Ina Garten Dishes Out a One-Pan Dinner for Michael Barbaro

What “made the world stop” for the co-host of The Daily, a podcast with approximately 9 million monthly listeners? Award-winning New York Times journalist Michael Barbaro says it was a call to appear with Food Network's award-winning chef Ina Garten on Be My Guest.

"The earth stopped rotating, because so deep is my love for Ina Garten that there’s frankly nothing I wouldn’t do for her," Michael admits. You might recognize his voice if you've heard him on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. He’s known for his captivating storytelling and soft, low voice, often punctuated by long pauses for emphasis.

Ina thinks Michael is "amazing." While he drives in from Brooklyn, where he lives with his wife and children, she chills the dough that she’s prepared for a dessert they'll share, Spicy Hermit Bars. They're flavored with two ingredients that she knows he loves — ginger and molasses — and she's dropped in some golden raisins.

After dividing the dough in half, she rolls it into two logs and tucks them into a baking pan. "When they bake, they flatten out a little bit. You want them to look very homemade, and they are." She drizzles the finished bars with confectioners' sugar mixed with two tablespoons of rum, adding that you can substitute maple syrup for the rum. The final touch is a sprinkle of lemon zest over the tops.

When Michael arrives, he spots the Spicy Hermit Bars. "They're beautiful," he says, adding that the ginger and molasses stir up a childhood memory of eating ginger snaps. "Ginger snaps are the taste of childhood."

Michael visited Ina's barn once before, for a Thanksgiving episode of his podcast. It was a departure from his usual hard-news reporting, because he felt The Daily needed some balance from news that can be "difficult and depressing." He'd also found that his listeners enjoyed a fun change of pace.

He's her "absolute favorite interviewer," Ina says, adding that this time, it's hard to believe she’s interviewing him. She knows his career started at The Washington Post and later moved to The New York Times, but she's curious how The Daily began.

In late 2016, he recalls, Donald Trump was elected president for the first time. It was, he says, "a seismic electoral event in this country," and "a lot of us kind of missed that this was going to be happening.” In an effort to tell the news in a very different way, he and three colleagues launched The Daily in 2017. They wanted to create an audio show about what was happening each day in "one immersive, rollicking, in-depth, sound-rich story" that would draw in listeners.

"So, what's a perfect day for you?" Ina wants to know. It begins, he says, with "a very tall cup of coffee with extra goat milk, a game of tennis, an episode of Mad Men and a romp around the neighborhood playground with either of my two children." He also enjoys an Old-Fashioned cocktail, and he loves to cook. He learned his way around the kitchen from his Jewish mother and Italian father, and he remembers how they sat down to dinner as a family every night.

Before they start cooking, Ina asks what she can show him. He's looking for something he can make for "a Saturday night when six people somehow show up in my house." Chicken Marbella is a great dish for a dinner party, Ina tells him, because it's marinated the day before, refrigerated overnight and then popped into the oven.

The chicken marinade starts with combining olive oil and vinegar in a bowl, almost like a vinaigrette. A good red wine vinegar goes in next, with plenty of pitted prunes and pitted green olives. "I know I’m going to love this dish already," Michael says, "because we’re pairing meat and fruit. I love them together. They’re meant to be friends."

Capers go into the bowl next, and then lots of dried oregano that Ina has rubbed between her hands to release the oil. Finally, she adds some finely chopped garlic, which she promises will taste slightly sweet after it's cooked with the chicken. She adds salt, pepper and whole, fresh bay leaves. Two chickens cut into quarters go into the bowl, which she puts into the refrigerator to marinate for at least six hours, although she says 24 hours is ideal.

When the chicken has marinated long enough, each piece goes skin-side up into a roasting pan. Ina pours the marinade around the chicken, not over it, and adds brown sugar, salt, pepper and a little white wine. “It’s salty and it’s caramelized and it’s delicious,” Ina says.

While the chicken bakes, Michael shows Ina how he makes an Old-Fashioned. He starts with a cube of brown sugar in their glasses and adds “a couple of hits of bitters” and a little maraschino cherry juice. He’s brought his own muddler from home and uses it to crush the ingredients into a thick paste. Each glass then gets about two ounces of small-batch bourbon, or, Michael says, you can substitute whiskey or rye.

Next, he adds ice to give "the right amount of coldness to the drink,” and stirs for a minimum of 30 seconds, as he says Ina once told him to do. The ice also helps water down the mixture a little, Ina explains, "so it’s not like pure alcohol." Michael puts a cherry and a splash of club soda into each glass, not to dilute the cocktails but because “I think it makes them more tolerable,” so you might be able to have a second. Meanwhile, Ina has peeled and sliced an orange and a lemon, and they rub the slices over the rims of their glasses.

When they're ready to sample the chicken, Michael chooses the dark meat, his favorite. While Ina goes for the olives, Michael spears a marinated prune. Easy to prepare and delicious, they agree as they toast. "Cheers!"