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I'm Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa.
I'm having a party, and you're invited.
ALL: Surprise!
INA: Happy birthday!
[ Laughs ]
[ Laughter ]
Let the celebrations begin.
It's my friend's birthday, and it's time to celebrate
with an incredible moveable feast onboard her boat
for a star-light cruise around Manhattan.
How great is that?
Jeffrey and I are taking dinner as her gift.
I'm making a wonderful hot-smoked salmon
with a fresh dill sauce.
Jeffrey's bringing salads
from our friend Eli Zabar's store, E.A.T.
Then there's a birthday surprise --
a carrot cake with ginger-mascarpone frosting.
Wherever you go, wherever you want to have a party,
this is the formula for dinner to go,
and it's gonna be one heck of a celebration.
To Jane! Yay!
-- Captions by VITAC --
Closed Captions provided by Scripps Networks, LLC.
When my friend Jane Hoffman invited us
for a birthday dinner on her boat, I thought,
"I know exactly what I'm gonna bring
for her birthday present -- dinner."
I've got two pounds of king salmon -- it's wild salmon.
I think it has a little more flavor, but you can use any kind of salmon.
I'm making hot-smoked salmon for the main course.
It's not only delicious and a real celebration,
but it's very transportable for a boat.
So, I'm gonna make a marinade for it that goes on the top.
So, that's 1/4 cup of granulated sugar.
I need 1/4 cup of dark brown sugar.
The molasses in the dark brown sugar
really helps it caramelize when it cooks.
I need 2 tablespoons of salt.
1 tablespoon of coarsely-ground black pepper.
And next is a tablespoon of lemon zest --
gives it lots of flavor.
So, what I'm doing is, I'm making a rub, basically,
that goes on the top of it.
I'm putting it on the night before
so it really gets into the salmon.
And then tomorrow, I'm gonna hot-smoke it.
Basically, what that is,
is it gives it the flavor of smoked salmon,
but it's still so moist like poached salmon.
Okay, that should be about a tablespoon.
Right into the marinade.
So, I'm just gonna mix this up with my fingers
and then put it right on top.
What I've done is, cut a two-pound piece of salmon
into six pieces.
It's easier to cut it now than it is later, after it's cooked.
And what's gonna happen is, the salt and the sugar and lemon
are gonna get into the salmon,
and it's gonna also extract some of the juices,
so it's gonna make a marinade.
I'm so looking forward to tomorrow night.
I think what we're gonna do is, take the boat
down the Hudson River to the Statue of Liberty,
and then come all the way around and come back up in Manhattan
with the lights twinkling at night.
It's so gorgeous.
I'm just gonna put it in a dish and put it in the refrigerator,
and that's all I have to do tonight.
Everything else is tomorrow.
So, tonight, we're having a birthday celebration,
and of course, you have to have a birthday cake.
Everybody loves carrot cake for birthday cake,
and I thought, "I'm gonna really turn up the volume."
Instead of just plain cream-cheese frosting,
I'm gonna add mascarpone to it.
And in the carrot cake itself,
I'm putting in crystallized ginger to give it great heat.
It's gonna be a really fabulous carrot cake.
Okay, so I have a pound of carrots.
Now the batter -- I need 2 cups of sugar...
1 1/3 cups of vegetable oil...
three eggs.
I use extra-large eggs for everything.
And room-temperature eggs are really important --
so they mix into the batter well.
That goes in.
And 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract.
Okay, I'm just gonna mix this for two minutes
until the batter is light-yellow in color and quite thick.
Okay, now the dry ingredients.
So, it's just 2 cups of flour...
2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon...
2 teaspoons of baking soda...
and 1 1/2 teaspoons of kosher salt.
And then they just get sifted together,
just to be sure there aren't any lumps.
Okay, now I'm gonna put the dry ingredients
into the wet ingredients.
Just turn this on low
and just very slowly mix them in.
If you put them in too fast,
the flour can get all clumped together.
Nobody wants clumped flour in their cake.
This actually smells good already.
The cinnamon and vanilla -- two of my favorite flavors.
Okay. Now for the good stuff.
So, I'm gonna mix together the pound of carrots that I grated.
Carrot cake's really easy to make, and I love it.
Cup of chopped walnuts.
Cup of raisins.
If you love raisins, you can add more.
And then 1/4 cup of crystallized ginger.
It's also in the frosting,
but it's nice if it's in the cake, too.
Crystallized ginger is really hot and sweet at the same time,
and I just thought with carrots and raisins and walnuts,
I thought it would be just great in it.
I think Jane's gonna love this cake.
Okay, that should be about 1/4 cup.
If you like it hotter, you can always add more.
Then I'm just gonna add about a tablespoon of flour,
and that's just gonna keep it from sinking to the bottom of the cake.
You don't want all the carrots and raisins in the bottom.
You want them sort of suspended in the cake batter.
Okay. All mixed together.
Now it's time to put it into the batter.
Just clean the *** off.
There's a lot of batter on the ***.
And just to make sure it's really well mixed,
I always scrape the bottom of the bowl.
Okay, now I'm gonna add all these ingredients.
There's, like, more carrots than there is batter,
which is why it's such a good carrot cake.
And just fold it in with the spatula
until it's really well mixed.
Oh, my goodness, does this look good.
Okay.
I've greased and floured two 9-inch pans.
And, actually, I've lined them also with parchment paper,
'cause, as I've often said,
there's no point in making a cake if you can't get it out of the pan.
I'm just gonna pour this into the two pans.
You want to divide the batter evenly
so the cakes cook exactly the same amount of time.
It's all one cake at the end,
but I want to be able to frost the middle.
So, it looks like there's a little more in this one,
so I'm just gonna transfer it.
If you want to be exact, you can always use a little scale.
Okay. Into the oven --
400 degrees for 10 minutes,
then I'm gonna lower the temperature to 350
and bake them for 30 to 35 minutes
until a toothpick comes out clean.
Next, amazing mascarpone frosting for the cake.
Then I'm smoking the salmon,
whipping up the fresh dill sauce,
and heading to the city to say "Happy Birthday"
to Jane with a delicious moveable feast.
ALL: Yay!
Every birthday party needs a birthday cake,
so I thought Jane would love a carrot cake
with mascarpone frosting.
The cakes have cooled, and I've made the frosting.
Let me show you how I make it.
First, 12 ounces of room-temperature mascarpone
with 4 ounces of room-temperature cream cheese,
2 cups of sifted confectioner's sugar,
2 tablespoons of heavy cream,
1/2 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract,
and I just beat it for about a minute
until it's light and fluffy.
Then 1/3 of a cup of minced, crystallized ginger --
not the kind in syrup, the dry kind, just like in the batter.
And 1/4 of a teaspoon of kosher salt,
and just beat it for about 30 seconds.
Mmm. Time to frost the carrot cake.
So, I'm gonna take one layer
and put it right on my disk...
very carefully.
It fits perfectly.
So, it's a 9-inch cake, and I have a 10-inch disk.
And this cake is a little different.
What I've done is,
instead of frosting the whole thing --
sometimes kind of makes a mess --
I'm gonna frost the middle and the top,
and then you can really see the carrot cake
through the whole thing -- And it certainly is easier.
And you don't go all the way to the edge
because when the second layer goes on,
it's gonna push it out a little bit.
Mmm. It's looking good.
Okay, and then the second layer.
If you want a cake with a perfectly flat top,
you can actually flip this over, because the underside is flat.
But I want it to look old-fashioned
like a carrot cake -- little rounded top.
See how great it looks
with the frosting sort of peeking out in the middle?
And then the rest of the frosting on the top.
And just frost the top.
Mmm!
And then, because I want everybody to know
that there's ginger in it,
I have a little extra crystallized ginger
to just sprinkle on the top.
This is gonna be perfect for the birthday dinner tonight --
little cruise around Manhattan.
You won't believe how beautiful this boat is.
The boat is a 75-foot motor yacht called Justice.
It was built in the 1930s for high-speed luxury,
and a guy used it for a one-hour commute
from Connecticut to Wall Street.
He'd have breakfast and a shower on the way to the city
and cocktails on the way home.
Back then, there were two or three dozen commuter boats
making that trip, but there are very few left.
The captain is Bryan Akers
and his wife, Cori, as the first mate.
They keep the boat ship-shape,
and they're very busy getting ready before a cruise.
I was so excited when Jane and Michael dreamt up the idea
of a birthday cruise down the Hudson.
Looks like we're gonna have a really good sunset tonight.
It'll be fun to have Ina and Jeffrey down.
So, I'm ready to cook the hot-smoked salmon.
So, I've got hot coals.
It's a little bit of a process, but it's really worth doing.
It makes incredibly delicious salmon.
So, I'm gonna have one layer of coals -- very hot coals.
So, I've got hot coals on the grill.
And I've soaked wood chips -- these are mesquite,
but you can use oak, whatever you like --
on one half of it, and you're gonna see,
they're gonna start to smoke, but just on one half.
And then I'm gonna take a foil pan
and put it on the other side of the grill.
A little bit of a process, but it's really worth it.
I'm gonna put a little water in the pan...
and then the grill goes on top.
And what this is about is,
the chips create smoke to make the hot-smoked salmon,
but I'm gonna put the fish directly over the pan,
and, so, anything that drips into the fire
isn't gonna flare up and incinerate my gorgeous salmon.
So, I've got the salmon that's been marinating overnight.
I'm just gonna take a little bit of the marinade off the top.
A little bit of salt.
Then I'm just gonna put it on the grill
right over the grill pan.
I've got six pieces. It should be perfect.
This is perfect portable food
because it actually tastes better served at room temperature.
It's gonna be wonderful with the fresh dill sauce.
That's gonna cook for about 10 minutes,
then I'm gonna come back and check on it,
cook it for another 5.
Looking good!
Next, it's fresh dill sauce
to go with the fabulous hot-smoked salmon.
Then, I'm packing up my birthday-gift dinner
for an unforgettable cruise around Manhattan.
JANE: Thank you!
My friend Jane and her husband, Michael, have an incredible boat,
and they've invited us for a birthday dinner,
so I offered to bring dinner -- That's the birthday present.
To go with the hot-smoked salmon,
I'm making fresh dill sauce, which is great with it.
This is a team effort.
I'm making the salmon and dessert,
and Jeffrey's getting salads in the city.
So, I need 1/2 cup of mayonnaise.
This is a really easy sauce to make -- no cooking, my favorite.
1/2 cup of sour cream.
What did we used to do before we had food processors?
I can't even imagine.
1/2 cup of yogurt.
This gives it a really nice, complex flavor.
2 tablespoons of room-temperature cream cheese.
It's really important that it's room temperature.
Otherwise, it'll never mix in.
1/2 cup of scallions.
I'm just gonna give it a rough chop
'cause I'm gonna puree them in the food processor.
This is gonna give it lots of onion flavor.
This has nice herbs in it.
It's got dill, parsley, and lots of scallions.
Okay, big, rough chop.
Right into the food processor.
1/2 cup of chopped fresh dill.
I just run my knife right along the stems.
Okay, that should be about 1/2 cup.
Right in.
And about 1/4 cup of fresh parsley.
I use flat-leaf parsley.
You can use whatever you have around the house.
Just big, rough chop.
This is a really complex, herby flavor, which is nice.
It'll be great with the hot-smoked salmon.
It's just smoking away outside.
Okay, into the food processor.
1 teaspoon of grated lemon zest.
That really is where all the flavor is in this.
So, it's about one lemon.
I want the sauce to have so much flavor
so it really stands up to the hot-smoked salmon.
Okay, that's the zest.
Now I'm gonna put in 2 tablespoons
of freshly-squeezed lemon juice.
My little strainer.
I don't want to be pureeing seeds into this.
Yikes!
This is really basically a classic herb sauce,
so you can use it for anything --
any kind of fish, for vegetables, for crudités.
It's really good. It's got lots of flavor.
Okay, 2 teaspoons of salt.
1 teaspoon of pepper.
And just puree it.
Okay, I've got one more thing to put in
that's gonna be really fresh, and it's cucumber.
So, I'm just gonna grate a cucumber.
I'm using a hothouse cucumber.
I know it says it doesn't have seeds, but, you know,
it really does, just a few, so I'm gonna take them out.
Box grater.
I'm just gonna cut it in half.
It's twice as fast.
Just need 1 cup of grated cucumber to go in.
The captain and his wife are getting the boat ready
for us to set sail at sunset.
Such a gorgeous time of day to sail down the Hudson,
and I love to see New York that way.
I think today, we're gonna have a great time.
Good weather, great people.
This is gonna be amazing.
Okay, I've got about a cup of grated cucumber --
that's exactly what I need -- goes right in.
I'm just gonna pulse it just to mix it in.
Okay, that's all mixed in now -- Just taste it
and make sure the flavors are really well balanced.
Mmm, I love the way this looks.
Mmm.
You taste everything -- the yogurt and the sour cream,
the dill, the scallions.
It's gonna be so good with the hot-smoked salmon.
Have sauce, will travel.
Next, I'm getting the hot-smoked salmon off the grill,
then it's a moveable feast with wonderful friends
watching the New York City skyline go by.
I'm making hot-smoked salmon for a birthday dinner,
but this is no ordinary birthday dinner.
We're taking a sunset cruise down the Hudson
and around the Statue of Liberty.
It's gonna be amazing.
So, the salmon's been cooking.
I just need to add more wood chips to the coals
just to make sure it keeps smoking.
It's gonna be moist and delicious.
So, I'm just gonna put it right in the grill.
You can see it really start to smoke right away.
Put the lid back on for about 5 to 10 minutes.
I want to just undercook it so it's really moist.
Okay, while I'm cooking, the captain and his wife are there
setting up the entire boat for a party.
Oh, these orange Ranunculus are so beautiful.
I believe those are Ina's favorite colors.
We're really looking forward to doing this today.
This is gonna be a lot of fun.
So, I think the hot-smoked salmon's done.
I'm just gonna test.
Whoa, does that look good.
Perfect -- I want it a little bit underdone
'cause I want it, really, to rest on the plate.
It's gonna keep cooking a little bit.
So, when I was thinking about making a moveable feast,
I thought there are sort of three things I wanted to keep in mind.
One is that I wanted it to travel well,
be okay after an hour or two in the car.
Second one is that it be served at room temperature --
makes it really easy.
And the last thing is, I really want food
that just goes straight onto the serving platter --
not a lot of fiddling around at the last minute.
Okay, I'm gonna pack up the food,
and then I'm gonna head to the city.
Jeffrey's picking up some salads to go with it.
This is my kind of party.
Hi!
How you doing?
Mwah! Isn't this great? What a great night we got.
It is gonna be fantastic.
Hey.
So good to see you!
Hey, good to see you.
Let me take that for you.
No.
Brought all kinds of goodies.
Thank you.
Oh, this is gonna be great.
This is gonna be fun.
[ Foghorn blowing ]
Hi!
I brought dinner for everybody.
All right.
Okay.
...and I brought salads from E.A.T.
Okay, I'll plate it all up.
Okay.
She's the best.
INA: Isn't that amazing?
MICHAEL: And the best part is, you guys are here.
[ Chuckles ] No, that's not the best part.
The best part -- you guys are here.
Oh. This is heaven.
Beyond heaven.
Hi.
Here's your salmon.
Thank you.
So, it's salmon
that has the texture of poached salmon,
but it's hot-smoked.
JANE: Oh, that sounds incredible!
So, I hope you like it.
Oh, it's gonna be delicious.
Oh, good.
No.
Thank you.
Look at these salads -- they look terrific!
When you're on the water, everything tastes better.
It really does. How amazing.
Very tasty.
Thank you.
Oh, good.
Fantastic!
Oh, there's The New Yorker sign!
Do you see it?
Oh, yeah! There's The New Yorker sign!
No, it's for the magazine.
Happy birthday, Jane.
Oh, it looks beautiful!
That's all for you.
I'm so excited!
ALL: Yay!
Oh, my God! Look, guys!
Look! Statue of Liberty.
Whoa!
MICHAEL: Okay, now we do have it. There we go.
Yay!
Cheers!