Barefoot Contessa + Tyler Florence (and Winter Slaw)

Did you see the new Barefoot Contessa episode with Tyler Florence? Baby rosebud and I loved it! It airs again on Monday, September 9th at noon if you missed it (see the details here).

 {look at them high five, haha!}

They started by making a birthday cake for Tyler's son. The chocolate cake was made with buttermilk and the batter looked amazing (Ina is a pro after all). She made a ganache frosting and stacked the cake up asymmetrically at Tyler's request. They decorated the whole thing with bright candies that really popped off the chocolate frosting. It was beautiful (and I might be heading to ABC Cake Decorating to finally buy some legit cake pans to make it for Baby Strawberry's FOURTH! birthday next week).

Then they went to Ina's favorite place to buy chicken for Jeffery's dinner every Friday. My kids loved seeing the chickens and I love Tyler quipping about how proud he was to hear Ina's secrets.

{look how cute they are on Tyler's instagram!}

For lunch, he made Fried chicken and added whole fresh herbs and garlic to the oil to layer the flavors. The seasoned flour looked amazing. He added Sriracha to the buttermilk for even more flavor. I liked his tip to fry only a few pieces at a time to keep the temperature up. I don't fry things often but after I watched him make this recipe I was dying to make some chicken! You can see the recipe here.

Ina made a winter slaw recipe using shredded kale, radicchio, and Brussels sprouts. With a fresh lemon vinaigrette, craisins, and some Parmesan, it looked so light and yummy. I made it for dinner that night and while my husband wasn't sure that it was actually 'Cole slaw' it was great. The veggies were crunchy and fresh with the light dressing and the sweet and salty kicks from the cheese and craisins were perfect. It also only took a few minutes to make so I think it's going into regular side dish rotation (although the kids aren't happy about that, they looked at me like I asked them to cardboard or something!)

The best part of the episode was when Ina boxed up the enormous three layer cake and said "I don't envy you getting this home on the airplane." Haha! I hope you get a chance to watch it because it was a really fun episode full of great recipes as well. I'll let you know how that big cake goes (this is a pretty massive undertaking considering I barely passed Wilton Course 1 Cake decorating at the craft store- the employee was hesitant to give me the participation certificate, no lie!)

PS If you're on Pinterest... Barefoot Contessa is finally! It's kind of fun to follow her. If you're a dork like me. Don't tell my friend Kara I wrote this blog post. She'll die. Hopefully some of you like Ina like I do. And try the slaw. I'd never had Brussels sprouts before (seriously) and it was fun and yummy to try them.


Winter Slaw
from Ina Garten and Tyler Florence (recipe originally here)

6 ounces Brussels sprouts, trimmed, halved, and cored
6 large kale leaves, center rib completely removed (8 to 10 ounces)
1/2 small head radicchio, cored
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup good olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup dried cranberries
1 (6-ounce) chunk good Parmesan cheese

With a very sharp knife, cut the Brussels sprouts, kale, and radicchio across in thin shreds and put them all in a large bowl.

In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Pour enough dressing on the slaw to moisten it well. Add the cranberries.

Shave the Parmesan in big shards with a vegetable peeler, add it to the salad and toss well. Check for seasonings and serve cold or at room temperature.