Giveaway: BK Cookbook Winner, & Barefoot Contessa Giveaway [closed]

Posted by Cara and Phoebe - October 31st 2010


Thank you to everyone who participated in our Giveaway for The New Brooklyn Cookbook. We asked you what restaurant dish you were dying to recreate at home, and chose a winner randomly from the list of commenters. Congrats to reader Emily! (And check out her blog, The Very Hungry Grad Student!)

Here’s what Emily had to say:

On our first dinner date, my boyfriend and I went to an old school Italian restaurant in Hells Kitchen (we were truly the only patrons under 65) and I ordered orecchiette with broccoli rabe and sausage for the first time. We haven’t been back to that restaurant since (and I honestly can’t remember its name), but orecchiette and broccoli rabe became my fave dish to order at our favorite local restaurant, Pisticci, tucked away in a corner of Morningside Heights. My bf was converted too. Now that we’ve moved into our own place and a little further downtown, broccoli rabe/sausage/pasta of our choosing has become a staple in our homecooking repertoire.

For those of you still dying to recreate the scallop dish from Saul’s restaurant, check back here for the recipe from The New Brooklyn Cookbook!

Now, on to the next. Earlier this week we gave you a sneak peak of Ina Garten’s new cookbook, How Easy Is That? We hope you enjoyed Ina’s wisdom as much as we did, and we’re thrilled to give one of you lucky readers the opportunity to win a copy of your own!

To enter the Barefoot Contessa How Easy Is That? Giveaway, you must:

  • Be a subscriber to our newsletter. (we’ll check!!)
  • Become a fan on Facebook. (We recently moved to a new page. Make sure you join this one for all the latest news!)
  • Leave a comment below and tell us about the tip, trick, or tool that makes your life in the kitchen that much easier.
  • (Optional) Tweet about this contest @BGSK and receive an extra entry!
We’ll announce the randomly selected winner next week!

Good luck :)

From our kitchen, albeit small, to yours,

Cara & Phoebe, THE QUARTER-LIFE COOKS


Posted in: Giveaway

Other posts you may enjoy:

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=703840437 Abby Himes

    My favorite cooking trick is to buy a rotisserie chicken to use for recipes and cut time and work down. Cooking for just the hubs and I, we can usually stretch it to two different meals.

  • Anonymous

    I LOVE my bread machine-even if I’m making rolls, I use it to make dough because I can just set it up with ingredients and let it go. All I have to do is shape, let rise once more, and I’m good to go!

  • Alisha

    It’s kind of sad but my absolute favorite kitchen tool is a garlic grinder. It makes my life so much easier and keeps my fingers from smelling for days on end! It was the best $20 I’ve ever spent.

  • http://opii-thoughts.blogspot.com/ Martha

    I like to be completely prepared when cooking a dish. I will read the recipe a couple of times and make sure that I have all of the ingredients. Either the day before or way before I am ready to cook I will start gathering my ingredients and measure them. I will prepare the ingredients and place them in prep dishes or bags (if I am doing it the night before) and have them in order by which I will use them.

    Doing this ensures that I do not forget an ingredient and I don’t have to rush to chop something up if things go wrong. Also it makes cooking faster and more enjoyable because I am not stressing over it.

    I don’t really have a favorite tool because I have a ton of things I love to use while cooking. Although I do love having a food processor when I have to grate a lot of cheese.

  • Tilaturtle

    I recently learned to ditch my sifter and simply use a whisk to aerate and combine my dry ingredients in a bowl. This made making Halloween cupcakes much easier.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=717928676 Courtney Ho

    I wish I could take my Kitchen Aid stand mixer and make it my third arm. Okay, that sounds (slightly) odd, but I really do love using my stand mixer! Before I got one, my life/kitchen was just so extraordinarily messy, difficult, and unorganized. I bake as much as I can - usually once a week - and my stand mixer has just made my life so much easier because I work with dough all the time. My favorite cookies are shortbread cookies (110% butter), and I love putting raspberry jelly to make linzer cookies, or simply dip it in semi-sweet chocolate (I got that idea from Barefoot Contessa!).

    Please note: I’m an undergraduate student in New York, and I love/obsessed with Ina Garten (and your blog, of course)! She’s awesome. Watching her show has really made me appreciate food even more.

    Thanks!

  • http://www.bonniethebaker.com Bonnie Lewis

    I always keep a can of cream of mushroom soup handy to make a casserole when we need a quick meal!

  • Erika W.

    My spice jar measuring spoons are a god send. Now instead of fighting with my normal measuring spoons to try to get the right measurements while spilling cinnamon, ginger, what have you all over the counter. I can just slip these bad boys into the container and come out with a perfect measurement each time.

    Also I made the Mocha Icebox Cake, from Ina’s book, today and let me just say that it was a hit!

    Keep up the good work!

  • Katherinemazur

    Me and my boyfriend always have homemade infused olive oils on hand. Our favorites include garlic, basil, and chili. This way, it cuts back time chopping and measuring spices and seasonings… and adds some serious flavor!

  • Kate

    Since there are only two of us, I love my toaster oven. It cooks many things without the hassle of firing up the oven or the sogginess that comes from the microwave.

  • K_bakka

    My Kitchen Aid mixer… I use it for everything. Cookies to Mash Potatoes! It is a life saver and an arm saver!

  • Emily J.

    My favorite tip is pretty simple, but saves a lot of cleanup time. I always line the bottom of a casserole dish or pan (when baking salmon, chicken, pork loin) with tin foil. It keeps the bottom clean so that when it comes to dishes time (no dishwasher) the mess it a lot easier to clean up. Nothing is burnt and stuck to the bottom!

  • http://otm-inthegalley.blogspot.com/ SeattleDee

    Does a kitchen combo count? My best kitchen combo is a terrific set of knives plus an electric knife sharpener. Both travel with me when I do the seasonal move from home to boat (and the reverse).

  • http://cmepodolski.blogspot.com Christine

    Before we had the room for a Kitchen Aid mixer, I invested in a Cuisinart hand blender deluxe (it has an immersion blender, 2 cup liquid measure, whisk and small food processor) I use the blender attachment for quick soups, to mix eggs for the fluffiest omelts and as Ina suggests to whip some air into hot cocco. The whip for whipped cream and the food processor for salad dressings to pasta dough!

    It’s my number one tool for a small kitchen where space is at a premium!

  • Helen

    Funny that you ask… as I spent the day cooking yesterday I remarked to myself that I don’t know what I did before I had my food processor and my garlic press. Definitely the most used tools in my kitchen!

  • Amanda

    My bamboo cutting board makes my life that much easier in the kitchen. Not only is the best for my knives, but it fits nicely over my double sink and expands my prep space considerably in a small apartment kitchen. Plus, it’s pretty enough to serve cheese and fruit on! One less serving platter to store in my limited cabinet space.

  • Mrsamybarrett

    Fb fan :)

  • Mrsamybarrett

    I keep a grocery sack out on the counter to throw food scraps and whatnot in while I’m prepping for a meal. Makes clean up all the more easy afterward!

  • Aimee

    Definitely the Kitchen Aid. And a flexible cutting mat - it works great for things like onions and garlic that I’m going to be adding to a pan after chopping!

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=623870655 Hillary Tisman

    When chopping onions, forget the fancy goggles or keeping a piece of white bread in your mouth. Instead, stick the onion in your freezer for about 10-15 minutes before slicing into it. The cold will freeze the cells slightly, and the onion will release less gas, making your eyes tear far less.

    • http://www.biggirlssmallkitchen.com/ BGSK

      Hillary,

      Where have you been all my life? I’ve never heard this!! Will have try immediately.

      Thank you!!

      -phoebe

      • Hillary Tisman

        How’d it work?

  • http://ducksoven.blogspot.com/ Chelsea

    The dough hook on my KitchenAid has definitely made my life easier. Now, my hands can be busy cooking another part of dinner while my KitchenAid does all the kneading for me! :)

  • Joanna

    For mixing dough (I find this especially helpful for muffins and home-made breads) buy a tool called a “danish dough whisk”-they’re kind of strange looking but they making mixing dough SO much easier. Rather than having all of your dough stuck on a wooden spoon, the dough is mixed without sticking to the two interlocking loops of the dough whisk. I found mine at a kitchen supply store on 8th street in NY for under 10 bucks!

  • Kate S

    In the true spirit of Ms. Garten: Food Processor!

  • Anonymous

    My KitchenAid mixer! I have bad carpal tunnel syndrome, but I bake a lot, so my KitchenAid is a life saver.

  • http://www.brebeauty.com Brebeauty

    One of the best tricks is to microwave your lemons (or other citrus fruits) for 20 seconds to yield the most juice. I cook with lemon a lot and this really works. I love Ina and her white button downs, chicken dishes for Jeffrey and her “how bad can that be?” :)

  • Lauren O

    Parchment paper! It ensures that your food doesn’t stick and it makes for easy cleanup!!! I got that tip from watching the Barefoot Contessa!

  • Molly

    my favorite kitchen tip is keeping greek yogurt around. it’s delicious in the morning with fruit, as a marinade or sauce at dinner with spices and veggies, and even as dessert sweetened with honey. i use it all the time. i’ll make tzakiki and have it as a snack with pita at least once or twice a month.

  • Momentsthatmakealife

    I am a follower!

  • Momentsthatmakealife

    My scraper blade on my Kitchen Aid mixer helps me whip up things faster. No need to stop and scrape the bowl!

  • Momentsthatmakealife

    I tweeted abou the giveaway @momentsinalife

  • Frankie

    My best buddies in the pantry are tomato paste and garlic paste in the tube!

  • Katie

    My favorite cooking tool is my casserole dish! From frittatas to buffalo chicken dip at tailgates, it’s taken my college food to a whole new level.

  • Chstugeon

    My favorite tool is a potato ricer I picked up at Goodwill. My mom has a new one and it just isn’t the heavy duty contraption that this is. Either way, though, a ricer makes mashed potatoes absolutely divine. My other trick with potatoes is to add liberal amounts of garlic salt and black pepper. Yum! I have yet to taste anyone’s potatoes that are better than mine.

  • Tekmorrison

    My favorite time saver is to clean while I cook! It makes the “after mess” so much more manageable and less stressful.

  • Barbara Palermo

    My kenwood food processor: I use it for everything!

  • Jessicacody86

    My favorite kitchen tool has to be my french mandoline. It cuts everything to perfect uniform shape very quickly, leaving me extra time to prep for my meals. It also takes up very little space, which is useful in a tiny apartment kitchen!

  • http://theveryhungrygradstudent.wordpress.com Emily Hainze

    Thanks so much for the cookbook and the blog shout-out! As a former Brooklynite, I’m really excited about these recipes!

  • http://www.facebook.com/kasey.chaos Kasey Karen

    My favorite tool is the microplane - it makes it so easy to have freshly grated parmesan cheese.

  • http://twitter.com/HannahLue Hannah Lue

    My own two hands. I recently starting making yeast doughs at home, and because I don’t have a mixer with a dough hook… well mixer period, I knead with my own two hands. I’ve even started making pasta dough by hand. I made all of these things in culinary school, but we used big commercial mixers and such, making it at home without such equipment has me in awe of everything our hands can do!

  • Katie

    Two words: Rice cooker. :)

  • Stacy_matson

    The kitchen aid stand mixer makes baking a ton easier than the handheld. Best trick in the book!

  • Tallyliz

    For years I swore I would never own a rice cooker (Why own an appliance that is only meant for ONE purpose?). But, now I find myself with one, and I love it! Not only will it cook rice, but it steams veggies and fish beautifully.

  • Gardengirlava

    I love all of Ina’s hints on making life easier in the kitchen. I watch her everyday. Using the microwave to melt chocolates, making your own chicken broth, etc. I love the way she uses everyday utensiles to stir and scoop, nothing fancy, just plain old spoons and forks. Her receipts are great and her hints are fabulous.
    Thanks Ina - Phyl

  • Heidi Sauser

    My favorite tools: several small skillets. I live alone and mostly cook for myself, so I have several non-stick skillets that I can use to make eggs, sauces, small amounts of sauteed veggies, fish, almost anything! Clean up is really quick and, since I live in a tiny studio in NYC, sink space is limited, that is a major time saver!

  • Lisa

    My favorite tip -and I don’t know HOW or WHY it works, but it DOES!- is to rub the cut tip of a cucumber or zucchini vigorously over the other cut end of the remaining large piece. As you do this you will see a white, sticky sap collecting around the edges and THAT, my friends, is the bitterness being sucked out of the skins and the flesh!
    Just slice off the tip and rub for a minute and shazam! If in doubt, just taste that white sap!

    • Lisa

      I hope I made myself clear. Rub not the tip, but the sliced edges of the cucumber after cutting off the tip!

  • http://belleonheels.blogspot.com sarah g

    i’m with alisha on the garlic grinder. i HATE chopping garlic and it just makes it so much easier.

  • Lspuck

    I record “The Barefoot Contessa” tv program almost every day. I’ve learned some great tips and shortcuts.

  • Christine Brown

    I’m a subscriber of the newsletter! :)

  • Christine Brown

    I tweeted the giveaway twitter.com/_chrissyb_

  • Christine Brown

    For “dressing”, you can substitute chicken for turkey. Just use cut up chicken breasts in your dressing. The rest can be used in a Waldorf salad!

  • Christine Brown

    I became a fan on facebook!

  • Maria

    The kitchen tool I can’t live without is a little gadget called an egg separator (from Pampered Chef, to be specific). When I used to use only my hands, somehow I always seemed to get my last egg to break its yolk. This handy gadget does the trick every time, and it even has a notch that lets me hook it to the rim of my bowl so that I use both hands to work. A real time saver!

  • Mbmitchell

    I love my food processor. DOn’t know what I did before my husband gave me one. There are so many uses for it.

  • Janeth_s_t

    For me the tools that I can not miss in my kitchen is pan lids, recently my sister and I moved out from my mother’s house and well, she keep it all, so, we now realize how much we need it and we’ll have to buy a new cookware…

  • Sara0711

    i am a subscriber!

  • Sara0711

    i am a FB fan too

  • Sara0711

    my tip is to get your kids to help. Mine love to peel vegetables, slice them up, even do the dishes!!

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