Category: Barefoot Contessa

  • Cookbook Review: Barefoot Contessa: How Easy is That?

    Cookbook Review: Barefoot Contessa: How Easy is That?

      I know this review is long overdue. I’ve had this book for a while now. But I’ve had bronchitis twice, the flu, and then a sinus infection, and I wanted to give this the proper attention. (Are you sick of hearing about me being sick? I’m sick of talking about it. Let’s move on, then.)…

  • Barefoot Contessa’s brioche loaves

    Barefoot Contessa’s brioche loaves

    I made this recipe out of laziness. I couldn’t find any brioche or challah to buy for one of Dorie Greenspan’s tartine recipes in either of my local grocery stores and I didn’t feel like driving to my favourite French bakery to buy any. So, I made some myself. Once again, Ina Garten’s “Barefoot in Paris” book…

  • Barefoot Contessa’s Ice Cream Bombe

    Barefoot Contessa’s Ice Cream Bombe

      I promised myself I’d tackle one of Martha Stewart’s ice cream bombes this summer, a rather delicate, precious one called a “raspberry pavlova bombe” that involves placing dozens of delicate raspberries inside a bowl. Yes, well, as much as I’d love to do that, I thought I’d start with something less ambitious. And so…

  • Strawberry cheesecake

    Strawberry cheesecake

      Everyone loves cheesecake. I challenge you to find someone who doesn’t. Some may politely take a bite out of my sticky toffee pudding and push it aside, explaining it is too sweet, too heavy; or protest through a mouthful of Bahama Mama rum cake that they can only have one bite; or observe the…

  • Barefoot Contessa’s tomato and goat cheese tarts

    Barefoot Contessa’s tomato and goat cheese tarts

      Ina Garten has never steered me wrong. Whether I’m making her strawberry cheesecake recipe, coq au vin, or French chocolate bark, her recipes always come out just right. As one of my friends once remarked, Garten’s husband seems to have the best life in the world as he seems to appear at the end…

  • French chocolate bark

    French chocolate bark

      This recipe is from Ina Garten’s “Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics” cookbook. Ingredients:1 cup whole salted, roasted cashes6 to 7 ounces very good semisweet chocolate, finely chopped6 to 7 ounces very good bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped1/4 cup dried crystallized ginger, 1/2-inch diced1/2 cup dried cherries1/2 cup dried apricots, 1/2-inch diced1/4 cup golden raisins Directions…