In preparation for this project I started testing out how many recipes was feasible for a week when we are all busy living our lives. As much as I would love to be able to spend all day in the kitchen that’s just not reality when there’s bills to pay and children to get to baseball, school, piano and such. I about pulled my hair out trying to squeeze in 12 recipes a week and found the happy medium at about 4 – 6 recipes a week. Not all recipes are a big to do. Some of them can me made on the same night
If you’re new here, I’ve decided to cook my way through every recipe in Ina Garten’s 14 cookbooks. It’s a slightly ridiculous undertaking, but one I’ve been having so much fun with already and I can’t wait
October was the trial run, and I’m happy to report that I made 19 recipes!
Now, my original goal was to cook 12 recipes a week, which I quickly discovered was wildly ambitious for someone with two children, a job, and a husband who disappears into the woods every fall to hunt.
But 19 recipes in one month? I’ll take it!
The best part is that there wasn’t a single bad recipe in the bunch. Everything we made was good. Some dishes were just more in our family’s wheelhouse than others, and a few really surprised us.
The Biggest Surprise: Warm Mushroom Salad
I feel like I need to start here because this was probably the most shocking development of the entire month. Joe and I are not mushroom lovers. We are mushroom tolerators. We’ll eat them. We don’t necessarily seek them out. And I certainly wouldn’t have predicted that a mushroom salad would be one of the most memorable things we made this month. But Ina’s Warm Mushroom Salad from Barefoot in Paris was absolutely delicious. We finished the entire salad, which I think says everything you need to know. My mom is a mushroom lover and I think she would love this recipe.
If two mushroom tolerators can enjoy a mushroom salad this much, it deserves some recognition.
The Great Butternut Squash Soup Debate:
October involved a lot of butternut squash. A LOT. We made two different Ina soups: Butternut Squash and Apple Soup and Roasted Butternut Squash Soup with Curry Condiments. Both were good, but Joe and I agreed that the roasted butternut squash soup with curry condiments was our favorite. The curry gave it a little bit of a kick and the condiments that were suggested were absolutely delicious. I love when a recipe lets everyone customize their bowl a little bit, and this one had so much flavor.
If I were choosing just one of the two to make again, it would be the roasted version.
My Personal Favorite: Butternut Squash and Ricotta Bruschettas
I think I’ve found my first official Ina Project Hall of Fame recipe. The Butternut Squash and Ricotta Bruschettas from Cooking for Jeffrey were SO good. Of everything we made this month, these might have been my personal favorite. They would be a fantastic appetizer to serve at a dinner party, especially in the fall. They’re beautiful, delicious, and feel a little more special than your typical appetizer. I think you could serve these at room temp and make them ahead a bit and they would still be fantastic. I can already picture serving these with a cocktail before Thanksgiving dinner.
A Few Weeknight Winners:
One thing I was especially interested in discovering through this project was which Ina recipes could become regular dinners in our house.
The Roasted Sausages and Grapes were a perfect example. This was such a quick and delicious dinner. I love recipes that require relatively little effort but still feel like you’ve made something special. I felt like I was cheating a bit but i’m quickly learning that delicious doesn’t have to mean complicated. I was able to find my sausages at Horrocks in Kentwood this time around.
We served ours with the Rosemary Polenta, which was fine, but not necessarily a standout for us. Joe and I both would have preferred the polenta to be creamy rather than pan-fried. That’s more of a personal preference than a criticism of the recipe.
And then there was the Weeknight Bolognese. This was Joe’s favorite recipe of the entire month! It doesn’t surprise me. He is a meat and potato kind of guy and this was a rich and hearty sauce to pile on top of noodles. I also thought it would be good with Texas toast so that’s exactly what I sent him to deer camp with. Everyone loved it except my little brother who I was just informed… doesn’t like noodles. Yes we are blood related.
I’ll definitely be making this one again (but maybe not sending it to deer camp)
The Breakfast and Brunch Department:
I had some really good luck with breakfast recipes this month. The Roasted Vegetable Frittata was delicious and was a wonderful brunch at home dish. I love having a few recipes like this in my back pocket for when we have people over but also good enough for Iris’s strict culinary standards. She very much enjoyed this dish.
The Maple-Oatmeal Scones were another hit. One of my favorite things about these is that they freeze well. I made a batch and have been enjoying the extras from the freezer, which makes me feel very organized and prepared. I just put them back in the oven at 350F for maybe 5 – 10 min depending on your oven. Me being organized and prepared is rare but a wonderful feeling.
I also made the Cranberry Hazelnut Muffins. These were delicious, but I will say that gathering the ingredients was a bit of an undertaking. I actually had to order hazelnuts because I couldn’t find them locally. I love trying recipes that use ingredients I wouldn’t normally purchase, but sometimes the grocery shopping becomes an adventure of its own. Worth making? Absolutely. But maybe not something I’d spontaneously decide to whip up on a Tuesday morning. Again, Iris approved.
The Homemade Applesauce from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook was a hit with the entire family. And the smell! There is something about apples cooking away in the kitchen that makes your entire house feel cozy. I remember my mom cranking away in the kitchen making applesauce to freeze and this version was SO much easier and kind of a set it and forget it type of situation. My big ol Staub dutch oven came in reallll handy with this one. This was one of those recipes where the experience of making it was almost as enjoyable as eating it. Almost.
I also made Warm Brown Rice and Butternut Squash from Cook Like a Pro. The flavors were good, but I have a confession. I cannot cook rice. I don’t know what it is about rice, but it has been a lifelong struggle for me. I can tackle all sorts of complicated recipes, but give me a pot of rice and no matter what I do it never comes out perfect. So while this dish tasted good, it wasn’t one of my personal favorites.
I’m not blaming Ina for this one. This is very much a me problem.
The Roast Loin of Pork with Fennel was absolutely delicious. I served it with Smashed Sweet Potatoes with Apples, and the entire meal was fantastic. It’s one of those dinners that feels impressive enough for company but is also something I’d happily make for a regular Sunday dinner. We had leftovers, so I took some over to my grandparents. I love when a recipe makes enough to share, especially when it’s something that turned out this well. Both of these recipes are going on the make-again list. In fact, I’m making the sweet potatoes to take to Friendsgiving.
The Rack of Lamb Persillade from Barefoot in Paris was another standout. It was fantastic and surprisingly simple to prepare. The only real challenge was finding the rack of lamb itself. I ended up having to track down a specialty butcher in our area, which initially felt like an inconvenience. But here’s the happy ending: I discovered a new butcher that I absolutely love! La Vacca in Grand Rapids is an absolute gem and was able to get me exactly what I needed for this recipe. The Rack of Lamb, frenched. So not only did we have a wonderful dinner, but I also found a new place to shop. I’d call that a win.
To kick off this endeavor, Joe and I also made Ina’s Autumn Sangria, and I have a little advice for anyone planning to try it. Make it ahead. We drank some on the first day and finished the rest on the second day. And let me tell you, it was SO much better on day two. The flavors had time to develop, and the difference was noticeable. On day 2 the flavors were so much stronger and it was more sipable if that makes sense. If I make this again for a party, I’ll absolutely prepare it the day before. Which, now that I think about it, is actually quite convenient when you’re entertaining.
After 19 recipes, I think my biggest takeaway is that Ina’s recipes really are consistently good. I didn’t have any disasters. I didn’t make anything that I regretted cooking. And I discovered several dishes that will absolutely become regulars in our house. Of course, not everything was equally exciting to us. Some recipes suited our tastes better than others. Some required a little more effort than I’d typically put into a weeknight dinner. And some, like that mushroom salad, completely surprised us.
But that’s exactly why I wanted to start this project.
It’s so easy to buy a cookbook, make two or three recipes, and then put it back on the shelf. By committing to making every recipe, I’m trying dishes I might otherwise skip. And apparently, discovering that I like mushroom salad.
Who knew?
If I had to pick a few standouts from our first month, here’s where I’d start:
My personal favorite: Butternut Squash and Ricotta Bruschettas
Joe’s favorite: Weeknight Bolognese
Biggest surprise: Warm Mushroom Salad
Best cozy family recipe: Homemade Applesauce
Favorite complete dinner: Roast Loin of Pork with Fennel and Smashed Sweet Potatoes with Apples
Best recipe to make ahead: Autumn Sangria
Most unexpectedly useful discovery: A wonderful new butcher, thanks to the Rack of Lamb Persillade!
We’re officially launched the cookbook club this month and I would love for you to join us! Each month, I’ll share a seasonal lineup of recipes from Ina’s 14 cookbooks. You don’t need to own every cookbook, and you certainly don’t need to cook every recipe. Make one, make a few, or make them all. We’ll keep rotating through the books until we’ve cooked our way through the entire collection.
My hope is that this becomes a fun way to try new recipes, use the cookbooks we already own, and maybe discover a few unexpected favorites along the way.
You can find the November schedule here.
19 recipes down. Hundreds to go.
How easy is that?
