Barefoot in Paris

Rating:
Summary: Carpe Diet !
Review:

For those who relish getting everything out of life,
cooking and enjoying French food is the Ne Plus Ultra!
This book is a shortcut to the having the Champs Elysse
right in the comfort of your own livingroom -- even if you
are living in Iowa. With Ina's expert advice and tutelage,
even the most amateur gastronome will be puffing up
fluffy pastries and serving sultry salads a la mode in
no time. If you are looking for one book to help you
transport yourself and lucky loved-ones across the pond
to a world of sensory and salivary indulgences without
leaving home, this is it. And I am sure that it will be just the
first of many steps on an awakening journey for you, as it
was for me. My copy came bundled with a few other
delights, including "Voice Lessons To Go" a CD which
has helped to free my innermost voice to sing the praises
of this fine French food, and the dvd "New Sex Now"
which has helped my wife and my souls to sing
"Ooh-la-la, que la vie est belle!" Now our house
has beautiful music flowing from the kitchen, shower,
dining-room and bedroom!

Rating:
Summary: Know the Chef and Her Foods!
Review: Barefoot in Paris has a wide expanse of recipes that are easy to prepare and readily available foods. Brioche Loaves are easy like Ina tells you in her recipe. I have made the two loaves, and can tell you with 4 'gourmet eaters' in the house, the second loaf never hits the freezer. Herbed-Baked Eggs are as simple as making scrambled eggs but with the 'wow' factor when it arrives at the brunch table. And love the valuable tips on purchasing good French cookware.

My friend recommended this book highly and she recommended a great new beverage that replaced my morning cup of joe. Caffeine made me too jittery so I switched to a soy-based coffee that taste simply amazing. When I use my percolator it comes out with a rich, full bodied taste. Search under "S oyfee" on google to find it. Have tried many of Ina's recipes as she prepared them on Food Network and would love to take cooking lessons from her. She exudes her enthusiasm for cooking and I think it would be great fun to be in a kitchen with her.


Rating:
Summary: Simple elegance
Review: How can anyone not appreciate the way Ina Garten simplifies good food and good taste? She is a superstar of cooking and she has brought to life the essence of elegance.

She has by far surpassed herself in this beautiful collection of recipes. It just makes you want to fly to Paris and have a wonderful lunch in a local bistro.

The simplified recipes are a cinch for any amateur - or expert! - cooks. This book will make your guests think you've gone to France and back.

Simple, elegant and oh so decadent!

Rating:
Summary: Good cooking book - VERY FRENCH!!
Review: I am French myslef and sometimes struggle to adapt my French receipes to the US food/creams/ingredients.
This book gave me a fresh look at French food and at US adaptations. I have made some of the receipes already, and they all turned out very well.
My only caution when following the receipes: do not use all the butter/oil she recommends. Her receipes are too greasy. For eg, when you cook the mashed potatoes, she makes you fry the garlic clove in olive oil, then she makes you pour all the oil (1 cup!) in the mashed potatoes! I only added 1 tablespoon of the oil, for the taste/texture, but adding it all in would be horrible! Same for the Cauliflower au Gratin, where she pours melted butter on top of the topping cheese/crumbs mix. The grating browns well without the butter, and the dish is heavy enough as is, not to add more fat to it!
I still gave this book a 5 because the receipes are very French, and if you don't put as much butter or oil as recommended, they turn out very good!


Rating:
Summary: Easy and Tres Delicieux!
Review: I bought this book after seeing Ina's "Barefoot in Paris" special on television. I've made the beef bourginon, coconut madelines, and cheese straws. All are easy and absolutely delicious - particularly the beef bourginon, which tastes even better for the next couple days. Your dinner party guests will be impressed and you won't have spent half the day in the kitchen. The photos in the book are gorgeous, too. Makes me long to return to Paris...

I've also tried several recipes copied from her television show: braised cabbage, strawberry country cake, salmon spread with toasted baguettes, roasted potato wedges, and thumbprint cookies. All are easy, easy, easy, and the taste is excellent - particularly the cake. I'm ready to move on the some of the entrees now. Her recipies are simple but seem much more complex and "gourmet" when they're done.

Rating:
Summary: Great for Unsophisticated Cooks
Review: I loved this cookbook. The recipes all taste great and are simple enough that I don't have to devote or full day to being in the kitchen or have completed a course at the Culinary Academy to prepare them. These are recipes that ANYONE can use to prepare a great dinner, fit for company, without being overloaded with stress. This is my new favorite cookbook.

Rating:
Summary: An enjoyable read--but not quite up to her standards
Review: I must concur with what others have said. In summary, this book is a very enjoyable read, with fabulous photographs--it doees make you want to hop on a plane and visit Paris! The food styling and photographic manipulation of the food are simply magnificent...Ina owes a HUGE debt to these people! Having said that, I too am getting a wee bit tired of all the name-dropping. Does the fact that Steven Spielberg's wife desires to take classes at a certain cooking school give that school more credibility ?! [and note that she is first of all, Steven Spielberg's wife!...not Kate Capshaw...this is of secondary importance...shame on you, Ina!!!] And, it is wonderful for Ina that she has an apartment on the Left Bank in France...but the majority of us who buy her books do not, and have no access to some of these fabulous ingredients (which I'm sure make a huge difference in the final taste of the recipe, especially when the recipe is extremely simple). I have no other French cookbooks, so I can't evaluate how "French" her recipes are, but I will say that some of these recipes seem like repeats from her other cookboks (with possible slight variations). I heartily endorse her first three cookbooks--especially the very first one. I use them constantly. They compliment each other very well (though there are a few crossover recipes between books--my only complaint). I love Ina. I love watching her show. I have prepared a few of the recipes from this lastest book, and they turned out quite nicely, but I can tell I will not be reaching for this one as often as her others. If you love Ina Garten, love taking vicarious trips through the magic of books, and have space on your shelf for another book, then buy this cookbook. Otherwise, stick with her other books. Bon appetit!


Rating:
Summary: More than a Cookbook - A Parisian Experience
Review: Ina Garten knows how to win the hearts and stomachs of her readers. True, this book is meant to be an informative path to French cuisine preparation, but it is so very much more. Garten takes the reader on a stroll of Paris, not only showing where to buy the various foods and delicacies, but she also visits the flower shops and the vendors that color the streets of the City of Light.

Her approach to recipes is not the usual dry 'shop here, buy this, do that, avoid this' method that can make French cooking appear a daunting task. Instead, Garten seduces us into the secrets and pleasures of creating the foods she has had so beautifully photographed for this elegant volume.

This fine book could easily serve as a guide to the tasty land of Paris, whether the reader cares about recipes or not. There is much to glean from this warm little tour of France: the food is simply and deliciously additive. Grady Harp, January 2005

Rating:
Summary: Too much bragging, not enough recipies-though they are good!
Review: Like others I got this book for Christmas and couldn't wait to go through it and make some recipies out of it. While the ones in here are excellent--there just isn't enough of them. And Ina, please don't turn into Martha Stewart with your bragging about who's who that you know. It's great that you have all these things and know all these people but I would bet 80% of those of us who are buying this don't have an apartment in France or know all the celebs she does. More recipies would have been nice as well but as I said the ones in here are pretty good and can be made even by my husband with little thought.