Barefoot Contessa (2002–…): Season 21, Episode 5 - Best of Barefoot: Cheese - full transcript

I'm Ina Garten,
the Barefoot Contessa.

I'm having a party,
and you're invited.

Surprise!

Happy birthday!

Let the celebrations begin.

It's my friend's birthday,
and it's time to celebrate

with an incredible
moveable feast onboard her boat

for a star-light cruise
around Manhattan.

How great is that?

Jeffrey and I
are taking dinner as her gift.

I'm making a wonderful
hot-smoked salmon



with a fresh dill sauce.

Jeffrey's bringing salads

from our friend
Eli Zabar's store, E.A.T.

Then there's
a birthday surprise --

a carrot cake
with ginger-mascarpone frosting.

Wherever you go, wherever
you want to have a party,

this is the formula
for dinner to go,

and it's gonna be
one heck of a celebration.

To Jane!
Yay!

-- Captions by VITAC --

Closed Captions provided by
Scripps Networks, LLC.

When my friend Jane Hoffman
invited us

for a birthday dinner
on her boat, I thought,

"I know exactly
what I'm gonna bring



for her birthday present --
dinner."

I've got two pounds of king
salmon -- it's wild salmon.

I think it has a little
more flavor, but you can
use any kind of salmon.

I'm making hot-smoked salmon
for the main course.

It's not only delicious
and a real celebration,

but it's very transportable
for a boat.

So, I'm gonna make a marinade
for it that goes on the top.

So, that's 1/4 cup
of granulated sugar.

I need 1/4 cup
of dark brown sugar.

The molasses
in the dark brown sugar

really helps it caramelize
when it cooks.

I need 2 tablespoons of salt.

1 tablespoon of
coarsely-ground black pepper.

And next is a tablespoon
of lemon zest --

gives it lots of flavor.

So, what I'm doing is,
I'm making a rub, basically,

that goes on the top of it.

I'm putting it
on the night before

so it really
gets into the salmon.

And then tomorrow,
I'm gonna hot-smoke it.

Basically, what that is,

is it gives it the flavor
of smoked salmon,

but it's still so moist
like poached salmon.

Okay, that should be
about a tablespoon.

Right into the marinade.

So, I'm just gonna mix this up
with my fingers

and then put it right on top.

What I've done is,
cut a two-pound piece of salmon

into six pieces.

It's easier to cut it now than
it is later, after it's cooked.

And what's gonna happen is,
the salt and the sugar and lemon

are gonna get into the salmon,

and it's gonna also
extract some of the juices,

so it's gonna make a marinade.

I'm so looking forward
to tomorrow night.

I think what we're gonna do is,
take the boat

down the Hudson River
to the Statue of Liberty,

and then come all the way around
and come back up in Manhattan

with the lights twinkling
at night.

It's so gorgeous.

I'm just gonna put it in a dish
and put it in the refrigerator,

and that's all I have to do
tonight.

Everything else is tomorrow.

So, tonight, we're having
a birthday celebration,

and of course, you have to
have a birthday cake.

Everybody loves carrot cake
for birthday cake,

and I thought, "I'm gonna
really turn up the volume."

Instead of just plain
cream-cheese frosting,

I'm gonna add mascarpone to it.

And in the carrot cake itself,

I'm putting in crystallized
ginger to give it great heat.

It's gonna be
a really fabulous carrot cake.

Okay, so I have
a pound of carrots.

Now the batter --
I need 2 cups of sugar...

1 1/3 cups of vegetable oil...

three eggs.

I use extra-large eggs
for everything.

And room-temperature eggs
are really important --

so they mix
into the batter well.

That goes in.

And 1 teaspoon
of pure vanilla extract.

Okay, I'm just gonna mix this
for two minutes

until the batter is light-yellow
in color and quite thick.

Okay, now the dry ingredients.

So, it's just 2 cups of flour...

2 teaspoons
of ground cinnamon...

2 teaspoons of baking soda...

and 1 1/2 teaspoons
of kosher salt.

And then they just get sifted
together,

just to be sure
there aren't any lumps.

Okay, now I'm gonna put
the dry ingredients

into the wet ingredients.

Just turn this on low

and just very slowly
mix them in.

If you put them in too fast,

the flour can get
all clumped together.

Nobody wants clumped flour
in their cake.

This actually
smells good already.

The cinnamon and vanilla --
two of my favorite flavors.

Okay.
Now for the good stuff.

So, I'm gonna mix together the
pound of carrots that I grated.

Carrot cake's really easy
to make, and I love it.

Cup of chopped walnuts.

Cup of raisins.

If you love raisins,
you can add more.

And then 1/4 cup
of crystallized ginger.

It's also in the frosting,

but it's nice
if it's in the cake, too.

Crystallized ginger is really
hot and sweet at the same time,

and I just thought with carrots
and raisins and walnuts,

I thought it would be
just great in it.

I think Jane's
gonna love this cake.

Okay, that should be
about 1/4 cup.

If you like it hotter,
you can always add more.

Then I'm just gonna add
about a tablespoon of flour,

and that's just gonna
keep it from sinking to
the bottom of the cake.

You don't want all the carrots
and raisins in the bottom.

You want them sort of suspended
in the cake batter.

Okay. All mixed together.

Now it's time to put it
into the batter.

Just clean
the beater off.

There's a lot of batter
on the beater.

And just to make sure
it's really well mixed,

I always scrape
the bottom of the bowl.

Okay, now I'm gonna add
all these ingredients.

There's, like, more carrots
than there is batter,

which is why
it's such a good carrot cake.

And just fold it in
with the spatula

until it's really well mixed.

Oh, my goodness,
does this look good.

Okay.

I've greased and floured
two 9-inch pans.

And, actually, I've lined them
also with parchment paper,

'cause, as I've often said,

there's no point in making
a cake if you can't get it
out of the pan.

I'm just gonna pour this
into the two pans.

You want to divide
the batter evenly

so the cakes cook
exactly the same amount of time.

It's all one cake at the end,

but I want to be able
to frost the middle.

So, it looks like there's
a little more in this one,

so I'm just gonna transfer it.

If you want to be exact, you
can always use a little scale.

Okay.
Into the oven --

400 degrees for 10 minutes,

then I'm gonna lower
the temperature to 350

and bake them
for 30 to 35 minutes

until a toothpick
comes out clean.

Next, amazing mascarpone
frosting for the cake.

Then I'm smoking the salmon,

whipping up
the fresh dill sauce,

and heading to the city
to say "Happy Birthday"

to Jane with
a delicious moveable feast.

Yay!

Every birthday party
needs a birthday cake,

so I thought
Jane would love a carrot cake

with mascarpone frosting.

The cakes have cooled,
and I've made the frosting.

Let me show you how I make it.

First, 12 ounces of
room-temperature mascarpone

with 4 ounces of
room-temperature cream cheese,

2 cups of
sifted confectioner's sugar,

2 tablespoons of heavy cream,

1/2 teaspoon
of pure vanilla extract,

and I just beat it
for about a minute

until it's light and fluffy.

Then 1/3 of a cup of
minced, crystallized ginger --

not the kind in syrup, the dry
kind, just like in the batter.

And 1/4 of a teaspoon
of kosher salt,

and just beat it
for about 30 seconds.

Mmm.
Time to frost the carrot cake.

So, I'm gonna take one layer

and put it
right on my disk...

very carefully.

It fits perfectly.

So, it's a 9-inch cake,
and I have a 10-inch disk.

And this cake
is a little different.

What I've done is,

instead of frosting
the whole thing --

sometimes
kind of makes a mess --

I'm gonna frost
the middle and the top,

and then you can
really see the carrot cake

through the whole thing --
And it certainly is easier.

And you don't go all the way
to the edge

because when
the second layer goes on,

it's gonna push it out
a little bit.

Mmm.
It's looking good.

Okay, and then the second layer.

If you want a cake
with a perfectly flat top,

you can actually flip this over,
because the underside is flat.

But I want it to look
old-fashioned

like a carrot cake --
little rounded top.

See how great it looks

with the frosting sort
of peeking out in the middle?

And then the rest
of the frosting on the top.

And just frost the top.

Mmm!

And then,
because I want everybody to know

that there's ginger in it,

I have a little extra
crystallized ginger

to just sprinkle on the top.

This is gonna be perfect for
the birthday dinner tonight --

little cruise around Manhattan.

You won't believe
how beautiful this boat is.

The boat is a 75-foot
motor yacht called Justice.

It was built in the 1930s
for high-speed luxury,

and a guy used it
for a one-hour commute

from Connecticut to Wall Street.

He'd have breakfast and a shower
on the way to the city

and cocktails on the way home.

Back then, there were two
or three dozen commuter boats

making that trip,
but there are very few left.

The captain is Bryan Akers

and his wife, Cori,
as the first mate.

They keep the boat ship-shape,

and they're very busy
getting ready before a cruise.

I was so excited when Jane
and Michael dreamt up the idea

of a birthday cruise
down the Hudson.

Looks like we're gonna have
a really good sunset tonight.

It'll be fun to have
Ina and Jeffrey down.

So, I'm ready to cook
the hot-smoked salmon.

So, I've got hot coals.

It's a little bit of a process,
but it's really worth doing.

It makes
incredibly delicious salmon.

So, I'm gonna have one layer
of coals -- very hot coals.

So, I've got hot coals
on the grill.

And I've soaked wood chips --
these are mesquite,

but you can use oak,
whatever you like --

on one half of it,
and you're gonna see,

they're gonna start to smoke,
but just on one half.

And then I'm gonna take
a foil pan

and put it on the other side
of the grill.

A little bit of a process,
but it's really worth it.

I'm gonna put a little water
in the pan...

and then the grill goes on top.

And what this is about is,

the chips create smoke
to make the hot-smoked salmon,

but I'm gonna put the fish
directly over the pan,

and, so, anything that drips
into the fire

isn't gonna flare up and
incinerate my gorgeous salmon.

So, I've got the salmon that's
been marinating overnight.

I'm just gonna take a little bit
of the marinade off the top.

A little bit of salt.

Then I'm just gonna put it
on the grill

right over the grill pan.

I've got six pieces.
It should be perfect.

This is perfect
portable food

because it actually
tastes better served
at room temperature.

It's gonna be wonderful
with the fresh dill sauce.

That's gonna cook
for about 10 minutes,

then I'm gonna come back
and check on it,

cook it for another 5.

Looking good!

Next, it's fresh dill sauce

to go with the fabulous
hot-smoked salmon.

Then, I'm packing up
my birthday-gift dinner

for an unforgettable cruise
around Manhattan.

- Happy birthday!
- Thank you!

My friend Jane and her
husband, Michael, have
an incredible boat,

and they've invited us
for a birthday dinner,

so I offered to bring dinner --
That's the birthday present.

To go with
the hot-smoked salmon,

I'm making fresh dill sauce,
which is great with it.

This is a team effort.

I'm making
the salmon and dessert,

and Jeffrey's getting
salads in the city.

So, I need 1/2 cup
of mayonnaise.

This is a really easy sauce to
make -- no cooking, my favorite.

1/2 cup of sour cream.

What did we used to do
before we had food processors?

I can't even imagine.

1/2 cup of yogurt.

This gives it
a really nice, complex flavor.

2 tablespoons of
room-temperature cream cheese.

It's really important
that it's room temperature.

Otherwise, it'll never mix in.

1/2 cup of scallions.

I'm just gonna give it
a rough chop

'cause I'm gonna puree them
in the food processor.

This is gonna give it
lots of onion flavor.

This has nice herbs in it.

It's got dill, parsley,
and lots of scallions.

Okay, big, rough chop.

Right into the food processor.

1/2 cup of chopped fresh dill.

I just run my knife
right along the stems.

Okay, that should be
about 1/2 cup.

Right in.

And about 1/4 cup
of fresh parsley.

I use flat-leaf parsley.

You can use whatever you have
around the house.

Just big, rough chop.

This is a really complex,
herby flavor, which is nice.

It'll be great
with the hot-smoked salmon.

It's just smoking away outside.

Okay, into the food processor.

1 teaspoon of grated lemon zest.

That really is
where all the flavor is in this.

So, it's about one lemon.

I want the sauce
to have so much flavor

so it really stands up
to the hot-smoked salmon.

Okay, that's the zest.

Now I'm gonna put in
2 tablespoons

of freshly-squeezed
lemon juice.

My little strainer.

I don't want to be
pureeing seeds into this.

Yikes!

This is really basically
a classic herb sauce,

so you can use it
for anything --

any kind of fish,
for vegetables, for crudités.

It's really good.
It's got lots of flavor.

Okay, 2 teaspoons of salt.

1 teaspoon of pepper.

And just puree it.

Okay, I've got
one more thing to put in

that's gonna be really fresh,
and it's cucumber.

So, I'm just gonna
grate a cucumber.

I'm using a hothouse cucumber.

I know it says it doesn't
have seeds, but, you know,

it really does, just a few,
so I'm gonna take them out.

Box grater.

I'm just gonna cut it in half.

It's twice as fast.

Just need 1 cup
of grated cucumber to go in.

The captain and his wife
are getting the boat ready

for us to set sail at sunset.

Such a gorgeous time of day
to sail down the Hudson,

and I love to see New York
that way.

I think today,
we're gonna have a great time.

Good weather, great people.

This is gonna be amazing.

Okay, I've got about
a cup of grated cucumber --

that's exactly what I need --
goes right in.

I'm just gonna pulse it
just to mix it in.

Okay, that's all mixed in now --
Just taste it

and make sure the flavors
are really well balanced.

Mmm, I love the way this looks.

Mmm.

You taste everything --
the yogurt and the sour cream,

the dill, the scallions.

It's gonna be so good
with the hot-smoked salmon.

Have sauce, will travel.

Next, I'm getting the hot-smoked
salmon off the grill,

then it's a moveable feast
with wonderful friends

watching
the New York City skyline go by.

I'm making hot-smoked salmon
for a birthday dinner,

but this
is no ordinary birthday dinner.

We're taking a sunset cruise
down the Hudson

and around
the Statue of Liberty.

It's gonna be amazing.

So, the salmon's been cooking.

I just need to add
more wood chips to the coals

just to make sure
it keeps smoking.

It's gonna be moist
and delicious.

So, I'm just gonna put it
right in the grill.

You can see it really start
to smoke right away.

Put the lid back on
for about 5 to 10 minutes.

I want to just undercook it
so it's really moist.

Okay, while I'm cooking, the
captain and his wife are there

setting up the entire boat
for a party.

Oh, these orange Ranunculus
are so beautiful.

I believe those
are Ina's favorite colors.

We're really looking forward
to doing this today.

This is gonna be a lot of fun.

So, I think
the hot-smoked salmon's done.

I'm just gonna test.

Whoa, does that look good.

Perfect --
I want it a little bit underdone

'cause I want it, really,
to rest on the plate.

It's gonna keep cooking
a little bit.

So, when I was thinking about
making a moveable feast,

I thought there are
sort of three things I
wanted to keep in mind.

One is that I wanted it
to travel well,

be okay after an hour or two
in the car.

Second one is that it be served
at room temperature --

makes it really easy.

And the last thing is,
I really want food

that just goes straight
onto the serving platter --

not a lot of fiddling
around at the last minute.

Okay, I'm gonna pack up
the food,

and then I'm gonna head
to the city.

Jeffrey's picking up some salads
to go with it.

This is my kind of party.

- Hi, babe.
- Hi!

How you doing?

Mwah! Isn't this great?
What a great night we got.

It is gonna be
fantastic.

- Hi, guys.
- Hey.

So good
to see you!

Hey,
good to see you.

Let me take
that for you.

I'm not gonna fall
in the drink?
No.

Brought all kinds
of goodies.

Thank you.

Oh, this
is gonna be great.

This is
gonna be fun.

- Hi, Cori.
- Hi!

I brought dinner
for everybody.

That's
the salmon...
All right.

...and this
is the dill sauce...
Okay.

...and I brought salads
from E.A.T.

Okay,
I'll plate it all up.

Thank you so much.
Okay.

She's the best.

Isn't that amazing?

And the best part
is, you guys are here.

No,
that's not the best part.

The best part --
you guys are here.

Oh.
This is heaven.

This is
beyond heaven.
Beyond heaven.

Hi, Cori.
Hi.

Here's your salmon.

You did that
beautifully.
Thank you.

So, it's salmon

that has the texture
of poached salmon,

but it's
hot-smoked.

Oh, that
sounds incredible!

So, I hope
you like it.

Oh, it's gonna be
delicious.

I have the lovely
dill sauce.
Oh, good.

Did you
make it?
No.

But I tasted it.
It was delicious.
Thank you.

Look at these salads --
they look terrific!

When you're on the water,
everything tastes better.

It really does.
How amazing.

Very tasty.

Very, very tasty.
Thank you.

Mmm.
It's delicious!
Oh, good.

Fantastic!

Oh, there's
The New Yorker sign!

Do you see it?

Oh, yeah!
There's The New Yorker sign!

Is it a hotel?
No, it's
for the magazine.

Happy birthday,
Jane.

Oh, it looks
beautiful!

Thank you!
That's all
for you.

I'm so excited!

Yay!

Oh, my God!
Look, guys!

Look!
Look!
Statue of Liberty.

Whoa!

Okay, now
we do have it. There we go.

Yay!
Yay!

Cheers! Yay!
To Jane!
Cheers!