Ina Garten's Original Cookbook 'Bible' Is One Everyone Needs In Their Kitchen

Ina Garten's "Be Ready When the Luck Happens: A Memoir" just dropped, and it is filled with fascinating insights into her life and rollercoaster of a career. However, one of the most interesting tidbits is the cookbook she called her "bible" during her early life: The New York Times Cookbook by Craig Claiborne. The tome, which was first published more than six decades ago, contains nearly 1,500 recipes and is a must-have for anyone looking to expand their horizons in the kitchen. 

In her memoir, Garten states that Claiborne's cookbook was vital as she taught herself how to cook while balancing the life of a busy newlywed. She also reveals that she relied on his recipes to create dinner menus since she was so inexperienced. Out of all the recipes in "The New York Times Cookbook," Garten singles out Claiborne's chili as one that she made the most. 

In fact, she claims the dish was maybe too much of a hit with her husband, writing, "We loved his chili, but Jeffrey begged me to stop making it because he ate so much he would make himself sick."

While Ina Garten doesn't specify which edition of "The New York Times Cookbook" she used, Craig Claiborne's chili con carne — a hearty combination of lean beef, green peppers, crushed tomatoes, and plenty of spices and other seasonings — appeared in a 1966 companion to the book, in the New York Times in 1985, and is still available on NYT cooking today. The recipe is straightforward but combines flavors in a way you would expect from a world-renowned food writer.

Claiborne was a culinary icon from the 1960s through the 1980s, alongside Julia Child and James Beard. He joined the New York Times in 1957 and even weighed in on the origins of eggs Benedict in one of his columns. He published the cookbook that Garten would come to rely on as a young wife in 1961. Although Claiborne died in 2000, his legacy is preserved through the numerous books he wrote and the countless cooks, like Garten, that he inspired. While he published many works, his original "New York Times Cookbook" was his crowning achievement. Although Claiborne updated it as recently as 1990 to include new recipes and techniques — later editions even replaced nearly half of his original recipes), but copies of the 1961 edition can still be found online.

Garten has sung the praises of "The New York Times Cookbook" before in her 2022 book "Go-To Dinners: A Barefoot Contessa Cookbook," where she writes about inviting friends over almost every week to try out new recipes. Over time, the Barefoot Contessa has used the foundation of Claiborne's recipes to craft many of her own, like her super easy three-ingredient chicken dish and elevated PB&J sandwiches that are to die for.