nollequeen's Full Review: Ina Garten - Barefoot in Paris: Easy French Food Y...
I’m not really a big fan of French cooking, or at least I didn’t think so. I am however, a big fan of Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa. I have her three other cookbooks (The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook; Parties; and Barefoot Contessa Family Style) and have done a lot of cooking out of them. So, when her latest, “Barefoot in Paris” came out last Fall, I begged for it as a Christmas gift.
It’s a beautiful book. With about 240 glossy pages, filled with beautiful pictures of Ina in Paris and full color photographs of the recipes, it’s something you could easily put out on your coffee table. It becomes immediately evident that Ina has had a life long love affair with Paris. The 2nd page contains a full page picture of Ina and her husband, Jeffrey (currently the Dean of the Yale School of Management) sipping wine on the balcony of their Paris Apartment. The dedication reads: “To Jeffrey, who makes Paris so delicious.” The Introduction, several pages later, begins, “It all started with a dress. When I was three years old, my grandparents went to Paris and brought me back a ruffly, off-the-shoulders party dress that we called my Paris dress. I felt real pretty in it. I didn’t know where Paris was, but I knew that I couldn’t wait to go there.” There’s even a little black and white photograph of little Ina in her Paris dress.
The thing about Ina Garten is it’s not all about the food. That, I think is one of the few things that distinguish her from Martha. The food is quite similar. It’s all about simplicity and trying to make something simple in the best way possible. Ina, despite having worked in the Carter White House as a budget analyst and being married to a Yale Dean, is someone we can all relate to.
The book is divided into six chapters: To Start; Lunch; Soup and Salad; Dinner; Vegetables and Dessert along with a few sections regarding French Ingredients, French Cookware and “If You’re Going” a section with photographs and addresses of some of Ina’s favorite stores and restaurants in Paris.
The food itself is similar to her other cookbooks in that it is about cooking simple fresh ingredients in an uncomplicated way, which quite frankly, was news to me (having perceived French food as quite heavy and sauce laden). There are of course, several recipes which call for several sticks of butter and numerous egg yolks, but there are just as many that involve fresh fruit, vegetables and fish.
By the time, you’ve read the first chapter “To Start” with recipes for: cheese straws, rosemary cashews, radishes with butter and salt and blini with smoked salmon and perused the photographs of Paris and Ina shopping, you’ll be ready to book a flight to the City of Lights.
So far, I have been moved (it’s the photographs, I tell you) to make “Zucchini Vichyssoise” which is a great summer dish for people who can’t possibly use up all those zucchinis from the garden and “Moroccan Couscous” which contained: butternut squash; onions, carrots, zucchini, scallions and couscous and was absolutely to die for and actually looked just like the beautiful color picture in the book. Both recipes will be making it into what my husband refers to as “the rotation.” I’m looking forward to trying the Chicken with Forty Cloves of Garlic and the Salmon with Lentils, both of which could easily qualify as “South Beach” dishes.
I highly recommend “Barefoot in Paris.” It changed my mind about French cooking which I had previously imagined to be quite unhealthy and heavy. The recipes are simple and delicious and the book itself is beautiful enough to just to sit and enjoy the pictures.
Hearty boeuf Bourguignon served in deep bowls over a garlic-rubbed slice of baguette toast; decadently rich croque monsieur, eggy and oozing with chee...More at CHEFS Catalog
Hearty boeuf Bourguignon served in deep bowls over a garlic-rubbed slice of baguette toast; decadently rich croque monsieur, eggy and oozing with chee...More at HotBookSale
Ina Garten, TV s Barefoot Contessa, who s renowned for creating simple, sophisticated dishes, brings her special touch to the foods of France, in this...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
Hearty boeuf Bourguignon served in deep bowls over a garlic-rubbed slice of baguette toast; decadently rich croque monsieur, eggy and oozing with chee...More at HotBookSale
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.