There are recipes for every course of a meal, along with generous photos and even a story or two from Ina on how the recipe came to be. I enjoyed her practical take on French cooking, and found that I could make béarnaise sauce for the first time ever using her recipe.

For cooks that want to add a few French recipes to their repertoire, or fans of Ina Garten, you won’t be disappointed.

Image: Amazon

Post from: Blisstree

Review: Barefoot in Paris

The market just opened for the season. Years ago we were just one of a few folks who headed out there every Saturday, but it’s since become hugely popular here. Which is a good thing for the farmers.

Today we bought a bunch of strawberries, because Truman would choose to eat strawberries over any other food on earth. We also bought tomatoes from one of the few vendors who had ripe ones to choose from. Then we went home and made Ina Garten’s Greek Gazpacho for dinner.

Our Publix didn’t have Sacramento tomatoes so V8 had to do (oh hush, Ina), and I did without the olives because I have an aversion. I also used panko instead of day-old bread just because I had it on hand. And I love panko. 

I plopped a generous hunk of nice goat cheese over the top, which was one thing my old recipe didn’t call for.It was to-die-for. Even Truman devoured it. Well, he mostly devoured the toasted bread crisps I served with it. Then we paired it with a nice bottle of Cotes du Rhone.

For dessert we had a generous serving of Adam Lambert performing with Rick’s childhood favorite band Kiss – DVR’d from Wednesday night’s awesome American Idol finale. Sigh…makes me wonder how the rest of the world is faring this Memorial Day weekend.

Photos, JWJourney

Post from: Blisstree

Farmers Markets a Sign of Summer

Recently, I’ve been following Ina Garten, pretty closely. The other night I made her “Perfect Chicken” recipie…and let me tell you…utter heaven. I am not really a big fan of chicken, especially, the wretched boneless, skinless variety. But this recipe calls for a whole chicken, glorious skin still on.

Make this dish for Sunday supper and take leftovers to work with you on Monday, you will wish you made two birds:

• 1 (5 to 6 pound) roasting chicken
  Kosher salt
  Freshly ground black pepper
  1 large bunch fresh thyme, plus 20 sprigs
  1 lemon, halved
  1 head garlic, cut in half crosswise
  2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter, melted
  1 large yellow onion, thickly sliced
  4 carrots cut into 2-inch chunks
  1 bulb of fennel, tops removed, and cut into wedges
  Olive oil
• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
• Remove the chicken giblets. Rinse the chicken inside and out. Remove any excess fat and leftover pin feathers and pat the outside dry. Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the chicken. Stuff the cavity with the bunch of thyme, both halves of lemon, and all the garlic. Brush the outside of the chicken with the butter and sprinkle again with salt and pepper. Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken. Place the onions, carrots, and fennel in a roasting pan. Toss with salt, pepper, 20 sprigs of thyme, and olive oil. Spread around the bottom of the roasting pan and place the chicken on top.
• Roast the chicken for 1 1/2 hours, or until the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and thigh. Remove the chicken and vegetables to a platter and cover with aluminum foil for about 20 minutes. Slice the chicken onto a platter and serve it with the vegetables.

As Ina says, FABULOUS!

Post from: Blisstree

Fabulous Dinner.