Advice from a pro: Ina Garten’s lessons are perfect for any home cook

By Andrew Warren TV Media

Cooking at home can be such a joy, but as a home cook, it sometimes doesn’t take much to make me feel like I’m in over my head. After all, professional chefs can spend years studying at culinary school apprenticing under accomplished chefs and decades perfecting their craft. How’s a home cook supposed to keep up with that?

Well, we at home may never be able to achieve the culinary mastery that the likes of Gordon Ramsay or Tom Colicchio have accom ing: she herself is self-taught, relying mainly on cookbooks and feedback from family and friends, and in her long-running Food Network series, she shares all of that helpful cooking advice.

“Barefoot Contessa: Cook Like a Pro” currently airs Sundays on Food Network, and in this week’s March 25 episode, the helpful host shows how to make some amazing one-dish meals that don’t require any sides.

First, she makes a one-pot meal that’s quick and easy to throw together but big and hearty enough to feed an entire dinner party: tender lamb shanks and orzo. Then is a lighter but no less tasty option for a one-dish meal, and she finishes off the lesson with mouthwatering baked polenta with mushrooms and blue cheese.

Through every dish, Garten patiently explains each step and the reasoning behind it — there’s nothing archaic or mysterious here. Being self-trained herself, she knows exactly what steps and techniques can trip up a home cook but also knows how to tackle them.

Every home cook wants to cook like a pro, and Ina Garten is someone who’s been in that exact place. She shares her best advice in “Barefoot Contessa: Cook Like a Pro,” Sundays on Food Network.

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