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| Cooking for Jeffrey |
Title: Cooking for Jeffrey: A Barefoot Contessa Cookbook
Author: Ina Garten
Publication Date: 10/25/16
Pages: 272
Genre: Food / Nonfiction
How I Found It: I can't remember
Date Completed: 5/20/18
Summary: A collection of Barefoot Contessa recipes, purportedly gathered because they are her husband's favorites.
What I Thought: I liked the concept of this book - that Garten was gathering all her husband's favorite recipes. As someone who does 99% of the cooking in my own household (because I like to, not because I'm the woman in the house), it's an idea with which I'm quite familiar. I love treating Kevin to his favorite meals.
While there are some great recipes in this book, I didn't really get the sense that it's true to its title. In the introduction, Garten mentions that every recipe is Jeffrey approved. Yet, references to the titular personage appear rarely after that. I guess I was hoping for more personal discussion in the recipe introductions. Doesn't make the recipes less good, but it did make the book less engaging.
Garten's cooking style is luxe and simple simultaneously. She lets the ingredients shine for themselves, but she's using great, high-end ingredients. It's not a cookbook for those on a budget. For us, the recipes I marked will be more special occasion recipes.
I ended up pulling 7-10 recipes from the book. There was a lot here that I just knew we would never eat. This is exactly the type of cookbook that I'm thrilled to be able to get from the library. I just don't need the whole thing, as I would never cook most of the dishes in it. Still, I am excited about several of the ones I did save. They were all highly seasonal, so I won't make some of them for months, but I'm still looking forward to trying them out.
While there are some great recipes in this book, I didn't really get the sense that it's true to its title. In the introduction, Garten mentions that every recipe is Jeffrey approved. Yet, references to the titular personage appear rarely after that. I guess I was hoping for more personal discussion in the recipe introductions. Doesn't make the recipes less good, but it did make the book less engaging.
Garten's cooking style is luxe and simple simultaneously. She lets the ingredients shine for themselves, but she's using great, high-end ingredients. It's not a cookbook for those on a budget. For us, the recipes I marked will be more special occasion recipes.
I ended up pulling 7-10 recipes from the book. There was a lot here that I just knew we would never eat. This is exactly the type of cookbook that I'm thrilled to be able to get from the library. I just don't need the whole thing, as I would never cook most of the dishes in it. Still, I am excited about several of the ones I did save. They were all highly seasonal, so I won't make some of them for months, but I'm still looking forward to trying them out.
Recipes I Want to Try: Fig and Goat Cheese Bruschettas, Filet Mignon with Mustard and Mushrooms, and Lamb Stew with Spring Vegetables (among others).
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Will I Re-Read: Probably not. I pulled a few recipes but not
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