Ina Garten’s New Cookbook Finally Has a Name and Release Date

Sound the hostess alarms, get out the credit cards: the next book from the cookbook queen and Barefoot Contessa herself, Ina Garten, officially has a name. Modern Comfort Food will come out on October 27, almost exactly two years after her last masterpiece, Cook Like a Pro. 

Even though Ina herself doesn’t seem to have mentioned it on her carefully curated social media, Ina superfan Trent Pheifer let us in on the details. Trent has devoted his kitchen and Instagram to cooking his way through all of Ina’s recipes, and of course was the first to bring us news that a few more tasks were about to be added to his to-do list. “Looks like she’s figured out her Boston Cream Pie recipe!” he posted excitedly. “We’re getting a black and white cookie!”

But it’s not just desserts, according to the publisher, Penguin Random House, which calls the book, “A new collection of soul-satisfying dishes from America’s favorite home cook.” The book will have 85 new recipes that “will feed your deepest cravings.” Basically, the idea is that she is taking classic favorites from the comfort food canon and turning up the volume. Examples include cheddar and chutney grilled cheese sandwiches, smashed hamburgers with caramelized onions, and a recipe for getting the crispiest hash browns by using a waffle iron.

It wouldn’t be an Ina book without lots of recipes for hosting a gathering, so there will be plenty of larger format dishes, such as cheesy chicken enchiladas, and roasted sausages, peppers, and onions. And then, of course there’s desserts like banana rum trifle.

She let on a little bit on Instagram in the past, before she’d released any information about the book, about a broccoli and kale salad that she said “isn’t bad at all,” as well as a few that seem likely to be a part of it as well: a peach torte and a tomato crostata. And we know from the publisher’s blurb that this trifle is on the menu. 

All of this sounds like vintage Ina perfection, with her usual simple, helpful instructions. Which, after all, is what has led her to be one of the best-selling cookbook authors out there.

Preorder the book: Modern Comfort Food, $35