Sometimes I wish that I could grow up to be the Barefoot Contessa. No, really. She has a gorgeous house, as far as I can tell, she spends her life having people over for brunch, lunch, or dinner, grows all of her own herbs, buys the best possible ingredients, and everything she makes is somehow beautiful and elegant. So naturally, I love her cookbooks.

I got a new one for Christmas, Barefoot Contessa At Home. Just like Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics, (see my review here) this book is full of fabulous recipes and gorgeous glossy photographs. I find myself wanting to try something new every time I turn the page.

After an extensive introduction, the book is divided into sections for Soup & Sandwiches, Salads, Dinner, Veggies, Desserts, Breakfast, and followed other other resources about visiting the Hamptons and planning out party menus. Here’s a list of the recipes in each section:

1. Soup & Sandwich: California BLT’s, Summer Borscht, Caesar Club Sandwich, Mexican Chicken Soup, Chicken Salad Sandwiches, Ribollita, Smoked Salmon & Egg Salad Tartines, Fresh Pea Soup, Garlic Croutons, Roasted Pepper & Goat Cheese Sandwiches, Cream of Wild Mushroom Soup, Tomato Mozzarella & Pesto Panini, Shrimp Bisque, and Honey White Bread.
2. Salads: Heirloom Tomatoes with Blue Cheese Dressing, Chicken Salad Veronique, Grilled Tuna Salad, Bibb Salad with Basil Green Goddess Dressing, Jon Snow’s Fish Salad, Roasted Shrimp & Orzo, Pesto Pea Salad, Warm Duck Salad, Tomato Feta Salad, Blue Cheese Coleslaw (recipe below), Guacamole Salad, and Old-Fashioned Potato Salad.
3. Dinner: Blue Cheese Burgers, Cornish Hens with Cornbread Stuffing; Chicken Piccata; Lamb Kebabs with Couscous; Roast Capon; Loin of Pork with Fennel, Stuffed Cabbage, Rib-Eye Steaks with Cornmeal-Fried Onion Rings, Portobello Mushroom Lasagna, Chicken with Goat Cheese & Basil, Seafood Gratin, Eli’s Asian Salmon, Lmon Fusilli with Arugula, Summer Garden Pasta, Seared Tuna with Mango Chutney, Easy Lobster Paella.
4. Vegetables: Garlic & Herb Tomatoes, Orange-Honey Glazed Carrots, Broccolini & Balsamic Vinaigrette, Zucchini Pancakes, Herbed Basmati Rice, Green Green Spring Vegetables, Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes, Stewed Lentils & Tomatoes, Parmesan-Roasted Cauliflower, Creamy Rosemary Polenta, Broccoli Rabe with Garlic, Maple Baked Beans, Mustard-Roasted Potatoes, Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread, Herb Roasted Onions
5. Desserts: Frozen Berries with Hot White Chocolate, Beatty’s Chocolate Cake, Lemon Yogurt Cake, Peanut Butter & Jelly Bars, Mixed Berry Pavlova, Coconut Cake, Pumpkin Mousse Parfait, Chocolate Sorbet, Black & White Angel Food Cake, Chocolate Cupcakes & Peanut Butter Icing, Panna Cotta with Balsamic Strawberries, Ultimate Ginger Cookie, Fruitcake Cookies, Peach  & Blueberry Crumbles, Pear Apple & Cranberry Crisp, Summer Fruit Crostata, Caramel Pecan Sundaes.
6. Tri-Berry Muffins, Cranberry Orange Scones, Chunky Banana Bran Muffins, Easy Cheese Danish, Omelet for Two, Scrambled Eggs & Salmon, Maple-Roasted Bacon, Breakfast Fruit Crunch, Sunday Morning Oatmeal, Blueberry Crumb Cake, Anna’s Orange Marmalade, Irish Soda Bread, Fresh Peach Bellinis, Spicy Bloody Marys.

Doesn’t that sound fantastic? All of it, I mean? If I was going to have my own Julie & Julia challenge, I think I’d work my way through Ina Garten’s recipes. At the very least, there’d be more lobster in my life.

Finally, as a sneak peak, here’s my adaptation of Ina’s Blue Cheese Coleslaw.

Blue Cheese Coleslaw
Adapted from Barefoot Contessa At Home

• 2 cups shredded cole slaw mix
• 2 cups mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon celery salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup crumbled blue cheese
• 1 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

In a medium bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, two mustards, vinegar, celery salt, kosher salt, and pepper. Place the shredded cole slaw mix in a large bowl. Pour enough of the mayonnaise dressing over the vegetables to moisten, and toss well. Add the cheese and parsley and toss together. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for several hours to allow the flavors to meld.

Very, very tasty. If you’re a fan of blue cheese dressing, you should give this one a try.

I found this Au Gratin Potatoes recipe on the main Weight Watchers website. They post free recipes from time to time, and this was one of them. The notes on the recipe promise that these cheesy potatoes are spouse and kid-friendly, and I can see that. They didn’t taste light at all. The potatoes were creamy and cheesy–reminded me a lot of our family’s standard scalloped potatoes recipe, but with added cheese flavor. I didn’t mind the onion, but if you don’t like onions, you could certainly skip it, and it would turn out just fine.

Au Gratin Potatoes
Adapted from weightwatchers.com

• nonstick cooking spray
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 medium onion, very thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 2 cups fat-free milk
• 2 pounds yukon gold potatoes, thinly sliced
• 1 cup 2% cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 375°F. Coat a 2-quart covered baking dish with cooking spray.

Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion begins to brown, about 5 minutes. Stir in flour; add milk slowly, stirring. Add potatoes and stir to mix. Bring to a boil. Stir in 3/4 cup of cheese, salt and pepper.

Pour mixture into prepared baking dish and level out surface. Bake for 1 hour, uncovered. Cover and bake until potatoes are fork-tender, about 20 minutes more.

Change oven temperature to broil. Sprinkle remaining cheese over potatoes. Broil 6 inches from the heating element until the cheese is golden brown, about 1 to 2 minutes. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before slicing into 8 pieces. Works out to three points a serving, according to Weight Watchers.

Note: I’m sure we’ll make these again. The potatoes were creamy, and cheesy, and definitely worth making. The only drawback is the lengthy cooking time–I may experiment with parboiling or starting the potatoes in the microwave a little bit to cut down on the time in the oven next time. Almost an hour and a half in the oven is too long to make these practical for a weeknight, unfortunately.

This recipe came from weightwatchers.com, while I was searching for a way to use up some Minnesotan wild rice. In addition to maple syrup and maple sugar, sometimes our roommate brings wild rice back from the north woods. And we approve.

Big surprise here: I don’t like asparagus. But David does, and Leah does sometimes, and I can pick around it easily enough, so I made them this dish anyway.

It was good, and came together easily, but it wasn’t anything spectacular. I was a little disappointed that the barley pretty much overpowered the wild rice. On the other hand, I had never eaten barley as a side dish like rice, and it was pretty tasty. Like rice, but nuttier. I enjoyed it. The other thing this recipe had going for it? A half a cup is only one Point. That’s a pretty good deal for a side-dish.

Wild Rice & Barley Pilaf

• 5 cups vegetable broth
• 3/4 cup uncooked wild rice
• 1 cup uncooked barley, pearl-variety (not quick cooking)
• 1 medium shallot, diced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon each dried thyme & sage
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 10 ounces of asparagus spears (thin) cut into 2-inch pieces

1. Bring the broth and rice to a simmer in a large saucepan; cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 20 minutes.

2. Stir in the barley, shallot, salt, thyme, sage and pepper. Cover and continue simmering over low heat for 25 minutes.

3. Stir in the asparagus, cover, reduce the heat even further and simmer slowly for 5 minutes. Set aside off the heat, covered, for 10 minutes before fluffing with a fork. Yields about 1/2 cup per serving.

Note: Next time, I’d halve this recipe for sure. It made a TON, at least 12 servings.

Oh look, another Alton Brown recipe.

This one is so simple, it hardly deserves a recipe. Except that this really is “The” Baked Potato recipe. It shouldn’t have been anything special, but the texture inside the potatoes was perfect, and they had a great crunchy skin that made you want to eat every bite–like a restaurant potato. If you’re looking for a basic baked potato recipe, I don’t think you’ll ever need a different one.

Alton Brown’s Baked Potatoes

Ingredients

• 1 large russet potato (If it looks like Mr. Potato Head, you’ve got the right one.)
• Olive oil, to coat
• Kosher salt

Directions

Heat oven to 350 degrees and position racks in top and bottom thirds. Wash potato (or potatoes) thoroughly with a stiff brush and cold running water. Dry, then using a standard fork poke 8 to 12 deep holes all over the spud so that moisture can escape during cooking. Place in a bowl and coat lightly with oil. Sprinkle with kosher salt and place potato directly on rack in middle of oven. Place a baking sheet on the lower rack to catch any drippings.

Bake 1 hour or until skin feels crisp but flesh beneath feels soft. Serve by creating a dotted line from end to end with your fork, then crack the spud open by squeezing the ends towards one another. It will pop right open. But watch out, there will be some steam.

If you’re cooking more than 4 potatoes, you’ll need to extend the cooking time by up to 15 minutes.

Note: Next time, I think I’d use one of my more special salts–the Maldon crunchy sea salt, or the Himilayan Pink Sea Salt that I have. I think this is one of those things where you’d really have a chance to taste the difference in the salt. Sorry about the low quality picture, but you know what a baked potato looks like anyway. This one doesn’t look like anything special, it’s just an easy, serviceable method with solid results. My one disappointment is that this recipe didn’t show up in the new Good Eats: The Early Years cookbook, despite being featured in the second episode. Alton makes baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, and a potato gratin, and only the mashed potatoes (plus a potato pancake recipe that wasn’t on the episode) made it into the book. I thought they were all supposed to be there, so I’m going to have to do a bit more investigating.

I spotted a picture of these potatoes on Photograzing the other day, which reminded me of when I’d read about them on Orangette’s blog a few months back. They couldn’t be easier to make, and you probably have everything you need on hand. Basically, you slice a potato into thin accordion slices, tuck garlic in between the slices, and sprinkle with extra virgin olive oil, freshly ground black pepper, and crunchy sea salt (regular salt would work, too). I also topped each potato with just a tiny bit of butter. The potatoes were simple, but tasty. They got crunchy at the edges, like shoestring french fries, or even potato chips, while the center of the potatoes stayed soft and creamy. I used yukon gold potatoes, but I think any starchy (not waxy) potatoes would work. You end up with some kind of cross between potato skins and mashed potatoes. Very tasty!

Hasselback Potatoes

• 6 Medium Size Potatoes
• 2 Cloves Garlic, minced
  
• 1 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 Tbsp Butter
• Maldon Sea Salt Flakes
  
• Freshly Ground Black Pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 425. Put the potato on a cutting board and trim a strip off of one long side of the potato, to create a stable base for slicing. Place the potato on the board flat side down. Start from one end of the potato, and carefully slice about 3/4 of the way through, at about 1/4 inch intervals.

Arrange the potatoes on a cookie sheet and insert the garlic in between the slits. Scatter some butter on top of each potato, then drizzle the olive oil and sprinkle some sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Bake the potatoes for about 40 minutes or until the potatoes turn crispy and the flesh is soft and tender.

Here’s another one of our 4th of July treats: Sweet and Crunchy Corn Fritters. If you’ve never had a corn fritter, they are hard to describe. It’s like a doughnut but less sweet. Or a hush puppy, but more sweet. Kind of like a doughnut with a sweet cornbread flavor. These had fresh corn on the cob inside, and were seasoned with just a little bit of cayenne pepper for a mild kick. They were super easy, and as long as we were frying things anyway, totally worth while.

Sugar-Dusted Corn Friters
Adapted from The Pioneer Woman

• 4 generous cups corn kernels: fresh, frozen, or canned
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk, more to thin if necessary
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• Canola or peanut oil, for frying
• Sifted powdered sugar to finish

1. Mix flour, sugar, and baking powder in a medium mixing bowl. Add eggs, milk, salt, and cayenne pepper. Stir together to make a batter.

2. Add corn to batter. Fold together to combine.

3. Heat oil to 365 degrees. When oil is heated, drop spoonfuls of batter and cook, flipping to the other side, until golden brown. The fritters will sink and then float to the top as they finish cooking.

4. Drain on a towel-lined plate. Serve  sprinkled with sifted powdered sugar.

Note: This made a huge batch of fritters. I only cooked about a fourth of it, and it was enough for the 5 of us eating dinner. I’ll probably halve it next time I make this. But there will be a next time.

For our Fourth of July party, I made these garlic fries with a spicy dipping sauce to go with our main dish of BBQ Ribs. I actually got this recipe from a couple different places. I got the idea for the one-step french fries from The Hungry Mouse, and then doctored them up with fresh garlic and parsley, inspired by Seven Spoons.

They were delicious.

Yukon Gold Garlic Fries with Spicy Horseradish Dipping Sauce

To make the fries:

• 2-3 pounds yukon gold potatoes, scrubbed, and cut into desired frying shape
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1/4 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
• 1/2 cup fresh flat leaf parsley
• Kosher salt to taste
• vegetable, canola, or peanut oil for frying

1. In a small bowl of your food processor (I used the chopper function on my immersion blender) combine the garlic, parsley, and red pepper flakes.

2. Place the sliced potatoes in a large heavy bottom pan (or deep fryer). Pour in (cold) oil of your choice (I used a mixture of canola oil and vegetable oil), so that the potatoes are covered by at least an inch. Then turn on the heat, to medium high.

3. After about 10 to 15 minutes, the oil will begin to bubble around the fries, and the fries will float to the top. Continue to cook, stirring frequently. The fries will continue to brown steadily, so watch them carefully. When they are browned and crisp to your liking, remove them to a plate lined with paper towels.

4. Sprinkle the fries with kosher salt and the garlic/parsley mixture, while they are fresh and hot.

To make the dipping sauce:

1/2 cup mayonnaise (not Miracle Whip–actual mayonnaise)
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon prepared horseradish
3 teaspoons Dijon mustard
Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste

1. In a bowl, stir together all five ingredients. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to allow the flavors to meld.

This one’s a weird one for me to write.

I love rice. I love rice pilafs. I love Alton Brown, and am almost never disappointed in his recipes.

But I was kind of disappointed in this recipe.

On the plus side, the directions were clear, and it wasn’t really difficult at all to make. I just didn’t think that the result tasted like much of anything. Kind of a waste of saffron and all the veggies and other ingredients, if you ask me, because I didn’t think it tasted much better than plain rice. The texture was good, though, so I think there’s something to this method. I will probably give this another chance, especially since David liked it just fine. I didn’t dislike it, I was just…underwhelmed.

Alton Brown’s Rice Pilaf

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 onion, minced
• 1/2 red bell pepper, minced
• 2 pinches kosher salt
• 2 cups long grain rice
• 2 3/4 cups chicken broth
• 2 strips orange zest
• Pinch of saffron strands, steeped in 1/4 cup hot water
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 1/2 cups frozen peas, thawed
• Golden raisins and pistachios for garnish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a heavy, wide, lidded pan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Add onion, red pepper, and kosher salt. Sweat the onions and peppers until aromatic, stirring constantly. Add the rice and stir to coat. Continue stirring until rice smells nutty. Add chicken broth, orange zest, saffron and water, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil. Stir once, then cover pan with moistened dish towel (or tea towel). Place lid on pan and fold towel corners over lid. Bake for 15 minutes. Then rest at room temperature for 10 to 20 minutes without removing the cover. Meanwhile, simmer peas in salted water until heated through or heat in a microwave. Remove lid from rice and turn out onto a platter. Add peas and fluff with a large fork. Add raisins and pistachios.

Note: I followed the directions almost exactly, but I used about 1/2 cup white wine in place of part of the chicken broth–we didn’t have quite as much chicken broth as I thought (oops!). I also skipped the raisins and pistachios, only because I served the rice with Chicken Kiev, and I didn’t think raisins went so well with garlic-herb butter.

I actually stumbled across this recipe while searching for the recipe for Guy Fieri’s McCalister Potatoes on the Food Network website. It was accompanied by a video, which I watched right away–the idea of a fried potato salad was intriguing to me. Plus, I find German potato salad oddly compelling. It shouldn’t be good, with all the mustard and vinegar, but the sharp tangy flavor sticks with you. It’s the kind of thing that you find yourself craving months later. I do, anyway.

So when I read through Guy’s recipe for Fried German Potato Salad, I could just taste how it would turn out, and I was excited to try it. I thought it was really tasty.

Fried German Potato Salad
Adapted from Guy’s Big Bite

• 6 Red potatoes medium size, cut into large dice
• 8 ounces thick sliced bacon, cut into pieces
• Canola oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 yellow onion, diced
• 3 tablespoons apple cidar vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1. Put diced potatoes into a pot and fill with cold water (water should just cover the potatoes). Put pot on stove on medium flame and add salt. When water comes to a boil, and the potatoes are cooked, drain the potatoes and spread out on a side towel to dry.

2. While potatoes are doing their thing, add bacon to a large saute pan and cook over a low/medium flame. When the bacon is cooked remove with a slotted spoon and drain the bacon fat, reserving some if you want to add it later. Wipe out the pan with a wad of paper towels (and crank up the heat), add a decent amount of a neutral oil, like canola, and heat it until you get some smoke.

3. Once the oil is hot, carefully add the potatoes and shake the pan a couple of times to make sure nothing sticks. Lower the heat a little and let the potatoes brown. Season with salt and pepper.

4. After a few minutes, shake the pan and get the other sides going. When the potatoes are almost completely cooked, add the red onion and let everything cook together. Once the onions are caramelized, add the vinegar and deglaze. When the vinegar is mostly evaporated, add the extra-virgin olive oil, mustard and bacon (and reserved bacon fat if you want), re-season with lots of cracked black pepper. Serve warm.

Note: Just like last time, I think I over-cooked my potatoes a touch, which gave them a softer, more crumbly texture than the recipe intended. Guy’s recipe called for capers and red wine vinegar, but I skipped the capers and substituted apple cider vinegar, just because it felt like cider vinegar was the more traditional choice for a german potato salad.

This is one of those recipes that’s so bad for you, you know it’s going to be amazing. It’s a fried potato side dish from Guy Fieri, topped with crispy bacon, shredded Parmesan cheese, and a tangy sour cream topping. The best part is that it starts with whole baby yukon gold potatoes, which are boiled and then smashed down into the best of both worlds: a flat potato that crisps up all around the edges, but with a smooth, creamy, almost mashed-potato texture at the center.

Smashed-Down Potatoes with Bacon & Cheese
Adapted from Guy’s Big Bite

• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 3 tablespoons white wine
• 3 pounds baby Yukon potatoes
• 2 tablespoons kosher salt, plus more for seasoning
• 3/4 pound bacon, diced
• 2 yellow onions, diced
• 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 2 tablespoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan (freshly grated, no green cans!)

In small mixing bowl combine sour cream, mustard, and white wine. Mix thoroughly and refrigerate for 1 hour.

In large stock pot cover potatoes with water and add 2 tablespoons salt. Set heat on high and boil until fork tender.

In a large saute pan over medium heat cook bacon and saute onions until caramelized. Transfer bacon and onions from pan on to a paper towel to absorb grease. Distribute evenly on a platter and keep warm. Leave remaining fat in pan.

When potatoes are fork tender, drain, and with a clean kitchen towel, palm smash the hot potatoes to approximately 1/3-inch thick.

Reheat fat in saute pan and add 2 tablespoons olive oil. Heat to oil medium heat and place potatoes in oil. Season with salt and pepper and brown on both sides, then transfer to onion and bacon platter. Repeat, adding more oil, until all potatoes are cooked crispy.

Top potatoes with Parmesan and then with sour cream mixture.

Note: Be sure to keep an eye on the potatoes–I didn’t have any trouble the first time I made this recipe, but this time, I think I let them go a little too long. These had a tendancy to start to crumble when I smashed them, which made it harder to fry the smashed-down potatoes intact.