Food as Entertainment

Food is so much a part of my life (now have 62 cookbooks - in case you were counting!).  The Roommate's been debating the Costs of The House of late, and was considering downsizing our cable TV package.  My first thought = OMG, will I lose Food Network, the Cooking Channel and PBS Create?  Seriously.

When I turn on the TV, my go to channels are food related.  When I surf the 'net - my first stops are the sites/blogs bookmarked in my FOOD category.  I LOVE to see what the Food Network people are making that particular day.  What's my BFF (Ina Garten) up to?  The Day Job is most definitely NOT food related, so I have no idea why I'm wired this way.  I find that the subject of food comforts me - we all need to eat, after all.  It's more than that, though.  Cooking for comfort, or to make memories, or to entertain.  To soothe the rough edges after a particularly horrendous day.  To bring warmth and sustenance to someone who's ill, or experienced a tragic loss.

Food connects all of us, in one way or another.  It's a constant that crosses all languages, all cultures.  We'd all die without it.  And me?  I find love in it.

What IS it about Ina Garten?

I've spoken of my love of Nigella Lawson earlier. And it's true - she was THE one who sparked my interest in all things food related.

But, I ADORE Ina Garten. Otherwise known as "The Barefoot Contessa", she is the author of several books (yes, I own them all) and has her own show on the Food Network. Actually - she hosts two shows: "Barefoot Contessa" and "Barefoot Contessa - Back to Basics". Her recipes WORK, people. They work. Every time. I have yet to have one recipe that didn't turn out exactly as Ina said it would. And, they are easy. Really, really easy. With ingredients you can find in nearly any grocery store in the US.

Ina is unpretentious, warm and the kind of person you'd think you could be friends with, if only she'd let you hang out with her and her fabulous friends at her fabulous house in the Hamptons. Someone once said that Ina is like Martha Stewart on Xanax washed down with a martini. So true. If you have any interest in cooking - I recommend you pick up one of her books. You won't regret it.

I'm sharing one of my go-to Ina recipes here. Give it a shot - you won't regret it!

Ina Garten's Pan Fried Onion Dip

Ingredients:
2 large yellow onions
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup good mayonnaise

Directions:
Cut the onions in half and then slice them into 1/8-inch thick half-rounds. (You will have about 3 cups of onions.) Heat the butter and oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add the onions, cayenne, salt, and pepper and saute for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally, for 20 more minutes until the onions are browned and caramelized. Allow the onions to cool.
Place the cream cheese, sour cream and mayonnaise in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat until smooth. Add the onions and mix well. Taste for seasonings. Serve at room temperature.

Hi, I'm Deb and I'm a Cookbook Addict. (Hi, Deb!!)

I collect cookbooks.  And I use every single one of them. Some more than others, true, but I DO use ALL of them (shut. up. I do.).

And, get this, I also keep my laptop on my kitchen counter so that I can look up a recipe whenever I want. I also read news and food blogs incessantly. So, one would ask - why do you keep buying books if nearly every recipe known to man can be found on the great world wide internet????

I don't know. I love to actually READ cookbooks. The descriptions of the whys and whatfors behind a recipe. The authors love of one thing or another. As I wrote in my earlier post, Nigella Lawson has a way of writing her cookbooks that makes them seem like novels. A food writer, Nigella can make the process of opening a can of soup seem sumptuous and sexy and something you-have-to-do-right-this-very-minute!! It's one of the things I love about her.

My favorite section of the bookstore: the cookbook section. I will go through the section and pick up a stack of books and sit down and read through them. Sigh. I don't know why it is. And to people who don't share my love of food or the cooking process, I'm CERTAIN it seems strange that I go and buy a book on the day it's released (hello, Barefoot Contessa - Back to Basics. I'm looking at you). I simply cannot wait.

So - what IS it that has me doing this?

My Love of Nigella, Or, How I Started Obsessing Over Food.

I'm not a trained chef. Not by any means. I taught myself to cook basically by necessity. It all started with the show "Nigella Bites". It was a half hour program that aired on the Style Network here in the USA and is periodically shown on the Food Network. Nigella Lawson, a beautiful British food writer, hosted this cooking show unlike any I had ever seen. Her way in front of the camera and her style of cooking made me want to get in the kitchen. My young son was even entranced by her...although I don't know if it was Nigella's beauty or her food that drew him in!

So, I ran to Barnes & Noble and picked up Nigella's first book "How to Eat" where some of the early episodes of "Nigella Bites" come from. You certainly can tell that Nigella is a writer. Her cookbooks actually read like books. I will often pick up her books and start at page one and read them like novels. The first Nigella recipe I ever made (and the one I turn to most) is "Ham in Coca-Cola". Stupid easy to make and absolutely delicious. This is the only way I make ham now and it's the ham my children prefer most. Give it a shot...and be careful. Once you've cooked with Nigella, you're done for!

You can find the recipe here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/nigella-lawson/ham-in-cola-recipe/index.html

And So It Begins...

Greetings, I'm Deb, and welcome to my blog!

I'm an amateur foodie and have an addiction to cookbooks, along with the Food Network. Cooking is a HUGE hobby of mine, along with writing, so I'm combining the two in the interest of artistic expression. Because my friends and family are tired of me talking about food all the time!

I hope you'll visit from time to time!