As you know, in order to save money I've been cooking at home a lot more. Last Fall, I could barely boil water, but through food blogs, cookbooks and the Food Network, I've been building some skills in the kitchen. My favorite FREE teacher these days is Barefoot Contessa's Ina Garten. Well, sort of free. I have cable and tivo, which allows me to pause and rewind in order to write down the recipe and study a technique.Ina has taught me how to roast a chicken, crack an egg properly, de-bone a chicken, the importance of salt! and butter! Ina loooves butter. The only thing she loves more than butter is her Jeffrey. Does anyone else get a little uncomfortable while watching them canoodle?
ALso, does anyone know her theme song? I know this sounds extremely geeky, but I want to download it to my new "Cooking mix" that I listen to in the kitchen! Does anyone else do that "I'm cooking in a kitchen in Provence or Tuscany" thing in their head while cooking? :)
9 comments:
At the end of one Barefoot Contessa, she and Jeffrey got in a tent and she said, "If the tent's a rockin', don't come a knockin'." and zipped up the tent.
Please tell me this is your sarcasm..
We love Ina (she's a good cook) and we love Jeffrey. The tent comment is true; nice to see true love and romance are lifelong.
What good thing have you made lately?
Also check out Jacques Pepin - he is great on technique and simple great food.
I hope this is ok to do but if you go to here:
http://www.televisiontunes.com/Barefoot_Contessa.html
you can download the song to the barefoot contessa or at least a bit of it.
LOVE her too.......
I like Jacques, too, especially for knife skills.
I guess it's because I am a teacher, but I sometimes pretend I have a cooking show. I'd sure be better than Sandra Lee or some of those other Food Network hosts...:)
Jersey Cook, the technique I learned this week is putting your bacon in the oven on a cooling rack on a cookie sheet. Just brilliant! No grease splatter to clean up and no soaking in grease, which isn't good for cholesterol.
Anonymous, I was ambivalent about Sandra Lee until I just learned about her life story. She grew up poor and her mom could barely put food on the table. I admire how far she's come and think she is putting her upbringing to good use with helping people figure out how to make a nice meal on a tight budget.
Do you watch the Neeley's?? Hysterical! I don't write down any of their recipes, but man, i love watching them! "Y'all."
Sandra Lee does have a good story, and she's certainly been successful getting people to cook in their own kitchens. I just wish she didn't focus so much on packaged stuff that is often high in fat, sodium and HFCS. But, it might be that some folks who start with Sandra graduate to Jacques eventually....
Anonymous (though I think I know who you are ;)), I totally agree on the contents. A string of documentaries/books/TV shows, have got me seriously thinking about and changing how I eat. Food Inc., The Cove...the Oprah episode about Food Inc. and Alicia Silverstone's new book about eating....and then Jaime Oliver's new show on ABC about a food revolution...I RECOMMEND FOOD INC...it is an illustrated version of the book Fast Food Nation. The bummer is that eating well is not wallet friendly. As I know from experience, when you are on a very lean budget, you can't even afford to even look in the organic section. That was the most powerful part of Food Inc...the family of four going through the grocery store and seeing the only things they could afford were the processed foods.
I love watching her joyfully feed her man!! I love watching joyfully in love people canoodling too! Is it true that women who can cook have the best marriages or that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach?
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