by: Ina Garten

“I hope you’ll find lots of entertaining ideas here and recipes that will not only wow your family and friends, but also convince you how easy it is to cook really delicious French food, even if it’s not a special occasion,” Ina Garten.

My favorite city in the world is Paris and I love French food. Barefoot In Paris is a great cookbook for learning how to make great French food. It takes French recipes that scare a lot of home chefs and makes them seem so easy to make in our own homes.

Scallops Provencal

I grew up eating seafood and love most seafood – one of my favorites is scallops. A quick sear on scallops makes them delicious. I was excited to try this recipe and it didn’t disappoint.

If you are afraid to cook scallops this is a great recipe for beginners to try. It takes about 15 minutes total to make the dish. I loved that it was simple yet had some much flavor. (And my sister who loves scallops was so happy about the scallops dinner).

Cauliflower Gratin

The definition of gratin is a brown crust formed on food that has been cooked au gratin (covered in bread crumbs or grated cheese and browned). A I lot of people have heard of potatoes au gratin. The cauliflower gratin is another great option for a side at dinner.

I try to eat a lot of vegetables and some Gruyere cheese makes it so much easier to eat them. I tend to roast my cauliflower and this was a nice way to change up the preparation.

Overall the recipes I have tried from Barefoot in Paris were very easy to follow and all the ingredients were found at my normal grocery store. Any home chef from beginner to advanced would enjoy these recipes and be able to replicate them. I dream of living in Paris and these recipes make me feel like I am there – at least for a little while.