23922 replies to this topic

[OHNicki]

I'm glad I found this topic! I love her shows. Thanks for clearing up the Jeffery mystery, I thought he was a "special friend". From his bio, he is a serious heavy hitter in the B world.

Have you noticed that everything is gorgeous in Ina's world? Compliment yourself much Ina? She is always telling her guests to try this delicious thing or that gorgeous thing.

Her Christmas special was interesting, but "easy" entertaining in Ina's world is expensive. Cavier, prociutto and melon, smoked salmon and standing rib roast are not cheap. On the other hand, I made her butternut squash that was done in the oven and carmelized and it was simple and a huge hit.

I rag on her, but I love her recipes and have used some of them. I really want to get some of her cookbooks.

Edited by OHNicki, Jan 1, 2004 @ 8:48 AM.

[KFC]

I always assumed that her male friends, such as Stephen were gay.

I know, I know, one shouldn't assume, but it always struck me as a given that the brunt of Ina's guy pals were gay.

[jellywager]

She actually had a show where she did not use butter. She was cooking some healthy dishes....then she went shopping. She made a comment about having a rich husband. (jealous!).
I noticed the moaning was down to a minimum...maybe it was due to the lack of butter.
Butter=excitment.

Edited by jellywager, Jan 3, 2004 @ 9:34 PM.

[Sori]

I'm with DeirtyGirl:

I haven't watched the show enough to notice the shaky camera or nervous laugh or sham marriage

or the overuse of butter or the moaning, but this is because I always fall asleep when her show comes on. Her voice sounds very similar to Martha's, and Martha always puts me out immediately. It sounds like her food's not bad. I'll have to try the mute button.

[keckler]

Martha's voice doesn't grate on me -- her expensive presentations do.

Ina's giggles grates on me and so do her expensive (if you don't have a four-season jungle in your backyard) presentations.

However, I do like her cooking. Sans butter in hamburger patties.

[Nocona]

I love Ina, dont get me wrong...but she was being delusional today. Is it DietWeek on FN? cause it seems like everyones doin lowfat, or lowcarb.

At the end of her show she took a huge bite from a huge chunk of AngelFood cake and said, "Its good for you, trust me." Now that recipe might not be necessarily terrible for you, but its filled with sugar and white flour...I doubt there's many vitamins. I had to laugh.

but her tomato basil soup look awesome...

I thought it was weird that on a cooking show they had her and her friend go shopping in the Hamptons, for CLOTHES, not food.

[biakbiak]

The Food Network is having a recover from the holiday's week of lowfat and lowcarb diets.

And as cakes go Angel Food is fairly good for you because its low in fat and calories. No one expects to get a lot of vitamins from cake and it doesn't really have more sugar or flour than another more fat filled cake.

Edited by biakbiak, Jan 5, 2004 @ 9:20 PM.

[Nocona]

Yeah, I guess compared to her other food it would be considered healthy.

On another note, I love how she flips her collars like Dracula. she's cute.

[KateQD]

and sour cream

She used low fat sour cream, but for the life of me, I cant remember what it was in. It was the recipe after the tuna. Speaking of tuna, is that the way it is served usually? Not cooked through? RR does this too and to me it seems disgusting like eating raw meat.

The odd part of the show was her walk, imo. It seemed like she just got out of a car and started walking next to that guy, and she didnt seem to be able to keep up with him, which cracked me up. And then when she got back, I was kind of concerned that she was going to take us along on her "quick shower".

[CydW]

I love barely seared tuna and can't stand it when it's fully cooked (except in garden-variety tuna salad). To me it tastes like two completely different substances.

[biakbiak]

Totally agree CydW, I have never had it served in a restaurant where it wasn't cooked rare or medium rare. If you are making it at home make sure the tuna is fresh and sushi grade.

[KateQD]

Does it get warm in the middle or is it cold? Is it mushy or firm?

[biakbiak]

It is firm and the inside is usually lukewarm, when I make it at home I always let it sit out for 10 or 20 minutes to make sure that its not too cold, then you use a super hot pan and 1-2 minutes on each side and slice it up.

Of course now I am going to have to stop at the store on the way home and get some tuna.

[TheRealJanBrady]

It's firm and cool in the middle usually. It's not bloody like rare meat or anything. To me, it's delicious--then again, my favorite sushi roll is spicy tuna, which is just raw tuna.

biakbiak, we posted at the same time! I've never prepared it myself, but you make it sound so easy. Just sear on each side and eat, right?

Edited by TheRealJanBrady, Jan 6, 2004 @ 3:15 PM.

[biakbiak]

TheRealJanBrady - Yep, that is how easy it is. When I make it at home I usually include a mango salsa (different then the one Ina did, just mango, lime, red onion and a pepper of your choice chopped up) or use it to top a salad nicoise.

Edited by biakbiak, Jan 6, 2004 @ 3:26 PM.

[xii]

I just want to point out the evilness of discussing tuna w/mango salsa or salad niçoise to those of us who are stuck at work for a few more hours.

[Maybelline]

I think it's nice to see someone on t.v. who enjoys good food and isn't neurotic about counting fat grams.

Olive oil is good for you! Why do you think people from Mediterranean countries have lower rates of heart disease? It's the olive oil! And the lack of fear when it comes to food. If Americans would just watch their portion sizes, use quality ingredients, and stop eating so much junk and fast food, then we could eat all the olive oil (and butter, and cheese, and wine) that we want and still be healthy.

And I think a homemade cake or pie is better for your body, mind, and soul than a fast-food hamburger. This is one of the reasons I like Ina so much.

[DeepRed]

And I think a homemade cake or pie is better for your body, mind, and soul than a fast-food hamburger.

Awhile ago a friend of mine started a serious diet to lose 50 lbs., so he got some brochures with nutritional info from McDonald's. The amount of salt and sugar in their products would shock you. Even a homemade burger is so much better nutritionally than a fast-food one.

Topic: Did anyone see the ep. last week where Ina helped a (more or less non-cooking) friend get ready for a dinner party? She gave him one of her frozen lemon cakes and showed him how to make a few other dishes, like a roasted eggplant dip and roasted root veg. to serve with a baked ham. Fine so far, but then there was some "out & about" footage, which showed the guy's car pulling into the parking lot of a store, the guy getting out of the car and walking into the store, picking up the ham Ina had ordered for him from the guy at the deli counter, then wandering around buying olives and feta cheese. Useless! And boring. Really, these local-color segments are getting increasingly awful. Stick to your kitchen, Ina.

[Annakie]

At least the guy was easy on the eyes though. He had a nice smile.

I swear, it wasn't until I started reading this forum that I realized that Ina Garten was the woman's name. I assumed it was some foreigney food term that I'd never heard before (like "Salud" maybe) or perhaps a very bad pun. When I realized the truth I felt very silly.

I've never noticed Ina's nervous giggle, but I have noticed that she wheezes a little when she breathes. It's probably not her fault or anything but it really grates on my ears.

[keckler]

I really noticed Ina's weird laugh when she had her editor to dinner. It was also the first episode I ever saw.

[jellywager]

I used to think the show was called Barefoot Contessa, In A Garden. It took me a few episodes to realize her name was not Contessa. *Sigh*

[SimoneX]

Heh, same here Annakie and jellywager. At first the only times I glanced at the TV and saw the words 'Ina Garten', she was wandering around outside looking for herbs or something. I wondered a) in what language is garden spelled garten, b) why are they being so pretentious anyway, what's wrong with english, and c) why only the garden? why not 'Ina Kitchen' when she's cooking?

So I felt a little foolish when I came to this forum and discovered the truth. It's good to know I'm not the only one.

[Nocona]

I have a bit of a question: Why is she called "Barefoot Contessa" ?

I've never seen her barefoot, and I wouldnt think it would be very smart to market a Cooking icon with the word "foot" in there.