Ina Garten and Jeffrey Garten’s 2022 Valentine’s Day Menu Is Barefoot Contessa Perfection
Feb. 14 is almost here and Ina Garten Valentine’s Day menu is the perfect way to celebrate. It comes complete with special, festive dishes. Think pops of red and pink plus lots of chocolate. To make it even sweeter it’s not just the celebrity chef‘s picks, it’s Jeffrey Garten’s menu too.
Ina Garten’s Valentine’s Day menu starts with raspberry cocktails
Garten’s Valentine’s Day menu kicks off with a festive cocktail. Listed on Garten’s official Barefoot Contessa website under, “Ina and Jeffrey’s Valentine’s Day Menu,” is a collection of fitting Barefoot Contessa dishes for the occasion.
The first is a cocktail in a pinkish-red hue. Garten serves up Raspberry Royales.
Like most of her simple Barefoot Contessa recipes, the berry-infused cocktail only requires a few ingredients: fresh raspberries, champagne, and raspberry liqueur.
Garten’s Valentine’s Day menu features a filet of beef as the main course and 2 sides
Next is the main course and sides. The star of Garten’s Valentine’s Day menu is Filet of Beef. A main course that looks fancy but is actually really easy to make, according to Garten, requires a clean oven or disaster may strike.
As she once explained on her Food Network show, Barefoot Contessa, a clean oven is a must when making Filet of Beef.
“Now the key to this is you have to have a really clean oven,” she said. “Otherwise, you’re going to smoke everybody out of the house.”
The reason the oven has to be spotless is the 500 degree Fahrenheit cooking temperature.
Alongside the Filet of Beef Garten serves Puréed Potatoes with Lemon — the citrus is for extra flavor — and Roasted Cherry Tomatoes.
Once again the recipes are simple. All it takes is six ingredients to make the Modern Comfort Food author’s potatoes and roasted tomatoes.
Garten boils and mashes Yukon Gold potatoes before combining them with butter, salt, pepper, lemon zest, and whole milk.
Then she puts cherry tomatoes on a sheet pan, her most-used kitchen tool, and roasts them after they’ve been tossed in olive oil, salt, pepper, and fresh basil.
Want to make Garten’s lemony potatoes ahead of time? It’s doable. But Garten suggests making them the same day they’re going to be served because lemon gets bitter the longer it sits.
She advises making the potatoes without the zest, reheating them, and adding the lemon right before serving.
Garten’s Dark Chocolate Tart is her pick for a Valentine’s Day dessert
Is any Valentine’s Day menu complete without chocolate? Judging by Garten’s dessert pick for her Valentine’s Day menu she’s certainly a fan. She puts chocolate on chocolate on chocolate with her decadent Dark Chocolate Tart.
First, the 74-year-old makes a chocolate crust using storebought chocolate wafers. Then she uses bittersweet chocolate and cream to make a luscious filling. Finally, she tops the whole thing with a chocolate glaze and flaked sea salt.
Yet again, the final dish might seem fancy but it’s actually easy to make. Garten’s Dark Chocolate Tart is considered a recipe a beginner can make. So grab an apron and head to the kitchen to make Garten’s Valentine’s Day menu and prepare for a how easy is that? moment.
