Back in November, my favorite Creampuff (yes, even more so than the kind you make with choux pastry!) and Lis, my Daring Baker Leaders, asked me if I was interested in doing a cookbook review.

I jumped at the chance, despite the growing mountain of boxes around me.

A few things delayed my original timeline, but I was thrilled to find myself opening a box with a brand new copy of The Barefoot Contessa's new book, Back to Basics.

Now it should be no surprise to anyone who knows me, or who's read my blog for awhile, but I am a Barefoot Contessa fan. (I'm liking my new house, and never want to move again, but despite that, if Ina's house suddenly became mine, I would not say no, I love that house!) With that love of her house, recipes, dishes, etc... I went into this cookbook happy and with a pad of post-it-notes, prepared to find lots of goodies I'd want to make.

I was not to be disappointed. When I had finished reading it, there were not less than 2 dozen pink notes sticking out of the tops and sides of my copy.

However, time, the grocery budget, and my cooking audience, meant that I had to narrow down my "to make" list and choose a few.

I started with the Parmesan-Roasted Broccoli, page 172, omitting the pine nuts because, we aren't that big a fan of pine nuts, and at $7.99/100 grams for pine nuts, well they didn't fit into the budget.

OMG! This was soooo good! Not only am I making this again, I am going to try it with green and yellow beans and asparagus. Simple ingredients, simple technique, but WOW results!

I should mention that in our house of 4 people, every time I try a new recipe, we "vote" on them with a thumbs up/thumbs down method — fist out in front of you at the table, on the count of 3, thumb goes up, down, sideways, partly up, or partially down. If the kids are highly enthusiastic about something, they will go to two thumbs, either up or down.

This got 3 thumbs up - one child decided he suddenly did not like broccoli, especially without ranch dip.
I subjected my little testers to Brownie Pudding next, found on page 218. Sorry, the pictures of this were awful, so you get the results of the recipe instead.

Let's just say that chocoholic me was the only one not to vote a straight thumbs up. It was good, I gave it a 3/4 thumbs up. But if we had waited until the next day and voted then, it would have been a full count 4. This "pudding" gets better with a night in the fridge, then a quick reheat.

This was a recipe the kids voted double thumbs up on, that will be requested by them again and again.

Next up on the sweets was the Apple Dried Cherry Turnovers, page 196. Or in this case, apple dried cranberry turnovers. I could not find dried cherries in 2 different stores.

This is a solid recipe, easy enough to make, that looks impressive and would look good on a breakfast tray. I didn't find them amazing, but they were good enough that the eight turnovers did not last long. This was a solid 3 thumbs up, despite my thought that they took more effort to make than the results justified.

Moving away from sweets, I had to try the Herb-Marinated Loin of Pork, page 126. This was actually the first item I saw when I opened the book up and it called out to me. Evidently out loud - my husband looked over my shoulder and commented, "That looks good."

And it was good. I reduced the recipe a bit, making 2 loins instead of 3, which was plenty for us, with a bit left over for lunch the next day. Again, simple ingredients, simple technique, wonderful results. I imagine this would be even better cooked over an outdoor grill, rather than my little kitchen one, but still, the vote over the platter was for an impressive 4 thumbs up!

I made the pork with the Confetti Corn, page 160. Another winner for the adults, a 3 thumbs up, as the children each voted half thumbs. Neither liked the basil or the yellow peppers, picky kids.
This is on my list of make again and make for company.

Do you get the feeling so far that I like this cookbook?

Last on my testing list was the Easy Sticky Buns, page 240. These were easy, I made them with the help of my youngest, who brushed the melted butter on the pastry and sprinkled the raisins, making them a good, "Let's bake with the kids project" but the results were not what I would have liked. They were good, tasty, but crispy, not a soft bun, and the sticky caramel hardened very quickly. Despite that, they were inhaled, none went to waste. A 3 1/2 thumbs up, or 5 1/2 if you count the double thumbs.

All together, I've been pretty happy with this book. I haven't tried to make anything very exotic, partially because there isn't anything like that here, it is about going back to basic's, after all. Some ingredients look like they would be a bit pricy, but true to form, Ina does include sources for these items, and where she can, a preferred brand. The brand isn't always helpful to those of use who live outside the US, but could always be added to my shopping list for my next trip to the States.

I'd give this a 3 3/4 thumbs up all together. Heck, it even passes Jasmine’s "lays flat on the counter" test! If you are a fan of big flavors that aren't nouvelle cuisine, this is a book for you.

Now I'm going to go make some Raisin Oatmeal Cookies, page 214, and see if they are as good as my usual recipe!

This review was written by a long-time Daring Baker: Jenny of All Things Edible.