks in water and 1 egg. The mixture should be like a thin pancake batter. She packs it up to take to TR's.
TR gets desperate and we find him at the fish store, where he picks up some beautiful fish.
For her last dish, Ina cuts up big Idaho potatoes into long wedges. They go into a bowl with olive oil, salt and pepper, garlic and rosemary. "This is really the time for fresh rosemary. There are just a few really nice flavors and dried rosemary just won't do." She minces it finely and mixes everything together. She'll cook them at TR's.
Ina arrives at her buddy's. "Welcome to the fish shack." He shows her the fish nervously. "I don't know, TR...That looks suspiciously like you caught it at the seafood shop."
As TR cuts up his catch, Ina puts the potatoes in a 400 deg F. oven for 30 minutes. Then she'll turn them and bake them for another 20 minutes.
They drink wine on the dock. She returns to the kitchen to fry the fish. She heats a 1/2 inch of oil to 360 degrees. Use a thermometer to check the temp, she tells us. Ina dips the fish in the batter (it's quite thin) and then in the hot oil. She cooks the pieces about 5 minutes total and then drains them on paper towels.
I have a "greener" way to do that. Instead of using masses of paper towels, just put one or two on top of some folded sheets of newspaper. The oil gets absorbed and you don't waste your paper towels.
Ina takes out the "chips". They look good. She makes cones with newspaper and lines them with parchment paper. The fish and chips go in. (I like the way they eat French fries in Amsterdam...with tons of mayonnaise. Yum.) They sit on the dock, eating companionably.
Dessert is served. They eat it right off the baking sheet. I do think the informality of the occasion could have been maintained with each of them having a separate plate and fork. But the obvious affection between the two of them is heartwarming. Ina shows again that, not only can she be counted on for a good dinner, she's a pretty great friend as well.
*(who knew?)
Sunday, April 29, 2007
The Barefoot Quandary of Extra-Large Eggs and Bleu Cheese
Barefoot Contessa - Ina Garten
Barefoot Reunion
Barbecued Ribs
Blue Cheese Cole Slaw
Chocolate Ganache Cupcakes
New Potato Salad
To get the recipes:
Click here
Barefoot Reunion
Barbecued Ribs
Blue Cheese Cole Slaw
Chocolate Ganache Cupcakes
New Potato Salad
To get the recipes:
Click here
Ina tells us about her store, Barefoot Contessa, which she sold in 1996. It almost sounds like another icon...this time on the big screen: "I had a farm in Africa". Anyway, Ina has invited 6 of her longtime co-workers from "the early years'" to dinner and she's making several of their famous dishes. And she can't wait to see how they're all doing.
She starts with barbecued ribs. Apparently, this recipe was a long time in development. They had several recipes they were working with and she decided to put them all together - Asian, Tex-Mex, traditional - to come up with what became the signature Barefoot Contessa Barbecued Ribs.
She cooks the onion and garlic in olive oil until soft. Then she adds chili powder, cumin, red pepper flakes, ginger, lime zest and juice. Goodness, there's more! She's adding vinegar, mustard and orange juice. She wasn't kidding about merging MANY different recipes and she obviously kept each and every ingredient from them all. She simmers it for 15 minutes.
I don't approve of something so far. Can you guess what it is?
Very good, if you guessed that Ina didn't cook the spices first, before adding all the liquidy stuff.
WHENever, HOWever, WHEREever, WHOever (ok, that last one doesn't make sense) you're adding warm spices, i.e. chili powder, cumin, coriander, turmeric, paprika, cinnamon (usually to sautéed onions and/or garlic), they should be stirred over the lowest heat you have for 3 minutes BEFORE you add anything even vaguely liquidy. This takes away the raw taste and develops the flavor of the spices. This can be the difference between a so-so dish and one that really sings. And, of course, I'm talking about sautéed dishes here, not baked goods, like cakes or rolls with cinnamon other spices.
To clarify, before you add the entire left side of your pantry to this barbecue sauce, stir in the entire right side (the spices) for 3 minutes on low heat...I just checked the recipe and the Contessa goes halfway. She cooks the chili powder, cumin and red pepper flakes for ONE minute. Not enough, but, at least, she didn't skip it altogether. You and I know know what we have to do, right? 3 minutes, super low heat BEFORE the wet stuff goes in.
Luckily, we're moving on to the chocolate cupcake recipe. She creams room temperature butter with sugar, until it's light and fluffy. Then she adds 4 extra large eggs, one at a time.
Hold on just a minute. Just what exactly are we going to do about The Barefoot Contessa's use of EXTRA LARGE eggs in every recipe?
Very few food writers use extra large eggs in their recipes, the standard is large. I almost think Ina's doing it as a way to stand out and make it harder for anyone to copy her.
THIS is the problem: a large egg is 2 ounces. An extra large egg is 2 1/4 ounces. Obviously, this matters when you're baking, not making omelets.
What to do? I have NEVER used extra large eggs. EVER. After great thought, this is what I've come up with. When I crack open an egg, I make sure to get every drop of egginess from the inside of the shell. That could be an extra teaspoon or so. I may not be using the size she specifies, but at least I'm getting every last bit of the egg that I AM using into the recipe. AND when I'm adding liquid to her baked recipes, I intentionally add perhaps a teaspoon more.
Even though I've baked plenty of Barefoot Contessa recipes, I've never used the correct size egg and it doesn't seem to matter (although theory says it should).
However, if you have a recipe that uses A LOT of eggs, 8 extra-large for example, that WILL make a difference - a 2 ounce difference to be exact, which conveniently is the size of a large egg. So that one is easy...8 extra-large eggs equal 9 large eggs exactly. It's when it's less than that that you have the issue.
Here's a rather confusing chart that seems to say that if the recipe calls for 4 extra-large eggs, do what you want, use 4 OR 5 large eggs. After that, use one more large egg than extra-large. Thus, if the recipe says 5 extra-large eggs, use 6 large and so on. Got it?
Ok, so you've added whatever the heck eggs you're going to add, and now she's adding a 16 oz can of chocolate syrup!!! What? It's the secret ingredient. Ok, if you say so. And I guess all that liquid deliciousness will make up for the exactly 1 oz shortfall of egg protein that my cupcakes will suffer from. Add vanilla extract and then put the flour in the bowl. Beat only until it's JUST mixed, or you'll have tough cupcakes and noone wants that for you, least of all the Contessa.
This batter makes 12 cupcakes. She uses an ice cream scoop to get them into the muffin pan. VERY CLEVER IDEA! They bake at 325 deg F. for 25 to 30 minutes. She says 30 in the recipe - check after 25 minutes.
We're back to the everything-but-the-kitchen-sink marinade. Set aside some to be served with the cooked ribs. The rest gets spread all over the meat and it goes into the refrigerator to marinate for as long as possible - a few hours, overnight, a day or 2. She likes Country Ribs the best, which you may have to discuss with your butcher in advance. Ina doesn't think baby back ribs have enough meat on them and that spare ribs are too fatty.
Her friend, TR, arrives in a wild shirt. He's in charge of the grill. She cracks open the Veuve Clicquot and he starts the fire. She heads back into the kitchen to finish cooking.
For the cole slaw, she slices green and red cabbage in the food processor. Put it in sideways to get long slices. The red cabbage goes ON TOP OF the green cabbage. Don't mix them together yet. She grates the carrots with the grating disk and puts them on top of the red cabbage. She makes the sauce, starting with 16 oz. of mayonnaise. "This makes a lot", she adds rather sheepishly. Dijon and whole grain mustard get mixed in with apple cider vinegar, celery salt (tell me the truth, is your celery salt from the last quarter of the 20th century?) and salt and pepper. "Put enough sauce on so that it moistens it, but not so much that it's wet and sloppy." Ok, maybe I wouldn't have put it exactly that way, but you get the idea.
Ina adds Roquefort. "I know there are those of you who think this smells like gym socks, but it's really delicious." She adds parsley now. "I'm going to put it in the refrigerator and it's just going to get better and better as it sits." (Kinda like gym socks?)
I have mixed feelings about the bleu cheese. One thing I am completely sure of: the cole slaw doesn't need it. I do defend her right to add it, but I really prefer to enjoy bleu cheese on its own, where it doesn't taint, I mean overpower, the rest of what it's being served with. I think the best way to present it is at room temperature with a generous portion of good honey lavished overtop, dripping all down the sides and surrounded by well-toasted walnut halves and sturdy crackers or bread.
Back to the cupcakes. She's doing her ganache thing - heavy cream and chocolate get melted together with a bit of coffee powder in a double boiler arrangement. Stir until just melted. By the way, the usual way to make ganache is to heat the cream, just to boiling, and stir in FINELY chopped chocolate until smooth. No less an authority than Rose Levy Beranbaum loves to make it in the food processor, so that it's silky smooth.
TR lights the coals. The ribs are on. They really don't have to cook that long, maybe a half hour. They get turned once or twice. Ina sets the table with Barefoot Contessa colors - red and white. She puts bags of candy down the middle, tied with BF ribbons. BIG napkins (for the ribs) go on and she reminds TR (and us) that the coals should be even and not too thick.
Back in the kitchen to ice the cupcakes. She spoons a LARGE amount of ganache over each cupcake. The recipe says to dip each one, I like using a spoon. Ina places a large candied violet on each cupcake and they go on cake stands. That's an attractive way to present them. They look gorgeous.
The Barefoot friends arrive. They toast to the Barefoot Contessa - the store AND the person, I guess. They take a lot of pictures and hunker down with the ribs (they turned out BEAUTIFULLY) and cole slaw, these original foodies. And Ina didn't forget to serve the extra marinade.
The Chocolate Ganache Cupcakes come out. They remember them well. To old times, old friends and old recipes.
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