Channeling Ina

Some weeks, I cook from one cookbook -- it's fun and by the time the week is over, you feel that you really know the author and their style.

This week, I chose to cook from Barefoot Contessa. But not just one of her cookbooks -- many of them! I love her recipes -- they are classic foods but easily prepared. And I must admit that if I am looking for a specific recipe, I will check either Ina or Anna Pump -- I'll usually find the recipe in one of their cookbooks and I'm never disappointed.

Those two, Ina and Anna, are my favorite two cookbook authors and if I had to give up every other cookbook, I could -- as long as I could keep my Ina and Anna ones!

This week -- was my Ina week and so . . .

We started Monday -- a predicted snowy Monday with

Parker's Split Pea Soup

I've made it many times and it's the recipe that I usually use when I make split pea soup -- it's good and was great for dinner and for several lunches during the week!

We had grilled steak Sunday night for dinner and the steak came in a package of four -- we didn't want grilled steak again and the snow did come on Tuesday -- a comfort dish was in order

Filet of Beef Bourguignon

It wasn't a filet -- it was a strip but it was delicious nonetheless. It turned a simple steak into real comfort food. Perfect for a snowy winter day!

I had a meeting on Wednesday and my contribution was a dessert. I've been wanting to try this ever since I saw Ina making it on her Barefoot Contessa show. But it makes a lot, too much for a calorie counting couple and so I took this meeting as a chance to try something that I've wanted to make but didn't want to make for just the two of us.

Rum Raisin Tiramisu

It was delicious -- by far the best Tiramisu I've ever tasted. And I will make it again -- some night when we have company. It's a great make ahead dessert (which is always good when company is coming for it is nice to get the dessert done early).

With chicken breasts in the freezer, and a recipe from her newest book that I wanted to try, on Thursday, I made

Lemon Chicken

It was yummy and is definitely a "How Easy Is That" kind of meal. I followed Ina's suggestions and served couscous and steamed green beans with the chicken. Husband Jim was so impressed that he opened a special bottle of Chardonnay to enjoy with the chicken!

And tonight, we had an old Ina favorite -- Ina's Parmesan Chicken topped with a salad of mixed baby greens with a lemon vinaigrette. We eat it often, most usually in the summer. We like it so much, we think of it as comfort food. I posted about it HERE. It went extremely well with the rest of the bottle of Thursday's Chardonnay.

I've not cooked everything from all of Ina's books but I've cooked a lot and it was fun this week to try some recipes that I've not fixed before. I must admit that we ate very well, indeed, this week -- our Barefoot Contessa week -- when I was "channeling Ina"!!!!