I lived like Ina Garten in lockdown for a day and it was the most fun I've had in quarantine
Anneta Konstantinides
- I followed Ina Garten's lockdown routine and it was one of the most fun days I've had in quarantine.
- I started my morning by making a massive cosmopolitan before noon, just as Garten had done to the delight of her Instagram fans.
- Then I made Emily Blunt's English roasted potatoes, which were so popular that they crashed Garten's website.
- I also made pasta and salmon dishes and took a walk by the water to reflect after a long day of cooking.
- Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.
Ina Garten and I have a lot in common. We both love morning cocktails, long walks on the beach, burgers at In-N-Out, and men who can't cook.
But there's one big difference between us. When Garten — the best-selling cookbook author and Food Network star — whips something up for dinner, it looks like this…
When I — a journalist who used to microwave pre-shredded cheese inside a tortilla and call it "cooking" — make dinner, it sometimes turns into this…
I may be burning my Trader Joe's chow mein noodles, but Garten has been my inspiration during lockdown. She's there every day on my Instagram page, mixing massive cosmopolitans before noon, adding ramen to chicken noodle soup, and transforming hot dogs into meat pies (store-bought really is fine!).
After months of following Garten's quarantine routine on social media, I decided to find out what it would be like to live as the Barefoot Contessa for a day. It was easily one of the most fun days I've had in quarantine, and was a much-needed reminder that cooking can be both creative and relaxing — especially when it starts with a cosmo.
Read the original article on InsiderAs my day as the Barefoot Contessa in lockdown came to a close, I somehow felt both relaxed and accomplished — even with a few cosmo spills.
When New York first went into lockdown, I felt overwhelmed by a lot of things. It seemed like everyone was baking bread, doing Instagram Live workouts, and reorganizing their closet simultaneously. Was I the weird one for just curling up into a ball and listening to Bon Iver over and over?
But as I researched for this piece, I learned that once upon a time Garten knew just as much — or should I say little — about cooking as I do. That she taught herself in the kitchen by working her way through Julia Child's famous cookbooks, that she first launched her Barefoot Contessa store with nary a clue on how to "slice smoked salmon...or choose Brie."
I think that's why I've found Garten to be especially comforting in quarantine. The "Barefoot Contessa" star quickly realized that what her fans needed were easy and accessible recipes that were still comforting. And, by providing that, she was able to find her own groove in lockdown as well.
"For me, it was a way to stay connected with people," she told The Atlantic. "But also it became a way to have purpose and order during the day."
Purpose in quarantine, I've realized, doesn't have to be writing the next "King Lear" or even baking sourdough bread. It can be as simple as learning how to make a cocktail, trying a new sauce, or experimenting with a different pasta dish.
As Ina would say, how easy is that?
- Read more:
- I tried Emily Blunt's English roasted potatoes after they crashed Ina Garten's website, and it's one of the tastiest dishes I've ever made
- Ina Garten made herself a massive cosmopolitan at 9 a.m. because 'it's always cocktail hour in a crisis'
- Ina Garten shared Emily Blunt's recipe for roasted potatoes, and it was so popular that her website crashed
- From Ina Garten to Stanley Tucci, celebrities have entertained their fans with cocktail tutorials during quarantine. Here's how to make their drinks yourself.
But my day as Ina didn't end in the kitchen. After she finishes cooking for the day, Garten and Jeffrey drive to the beach for an afternoon walk.
I don't have access to any beaches at the moment but, much like Garten, I do love ending my day by the water. So I went on a run to Hudson River Park in Chelsea, which has become my favorite spot in NYC during the lockdown.
I went on my very first run in New York the day before the city completely shut down in March. I was too nervous to go to the gym and decided to run through Manhattan instead. I stumbled on Hudson River Park by accident, spotting the sparkling water as I threaded through the most deserted streets I could find. I sprinted toward it. The view felt like a piece of my native California, which I was missing more than ever as the world careened into quarantine.
Garten has lived in the Hamptons for more than 40 years. As I went down my usual route, I wondered if she felt a similar sense of calm from the sight of the sea.
And just like that, it was done! The salmon was perfectly cooked, and its light and fluffy texture paired well with the charred broccolini.
The sauce gave the salmon a subtle and interesting tang without overpowering it. My only complaint was that I wanted more of it!
I was shocked when I looked at the clock and saw how many hours had passed. The day had flown by, and I felt surprisingly relaxed. I realized I had barely looked at my phone for hours (a rarity in lockdown), and I couldn't remember the last time I had felt so accomplished in the kitchen. I loved everything I had made, and now I had leftovers for days.
I sprinkled my salmon fillets with salt and pepper before evenly spooning the sauce over each and popping them into the oven for 15 minutes.
As the salmon cooked, I spread my leftover broccolini onto a sheet pan and drizzled them with olive oil and some salt and pepper.
Ten minutes before my salmon was done cooking, I put the broccolini into the oven on a second rack.
First I whipped up the sauce which, despite having six different ingredients, took me less than 30 seconds to make.
I simply threw in the olive oil, soy sauce, maple syrup, sesame oil, minced garlic, and hot red pepper flakes straight into a saucepan.
After bringing it to a boil, I let the mixture simmer for three minutes before taking it off the heat.
Then it was time to make my final Garten dish, salmon teriyaki and broccolini.
I used to cook salmon every week when I lived in Australia. It was one of the first dishes I actually taught myself how to make, and I loved how quick and easy it was to shake up with different sauces and marinades.
Yet, when I moved back to New York two years ago, I stopped spending any time in the kitchen. The fact that it was tiny and windowless (gotta love Manhattan!) probably didn't help, but I also just slipped right back into a supersonic NYC lifestyle. On the rare nights when I wasn't eating out or getting delivery, the extent of my cooking was usually eggs and some frozen Trader Joe's veggies.
It didn't take long in lockdown for me to tire of eggs, or to realize how much I had missed actually cooking dishes from scratch. But I was convinced that any kitchen skills I had acquired in Australia must have vanished the moment I stopped using them.
But with the Barefoot Contessa by my side — and some cosmo courage — I was more than ready to try.
I drizzled the sauce onto the pasta, sprinkled some fresh parmesan cheese, and took my first bite straight from the pot.
If spring had a taste, I think it would be something like this. I always go for red-sauce pasta, but I loved how light and refreshing this dish tasted. The garlic and lemon gave everything a massive flavor kick and paired perfectly with the mild sweetness of the broccolini.
The bowl looked bright and pretty, and the pasta held up really well when I ate my leftovers two days later.
After the broccolini was done, I added penne to the same water and began making the sauce.
I heated butter and olive oil in a small sauté pan, adding the lemon zest and minced garlic. After one minute passed, I turned off the heat and added salt, pepper, and freshly squeezed lemon juice to the pan.
Voila, I had just made my first pasta sauce from scratch!
While the broccolini sat in a large pot of boiling salted water, I peeled a lemon to get zest for the pasta's sauce.
I don't have a zester (of course), but a quick Google search proved that all I needed was a peeler and a good knife to do the trick.
Then it was time to begin my second dish, Garten's broccoli and bow ties.
When I first set out to pick dishes for my day as the Barefoot Contessa, I found myself getting stressed by various recipes that seemed beyond my minimal kitchen tools and cooking abilities. But then I remembered this dish, the very first recipe that Garten shared after going into lockdown.
Garten noted in the caption that she didn't have either broccoli or bow ties, so she made do with what was already in her pantry. The point, she said, was to keep things simple.
"Instead of making three things for dinner — meat, vegetable & starch — I'm loving just eating one thing for each meal," she wrote. "Who else is doing that?"
It was a much-needed reminder that the whole point of living like Ina Garten in lockdown for the day was to keep things simple, easy, and fun. So I busted out some leftover penne in my pantry and broccolini in my fridge and set out to make my own version of bow ties and broccoli, just as the Barefoot Contessa intended.
I then transferred the potatoes into a pan with smoking hot oil and popped them in the oven for 45 minutes. They came out beautifully golden (if I do say so myself).
I sprinkled sea salt and fresh parsley over the potatoes, as per the recipe. And, to my surprise, they actually looked almost identical to the photo on Garten's website.
And, just as Garten promised, the potatoes were crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside. They had a great crunch from the crust, and I couldn't believe how soft they were in the middle. The parsley on top also gave a nice kick of freshness.
Then it was time for Blunt's second trick: Letting the potatoes dry before popping them in the oven.
Blunt told Garten that she had added an extra step to the family's recipe, transferring the potatoes to a baking rack set over a sheet pan and letting them dry for 15 minutes after shaking them.
"This is my addition that made my mother a bit concerned at Christmas," she added. "Cause her whole thing is like, just shake them up and bung them in the oil — don't overthink it!
"But I said: 'Mum, this is a really good trick. You put them on the wire rack and you get all the moisture out of them and then it just forms such a fantastic crust on the outside.'"
I didn't have a baking rack, so I just placed a paper towel over a baking sheet and spread the potatoes out. It did the trick!
And the actress has some great tips for turning the potatoes into a delicious dish.
After I parboiled the potatoes, I put the potatoes back into the pot with the lid on, and shook it for five seconds.
Blunt told Garten that this was a trick her mother had taught her to help roughen up the potatoes' edges.
"This is the workout part," she told Garten. "If you rough up the edges, once you roast them it just gives a really nice, sort of crispy, crunch."
Blunt's recipe only requires a few simple — and cheap — ingredients.
All you really need are Yukon Gold potatoes and some parsley, along with salt and vegetable oil.
As a potato lover myself, I knew I had to test out the recipe that broke the internet. But first, I needed some music.
Any good hostess knows that music is an essential part of entertaining, so I was only a little surprised when I found out that Garten has her own Spotify playlists. There's "Barefoot Contessa Beach Party," where you'll find the likes of The Beach Boys and Sam Cooke, "Ina's Cooking Playlist," filled with "women who rock," and "Ina's Favorite Love Songs," dedicated to her husband Jeffrey, of course.
But I opted for "Ina Garten's Trip to Paris" playlist. Paris was the last place I visited before the world went into lockdown, so I knew it would bring back good memories. Plus, I just find French music to be really soothing, and I was a bit nervous about the long day of cooking.
I could have easily knocked back a few drinks, but it wasn't even noon and I was still on the clock. Time to cook!
I decided to start with Garten's most popular quarantine dish: Emily Blunt's English roasted potatoes.
Garten's fans went wild after she posted Blunt's secret family recipe, even temporarily crashing her "Barefoot Contessa" website.
"So sorry!!" she replied to one of her Instagram commenters. "So many people wanted the recipe that the site crashed. We're fixing it now. Try again soon. They're worth it!! Xxxx."
The "Mary Poppins" star first taught Garten how to make her family's roasted potatoes on a 2018 episode of "Barefoot Contessa," telling her the dish was a "staple in the Blunt household."
And the drink was just as delicious as it looked.
Despite my checkered past with vodka, I absolutely loved this cosmo. The orange flavor from the Cointreau, combined with the lime and cranberry, made for a super refreshing sip. I was worried that the drink would be too sweet, or the vodka would taste too strong, but all the flavors were perfectly balanced together.
Carrie Bradshaw may have had terrible taste in men, but she knew a great drink when she saw one!
Thankfully, my second attempt was seamless, and soon I had a beautiful pink drink in my hand.
I didn't have a martini glass (are you noticing a pattern here?), so I poured my drink into the largest wine glass I own to pay homage to Garten.
The hue of the cosmo was so fun, and much more vivid than I was expecting. I had always associated cosmos with the kind of dark and trendy Soho bars I first saw on "Sex and the City" reruns, but this looked like a refreshing summer cocktail fit for sipping on a rooftop.
About 10 seconds later, my living room was covered in bright-pink juice.
In her video, Garten instructs her followers to shake the cosmopolitan mixture for 30 seconds.
"You have lots of time," she tells them. "It's not a problem!"
But I barely got two shakes in before I realized that I had forgotten the very first rule of using a cocktail shaker: Holding the top of it.
I had never made my own cocktail before (unless you count pouring rum into a bottle of Coke), so I was feeling pretty impressed with myself.
There I was, in the one collared shirt I own, with my new cocktail shaker and a homemade cosmo on the way.
Next stop, Food Network!
Then I added two cups of vodka, one cup of Cointreau, one cup of cranberry juice cocktail, and the freshly-squeezed lime juice to a decanter.
I also don't own a pitcher, but Garten is all about making modifications in quarantine and so am I!
All together, the mixture made for a gorgeous bright-pink color that reminded me of watermelon juice. I couldn't wait to taste it, even with the vodka. I poured the cosmopolitan mixture into the cocktail shaker until it was ¾ full, and still had plenty leftover.
While Garten's recipe technically "makes one drink" if you're using a massive martini glass like she did, the "Barefoot Contessa" star cheekily notes that her recipe also makes six "regular-sized" drinks.
"I like to make a lot of cosmos," she told her followers. "You never know who's gonna stop by. Wait a minute, no one's stopping by!"
Garten's recipe calls for "freshly squeezed lime juice," so I began my morning by attacking three poor limes with a fork.
I don't own a juicer of any sort in my tiny Manhattan kitchen, but I had Garten's words for motivation as I gave my arms an early workout.
"It's gotta be freshly squeezed," she told her Instagram followers. "Very important."
Garten's favorite cosmopolitan only requires four ingredients.
I have to admit, I didn't actually have any of these ingredients in my apartment. My lockdown drink of choice has either been wine or White Claw, but even when I could go to a bar I stayed as far away from vodka as possible.
But I made an exception for the Barefoot Contessa, and picked up exactly what Garten used in the video: Grey Goose ("good vodka," as she says), Cointreau, limes, and some cranberry juice cocktail.
A day in the life as Ina Garten in lockdown has to begin with a massive cosmopolitan at 9:30 a.m.
Garten shared a video of herself whipping up a huge cosmopolitan bright and early on the morning of April 1, delighting her 2.7 million Instagram followers (myself included).
It’s always cocktail hour in a crisis! Recipe on barefootcontessa.com #staysafe
"It's always cocktail hour in a crisis!" she wrote in the caption.
Garten began the cocktail lesson by telling her viewers that, during these trying times, it's "really important to keep traditions alive."
"My favorite tradition is cocktail hour," she told them with a knowing smile. "So I'm going to make you my favorite cosmopolitan, and you probably have all the ingredients right in your house."
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