So Whole Foods has this wonderful almond tiramisu that is simply out of this world. The almond gives the mixture a lightness that the coffee base tiramisu can't reach. I'm making it for a party this weekend and I am telling you it's out of this world. As I am all about adding an element of trashy to my elegant dishes, I am including a block of cream cheese to the mix because marscapone cheese is like crazy expensive. $4.99 for an 8 ounce carton????? You know what's cheap? Ladyfingers. On a night where we took J's mother to Pasta Plus (MMMMMMMMMM), we stopped by their little deli and picked up a ginormous bag of savoyardi for 3.99 along with an equally ginormous bag of amaretti cookies. That will be make about four or five of my ginormous pans of tiramisu.
Here's my Almondmisu recipe
6 large eggs, separated
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 (8-oz) container mascarpone cheese (1 scant cup)
1 8 oz block of cream cheese
1 cup chilled heavy cream
4 cups almond syrup (the kind that Starbucks uses to flavor their coffee)
4 tablespoons amaretto
36 savoiardi (crisp Italian ladyfingers, 6 oz)
1/4 cup finely smooshed amaretti cookies
1/4 cup of sliced almonds, toasted
Over a double boiler, whisk together yolks and 1 cup sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until thick and pale, about 2 minutes. Add amaretto and beat until smooth and uniform. Take off the heat and beat in mascarpone and cream cheese until just combined.
Beat whites with a pinch of salt in another bowl with cleaned beaters until they just hold soft peaks. Add remaining 1/2 cup sugar a little at a time, beating, then continue to beat whites until they just hold stiff peaks. Beat cream in another bowl with cleaned beaters until it just holds soft peaks. Fold cream into mascarpone mixture gently but thoroughly, then fold in whites.
Pour almond syrup in a shallow bowl. Dip 1 ladyfinger in syrup, soaking it about 4 seconds on each side, and transfer to an 9 x 13-inch glass baking dish. Repeat withmore ladyfingers and arrange in bottom of dish, trimming as needed to fit snugly. Spread half of mascarpone mixture evenly over ladyfingers. Sprinkle crushed amaretti and almonds on top. Make another layer in same manner with remaining ladyfingers and mascarpone mixture. Chill tiramisu, covered, at least 6 hours.
Thursday, August 18, 2005
Tuesday, August 16, 2005
I Wanna Be like the Cool Kids
Waaaaah. We don't get to do anything fun here in our nation's capitol. Case in point. I am having severe blogger envy when I read about the Bay Area Food Bloggers Picnic on the Becks and Posh food blog. I just ate breakfast and I am hungry after seeing that garden of eating delights. And I am a very social person with tons of curiosity and would love to meet the other DC Area food bloggers in person. Contrary to what a certain Washington Post food critic says, the DC Food blog world seems to be a fairly friendly place. We read each other's sites and link to each other and make nice comments. I like the DC food bloggers so much I tried to get All I Think About is Food guy to move into the apartment above me. Sorry it didn't work out! Anyway, we could probably throw an awesome picnic but then I realize how crazy busy life in DC is. DC Foodies' wife is about to have a baby. Kanishka is going into the foreign service. J is crazy busy at work. And I'm...working on a quilt. A really big quilt. And I realize I have yet to join the DC area blogger meetup either.
Monday, August 15, 2005
Obligatory Restaurant Week Review Part 2
Setting afire to the hearts of the DCfoodies guy, Chowhounders and Don Rockwellians alike, Corduroy has become the hottest kept secret in DC. Being on the second floor of the Sheraton Four Points makes for an inauspicious location for ones of the best restaurants in the city. It is a weird dining experience to see someone soppy wet come out of the workout room as you dine. However, that minor quibble is erased by some of the best food and best service I've ever had. Being the last Sunday of retaurant week, we took J's mother who was visiting from Texas.
Let's start with service. With a 6:00pm reservation we were seated promptly. The friendly but not obsequious waitress (my favorite kind) was great about describing the food and recommending wine. I've said before that my standard of good services is how well they can keep my water glass full. That shows that they are paying attention. So not only does Corduroy pass that test with flying colors but I go into orgasms of delight by how well they are keeping our BREAD plate full. Usually we get a finite amount of bread or have to ask once the bread is depleted. This is particularly important when needing bread to sop up the delicious sauces that Tom Power's kitchen comes up with.
Onto the food. Dear god is that good. J had the mozarella porcupine which was interesting but mozarella is inherently bland. I thought it was a great summer dish because it was served cold but somehow the porcupine part was nice and crispy. I on the other hand, had the onion soup which was incredible. It hit all of the notes i love about a French onion soup, sweet, salty, savory, but was greasy. The puree had enough structural integrity not to taste like baby food. J's mother hd the salad which looked excellent. For entree, J had the much lauded scallops, I had the lamb with ravoli, and J's mother had the roast chicken. Both of our entrees deserved every single accolade they were given. Complex flavors that didn't get in the way of the basic goodness of the main ingredients. Roast chicken is something I would never order at a restaurant. I make an excellent roast chicken. However, I was wrong not to order it here. J's mother insisted we have tastes of her chicken and I was this close to reenacting the diner scene from When Harry Met Sally. I'll have what she's having indeed. The chicken is out of this world good. When we asked our server, she said that the chicken was poached first and then roasted. I am still tasting that chicken.
For dessert J had the hazelnut bars, his mother had the chocolate tart, and I had the creme brulee. The quality of the desserts can be summed up in one sentence - If it were socially appropriate, I would bring this ramekin to my lips and lick off all of the creme brulee.
Let's start with service. With a 6:00pm reservation we were seated promptly. The friendly but not obsequious waitress (my favorite kind) was great about describing the food and recommending wine. I've said before that my standard of good services is how well they can keep my water glass full. That shows that they are paying attention. So not only does Corduroy pass that test with flying colors but I go into orgasms of delight by how well they are keeping our BREAD plate full. Usually we get a finite amount of bread or have to ask once the bread is depleted. This is particularly important when needing bread to sop up the delicious sauces that Tom Power's kitchen comes up with.
Onto the food. Dear god is that good. J had the mozarella porcupine which was interesting but mozarella is inherently bland. I thought it was a great summer dish because it was served cold but somehow the porcupine part was nice and crispy. I on the other hand, had the onion soup which was incredible. It hit all of the notes i love about a French onion soup, sweet, salty, savory, but was greasy. The puree had enough structural integrity not to taste like baby food. J's mother hd the salad which looked excellent. For entree, J had the much lauded scallops, I had the lamb with ravoli, and J's mother had the roast chicken. Both of our entrees deserved every single accolade they were given. Complex flavors that didn't get in the way of the basic goodness of the main ingredients. Roast chicken is something I would never order at a restaurant. I make an excellent roast chicken. However, I was wrong not to order it here. J's mother insisted we have tastes of her chicken and I was this close to reenacting the diner scene from When Harry Met Sally. I'll have what she's having indeed. The chicken is out of this world good. When we asked our server, she said that the chicken was poached first and then roasted. I am still tasting that chicken.
For dessert J had the hazelnut bars, his mother had the chocolate tart, and I had the creme brulee. The quality of the desserts can be summed up in one sentence - If it were socially appropriate, I would bring this ramekin to my lips and lick off all of the creme brulee.
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
Reivew - Amasia Bistro
On Monday, my friend Writergirl asked if I could come with her to Falls Church to pick up her wedding dress. The plan was to actually go to dinner first. Since Amasia was blocks away from the dress store and Writergirl's fiance had been raving about it, we went to Amasia. The compliments fiance was heaping on Amasia were well deserved. While positive reviews of Amasia are popping up all over the Chowhound boards, amasia hasn't gotten much press. That's a shame. I am usually wary of Asian fusion cuisine because I find that it's essentially watered down Asian food, but Amasia's fusion was truly inventive. I started with the small order of potstickers, which were competently made that came with a dipping sauce that was out of this world. It was a dark soy with chili sauce and a hint of sesame oil. It was so good I started dipping my bread in it. Writergirl and fiance had the bowl of edamame. They insisted I try one, knowing my dislike for edamame. I hate lima beans and edamame taste like lima beans. Anyway, if I could have just sucked on the edamame pod without eating the soy nut, I would have been happy. The ginger olive oil it was tossed in was divine.
Writergirl and I had the much praised sweet potato wrapped rockfish. I think it was misnamed because potato was mor like a ribbon of sweet potato around the fish as opposed to completely wrapping the fish. But the dish as a whole was memorable. I love the contrasts of flavors between the sour sauce, the nutty asparagus, and the sweet sweet potato hash. It was like those different elements were dancing around the rockfish without overwhelming it. Needless to say the rockfish was expertly prepared. The true kicker comes with fiance's dish. Fiance is a vegetarian and the menu states - **Please ask our chef about vegetarian dishes exclusively made to order.** Considering restaureurs are loath to do substitutions, having chef Leticia Gonzalez and her kitchen make an entree to order is a unique and rare pleasure. And that's a lot of pleasure because what came out was a teriyaki tofu with grilled asparagus and bok choy. The tofu had it's own unique texture and the teriyaki sauce was out of this world. This was not the usual vegetarian option of stemaed vegetables or pasta primavera.
For dessert we had the cheesecake with the mango coulis, the hazelnut chocolate cake and the blackberries with creme anglaise. All excellent.
As an interesting postscript to our evening, we asked chef Gonzalez if they were willing to cater the engaged couple's wedding. She said they did that stuff all the time and would prepare a proposal. I can't wait for the wedding now.
Writergirl and I had the much praised sweet potato wrapped rockfish. I think it was misnamed because potato was mor like a ribbon of sweet potato around the fish as opposed to completely wrapping the fish. But the dish as a whole was memorable. I love the contrasts of flavors between the sour sauce, the nutty asparagus, and the sweet sweet potato hash. It was like those different elements were dancing around the rockfish without overwhelming it. Needless to say the rockfish was expertly prepared. The true kicker comes with fiance's dish. Fiance is a vegetarian and the menu states - **Please ask our chef about vegetarian dishes exclusively made to order.** Considering restaureurs are loath to do substitutions, having chef Leticia Gonzalez and her kitchen make an entree to order is a unique and rare pleasure. And that's a lot of pleasure because what came out was a teriyaki tofu with grilled asparagus and bok choy. The tofu had it's own unique texture and the teriyaki sauce was out of this world. This was not the usual vegetarian option of stemaed vegetables or pasta primavera.
For dessert we had the cheesecake with the mango coulis, the hazelnut chocolate cake and the blackberries with creme anglaise. All excellent.
As an interesting postscript to our evening, we asked chef Gonzalez if they were willing to cater the engaged couple's wedding. She said they did that stuff all the time and would prepare a proposal. I can't wait for the wedding now.
Friday, August 05, 2005
Obligatory Restaurant Week Review Part 1
This being sommertime in our fair city, we have interns. Thursday was one of our intern's last day which coincides with restaurant week so we decided to take her out to DC Coast. It being Restaurant Week, DC Coast was crazy crowded, and our reservation was for 1:45pm! Luckily we were seated promptly and given the "chef's" table next ot the kitchen. Our drink orders were quickly taken and we all indicated we wanted to get the Restaurant Week options. It took a while for the server to come back to explain Restaurant Week and tell us what was available. Their restaurant week menu gave us choices of mixed green salad, Ceasar salad, mushroom soup or gazspacho for a starter and the full list of entrees (with the exception of their lobster roll that you had to pay $3 more for) and a choice of their panna cotta, chocolate icebox cake, or creme brulee for dessert. A wonderful deal for $20. I had the mushroom soup, tuna on top of a soba noodle cake with an Asian slaw, and the panna cotta. Other members of my party had the penne, pecan crusted trout and steak bruschetta.
I'm only going to talk about what I ate since, I don't want to put words into the mouths of my co-workers. The mushroom soup was a dark broth with shitake, cremini, and other fancy mushrooms. It seemed to be served a little warmer than room temperature, but I thought it might be deliberate given the extreme heat of last week. I appreciated not having a piping hot soup that day. I liked the woodsy flavor of both the mushrooms and broth but somehow there was a spiciness that just seemed to linger in my mouth. I don't think it enhanced the flavor of the broth.
The entree came and the tuna that I ordered rare came about medium rare. I was hoping for that seared on the outside, quiveringly raw on the inside texture I so love aobut good tuna. But then I tasted it and it was wonderfully moist, more like a mahi mahi and the flavor was wonderful. The whole plate had the wonderful flavor of salty, sweet and spicy. My only complaint was the the udon noodles seemed hard to pry apart and eat since it came as a cake.
For dessert I had the panna cotta. I usually try and order things from a restaurant I can't make at home. And other than jello, I do not try and mess with gelatin. So panna cotta it was. The panna cotta was lovely, there was a sharp sourness that cut through the sweet creaminess to make this a memorable dessert.
Here's the kicker for the meal. Both the manager and waitress noticed (without me pointing it out) that my tuna was definitely not rare and apologized profusely. For me, it was no problem, but they were kind enough to comp my meal nevertheless. and for those restaurants out there (Belga Cafe I am looking at you), a sincere apology goes a long way. My enjoyment of the meal wasn't compromised by the mistake but I was gratified that the management of DC Coast and waitstaff cared. Running a restaurant is a crazy business. I would never want to do it. And for me, the only unforgivable thing in dining is snottiness on both the restaurant's side and the diner's side.
I'm only going to talk about what I ate since, I don't want to put words into the mouths of my co-workers. The mushroom soup was a dark broth with shitake, cremini, and other fancy mushrooms. It seemed to be served a little warmer than room temperature, but I thought it might be deliberate given the extreme heat of last week. I appreciated not having a piping hot soup that day. I liked the woodsy flavor of both the mushrooms and broth but somehow there was a spiciness that just seemed to linger in my mouth. I don't think it enhanced the flavor of the broth.
The entree came and the tuna that I ordered rare came about medium rare. I was hoping for that seared on the outside, quiveringly raw on the inside texture I so love aobut good tuna. But then I tasted it and it was wonderfully moist, more like a mahi mahi and the flavor was wonderful. The whole plate had the wonderful flavor of salty, sweet and spicy. My only complaint was the the udon noodles seemed hard to pry apart and eat since it came as a cake.
For dessert I had the panna cotta. I usually try and order things from a restaurant I can't make at home. And other than jello, I do not try and mess with gelatin. So panna cotta it was. The panna cotta was lovely, there was a sharp sourness that cut through the sweet creaminess to make this a memorable dessert.
Here's the kicker for the meal. Both the manager and waitress noticed (without me pointing it out) that my tuna was definitely not rare and apologized profusely. For me, it was no problem, but they were kind enough to comp my meal nevertheless. and for those restaurants out there (Belga Cafe I am looking at you), a sincere apology goes a long way. My enjoyment of the meal wasn't compromised by the mistake but I was gratified that the management of DC Coast and waitstaff cared. Running a restaurant is a crazy business. I would never want to do it. And for me, the only unforgivable thing in dining is snottiness on both the restaurant's side and the diner's side.
Mountain of Blackberries Part 2
As a testament to my Barefoot Contessa envy, the first thing I made with the mountain of blackberries was blackberry lemonade. Inspired by Ina, I went out and bought a citrus juicer. I had been squeezing limes by hand for things like guacamole and margaritas and it took F*$%&%ing forever. After seeing the ease at which Ina used her juicer we decided to buy one of our own when we were shopping at Wegmans. Well over 100 lemons, limes, and oranges gave their juice for our happiness and health since we bought it a month ago. So the blackberry lemonade was summer in a glass folks. Sweet, tart, refreshing. The only down side is that pureeing blackberries makes a mess. Be prepared for purple hands.
Blackberry Lemonade
2 cups of lemon juice (about 10 lemons)
4 cups water
½ cup sugar
1 cup picked-over fresh blackberries
With a vegetable peeler remove zest from 4 lemons and squeeze enough juice from these and remaining 6 lemons to measure 2 cups.
In a saucepan boil 1 cup water with sugar, stirring, until sugar is dissolved. Add zest, lemon juice, and remaining 3 cups water and cool.
In a food processor or blender puree blackberries and stir into lemonade. Pour blackberry lemonade through a sieve into a pitcher or other container and chill. I actually don’t have a sieve or Chinois and poured the mixture into a big bowl and skimmed the lemonade with a slotted spoon. Chill the lemonade, covered, at least until cold and up to 2 days or keep it in the freezer until the end of time.
Serve lemonade over ice in tall glass, garnished with lemon slices.
Blackberry Lemonade
2 cups of lemon juice (about 10 lemons)
4 cups water
½ cup sugar
1 cup picked-over fresh blackberries
With a vegetable peeler remove zest from 4 lemons and squeeze enough juice from these and remaining 6 lemons to measure 2 cups.
In a saucepan boil 1 cup water with sugar, stirring, until sugar is dissolved. Add zest, lemon juice, and remaining 3 cups water and cool.
In a food processor or blender puree blackberries and stir into lemonade. Pour blackberry lemonade through a sieve into a pitcher or other container and chill. I actually don’t have a sieve or Chinois and poured the mixture into a big bowl and skimmed the lemonade with a slotted spoon. Chill the lemonade, covered, at least until cold and up to 2 days or keep it in the freezer until the end of time.
Serve lemonade over ice in tall glass, garnished with lemon slices.
Thursday, August 04, 2005
Mountains of Blackberries
In what is becoming a summer tradition among my group of friends, S, O, E, and I went to Homestead Farm to pick blackberries. Blackberries are the perfect fruit to pick yourself because the cost differential between blackberries in the store ($3.00 per pint) vs. pick-your-own ($1.99 per POUND) is incredible. Plus you get to taste blackberries at the peak of ripeness. And the differential between a ripe blackberry and an unripe one is the differential between a spoonful of sugar and a spoonful of lemon.
Last year, we were overambitious and picked 35 pounds of blackberries. This ended up making 18 huge jars of blackberry jam, two pitchers of blackberry lemonade, a blackberry cobbler, blackberry barbecue sauce, and a blackberry pie, along with a healthy amount of eating blackberries and frozen blackberries. WHEW. This year we were smarter and ended up picking about 5 pounds of blackberries each. I don’t know why, but all of these Chinese families kept coming up to me to see our incredible haul of blackberries. I ending up letting several eat a few because they were so curious. I always find it embarrassing to have Chinese folk come up to me and start speaking some Chinese dialect. I am a quarter Chinese but the rest of me is Vietnamese and I know absolutely no Chinese.
The gang went to my place to sort through the bounty and make our various blackberry yummies. We sorted our blackberries into edible/freezable (ones that were at their peak of perfection) and cookable (ones that were either underripe and sour or mashed from the ride over). Freezing is a great way to preserve berries. The fresh flavor gets sealed in. Speaking of freezing, I abhor the whole idea of sterilizing jars so all of the jam I make is destine for the freezer. While some folks might have the constitution for standing over boil water sterilizing jars and hoping that a sliver of air didn’t get trapped in said jar and turning the jam into a mold and bacteria festival, I certainly do not. Any jar of jam that does not get used in the next three weeks is destined for the freezer.
We simply used the low sugar recipe on the Pomona pectin box. My head does threaten to explode when I see tradition jam recipe that call for more sugar than actual fruit. By that point, it’s fruit flavored sugar. To our eight cups of mashed fruit (THANKS E), we added 2, count them – 2, cups of sugar. And it tastes wonderfully sweet.
To be continued…
Last year, we were overambitious and picked 35 pounds of blackberries. This ended up making 18 huge jars of blackberry jam, two pitchers of blackberry lemonade, a blackberry cobbler, blackberry barbecue sauce, and a blackberry pie, along with a healthy amount of eating blackberries and frozen blackberries. WHEW. This year we were smarter and ended up picking about 5 pounds of blackberries each. I don’t know why, but all of these Chinese families kept coming up to me to see our incredible haul of blackberries. I ending up letting several eat a few because they were so curious. I always find it embarrassing to have Chinese folk come up to me and start speaking some Chinese dialect. I am a quarter Chinese but the rest of me is Vietnamese and I know absolutely no Chinese.
The gang went to my place to sort through the bounty and make our various blackberry yummies. We sorted our blackberries into edible/freezable (ones that were at their peak of perfection) and cookable (ones that were either underripe and sour or mashed from the ride over). Freezing is a great way to preserve berries. The fresh flavor gets sealed in. Speaking of freezing, I abhor the whole idea of sterilizing jars so all of the jam I make is destine for the freezer. While some folks might have the constitution for standing over boil water sterilizing jars and hoping that a sliver of air didn’t get trapped in said jar and turning the jam into a mold and bacteria festival, I certainly do not. Any jar of jam that does not get used in the next three weeks is destined for the freezer.
We simply used the low sugar recipe on the Pomona pectin box. My head does threaten to explode when I see tradition jam recipe that call for more sugar than actual fruit. By that point, it’s fruit flavored sugar. To our eight cups of mashed fruit (THANKS E), we added 2, count them – 2, cups of sugar. And it tastes wonderfully sweet.
To be continued…
Wednesday, August 03, 2005
Easy Spicy Omelet Love
LONG VERSION:
So I've been doing a lot of hobbling about with some knee problems and relying on T for more of the ccoking, but this weekend I was on my own for breakfast so I hobbled to the kitchen to throw an omelet together.
I grew up with my grandmother coming over to make brekfast most mornings before school and omelets were her specialty. Usually just cheese or cheese and tomato for her, but they were always fantastic.
Ever wake up and just not have the energy to put a lot of thought or time into your cooking? Well, there I was. The pan was heated, a pat of butter was melting towards brown, and my eggs were nicely fork-beaten and ready to go.
"SSSSSSSSZZSSSSSSSZZZZZZZZZ" went the eggs as I poured them into the pan and they began their journey to Fluffyville. I started scooting them around a bit and realized I really just wanted some more flavor. Short on time (it was already cooking), I went for the Thai Sweet Chili Sauce.
Now I have often popped a little honey on an omelet with some pepper sauce or Tony Chachere's, but this was a novel idea. The sweet and spicy in one place! Yum!
Once I had gotten my omelet nice and fluffy, I poured about 1 1/2 tablespoons on top and flipped it several times so the sauce could coat both sides and warm up. I let it sit for about 10 seconds on each side and flip-folded it over onto my plate.
Sure enough, that first bite was zingy and slightly sweet. I love taking chances like that and having them pay off. Has that happened to you recently? Please share!
-J
SHORT VERSION: I put some thai sweet chili sauce on an omelet and cooked it a bit. Risky cooking adventures? Comments? -J
So I've been doing a lot of hobbling about with some knee problems and relying on T for more of the ccoking, but this weekend I was on my own for breakfast so I hobbled to the kitchen to throw an omelet together.
I grew up with my grandmother coming over to make brekfast most mornings before school and omelets were her specialty. Usually just cheese or cheese and tomato for her, but they were always fantastic.
Ever wake up and just not have the energy to put a lot of thought or time into your cooking? Well, there I was. The pan was heated, a pat of butter was melting towards brown, and my eggs were nicely fork-beaten and ready to go.
"SSSSSSSSZZSSSSSSSZZZZZZZZZ" went the eggs as I poured them into the pan and they began their journey to Fluffyville. I started scooting them around a bit and realized I really just wanted some more flavor. Short on time (it was already cooking), I went for the Thai Sweet Chili Sauce.
Now I have often popped a little honey on an omelet with some pepper sauce or Tony Chachere's, but this was a novel idea. The sweet and spicy in one place! Yum!
Once I had gotten my omelet nice and fluffy, I poured about 1 1/2 tablespoons on top and flipped it several times so the sauce could coat both sides and warm up. I let it sit for about 10 seconds on each side and flip-folded it over onto my plate.
Sure enough, that first bite was zingy and slightly sweet. I love taking chances like that and having them pay off. Has that happened to you recently? Please share!
-J
SHORT VERSION: I put some thai sweet chili sauce on an omelet and cooked it a bit. Risky cooking adventures? Comments? -J
Monday, August 01, 2005
Barefoot Contessa Love/Not-So-Much Love
Despite the trend in the Food Network towards the empty calories of Rachael Ray (4 shows!), I am still addicted to Food Network shows. My biggest addiction is to Barefoot Contessa. That show is my kryptonite. I should hate it, being all Martha Stewarty about how great Ina Garten’s life is, but I love that lady unabashedly. After all, her whole show is about her immaculate house, her fabulous (read gay men and their hags) friends, and her successful husband. She has this habit of making dishes using crazy expensive ingredients – i.e. loins of pork, filets of beef and “effortlessly” throws together bouquets of fresh flowers from her manicured garden.
Nevertheless I LOVE her. Barefoot Contessa is like seeing a Williams Sonoma catalog as a TV show. And as pretentious as she is, I must admit, I WANT HER LIFE. I want her house. I want her kitchen. She can keep her husband. Her show is pure food porn and her recipes are spot on with great tips for home cooks. I’ve been learning these as I work through the stack of her books my partner (also from DC Food Blog) gave me for my birthday. Now I’ve made over ten of her recipes and they’ve all turned out beautifully.
Here’s one episode
Episode: Welcome Back Breakfast
We open with the fabulous house at night and Ina is telling us how her husband is coming home late after a long business trip and that she can’t make her usual roast chicken dinner. For avid Ina fans we also know that her husband spends the week in New Haven as the Dean of the Yale business school and comes home only on weekends. Anyway, since she can’t do the Friday night dinner, she decides to go all out on the next morning’s breakfast. And then she betrays her deep neurosis and insecurity about her ability to be an adequate wife by saying “if I don’t cook for him, I’m sure there’s someone else who will.” That’s so sad. Ina, Ina, Ina, he should love you whether cook for him or not.
Segue into her faboo kitchen where she is in the midst of making strawberry jam by simmering sugar and lemon. The natural pectin in the lemon will help the jam to gel. She hulls the strawberries, cuts them in half, and then dumps them into a pan with the sugar and lemon mixture which she sets to simmer. She gives her first piece of useless advice during this segment by admonishing the viewer to “always use strawberries that are fresh.” The recipe itself seems completely doable and the fact that you are not slaving away over a hot stove worry about melting powdered pectin and sterilizing jars is a big plus. GO INA!
We then move on to making the brioche with yeast, sugar, eggs, water and flour. I’m dying to make this recipe but this is a two day event. The dough needs to rise overnight. Another big complaint many people have about Barefoot Contessa is that it relies so much on a standing mixer. But luckily, I do have a standing mixer and I use it religiously.
She then gives us a useful piece of advice when she tells us a good way to see if jam has been heated enough is to put a spoonful on a cold plate and see if it gels. More brioche action with the standing mixer. After the commercial, she puts the brioche dough into a buttered bowl to rise overnight.
Ina goes back into insecure housewife mode where she know her husband Jeffrey was on the road all night and HAS to make him something comforting. Homemade hot chocolate is her comfort food of choice. In an artery-clogging move she heats whole milk AND half-and-half and throws in both dark chocolate and milk chocolate along with vanilla, coffee granules and sugar. Like all of her recipes, the hot chocolate is straightforward and easily replicable. Her gnome-like husband Jeffrey comes in and all of her viewers collectively wonder why she’s so desperate to please this guy. To his credit, Jeffrey is duly appreciative and they start their mildly suggestive banter about the hot chocolate and going to bed.
In the next scene, it’s morning and Ina walks into the kitchen with her cup of coffee. She throws the sticky dough back into the mixer and she adds butter. She then rolls it out and separates it into 20 little balls. Of course she has these fabulous little brioche pans for her loaves and we collectively sigh in envy.
This leads to the more annoying segment of her shows – the shopping segment. Of course it’s all designed to show how fabulous her life is in the Hamptons with little gourmet shops and farmers’ markets. She buys fruit for her fruit and yogurt parfaits.
Back to the house. She “fakes out” Jeffrey by telling him she’s gonna serve him dry toast and old coffee for breakfast and bids him to make a fire. While he’s making the fire Ina puts together the ingredients for her homemade granola with oats, coconut, and almonds tossed in honey and canola oil. This is such a rockstar recipe. I’ve made it. It’s delicious, simple, and easily modifiable. When I made it I omitted the almonds and replaced the honey with maple syrup. It turned out wonderfully
As the granola is baking she puts together the fruit for her parfaits and goes to the brioche where they have surprised her by rising. Ina, things with yeast rise.
Ina layers the fruit, granola, and yoghurt and marvels that her completed parfaits look like ice cream sundaes. When we come back from commercials she is putting peaches in a food processor to puree them for Bellinis. She puree the peaches with the skin on and then sieve the mixture to catch the peach skin. This another one of those wonderful tips that she gives that make sense and actually save time and effort in the kitchen. The Bellinis and the whole breakfast is assembled and served to Jeffrey.
Ina goes on and on about her ‘international” breakfast where the Bellinis were inspired by their trip to Venice. The brioche, from their trip to France and their parfaits from their trip to Belgium Fine Ina, you travel all over the world. Your life is fabulous. Damn you, DAMN YOU.
Jeffrey coos over the homemade jam and wonders if she made the plates and the silverware. I wouldn’t put that past her. They toast to their fabulous breakfast and we leave their gorgeously appointed Hampton country home duly impressed.
This won't be the last Barefoot Contessa recap. Hee hee.
Nevertheless I LOVE her. Barefoot Contessa is like seeing a Williams Sonoma catalog as a TV show. And as pretentious as she is, I must admit, I WANT HER LIFE. I want her house. I want her kitchen. She can keep her husband. Her show is pure food porn and her recipes are spot on with great tips for home cooks. I’ve been learning these as I work through the stack of her books my partner (also from DC Food Blog) gave me for my birthday. Now I’ve made over ten of her recipes and they’ve all turned out beautifully.
Here’s one episode
Episode: Welcome Back Breakfast
We open with the fabulous house at night and Ina is telling us how her husband is coming home late after a long business trip and that she can’t make her usual roast chicken dinner. For avid Ina fans we also know that her husband spends the week in New Haven as the Dean of the Yale business school and comes home only on weekends. Anyway, since she can’t do the Friday night dinner, she decides to go all out on the next morning’s breakfast. And then she betrays her deep neurosis and insecurity about her ability to be an adequate wife by saying “if I don’t cook for him, I’m sure there’s someone else who will.” That’s so sad. Ina, Ina, Ina, he should love you whether cook for him or not.
Segue into her faboo kitchen where she is in the midst of making strawberry jam by simmering sugar and lemon. The natural pectin in the lemon will help the jam to gel. She hulls the strawberries, cuts them in half, and then dumps them into a pan with the sugar and lemon mixture which she sets to simmer. She gives her first piece of useless advice during this segment by admonishing the viewer to “always use strawberries that are fresh.” The recipe itself seems completely doable and the fact that you are not slaving away over a hot stove worry about melting powdered pectin and sterilizing jars is a big plus. GO INA!
We then move on to making the brioche with yeast, sugar, eggs, water and flour. I’m dying to make this recipe but this is a two day event. The dough needs to rise overnight. Another big complaint many people have about Barefoot Contessa is that it relies so much on a standing mixer. But luckily, I do have a standing mixer and I use it religiously.
She then gives us a useful piece of advice when she tells us a good way to see if jam has been heated enough is to put a spoonful on a cold plate and see if it gels. More brioche action with the standing mixer. After the commercial, she puts the brioche dough into a buttered bowl to rise overnight.
Ina goes back into insecure housewife mode where she know her husband Jeffrey was on the road all night and HAS to make him something comforting. Homemade hot chocolate is her comfort food of choice. In an artery-clogging move she heats whole milk AND half-and-half and throws in both dark chocolate and milk chocolate along with vanilla, coffee granules and sugar. Like all of her recipes, the hot chocolate is straightforward and easily replicable. Her gnome-like husband Jeffrey comes in and all of her viewers collectively wonder why she’s so desperate to please this guy. To his credit, Jeffrey is duly appreciative and they start their mildly suggestive banter about the hot chocolate and going to bed.
In the next scene, it’s morning and Ina walks into the kitchen with her cup of coffee. She throws the sticky dough back into the mixer and she adds butter. She then rolls it out and separates it into 20 little balls. Of course she has these fabulous little brioche pans for her loaves and we collectively sigh in envy.
This leads to the more annoying segment of her shows – the shopping segment. Of course it’s all designed to show how fabulous her life is in the Hamptons with little gourmet shops and farmers’ markets. She buys fruit for her fruit and yogurt parfaits.
Back to the house. She “fakes out” Jeffrey by telling him she’s gonna serve him dry toast and old coffee for breakfast and bids him to make a fire. While he’s making the fire Ina puts together the ingredients for her homemade granola with oats, coconut, and almonds tossed in honey and canola oil. This is such a rockstar recipe. I’ve made it. It’s delicious, simple, and easily modifiable. When I made it I omitted the almonds and replaced the honey with maple syrup. It turned out wonderfully
As the granola is baking she puts together the fruit for her parfaits and goes to the brioche where they have surprised her by rising. Ina, things with yeast rise.
Ina layers the fruit, granola, and yoghurt and marvels that her completed parfaits look like ice cream sundaes. When we come back from commercials she is putting peaches in a food processor to puree them for Bellinis. She puree the peaches with the skin on and then sieve the mixture to catch the peach skin. This another one of those wonderful tips that she gives that make sense and actually save time and effort in the kitchen. The Bellinis and the whole breakfast is assembled and served to Jeffrey.
Ina goes on and on about her ‘international” breakfast where the Bellinis were inspired by their trip to Venice. The brioche, from their trip to France and their parfaits from their trip to Belgium Fine Ina, you travel all over the world. Your life is fabulous. Damn you, DAMN YOU.
Jeffrey coos over the homemade jam and wonders if she made the plates and the silverware. I wouldn’t put that past her. They toast to their fabulous breakfast and we leave their gorgeously appointed Hampton country home duly impressed.
This won't be the last Barefoot Contessa recap. Hee hee.
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