Eat Like a Local

Hi, I'm Ina Garten. My husband, Jeffrey, and I are having a vacation in Napa. We've rented a house. He's gonna work on his book, which he loves to do, and I'm gonna have a food adventure. First, the local farmers' market inspires me to make tomato crostini and whipped feta for lunch. Then, I'm picking up one of the coolest takeout meals ever, Thomas Keller's buttermilk fried chicken. Then, it's cocktail hour in California. Cocktails are a big story here, so I'm throwing a cocktail party for two, complete with thyme-roasted marcona almonds and our very own mixologist, Jon Gasparini, who's giving us a cocktail-making class. Basil gimlet or Napa spritz, anyone? It's "Barefoot Contessa" California-style. -- Captions by VITAC -- Closed Captions provided by Scripps Networks, LLC. [ Indistinct conversation ] Regularly, I don't take Jeffrey to the market with me 'cause I like to sort of wander around quietly. But on vacation, we love to go to farmers' markets, and the one at St. Helena is amazing. And that's where we are. INA: Look how amazing. I know. It's a really beautiful market. You can buy all different kinds of grapes. Of course. It's Napa. I could eat my way all the way through those grapes. Oh, wait a minute. This looks really good. LADDIE: Good morning. I need two pounds of cherry tomatoes. So, do you think this is about a pound? Okay, great. We sell these by the basket. They're just a little under a pound. How's that? Three -- I think mixed would be nice. And do you grow most of this yourself? We grow all of it ourselves. Yeah. And we're certified organic. This is all fabulous, fabulous product. [ Scale beeps ] And I think that's it. Great. That's $13. Lucky 13. Wow. Thank you so much. [ Laughs ] Thank you very much. Thank you so much. I can't wait to try them. I think it's gonna be delicious. I hope so. Thank you. Enjoy the day. Bye-bye. So, what are you gonna make with all this stuff? For me? Yeah, I thought I'd come to the market and see what was really gorgeous and make lunch from that. Oh. My dream. He won't be disappointed. My dream. You're gonna make lunch for me? Yep. Just you. I love going to the market and just seeing what's fresh, what's in season, and then just coming home and taking everything and making something delicious with it. So, today, I'm gonna make tomato crostini with whipped feta. What it is is crostini toast, and then I'm gonna make a creamy feta spread. And on top, I'm gonna put those delicious cherry tomatoes. It's a great combination. So, I'm starting out with 6 ounces of feta, 2 ounces of cream cheese. Want to be sure it's really room-temperature so it mixes in well. Just gonna process these two together just for a minute, just until they're combined. Okay. Now some good stuff. 1/3 cup of olive oil. That should be perfect. 2 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice. I'm just gonna do it right in. A little strainer always helps to take the seeds out. 2 tablespoons is about one lemon -- more or less. There's no substitute for fresh lemon. Okay, that should be about 2 tablespoons. Fantastic. And now, just some salt and pepper. 1/2 teaspoon of salt. 1/4 teaspoon of pepper. Just give it a whir. So, there are three parts to this recipe. There's the creamy feta spread, there's the toast that it's gonna go on, and the tomatoes. I've got the bread in the oven. So, what I did for the crostini is I took a baguette, I sliced it diagonally, about 1/2-inch thick, and then brushed it with olive oil and baked them at 425 for about 6 to 8 minutes, just until they were crisp. Okay, that's the crostini. Next, the tomato topping. Okay, in a small bowl, put together 2 tablespoons of minced shallots, 2 teaspoons of minced garlic, and 2 tablespoons of good red-wine vinegar. And if you have the time, just let that sit for about five minutes so the vinegar really gets into the shallots. When the time's up, add 1/3 cup of good olive oil, a teaspoon of salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper. Next, the star ingredient of the recipe -- 2 pounds or ripe cherry tomatoes. I got them at the market. Just stir it all together, set it aside for like 10 minutes just for the flavors to develop. Then, one last ingredient -- 3 tablespoons of julienned, fresh basil leaves. And that's the topping. So, all the elements are ready. All I have to do is assemble the crostini, and then I get to show Jeffrey what our visit to the market produced. Next, I'm finishing those delicious market-inspired crostini and collecting takeout Napa-style -- Thomas Keller's famous buttermilk fried chicken. Then, I'm making thyme-roasted marcona almonds for a surprise cocktail-making class for Jeffrey so we can learn to mix drinks the way the locals do. Whenever I'm on vacation, I like to check out the local food scene. Jeffrey and I went to the farmers' market this morning and got great ingredients. I'm making tomato crostini with whipped feta. So, I've got all the elements all together, and I'm just assembling them. So, there's a little toast and the whipped feta and the tomatoes right on top with fresh basil. It's gonna be delicious. And a few pine nuts. Right on the tray. Those look good enough to eat. I'm gonna make a few more. I have lots of crostini -- too many for this, but I always like to have some around for soup. I like it for dips or just for snacks. As soon as I get this all assembled, I'm gonna bring them in to Jeffrey. He's been working really *** his book, and I'd say he needs a treat. A couple of pignolis. Just a couple of basil leaves. Just a nice julienne. Just stack them up, roll them up. A little basil on top. Mmm. The basil smells so good. I think he's gonna love what we got at the farmers' market. INA: Hi, sweetie. I know you're claiming I'm starving you to death while you're working. Oh, I'm wasting away in here. So, it's a crostini and whipped feta and tomatoes that we got at the farmer's market. Oh, that looks unbelievable. I hope you love it. Mmm. Just fantastic. Phew. [ Chuckles ] If you happen to live in Napa, there's so many things to be grateful for, not the least of which is Thomas Keller, who's got to be one of the most admired chefs in America. Thomas has so many restaurants, including the legendary French Laundry and the more casual Ad Hoc. They're both right here in Yountville. Ad Hoc as a lunch service called Addendum, where they serve lunch three times a week. And fortunately, it coincides with our vacation. Jeffrey and I are in luck. I'm going to pick up buttermilk fried chicken right now, and in fact, Chef Dave Cruz made a little video for me of exactly how he makes it. Can't wait to see. Hi, Ina. Welcome to the Ad Hoc kitchens. Today, we're making buttermilk fried chicken. One of the secrets is cutting the chicken up and brining it overnight. INA: So, here's how the guys make the brine. Water -- lots of it -- a gallon, in fact -- with a cup of kosher salt, honey, 12 bay leaves, a head of garlic cut in half, black peppercorns, sprigs of thyme, flat-leaf parsley, and five lemons cut in half. The whole aromatic mixture is brought to a boil for just one minute, then it's poured into a container and allowed to cool. When it's cool, they add two chickens. Each one's cut into eight pieces. It goes into the brine, and the whole thing's refrigerated overnight. Next, it's time for the coating. Over to Chef Dave Cruz for the lowdown. DAVE: So, in the dry batter, of course, we have flour, salt and pepper, and then, also, too, a couple of classics like cayenne pepper, some paprika, some garlic powder, and onion powder. And then, right into the buttermilk and back into the same seasoned flour before we go to fry. INA: Then the final step's the frying in peanut oil at 340 degrees. The chef's got the story. We'll take it and just kind of give it a little shake from the bottom so that we can separate the pieces and there's no soft spots. The whole thing can get crispy. And after about six minutes or so, they have this beautiful color. And that's the buttermilk fried chicken. Hello. I'm here for two chicken lunches. Excellent. Chef's on his way over. Oh, the chef himself. How fantastic. I can't wait to taste these. Thank you. Thank you. This is gonna be the best chicken lunch ever. Hi. Well, I figured if I can't tear you away from the books, I can bring you lunch at least. Well, that's a great idea. I hope you like it. It's a surprise. It's Thomas Keller's fried chicken. This isn't any fried chicken. Oh, that looks great. Isn't that gorgeous? That looks just terrific. Oh, I hope you love it. Have fun. Mmm! Boy, that's good. Is it the best fried chicken you ever had? Next to the one you make, yeah. That's the right answer. Next, it's cocktail hour at our vacation rental with thyme-roasted marcona almonds to nibble on during our very own happy-hour adventure. We're making gourmet basil gimlets and Napa spritzes with the coolest cocktail guy imaginable. Yes, that's for you. You know, Jeffrey's been working so hard, I thought I got to shake this up a little bit. So, cocktails are a major thing here, and I asked a mixologist, Jon Gasparini, to make us a small cocktail party just for two, and he's setting up right now in the backyard. I think this is gonna be a great surprise. I can't wait to see what Jon's got set up. He's got bars here, and he's also got a catering company called Rye on the Road. He actually brings the cocktail party to you. How great is that? Hi, Jon. I'm so happy to see you. Thanks so much for having me. Look at this. This is serious. Major bar. I'm setting up the last bits of our mobile bar unit. Yeah. And this is going to be my garnish, mise en place. Yeah. And this will be my work surface, where I will mix drinks and cut ice for you. How cool is this? This is great. So, while you get all set up, I'm gonna make a few little things to eat with the cocktails, okay? Okay. Thanks. You know when you rent a vacation house and you always wonder what it's really gonna look like? This house is so fabulous. And it's got a wonderful garden. And what's incredible is it has ripe figs on the tree. I mean, it just doesn't get any better than that for a rental house. How gorgeous are those? But now I need thyme. [ Sniffs ] I love fresh thyme. It's clear the owners like to cook, because they have mint, they have chives, they have rosemary. But thyme is exactly what I'm looking for now. I'm really making myself at home here, aren't I? While Jon's setting up the bar, I'm gonna make the fastest hors d'oeuvre ever, thyme-roasted marcona almonds. They're so good. And they start which marcona almonds, which are Spanish almonds. And they're amazingly delicious. Somehow, they're just very different from other almonds. So, we'll put them on a sheet pan. That's 1 pound. And then we'll put 2 teaspoons of oil on them. That should be about right. Got 1 teaspoon of kosher salt. Let's put them right up there, right on top. And lots and lots of fresh thyme. I need 2 tablespoons of thyme leaves. You want to strip the leaves right off the stems. It's a lot of thyme. And I'm sure you can make it with other things like rosemary, but I really like thyme with the marcona almonds. Mmm. Smells good. And the good news is you can actually make it in advance. So, you can roast these and just serve them at room temperature. Just make sure they're sealed in a container while you store them. You don't want them to get soggy. I wonder what Jon's up to. I'm sure they're gonna be delicious cocktails. I don't think Jeffrey has any idea. Okay, that should be good. So, I'm just gonna put it right on top of the almonds. Just toss them all together. Both hands -- always good. Oh, these look great. I can really smell them. And when they roast, the almonds are just gonna get fantastic. Okay, into the oven -- 350 degrees for about 10 to 15 minutes. I'm gonna turn them every five minutes so they brown perfectly. They're gonna be perfect with cocktails. Mmm. The almonds smell like they're done. And they are. They're perfectly roasted. So, the one thing I'm gonna add now is actually some really coarse salt. I like fleur de sel 'cause it's kind of briny. I know I put two kinds of salt on, but this kind actually gives it a nice, sort of crunchy flavor. So, about a teaspoon of fleur de sel, and just toss it all together, and that's it. I mean, that's a pretty easy hors d'oeuvre, isn't it? Mmm. Just want to make sure they're really good. Oh, they're so good. I love when they're really warm. And you can really taste the thyme and salt. Okay, I think we're ready. Into a bowl. And then we're gonna find Jeffrey chained to his desk, and we're gonna have to unchain him. And we're gonna have a great cocktail party. Why do I think he's gonna be really surprised? Next, the cocktail party is starting. One host, one surprise guest, and one cool cocktail guru giving a class in basil gimlets and Napa spritz. When in California, do as Californians do. INA: So, I figured you've been working too hard, and you need to have a little more fun. Well, I'll go for that. So, what I did was I asked a mixologist to come and make us drinks. I did. Yeah. This is Jon. This is my husband, Jeffrey. Hi, Jon. Nice to meet you. So, what are we making? Tonight, we are making a Napa spritz. Napa spritz. That sounds great. Okay, so, can I make them with you? Please. That would be great. Jeffrey, you're gonna eat marcona almonds and watch us. His favorite job. Okay, what do we do? We're going to start with 1/2 ounce of organic lavender honey. Ooh, lavender honey. I like the sound of that. There you are. Then you are grabbing fresh Meyer lemon juice. And how much of this? 1/2 ounce? Okay. And then, we're going to do another 1/2 ounce of a local vermouth, which is a really light-bodied, fortified wine. It's a local vermouth? What is this? Is this tequila? This is a nice, local gin. Oh, it's gin. Ooh, ooh. Is that two? Oops. This is gonna be really serious. Okay. That one's for me. That goes on top. I mean, you really want to shake this. Okay, I'll shake it. No way. I'm gonna shake it at you. [ Laughs ] You make it look so good. That should be just fine. Okay, yeah. And you want to hit the side of your tin to release them. Oh, it looks just delicious. Look at that. So, I brought with me some of these larger ice spears. They're very dense. Isn't that interesting? It has less surface. Exactly. So, it keeps the drink cold, but it doesn't actually dilute it. That's cool. We're going to top it off with roughly 2 ounces of sparkling seltzer. Whoa. Oh, look how cool. Shall I do yours? Okay. It's a little fresh lavender. And that releases some of the fragrance, aromatics. A colorful straw. I like this. Jeffrey, I'm gonna have you test this one. Are you gonna test that one? You know, I'm thinking of those cartoons where the guy just falls over. [ Laughter ] Falls over backwards. I'd say this is to Jon. All right. Wow. You know, this -- That's the new house cocktail. No, this is dangerous. This is really good. It just goes down too easily. Okay, Jon, I think you have another drink up your sleeve. Are we gonna put Jeffrey to the test? Great. Step right up. I'll drink that. This drink is a nice riff on a classic gimlet. It's called a basil gimlet. So, what we're gonna do is we're gonna start by peeling 4 to 5 fresh basil leaves. Once you've picked your leaves, we're gonna clap them... like that. Next, we're going to add 1/2 ounce of rich simple syrup. Okay. Doing great. We're gonna add 3/4 ounce of lime juice. Perfect. Perfect. So, now here comes the fun part. I'm gonna give you a muddler. A what? That's a muddler, a wooden muddler. And we use this just to gently pummel herbs to release the oils. And now we're going to add our gin. Yes. Gin and basil are a match made in Heaven. How much do I put in there? We're gonna put 1 1/2 ounces, so all the way up to the top. Whoa. Perfect. Right there. And now we're ready for our ice. Go ahead. Please, dump in. And I'm gonna fill your tin up with ice. There's at time limit on cocktails once you add ice. You have to shake quickly. Here we go. Turn it over. Let's give it a good shake. Not in my direction. I love the way he does it. He does it better than I do. I know. I think he's done a few more than you have. Okay. So, I think we're ready here. We have to get the hang of that. Look at that. That's great. Oh, cool. Yes, please. Whoa. Oh, whoa. We're gonna use a basil leaf as a garnish. And again, we're just gonna give it a quick, little tap. There you go. So, Ina? I didn't say anything. It's great. Yes, that's for you. How about to Napa and to -- And to Jon. Thank you so much. How fabulous. And to California. And to California. We love it here.