Garlic Roasted Potatoes

According to Wikipedia, potatoes originated somewhere in the Andes in modern-day Peru. I imagine its discovery went something like this:

Genius potato discoverer: Here Fido! Come here boy!
Fido: Woof!
Genius potato discoverer: Hey you mutt! Stop digging in Francisco's yard! He hates that!
Fido: Woof!
Genius potato discoverer: Why, what is this starchy, tuberous crop you've uncovered?
Fido: *pants*
Genius potato discoverer: *takes a bite of potato* This is delicious! It would be terrific with some ceviche. We should plant and harvest more! Quick, fetch the guano!

Anyhow, this genius discoverer has brought me much joy. I will rarely turn down a potato dish and knowing Ina's penchant for putting rich dairy products in her dishes, I am looking forward to making lovely, delicious potato dishes in the future. We start here with a pretty basic recipe for Garlic Roasted Potatoes.

Now, I've made this plenty of time before because it's easy to make and they incorporate my favorite potato combo: crisp on the outside/tender on the inside. I've made these so often that I think Joel is sick of them. He always tells me I make too many, but what does he know ... leftovers are a wonderful thing.

So here are the ingredients. Simple stuff: potatoes, garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper and parsley


I like red potatoes. The day I went to the supermarket, the fingerling potatoes didn't look so hot, so I bought the regular-sized reds. I'm impatient so, I chopped them a little smaller so they would cook faster.


Next up is the garlic. I love doing that chef-y thing where you whack the garlic with the side of your knife to remove the skins. I have also done this and had the garlic squirt out from under the knife, hit the wall and ricochet to the floor. So much for smooth chef moves, eh? Anyway, prepare to meet your doom garlic.


I think I've killed it.


Toss the garlic in with the potatoes and add in the oil, S&P. Here are the potatoes, gleaming and oiled ... just like Richard Simmons! (Okay, that's so gross. Even for me. Sorry.)

Dang. Wrong setting on my camera. The potatoes are NOT green. I'll get it eventually.

45-60 minutes and a few turns later: Crisp potatoes!


Sprinkle on the parsley and that's it!


The review:
Excellent. Of course, I'd probably eat it even if it sucked. It's really hard to mess up potatoes. What I love most about this recipe is that you can make it using a bunch of different combinations. Take out the garlic, add some paprika with a dollop of sour cream and its serious good eats.

Saffron Risotto with Butternut Squash

I love butternut squash. I love risotto. Mix 'em up, add some heat and you've got a lovely meal.

First up, gather all those ingredients together:


I love risotto because it's very versatile. You can stick in some frozen peas, leftover red or white wine, chicken and it still comes out delicious. I especially love butternut squash, so this recipe was something I knew I'd like.

The first step is to roast the squash. I know Ina enjoys roasting her vegetables and I tend to agree. Roasting the vegetables really brings out the sweetness and magically makes it taste better Don't ask me how - I think it has to do with caramelized sugars blah blah.

Here's the squash before it goes in the oven. Pay no attention to the rather poor knife skills. They're pretty much all the same size though.


About 40-45 minutes later, here is the roasted squash. I must tell you. I could eat this right out of the pan -- and I have. The squash has a little but of olive oil, salt and pepper on it and it's really delicious. Squash isn't very popular in Hawaii, so I didn't have it until I came to college. All those years, wasted!



Next up, risotto! Now, Ina's recipe calls for pancetta. Gotta confess: I'm not that big on pancetta. I feel like I should like it, but whenever I have it, I miss the smokey flavor of regular old bacon. Not that I'd turn it away, but I use bacon in my cooking instead. Ina also mentions that if you can't find pancetta, bacon is perfectly fine to use, so I feel like I've stuck to the recipe. God, whenever you can add some bacon into a dish is a good day.

Here's the shallots and bacon sauteing in some butter and olive oil. I can't hear you right now arteries.


And throw in the rice, wine and stock.


Confession: I don't stir my risotto constantly. Honestly, I've stood there stirring it for 25 minutes straight and I've stirred it every 7 minutes or so to prevent the rice from sticking. It doesn't seem to make a whole lot of difference in the end product. Since I'm usually making a salad or cleaning up dishes while something is on the stove, I'm happy I don't have to pay it such close attention.

Rachel Ray mentioned a few times on 30 Minute Meals that risotto takes about 22 minutes give or take to cook. She's right. Mine always ends up taking about 25 minutes. Here it is. The saffron has turned it a light yellow, despite my pot and lighting making it look a bit green.


Finish it off the heat with a little bit of cheese and there you go:


The review:
Very good! The squash is lovely and a good texture. It's very soft, but not soft enough so that it falls apart and tastes like babyfood. The saffron adds a nice color to the risotto, but I can't really taste it. The bacon is nice of course. I really don't know if I'd like the dish as much if it had pancetta in it. I think the smokey, salty bacon pairs well with the sweet squash. Joel liked it as well and went back for seconds, a sure sign that he likes it.

Anyway, it's a good start!

Welcome!

Welcome to the Barefoot Kitchen!

To kick off the inaugural post, I decided to do an in-depth, journalistic interview with the author of the blog.

PB: So, why are you doing this?

P.Bunny: Dunno. I like to cook sometimes.

PB: But to attempt to make all the recipes from the Barefoot Contessa book-

P.Bunny: Books. I have five of them.

PB: Alright, books then. Anyhow, attempting to make all the recipes in the Barefoot Contessa books seems rather...ridiculous.

P.Bunny: And quite tasty, I expect.

PB: Right. It seems like a rather large undertaking.

P.Bunny: I haven't got a whole going on, you know.

PB: Hmm. Quite sad actually.

P.Bunny: Ah, yes.

PB: Can you tell me a little more about the project?

P.Bunny: Sure! Well, I've really only got time to cook on the weekends, so I'll be making something and posting weekly. I'll be following the directions and ingredients from the cookbook as closely as I can. Since Ina Garten is a frequent party-giver, many of her dishes serve large numbers I people. I'll occasionally halve the recipe since most of the time there will only be two people sampling.
PB: Very good. And what is the plan with the actual blog itself. Videoclips? Food porn? What's going on with that?

P.Bunny: Eh, I'm pretty low-tech. No videoclips or demos. Just some photos and such. And, my delightful, clever writing, of course.

PB: Of course.

P.Bunny: You don't have to roll your eyes like that.

PB: But I'm very good at it. Moving on. You have a disclaimer saying that you won't be posting the recipes. Why not?

P.Bunny: There are ample places to find the recipes. Food Network carries them occasionally and you can find them online. If readers really wanted to make something, I suggest that they invest in the books. They're very good and contain lovely photography.

PB: Let's wrap it up. Any last words?

P.Bunny: I'll do my best to update the blog on Mondays with the weekend's latest recipe. As I'm very lazy, this is harder than it sounds. Consistency, what's that?

PB: Thanks very much. I can see this interview will garner me a spot in the New Yorker.

P.Bunny: Good luck with that.