‘Barefoot Contessa’: This Ina Garten Chicken Recipe Takes No Time to Make — And It’s Loaded With Flavor
Barefoot Contessa star Ina Garten is no stranger to a delicious chicken dinner. The cookbook author and Food Network star has spent years crafting easy recipes for her audience — most of which use basic household ingredients. Her chicken with shallots dish is no exception — and takes only minutes to make.
‘Barefoot Contessa’ star Ina Garten has built her fan base by creating easy recipes
The purpose of Garten’s Food Network show is to give fans quick, doable recipes for every occasion, from weeknight dinners to holidays and dinner parties. Garten loves to entertain, but her recipes never get out of hand. Those who have seen her show or read her cookbooks might recognize that Garten uses almost only well-known ingredients that can be purchased at the local grocery store.
Garten doesn’t have any professional culinary training, and she’s said that this helps her better relate to fans. Garten revealed that, despite being in front of cameras, cooking is actually quite “hard” for her — and she learned everything she knows from Julia Child’s cookbooks.
Ina Garten’s chicken with shallots uses basic ingredients and is ready in no time
Ingredients:
4 boneless chicken breasts, skin on
Salt and pepper
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 cup dry white wine, such as Pinot Grigio
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1 large shallot, chopped
3 tablespoons heavy cream
1/2 stick butter, cut into cubes
Directions:
Preheat oven to 425. Season chicken generously with salt and pepper. Heat a cast iron skillet with 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken, skin side down, to the skillet. Cook 5 minutes. Flip chicken, then put the entire skillet in the oven for 12-15 minutes to allow chicken to cook through.
While the chicken cooks, add white wine, lemon juice, and shallot to a medium pan. Cook over medium high heat until mixture reduces down to 2 tablespoons — about 5 minutes.
Once sauce is reduced, add heavy cream, plus 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Add butter to pan and remove pan from heat. Swirl butter in pan to thicken sauce.
Remove chicken from the oven, and add chicken to a large plate. Pour sauce directly over chicken and serve.
Ina Garten has her husband to thank for her career
Garten might have a food empire now, but that wasn’t always the case. Growing up, she wasn’t anticipating becoming a celebrity chef. She married Jeffrey Garten in 1968, and the two moved to Washington D.C., where Garten originally was a housewife. But at Jeffrey’s encouragement, she pursued a career working in budgeting for the White House — and Jeffrey fully supported his wife when she wanted to make an even bigger change.
Garten saw a specialty foods store for sale in East Hampton, New York — a place neither her nor Jeffrey had ever been. He went with her to look at the property, and they purchased it on a whim. “I hold it all to Jeffrey,” Garten once said in an interview with Meredith Vieira.
