Unlike many food personalities with television shows, Barefoot Contessa Ina Garten is not a professionally trained chef. She thinks the way home cooks think; cooks the way they do. As such, her fans find her approachable and her recipes sterling examples of honest fare with simplicity at its heart.
Her new cookbook, "Barefoot Contessa: How Easy Is That?" (Clarkson Potter, $35), is her seventh and a perfect example of the easy and foolproof recipes that have endeared her to so many.
"How Easy Is That?" is Garten's mantra for making perfect meals without complicated techniques, special equipment or trips to gourmet food shops. Everything's in your supermarket and in your kitchen already. We talked to the Food Network star about her new book.
Q The one thing I hear most about you is that your recipes work. What does that say to you?
A It's really, really important to me. From the time I started writing cookbooks, I wanted every single recipe to work. I work on them over and over again until I get it right. Sometimes it's five times, sometimes it's 25 times. I hand it over to my assistant, and I watch her make it because everything that's obvious to me isn't necessarily obvious to someone else. It helps me see how someone with just a printed page can make a recipe. The next thing I do is road-test the recipe on my friends so I'll know exactly what people want to eat.
Q You make everything look so easy. But really, isn't that what you're going for: ease in the kitchen?
A The recipes I use over and over again are the easiest ones. I thought I would challenge myself and do an entire cookbook of things that could be even easier. Like making risotto in the oven. Who has time to stand there stirring? I don't have time, and I don't even have kids, a dog or a commute to work.
Q What do you think home cooks look for in recipes and serving suggestions?
