The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook
I don’t own very many cookbooks. This is mostly because you can find just about everything you could want online. Even recipes that I see made on the Food Network get posted on their site, so I’ve never had a big desire to rush out and purchase some celebrity chef’s cookbook.
I also hesitate to buy lots of cookbooks because it’s a big commitment, one that goes beyond just the initial $40 you spend on the book itself. It’s an awful, heartbreaking experience to put time, effort, and care into a recipe and then have it not turn out. Sometimes it’s the cook’s fault, but I know that everyone has had the experience where they know it was not their fault; the recipe itself was flawed. Even recipes from professional chefs get it wrong (and some chefs seem to do it more often than others!)
When you buy a cookbook, you want to trust the chef. You want to know that their “45 minutes cooking time” really means about 45 minutes. When they walk you through a more complicated technique, you don’t want to feel lost or feel like they’re skipping a pivotal step. Basically, you want to be pretty confidant that whatever you decide to make from their cookbook’s glossy pages is going to be good.
With all that in mind, I must say that last week I struck cookbook gold. So far, I’ve tried not to gush about it too much, but lately I’ve really been in love with Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa). She is so chic and funny in a cute, quirky way. The food she prepares almost always looks incredible and the recipes I’ve tried of hers (like Beatty’s Chocolate Cake) have turned out really well. Early last week, my mom bought my sister and I The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook. Since then, we’ve made a fresh salmon salad, a white cheddar and corn chowder, and cranberry hazelnut muffins. All of the recipes have been delicious, I’m so happy we got this cookbook. Definitely recommended!
A question for aspiring bakers and chefs: What cookbooks do you love? I would be so interested to know who you trust! Any recommendations?
Ina is one of my favorites. All of her recipes are delicious. We love Beatty’s Chocolate Cake too! I also really like Giada’s cookbooks and of course Julia Child.
I have the Barefoot Contessa Parties! book for entertaining large crowds and I absolutely adore that book. For baking, I can’t live without my baking bible, Dorie Greenspan’s “Baking.” I also love my Sunset Easy Basics book for teaching me basic skills like how to braise meat, how to get a souffle to rise, all the basics that most cooking books don’t even get into. Too bad that one is not in print any more.
Don’t you just love Ina? She is famous for testing, retesting and testing again – not to mention the fact that she made so many of her recipes hundreds of times while running The Barefoot Contessa food shop. I love the elegance of her food, and her awesome tips on arranging platters, garnishing and setting a table. Ina rocks!
This is one book I don’t have. Now I’ll have to go out and get it. I’m a fiend for cookbooks. I think part of the problem with a lot of chef written books is that they don’t cook in a normal kitchen. Restaurant kitchens are a lot faster and hotter than home stoves and ovens. I trust Cook’s Illustrated books. They are almost always right on the money. They don’t have the prettiest pictures. Just good recipes and explanations of why they work. My husband loves their baking book, too.
I love the Barefoot Contessa Cookbook! It’s extremely well-written and I have yet to make a recipe from it that doesn’t turn out well.
Two other favorites are Spices of Life by Nina Simonds and Simple to Spectacular by Jean Georges Vongerichten and Mark Bitman. Both are excellent.
barefoot contessa is also great because of the lovely photos! i really like to see what i would make before i decide to make it. is that weird?
Yay! It’s great to see that everyone has come to a consensus about Ina being fabulous! I don’t know if i could have dealt with bad Ina comments!
Thanks for the suggestions on Barefoot Contessa’s other cookbooks and the cookbooks that you like. I honestly will check those out; it’s great to know that they’ve been pre-tested for me! 
Donna, I’m going to Portland this weekend and I know the have a lot of specialty bookstores for books that are out of print, etc. I’ll keep my eye open for that book. Just maybe they’ll have it!
and Margie, very insightful about why recipes don’t seem to work sometimes! I really hadn’t thought of that
Thank you everyone for reading!!!
How do we all feel about Paula Deen?
My mother-in-law gave me the Gourmet cookbook where they compile their best recipes over the decades that they have published the magazine.
I was completely intimidated by how huge the book is, but everything that I have tried making out of it has turned out great! I actually love how comprehensive it is – pretty much any classic dish that you want to make is in there and the directions are awesome. I highly recommend.
I love Ina! she is one of my favs. as far as books go, I am like michelle, i am an internet girl… i have found that giada’s recipies tend to come out pretty well. and i hate to admit this, but rachael ray’s recipies are pretty reliable. now, i challange anyone to get it done in 30 min, and i cant even get through an entire episode without wanting to slap her, but the recipies are yummy, relatively fast and easy. for baking, i dont steer far from marth’s baking handbook.
[...] it with little coffee packages as gifts for my coworkers. Unfortunately, my go-to cooking mentor (Ina Garten) doesn’t have a biscotti [...]
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