Go-To Dinners: A Barefoot Contessa Cookbook

Kitchen maven Garten (Modern Comfort Food) returns with a cookbook born of the pandemic. These recipes are low stress, comforting, and, of course, delicious. Garten believes an invitation to dinner is an expression of love, but unlike her past lavish dinners, the pandemic helped her discover that simple can be just right. Garten offers creative ways to re-create leftovers into new and exciting dishes and encourages challenging oneself to make a meal with whatever is on hand. Hotdogs in pastry were the result of her own success at making do; the recipe became a keeper even after grocery shopping became routine again. Simple can yield sophisticated flavors too, with recipes like caramelized butternut squash with burrata. Garten’s helpful notations, such as “make ahead” and “two-fer” (make into two different meals), guide readers. She also includes other useful tips (store roasted vegetables in a plastic bag with a damp paper towel to keep them crisp). Each recipe receives one photo on the adjacent page, and several full-page spreads add to the enticement.