'Barefoot Contessa' keeps it simple
By Stephanie Snipes
CNN
(CNN) -- In the 1970s, when Ina Garten was working for the White House Office of Management and Budget, little did she know that a career in food was waiting for her.
Feeling the pressure to do something more creative with her life, Ina left her job, and she and her husband, Jeffrey, bought a specialty food store in the Hamptons called "Barefoot Contessa."
For 18 years, Garten ran the store, which featured such take-home treats as brownies, dips, breads and cookies. In 1996, Garten sold the shop and, with nothing else to do, took up cookbook writing.
Four books and a Food Network television show ("Barefoot Contessa") later, Garten said she still relishes developing recipes and entertaining friends with her no-fuss approach to fabulous food.
Garten sat down with CNN to discuss her career.
CNN: How do you develop your recipes?
GARTEN: Usually, I think of something that I want to make. I get the exact texture and flavor that I want it to be in my mind and then I just start cooking. I might, if it's something like soufflés, read everything that everyone wrote about soufflés. Then I put the books away and just start cooking. And, sometimes, I nail it on the first time and sometimes it takes me 20 times. But I just keep going until I hit that note that I'm looking for, which is the flavor and texture I'm looking for.
CNN: By the 20th time trying to get a recipe right, are you bored?
GARTEN: I'm a scientist at heart. I find this a very interesting scientific process. But the good news is at the end of it instead of having hydrochloric acid you have blue cheese soufflé. ... You add something see what happens, take something away and see what happens to it, change the temperature and see what happens.
So no, I never find it boring. I wake up every morning and I'll say "What do I feel like doing today" and it's always working a recipe. And I get to do it. And I can work in my slippers. It doesn't get better.
CNN: What is your favorite thing about the books?
GARTEN: I think that my favorite thing is when somebody says, "I think cooking is really hard, but you make me feel that I could do it." That you open a book and say, "That looks delicious," look at the recipe and say, "I can do that" and when you made it, it came out exactly like the photograph. ... I think that's what people really connect with. ... It's about making food that is really comfort food that makes people feel good and welcome and doesn't leave you lying on the sofa the next day.
CNN: Do you have any tips for home cooks?
GARTEN: I would say pick recipes that are things that you really like to eat because then you'll be more motivated for it. And if you're doing a dinner party only make two things and buy the rest.
Also, don't invite people for Saturday dinner. Invite them for Sunday lunch or breakfast. Sunday brunch. Something that's really easy. You can make a big frittata and have wonderful breads from a bakery and fresh fruit. You're having a party but you don't have to make a million things. And people don't stay past your bedtime, my particular favorite.
