COOKBOOK REVIEW

Oh, Ina Garten! She lives a fabulous life in a fabulous house in East Hampton, N.Y., and is best buddies with florists, event planners and wine merchants.

They're always dropping by with dishes and props to make each of Garten's gatherings a sensation, and it's all chronicled on her Food Network show, "Barefoot Contessa."

Garten got her start as the owner of a specialty food store, so she may get some of the "not a real chef" backlash sometimes directed at flashy Food Network hosts.

But for my taste, the contessa's calm, unhurried kitchen manner projects confidence, authority and ease. And since she loves to party, her menus can't be but so complicated.

Thus, we have her new cookbook, "Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics: Fabulous Flavor From Simple Ingredients" (accompanied by new episodes of her TV show Saturdays at 1:30 p.m.).

The philosophy is to depend on fresh, high-quality ingredients and simple techniques, but to ramp it up with a shock of intense flavor.

What does Garten reach for? Elements as familiar and accessible as lemon juice, sea salt, wine vinegar and Parmesan cheese.

She explains this, and other lessons such as garnishing, cooking seasonally and formulating menus, in nine pages of introduction. Then she gets on with the real reason we're here: fabulous food ravishingly photographed by Quentin Bacon, no kidding.

Garten writes: "I want you to see the photograph and feel like licking the page."

Chapter headings are cocktail hour, soup, lunch, dinner, vegetables, dessert and breakfast, in that order.

Her Italian Wedding Soup was a satisfying project for one cold and windy Saturday morning. You bake meatballs of ground chicken, sausage and other flavorful stuff, then simmer them in stock with small pasta stars, celery, carrots, onions and fresh spinach. It sure puts into perspective the limits of canned soup.

Garten even makes broccoli company-worthy, by roasting it with garlic and olive oil, then tossing it with lemon zest and juice, pine nuts, Parmesan and basil.

My French Apple Tart wasn't as pretty as Garten's, but with a little practice, it will be.

I think Garten has the right idea: Work up a repertoire of basic recipes, then spark them up a bit. Her message is: You don't need to live in the Hamptons to eat like a contessa.
Contact Cindy Creasy at (804) 649-6434 or .