Falling for Ina Garten, all over again

Chicago Tribune (MCT) - When she walked into the Lobby restaurant at the Peninsula Hotel recently, Ina Garten made practically every head in the room turn _ heads belonging mostly to men in business suits finishing their power breakfasts.

She looked perfectly dazzling, with her glossy dark hair, pale skin and teenager's freckles.

"Fifty-one percent of my audience is men," Garten explained while in Chicago to promote her new cookbook, "Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics" (Clarkson Potter, $40).

Still, we were surprised _ or annoyed _ to realize we had all the men in the world to compete with. We had assumed her fans were just like us: women who wish they were just like Ina Garten. Or who wish they actually were Ina Garten.

"Be careful what you wish for," said our idol, laughing. "Actually, I'm kidding; I love my life. When I wake up in the morning, the things I want to do are the things I should be doing that day. It's incredible."

Of course it is.

Sitting in the glow of sunlight from the 20-foot windows, we instead pretended to be Garten's very best friend, just two gals grabbing some oatmeal with bananas (we both ordered the same thing!) and chatting about the much more successful friend's career and best-selling new cookbook.

She made it sound like becoming America's lifestyle and cooking doyenne was something anyone could do.

"The dirty secret is I'm not that good a cook," Garten said, conspiratorially, which we totally fell for. "I have more experience than most people, and I love to cook, but I'm a very nervous cook; I hold my breath the whole time."

We wanted to point out that it's not just her recipes we love, but her on-camera and in-cookbook warmth, and the fact that she seems to know the right way to do everything. And not in a strict, stuffy way or in a retro fifties-housewife way either: She has always seemed to be the most modern version of the perfect hostess.

"I am a really great taster, though," she continued. "And I don't throw stuff together. I do stuff very deliberately. I work on a recipe over and over again. Until I get that ping in my head that tells me I've got the flavor and the texture that I'm looking for."

Deliberate ease, of course, is another key to the Ina Garten empire, which started with her very first book, "The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook," written more than 10 years ago after she sold her gourmet food shop in the Hamptons _ which she bought in her twenties, while working as an analyst in the White House Office of Budget and Management.

"I wanted a cookbook that you open and say, 'Oh, my god, that looks so delicious,'" she said of that first book. "And then you look at the recipe and say: 'I could actually do that.'"

And the same is true of this latest book, which includes the kind of simple but sumptuous dishes that she has become known for and that end up in your favorite-recipe file: chicken bouillabaisse with a whole head of garlic served with a garlicky rouille; old-fashioned gingerbread made with crystallized ginger and sour cream; Niman Ranch burgers, with caramelized onions and mayo.

"I demand an enormous amount of flavor from the recipes in this book. I want it bright, I want layers of flavors. If you close your eyes and take a bite, I want you to know it's chocolate, for example," she said.

Of course, the real secret may be that Garten's persona seems genuinely welcoming. Fixing food at home for friends is her stock in trade rather than fixating on foodie trends. When asked if she had ever eaten at Alinea, she said she had never heard of the place, but after we gave her the lowdown on Alinea's young chef Grant Achatz, the groundbreakingly innovative, four-star, James Beard Award winner, she pointed out that if he "sticks to his style, he'll continue to be appealing. People like someone grounded in personal style."

And Garten's style has always been very personal.

"I get very few of my ideas from restaurants," she said. To her, the perfect restaurant is the one that has "the best roast chicken, the best mashed turnips. ... You walk in and it's like someone has wrapped their arms around you and said, 'Come and I'll take care of you. I love that kind of warmth (in a restaurant), but it's rare,'" she said. (And then she graciously mentioned Chicago chef Rick Bayless as one of those rarities).

Garten's ethos seems especially appealing here, in an age of "Iron Chef" and "Hell's Kitchen," in which preparing a meal involves crushing other cooks or humiliation through food.

When she gives dinner parties at home she often serves guests in the kitchen because a formal dining room seems too chilly, which is why the beautiful "barn" she had built next to her East Hampton home last year (where she works and has parties, and which was recently featured in "House Beautiful") is mostly sun-drenched kitchen on the inside.

It all sounded dreamy; she described the walled kitchen garden and the modern fire-pit where she makes s'mores using her luscious French chocolate bark recipe, and we wondered once again _ but out loud this time _ what it must be like to be one of Garten's millions of friends.

"I don't really have a million friends," she said. "I really don't. I have about 12 friends that I cook for all the time."

When we wondered (silently) what it would be like if Garten agreed to come to dinner in our own kitchen, it was as if she'd been able to hear our thoughts.

"People make a big deal about me coming over. And I say, 'Hamburgers and baked beans would be fine.' ... And who cares what you're eating? You're with your friends."

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MUSTARD ROASTED FISH

Prep: 10 minutes

Cook: 10-15 minutes

Makes: 4 servings

Adapted from "From Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics," by Ina Garten.

4 fish fillets, such as red snapper, grouper, or mahi mahi

1 ˝ teaspoons kosher salt

Freshly ground pepper

1 container (7 ounces) creme fraiche

3 tablespoons each: Dijon mustard, whole-grain mustard

2 tablespoons minced shallots

2 teaspoons drained capers

1. Heat oven to 425 degrees. Place the fish fillets skin side down on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle with ˝ teaspoon of the salt and pepper to taste.

2. Combine creme fraiche, the mustards, shallots, capers, the remaining 1 teaspoon of the salt and pepper to taste in small bowl. Spoon sauce over fish, completely covering each fillet. Bake until fish flakes easily at the thickest part, 10-15 minutes, depending on thickness of fish. Do not overcook. Serve with pan sauce spooned over the top.

Nutrition information

Per serving: 332 calories, 37 percent of calories from fat, 13 g fat, 7 g saturated fat, 103 mg cholesterol, 4 g carbohydrates, 47 g protein, 1,123 mg sodium, 0 g fiber

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TOMATO AND BREAD SOUP

(Pappa al pomodoro)

Prep: 35 minutes

Cook: 1 hour

Makes: 8 servings

This recipe is adapted from Ina Garten's "Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics." Ciabatta is a crusty Italian bread with soft interior; you may substitute with other rustic bread. Pancetta is an Italian bacon; substitute with regular bacon if you cannot find it.

˝ cup olive oil

1 large unpeeled carrot, diced

1 large yellow onion, chopped

1 fennel bulb, trimmed, cored, medium diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

3 cups diced ciabatta bread, crusts removed

2 cans (28 ounces each) Italian plum tomatoes

4 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade, or 1 carton (32 ounces)

˝ cup dry red wine

1 cup chopped fresh basil leaves

1 tablespoon coarse salt

1 ˝ teaspoons freshly ground pepper

˝ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Toppings:

3 cups (1-inch) diced ciabatta bread

2 ounces thickly sliced pancetta, chopped

25 to 30 whole fresh basil leaves

3 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for serving

Ľ teaspoon salt

Freshly ground pepper

1. Heat the oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Add the carrot, onion, fennel and garlic; cook over medium-low heat until tender, 10 minutes. Add the ciabatta cubes; cook 5 minutes. Place the tomatoes in the bowl of a food processor; process until coarsely chopped. Add the tomatoes to the pan along with the chicken stock, red wine, basil, salt and pepper. Heat soup to a boil; lower heat. Simmer, partially covered, 45 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, heat oven to 375 degrees. For topping, place ciabatta, pancetta and basil on a sheet pan in a single layer. Drizzle with 3 tablespoons olive oil; sprinkle with the salt and pepper to taste. Toss well. Cook, stirring occasionally, until all ingredients are crisp (including basil leaves), 15 minutes. Whisk soup until bread is broken up. Stir in Parmesan; taste for salt and pepper. Ladle into bowls; sprinkle with bread mixture. Drizzle with additional olive oil if desired.

Nutrition information

Per serving: 302 calories, 51 percent of calories from fat, 17 g fat, 3 g saturated fat, 10 mg cholesterol, 28 g carbohydrates, 9 g protein, 1,576 mg sodium, 5 g fiber

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© 2008, Chicago Tribune.