Simply Ina: Simple Food, Done Beautifully
There are certain cookbook authors we trust almost instinctively, and Ina Garten is at the top of that list.
Her newest book, Simply Ina, arrives this fall with 85 new recipes built around a wonderfully appealing idea: really good food does not have to be difficult.
After years of cooking for friends, family, television audiences, and the rest of us following along from our own kitchens, Ina has become particularly good at knowing where effort matters — and where it really doesn’t.
In Simply Ina, each recipe includes some sort of secret, shortcut, make-ahead trick, or smart bit of organization that makes getting something delicious onto the table considerably easier.
Sometimes that means embracing a good store-bought ingredient. Her Mashed Potato & Leek Soup, for example, begins with prepared mashed potatoes. Bourbon Baked Beans transform canned baked beans with smoked bacon, maple syrup, and bourbon.
Other recipes are designed with entertaining in mind. Provençal Chicken with Olives & Capers can be made ahead and reheated right in its Dutch oven, while the topping for Cherry Berry Crumble can be prepared in advance so dessert comes together easily when you need it.
And then there are those marvelous Ina dishes that prove assembling something beautifully can be every bit as impressive as spending hours cooking it. Endive & Avocado Salad and Irish Coffee Affogato both fall happily into that category.
What we especially like about the idea behind this book is that Ina isn’t simplifying food merely to save time.
She’s simplifying it so the cook can enjoy dinner, too.
Whether it’s an ordinary Tuesday night, friends arriving unexpectedly, or a dinner party where you would actually like to sit down with your guests, Simply Ina seems designed for the way most of us really want to cook.
And that makes this one we’re very much looking forward to.
Coming Soon to Clever Girl
Simply Ina arrives in October, and we’ll have copies available at Clever Girl.
We suspect this may be one of those cookbooks that spends considerably more time on the kitchen counter than it does on the bookshelf.
And for fellow Ina fans, there’s one more little something coming for the holidays: an Ina Garten Christmas ornament. We’ll have that at Clever Girl too — because apparently one Ina is not quite enough.
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