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Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics: Fabulous Flavor from Simple Ingredients [Hardcover]

Ina Garten
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (262 customer reviews)

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Ina Garten is known for her uncomplicated but elegant recipes designed for the home cook whose priority is spending time with friends and family--not in the kitchen. Visit Amazon's Ina Garten Page.

Book Description

October 28, 2008
When Ina Garten opened her fabulous food store, The Barefoot Contessa, it soon became the most popular place in town and attracted masses of visitors all year round. But after 18 years, Ina needed a new challenge and she turned her hand to writing up her wonderful recipes and the great tips on style and entertaining that are the hallmark of her work. And it wasn't too long before Ina became one of America's most successful cookery writers. Her New York Times bestselling books went on to sell more than 3 million copies worldwide and today she is one of the stars of America's Food Network, where she attracts weekly audiences of more than 5 million. Genuinely warm and inspiring, Ina is America's own Domestic Goddess, and her television popularity has carried over to the UK. She is currently one of the most successful and respected cooks on the UK's Food Network and the Good Food Channel, which attract terrific audiences. This ever-growing tv profile is all down to the accessible, no-nonsense approach Ina takes to cooking delicious meals that even beginners can conjure up. Added to this is the little touch of luxury she offers in both her books and her tv shows, all photographed and filmed against the glorious backdrop of her fabulous kitchen and garden in East Hampton. Now, in BACK TO BASICS Ina offers almost 100 brand new recipes, all tried and tested to the highest standard and beautifully illustrated in full-colour throughout. Focusing on her simple techniques, this book has something for everyone. So, whether you're aiming to prepare a delicious main-course 'crowd-pleaser', a quick and easy tea-time treat, or something a little more sophisticated for a special occasion, they're all here - and with simple instructions to guarantee success every time!
--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Book Description
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 consistently provided accessible, subtly sophisticated recipes ranging from French classics made easy to delicious, simple home cooking. In Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics, Ina truly breaks down her ideas on flavor, examining the ingredients and techniques that are the foundation of her easy, refined style.

Here Ina covers the essentials, from ten ways to boost the flavors of your ingredients to ten things not to serve at a party, as well as professional tips that make successful baking, cooking, and entertaining a breeze. The recipes--crowd-pleasers like Lobster Corn Chowder, Tuscan Lemon Chicken, and Easy Sticky Buns--demonstrate Ina’s talent for transforming fresh, easy-to-find ingredients into elegant meals you can make without stress.

For longtime fans, Ina delivers new insights into her simple techniques; for newcomers she provides a thorough master class on the basics of Barefoot Contessa cooking plus a Q&A section with answers to the questions people ask her all the time. With full-color photographs and invaluable cooking tips, Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics is an essential addition to the cherished library of Barefoot Contessa cookbooks.

Ina Garten's Roasted Turkey Roulade and Baked Sweet Potato "Fries"

I don't know anyone who looks forward to carving a turkey on Thanksgiving. You're at the table, everyone's watching, and you're struggling to carve a hot bird. Instead, I decided to make a roasted turkey breast stuffed with all kinds of delicious things--sausage, cranberries, and figs. No bones and it cooks to juicy perfection in under two hours. How easy is that?

Sweet potatoes are available year-round, but their prime season is really autumn and winter. Choose potatoes that are smooth and unblemished, and use them fairly soon because they don't keep as well as other potatoes. These potatoes are crispy like fries but they're better for you because they're baked. --Ina Garten

(Photo credit Quentin Bacon)


Roasted Turkey Roulade
(Serves 6 or 7)





















3/4 cup large-diced dried figs, stems removed
3/4 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup Calvados or brandy
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1-1/2 cups diced onions (2 onions)
1 cup (1/2-inch-diced) celery (3 stalks)
3/4 pound pork sausage, casings removed (sweet and hot mixed)
1-1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary leaves
3 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
3 cups Pepperidge Farm herb-seasoned stuffing mix
1-1/2 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
1 extra-large egg, beaten
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 whole (2 halves) turkey breast, boned and butterflied (5 pounds)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Place the dried figs and cranberries in a small saucepan and pour in the Calvados and 1/2 cup water. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat, then lower the heat and simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large (12-inch) skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and celery and sauté until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the sausage, crumbling it into small bits with a fork, and sauté, stirring frequently, for 10 minutes, until cooked and browned. Add the figs and cranberries with the liquid, the chopped rosemary, and pine nuts, and cook for 2 more minutes. Scrape up the brown bits with a wooden spoon.

Place the stuffing mix in a large bowl. Add the sausage mixture, chicken stock, egg, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and stir well. (The stuffing may be prepared ahead and stored in the refrigerator overnight.)

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Place a baking rack on a sheet pan.

Lay the butterflied turkey breast skin side down on a cutting board. Sprinkle the meat with 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Spread the stuffing in a 1/2-inch-thick layer over the meat, leaving a half-inch border on all sides. Don’t mound the stuffing or the turkey will be difficult to roll. (Place the leftover stuffing in a buttered gratin dish and bake for the last 45 minutes of roasting alongside the turkey.) Starting at one end, roll the turkey like a jelly roll and tuck in any stuffing that tries to escape on the sides. Tie the roast firmly with kitchen twine every 2 inches to make a compact cylinder.

Place the stuffed turkey breast seam side down on the rack on the sheet pan. Brush with the melted butter, sprinkle generously with salt and pepper, and roast for 1-3/4 to 2 hours, until a thermometer reads 150 degrees in the center. (I test in a few places.) Cover the turkey with aluminum foil and allow it to rest at room temperature for 15 minutes. Carve 1/2-inch-thick slices and serve warm with the extra stuffing.


Baked Sweet Potato "Fries"
(Serves 4)




















2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled
2 tablespoons good olive oil
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus extra for sprinkling
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Halve the sweet potatoes lengthwise and cut each half into 3 long spears. Place them on a sheet pan and toss with the olive oil. Spread the potatoes in one layer. Combine the brown sugar, salt, and pepper and sprinkle on the potatoes. Bake for 15 minutes and then turn with a spatula. Bake for another 5 to 10 minutes, until lightly browned. Sprinkle lightly with salt and serve hot.

Ina Garten is one of the country's most beloved culinary icons and the author of five previous cookbooks. She can be seen on Food Network, where her shows, Barefoot Contessa and Back to Basics, are among the network's most watched. Ina also writes a column on entertaining for House Beautiful magazine.

From Publishers Weekly

The sixth cookbook from the Barefoot Contessa juggernaut contains exactly the kind of appealing, simple-yet-just-gourmet-enough recipes Garten devotees adore. There's nothing very surprising (Garten tries to claim an ingredient-focused premise), but her formula works. She offers such dishes as Lobster Corn Chowder, Creamy Cucumber Salad, Tuscan Lemon Chicken, Tagliarelle with Truffle Butter (which has just five ingredients, plus salt and pepper), and Brownie Pudding. Garten suggests tips on such things as setting the table and "10 things not to serve at a dinner party." Her tone can be charmingly pretentious, but she comes down to earth with admissions like "I have to admit that pastry still makes me anxious. When I discovered puff pastry, it was such a relief." Recipes are short and simple, and she often squeezes in insightful hints for making things work perfectly. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 272 pages
  • Publisher: Clarkson Potter; 1st Printing edition (October 28, 2008)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1400054354
  • ISBN-13: 978-1400054350
  • Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 0.9 x 10.3 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (262 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,268 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

In 1978, Ina Garten left her job as a budget analyst in the White House to pursue her dream of operating a specialty food store in the Hamptons. She is a frequent contributor to major national magazines and writes a recurring column in O Magazine. Her new television series on entertaining can be seen on Food Network. Ina lives in East Hampton, New York, and Southport, Connecticut, with her husband, Jeffrey.

Customer Reviews

The pictures are beautiful and the recipes are very easy to follow. Nancy Villegas  |  83 reviewers made a similar statement
I have tried several recipes in this book and every single one has been a huge hit! Linda Frashure  |  47 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
261 of 277 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful flavors as always December 5, 2008
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
One of the things that I enjoy most about Ina's books is the beginning of each section. She does not jump into the recipes; she prepares you likened to a good orchestra conductor preparing before a recital; making sure she has gotten everything in order before presenting her work. Once she gets the essence of what she wishes to tell you into words, then will she begin the recipe process.

That being said, this book continues the appreciation that so many people for Ina, along with the superb photography she wants to help bring the flavors, colors, and joy of her ideas and foods. And as Ina states in her dedication, "simple food has the most style". Indeed it does.

Her "Acknowledgement" page has all the secrets of why her books are so successful........great book and cooking industry people, great photography ("I want you to see the photograph and feel like licking the page") and her great husband, Jeffrey (can't ever imagine one without the other).

Her "Introduction" is its own chapter in that you are given her ideas and thoughts behind how she approaches the dining table and the dining experience. She will opt for the simplest, yet freshest foods, whether for a casual or formal dinner. And she helps us to thin out some of the detailed concerns with how we want the table to look and instead, think of how the food should be prepared. This will help us come away with an appreciation for a simpler meal with the atmosphere automatically settling in as you go along.

A real treat in this book is her great new "cooking barn" (don't think hay and horses with a stove nearby but instead a fabulous, sleek, warm, inviting, rustic, yet modern edifice, that is totally Ina).

As you read each chapter, she doesn't just give recipes; she gives side lessons with the hints and insights that she has honed over the years that have made her successful, not just in the sense of financial or in her celebrity, but as a cook/chef/hostess or whatever jumble of adjectives you want to use to describe her. Garnishes, menu ideas, floral arrangements, things to do and NOT to do for a party; thoughts as such that will up the ante on what will make your gathering successful in terms of satisfaction for yourself and your guests.

COCKTAIL HOUR
Parmesan and thyme crackers, Campari orange spritzer, gravlax with mustard sauce, juice of a few flowers, roasted shrimp cocktail, pomegranate cosmopolitans, savory palmiers, mango banana daiquiris, bruschetta with peppers and gorgonzola

SOUPS (one of her best sections)
Lobster corn chowder, cream of fresh tomato soup, homemade chicken stock, roasted potato leek soup, chilled cucumber soup, pappa al pomodoro (this sounds so much more romantic than saying tomato soup, doesn't it), roasted butternut squash soup, Italian wedding soup

LUNCH
Cape Cod chopped salad, old-fashioned carrot salad, white pizzas with arugula, creamy cucumber salad, warm goat cheese in phyllo, roasted butternut squash salad, roasted tomato caprese salad, tomato and goat cheese tarts, truffled filet of beef sandwiches, roasted pears with bue cheese, mache with warm brie (a salad)

DINNER
Tuscan lemon chicken, roasted turkey roulade, chicken bouillabaisse, coq au vin, company pot roast, Niman Ranch burgers, French bistro steaks, Parker's beef stew, herb-marinated loin of prok, baked shrimp scampi, easy sole meuniere, bay scallops gratins, Indonesian grilled swordfish, mustard-roasted fish, soft-shell crab sandwiches, proscuitto roasted bass, pasta with pecorino and peppers, wild mushroom risotto (dee-vine!), spring green risotto, dinner spanokopita, tagliarelle with truffle butter

VEGGIES
Maple-roasted buttercream squash, confetti corn, creamy cheddar grits, orange pecan wild rice, baked poatoes with yogurt, celery root and apple puree, oven-roasted vegetables, parmesan-roasted broccoli, chive risotto cakes, pan-roasted root vegetables, roasted parsnips and carrots, baked sweet potato fries, roasted tomatoes with basil, garlic ciabatta bread
(this will pretty much replace any bruschetta)

DESSERTS (yipee!)
French apple tart, fresh lemon moussse, apple dried cherry turnovers, chocolate-dipped strawberries, french chocolate bark, old-fashioned gingerbread, plum crunch, honey vanilla pound cake, fresh raspberry gratins, pumpkin roulade, raisin pecan oatmeal cookies, affogato sundaes (ice cream, liqueur and whip cream), brownie pudding

Had enough? Not just yet because you can't forget:
BREAKFAST
Sunrise smoothies, country French omelet, buttermilk cheddar biscuits, baked blintzes, homemade muesli, tri-berry oven pancakes, whitefish salad, easy sticky buns, homemade granola bars, blueberry streusel muffins, date nut spice bread, fruit salad with limoncello, easy strawberry jam

Flavor Boosters
FAQS
Credits
Sources
Barn Sources (to dream and possibly build your own "Cooking Barn" too)
Menu's
Index

This latest addition to your Ina library is wonderful and will add more to your simple and fresh repetoire of foodstuffs. Bon appetit!
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244 of 259 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Cooking well by going back to basics November 1, 2008
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
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.
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107 of 112 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars The Barefoot Wins Again October 31, 2008
By L. G.
Format:Hardcover
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.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars Barefoot Conessa Back to Basics: Fabulous Flavor from Simple...
This was a gift for someone and I think they are enjoying it and like it alot and appreciate the good recipes
Published 12 days ago by anonymous
5.0 out of 5 stars recipies of course, related tips and pictures. love it.
awesome recipies, easy enough and taste great; Ina provides great shopping and preparation tips and photos throughout also. love it.
Published 20 days ago by Sharon Kurtz
5.0 out of 5 stars Back To Basics is informative and fun.
I often watch Ina Garten' "Back to Basics" show on the Food Channel, so I knew I would like her book and the recipes in it.
Published 25 days ago by Ruth V. Anderson
5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome Recipe Book
Fantastic recipe book, I advise you to own it.

Its spectacular, informative, easy to follow and has so many pictures.
Published 26 days ago by Ali Al-Shawaf
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book
I love all of her recipes, use them all the time and they are all delicious and the menus are spectacular
Published 1 month ago by Diana Silvera
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book
Amazing cook book,love all of Inas Garten cook books, would buy it again. Great recipes and easy going.Thanks so much
Published 1 month ago by ReginaAZehntner
5.0 out of 5 stars One of my favorite cookbooks
I love this cookbook. I ordered it used and it arrived quickly and in good condition. My only complaint is that it smells like cigarette smoke but I have been working to air it... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Lisa M. Satterly
5.0 out of 5 stars Give this five stars
great recipes- book arrived on time and in perfect condtion; Would make a perfect gift and a great addition to someone starting a cookbook collection .
Published 1 month ago by samantha
4.0 out of 5 stars Cooking By The Book
The book was purchased for my wife and met her expectations, however she has only used it for one recipe so far.
Published 1 month ago by Nicholas A. Ramer
5.0 out of 5 stars Great recipes
I love Ina Garten. Her show is great and always makes me hungry. I wish I had more time to try every recipe, but the ones I have tried are amazing.
Published 1 month ago by Rachel
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Best cookbook for heart patients?
If you're looking for a book for baking desserts and such, I have one that is great for that. My husband gave it to me a couple of years ago when I found out my cholesterol was getting too high. It's a great alternative to butter baking and everything I've made from it has come out very moist and... Read more
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great book! But I found better... Be the first to reply
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