Friday, November 28, 2014

Cookbook Review: Make It Ahead by Ina Garten

Ina Garten is one of the most recognizable personalities on the Food Network. With her popular show, Barefoot Contessa, and her trademark, "How good is that?" phrase to punctuate her dishes, it's no wonder her cookbooks are highly anticipated. And anticipate I did.

In this new cookbook, Ina makes possible what every entertainer wishes to be true: to make ahead as much food as possible. In Make It Ahead, not only does Ina share dishes that are easy to make in advance, but also taste better when made ahead of time.

With simple dishes and gorgeous photographs, this is one cookbook that I will be purchasing for my own personal library.

Since I don't follow many recipes to the letter anymore, choosing instead to riff off ideas I read in magazines and cookbooks or see on TV, my assessment of whether or not a cookbook is successful is if I learned something new about food. In this case, Ina taught me that you can make whipped cream ahead if you add a little bit of creme fraiche to stabilize it. Given that little nugget of wisdom, along with mouth-watering dishes like:

  • Roast Chicken with Bread and Arugula Salad
  • Make-Ahead Turkey Gravy with Onions and Sage
  • Gingered Basmati Rice
  • Roasted Cauliflower Snowflakes
  • Salty Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies
  • Chocolate Cake with Mocha Frosting
  • Tri-Berry Crumbles

this is bound to be a cookbook I call upon again and again when it comes time to entertain.


Make It Ahead: A Barefoot Contessa Cookbook by Ina Garten
Published: October 28, 2014
Publisher: Clarkson Potter
Pages: 272
Genre: Cookery
Audience: Adults
Disclosure: Library Copy

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5 comments:

  1. She's a go-to recipe and cookbook author for me. Glad to hear this new one doesn't disappoint.

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  2. I'll look out for this one. Cheers from Carole's Chatter!

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  3. All of a sudden I seem to be seeing creme fraiche mentioned everywhere. Even my mother-in-law used it in something at Thanksgiving this year! We make our own whipped cream, so that's a good tip for us, too.

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  4. I've had good look with Ina's recipes. They're not always the simplest but they're always reliable. This has been on my wishlist and it looks like I should definitely go on and make the purchase! I love the creme fraiche/whipped cream idea!

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  5. I love making ahead food, it really helps during the holidays. Thanks for reviewing this book. I want to try it out. I hope you will share it with my Small Victories Sunday linkup open now. http://momssmallvictories.com/small-victories-sunday-linkup-26/

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