Tina Fey

Summary

Be My Guest with Ina Garten — Tina Fey (October 19, 2025)

Podcast: Be My Guest with Ina Garten
Host: Ina Garten
Guest: Tina Fey
Date: October 19, 2025

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Episode Overview

In this engaging and laughter-filled episode, Ina Garten welcomes comedian, writer, and producer Tina Fey to her East Hampton barn for a day of cooking, conversation, and heartfelt stories. Over breakfast panna cotta and a collaborative Greek-inspired dinner, Tina and Ina explore the intersections of comedy, cooking, career, friendship, and family. The episode is a warm, witty, and insightful glimpse into Fey’s life, creative philosophy, and her deep love of food.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. A Sweet Start: Breakfast Panna Cotta

• Ina prepares breakfast panna cotta with yogurt, cream, maple syrup, and berries for Tina, playing to Tina's fondness for custards.
  • "It's an option that you're allowed to eat custard for breakfast if you put fruit and granola on it." — Tina Fey (08:54)
• They discuss what panna cotta actually is and riff on its custardy, versatile nature.
  • "It's literally cooked cream... and what it is is cream and milk and vanilla or whatever the flavors are... and then it's a little bit of gelatin to thicken it. You can't overcook it, that's the good news. So that's basically custard without cooking it." — Ina Garten (09:18)

2. Food Stories from the Set

• Tina shares memorable (and sometimes gross) experiences eating for comedy.
  • Ate entire pizzas in one take and endured a "shrimp cocktail tower" on 30 Rock:
    "All the ones around them were getting kind of stinky under the lights." — Tina Fey (10:22)

3. The Hard Truths (and Joys) of Comedy

• Both acknowledge the challenge of comedy and surviving “bombing.”
  • "Once you've bombed, though, then you're free... Once you bomb and you realize you survived. Oh, now you should probably go do stand up. You freed yourself." — Tina Fey (10:57)
• Discussion of improv’s foundational lessons — high fun, low pay, big learning (11:13–11:50).

4. Friendship, Soulmates, and Life Connections

• A back-and-forth about what makes a true friend:
  • Humor and loving food are non-negotiables for both.
  • Tina on soulmates:
    "Colman [Domingo] says that he believes that there are such a thing as soulmates. And we have many of them, and you find them in different... Sometimes it's romantic, sometimes it's friendship." — Tina Fey (12:49)

5. Family Dynamics & Marriage Wisdom

• Tina discusses her relationship with her husband, composer Jeff Richmond—respect, humor, and having separate hobbies are key.
  • "Being respectful of each other and, you know, speaking kindly to each other [is important]... And I do think it's okay to also be like, sometimes we have hobbies that are separate, and my husband's becoming a gardener with each passing year." — Tina Fey (13:56)
• Their children roll their eyes at parent comedy; even the kids of Steve Carell do it (13:03–13:34).

6. Making it at SNL and Beyond

• Tina’s gratitude for her SNL years:
  "It's the only job in TV where you can write whatever you want every week and you can take risks." — Tina Fey (14:42)
• The creative rush and constant novelty of both SNL and Ina’s culinary world (15:03–15:09).

7. Advice for Women Breaking In

• Tina’s advice to aspiring writers and comedians:
  "If you want to make comedy, if you want to be a comedy writer, like, start writing, get it in front of an audience, make your friends read it... If they want to work in TV or film, to try to get any job on the set." (16:53)
• Ina reflects on the reality of earning your own cooking show — it’s the end of the line, not the beginning (16:36).

8. Cooking Up Memories: Greek Food & Family

• Tina recounts childhood Greek dishes, tweaks her mother made (“just a tiny bit of cinnamon” in pastizio), and the magic of church festivals.
  • "She'd do, like, a pan of spanakopita... just gets too much of a pain." — Tina Fey (19:52)
  • Funny anecdote about her great-aunt foraging dandelion greens — and her mom’s warning:
    "My mom finally told her, like, 'No, auntie, like, cats pee on those. We can't cook those.'" — Tina Fey (20:48)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Tina’s Nervous Arrival:
  • "I'm not gonna cry and I'm not gonna kiss her on the mouth... We're gonna see if she is a real person or just something that middle aged women created with their minds." — Tina Fey (07:43)
• Ina’s Affection for Tina:
  • "Is there anybody who doesn't love Tina Fey? She's smart, she's funny, she's so much fun to spend time with." — Ina Garten (02:29)
• On Culinary Imperfection:
  • "You could put this on anything, really. You could [pour] this on a carton of cigarettes. If you poured this on and baked it, it'd be delicious." — Tina Fey, describing her Greek potatoes seasoning (24:20)
• The Rule of Threes in Comedy & Cooking:
  • "In my world, you know, I have to give you three potatoes because comedy — it's a rule of threes..." — Tina Fey (28:19)
  • "Design is three, too. You have to have an odd number of everything." — Ina Garten (28:29)
• On Cooking Together:
  • "We're like in an episode of The Bear now." — Ina Garten (27:24)
  • "I say these girls can cook." — Ina Garten (29:28)
• Tina’s Mock Critique:
  • "(Eating Ina’s chicken) Disgusting... Oh my God. I'm gonna kill myself. She hates it." (29:15)
  • "It's so good." (29:20)

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Cooking Segments & Timestamps

08:54 – Breakfast panna cotta introduction
09:18–09:34 – What is panna cotta?
21:16–25:19 – Tina’s Greek Potatoes (Idaho potatoes, lemon juice, zest, chicken broth, dried oregano, olive oil, garlic; baked at 450°F for 50 min, finish with parsley and lemon slices)
25:40–27:44 – Ina’s Chicken with Mustard Sauce (bone-in thighs, salt/pepper, browned in olive oil, finished with onions, wine, Dijon and coarse mustard, crème fraiche)
28:07–28:41 – Plating, serving, and 'the rule of threes'

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Tone and Feel

The conversation is authentic, witty, and warmly self-deprecating. Tina is at her clever, improvisational best, while Ina’s welcoming calm keeps things grounded. Their chemistry is palpable, mixing genuine admiration, playful humor, and practical wisdom, making the episode a delight — whether you love food, comedy, or the art of good conversation.

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Useful for New Listeners?

Absolutely. You’ll feel as if you’ve shared the table with two great friends, walked away laughing, and learned both a life philosophy and a killer Greek potato recipe in the process.

Transcript

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[Tina Fey]

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[Ina Garten]

I'm Ina Garten. I love to invite interesting people to my house for good food, great conversation and lots of fun. The award winning actor, comedian, writer and producer Tina Fey is joining me for a wonderful day at the barn. I'm welcoming her with my breakfast panna cotta.

[Tina Fey]

It's an option that you're allowed to eat custard for breakfast.

[Ina Garten]

We're talking about fear.

[Tina Fey]

You're making things up on the spot with no planning, no script.

[Ina Garten]

Oh my God. And fame.

[Tina Fey]

People say like Sarah Palin still. Or sometimes people say like Amy Poehler. Like Close.

[Ina Garten]

Then Tina's in the spotlight making her Greek potatoes.

[Tina Fey]

I'm just so nervous I forgot I was right.

[Ina Garten]

Andy to go with my chicken with creamy mustard sauce. That's where things get a little heated. We're like in an episode of the Bear now.

[Tina Fey]

Dreams do come true.

[Ina Garten]

Is there anybody who doesn't love Tina Fey? She's smart, she's funny, she's so much fun to spend time with. And I understand she likes old fashioned custards. So I'm Going to make her breakfast. Panna cotta. I'll show you what it is. So I'm starting with one and a half cups of heavy cream and then two cups of yogurt. I use whole milk yogurt. So panna cotta is a classic Italian dessert. I usually make it with salted caramel or raspberry sauce, but for breakfast I like to make it with berries and granola. So to the cream and yogurt, I'm gonna add lots of vanilla and some maple syrup. Very breakfasty. Two teaspoons of vanilla. Good vanilla extract. Really important. And then so it has the deep vanilla flavor and it's really looks like vanilla. What I'm gonna do is put vanilla bean in it. My favorite smell, maple syrup, one and a half tablespoons. Give it a little breakfast vibe. I'm just gonna mix this together. Okay, so that's the cream mixture. Now I've heated up some sugar and cream together and I've dissolved some gelatin. It's gonna thicken the panna cotta. Just let that dissolve. Put that together. One of the great things about this is that you can make it the night before. In fact, you have to make it the night before so it sets in the refrigerator. Okay, that's dissolved. And now I'm just gonna stir this in and amazingly, that's it. Okay, now I'm just gonna fill the glasses. Okay, this is going in the fridge overnight to set. And then I'm gonna put on berries and granola. And while I do that, let me tell you about my fabulous friend, Tina. Tina Fey is a multi talented comedian, writer, actor and producer. She was raised by a Greek mom and an American dad in Pennsylvania. After majoring in drama at the University of Virginia, Tina joined the improv comedy group Second City where she met her longtime friend and collaborator Amy Poehler and her composer husband, Jeff Richmond. And she hasn't looked back since. Tina made history, becoming Saturday Night Live's first female head writer where she later joined the cast as co anchor of the Weekend Update. And throughout her career, she returned to SNL to play standout roles like VP candidate Sarah Palin. Tina also created and starred in the TV series 30 Rock, playing the lead role Liz Lemon, earning her two Golden Globes and three Emmys. She also wrote the screenplay for the hit movie Mean Girls and the Broadway stage production which she later adapted into a musical film. She is the youngest recipient of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. Tina lives in New York with her husband and two daughters. She and I first met when she asked me to do a cameo on 30 Rock. I can't wait to see her.

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[Tina Fey]

I'm Samin Nosrat. And I'm Hrishikesh Hirway. Together we make a podcast called Home Cooking. You might remember home Cooking from back.

[Ina Garten]

In March 2020 when we launched it to help folks who were stuck in lockdown with their quarantine cooking questions. And now that things are super scary.

[Tina Fey]

Again, we thought maybe it's time to.

[Ina Garten]

Bring the podcast back. We're back with a brand new season of eight episodes and just like before, we're going to try and answer all kinds of questions.

[Tina Fey]

Whatever you need. We're your friends in the kitchen. So look for home Cooking on your.

[Ina Garten]

Favorite podcast app and subscribe today. This is going to be a world class day. Tina Fey is coming to the barn. Fun to follow. Okay, panna cotta set overnight. One for me, one for Tina. Yum. Okay, next I'm going to put the berries together. I do raspberries, blueberries and strawberries. I hope Tina likes it. Okay, I'm just going to stir the berries. The only thing I need now is granola and that's where store bought is just fine.

[Tina Fey]

Well, I am on my way to Ina Garten's house right now and what she doesn't know is I am going to ask her to marry me. Nope. I'm going to cook with her. And I might actually even cook something for her. I'm a little bit Nervous about it. Okay, we're pulling up to Ina Garten's house. Okay, we're here. We're here, you guys, we're here. Everyone be cool, be calm. I'm not gonna cry and I'm not gonna kiss her on the mouth. And we're gonna see if she is a real person or just something that middle aged women created with their minds.

[Ina Garten]

Oh, my God.

[Tina Fey]

Can you be adopted at 54? Hello. I'm selling Girl Scout cookies.

[Ina Garten]

Nina, you're here. I can't believe it. So happy to see you.

[Tina Fey]

Nice to see you.

[Ina Garten]

There's nothing better than spending the day with somebody you absolutely love. I'm so glad you're here. Come with me. I made something for you.

[Tina Fey]

Oh, my gosh.

[Ina Garten]

So word has it you like custard. Am I right? I do, but for breakfast, I made a breakfast panna cotta for you.

[Tina Fey]

It's an option that you're allowed to eat custard for breakfast if you put.

[Ina Garten]

Fruit and granola on it. How's that?

[Tina Fey]

Amazing.

[Ina Garten]

So that's for you.

[Tina Fey]

Thank you.

[Ina Garten]

I hope you like it.

[Tina Fey]

I'm quite sure I will. I'm gonna get down to the custardy part.

[Ina Garten]

Anything with granola on, it's just fine, right?

[Tina Fey]

Yeah. Then it's practically medicine. So. Good.

[Ina Garten]

Thank you.

[Tina Fey]

I never, when I see panna cotta on a menu, I never exactly know what it is.

[Ina Garten]

Like, what's it. It's literally cooked cream. And what it is is cream and milk and vanilla or whatever the flavors are. Sometimes rum. And then it's a little bit of gelatin to thicken it. You can't overcook it. That's the good news. So that's basically custard without cooking it.

[Tina Fey]

Okay.

[Ina Garten]

So it's really easy. And then I do one with melted caramel and salt, which is so good. Or with raspberry sauce on it and fresh raspberry. You can really do anything with it. Not bad for breakfast, right? Have you ever had to eat anything really strange on a set?

[Tina Fey]

I've eaten entire pizzas.

[Ina Garten]

Really?

[Tina Fey]

Yeah. It was just written that I shotgun a pizza and I didn't have a plan, but my instincts kicked in and I threw open the box, folded the pizza into, like, quarters, and, like, went from the middle out. And I was very good at it.

[Ina Garten]

I know. I promise you won't have to eat four of these.

[Tina Fey]

Well, I promise that I could. The only thing I've ever eaten that I didn't enjoy eating was there was a scene on 30 Rock where I had to kind of continuously eat from a shrimp cocktail tower. And, you know, it takes many hours to film things, so.

[Ina Garten]

And it was the same shrimp cocktail.

[Tina Fey]

It was the same tower. I mean, I think maybe they were replacing the ones that I was eating, but all the ones around them were getting kind of stinky under the lights.

[Ina Garten]

The shrimp were turning.

[Tina Fey]

Oh, and smelling great. So that's probably the lowest low.

[Ina Garten]

And also, you can eat one or two shrimp, but you start eating like 10 shrimp, and one is just like.

[Tina Fey]

Other than that, I've enjoyed every other time.

[Ina Garten]

Anybody who's ever stood up at a wedding or birthday party and tried to make a funny toast, they know comedy is so hard. And, I mean, I've done it and bombed, and I just vow never to do it again.

[Tina Fey]

Once you've bombed, though, then you're free. Once you bomb. Once you bomb and you realize you survived. Oh, now you should probably go do stand up. You freed yourself.

[Ina Garten]

Not a chance. So take me back to improv theater. What was it like touring as a young comedian in an improv group?

[Tina Fey]

We would go out on tour for the second, and it was, at the time, the most exciting job I've ever had. We were paid $75 a show, and we would drive in a van. Sometimes it would take us, you know, 36 hours to get to the $75 show, and then you another 14 hours to get to the other show.

[Ina Garten]

Oh, my God.

[Tina Fey]

You're going out with an ensemble of people, and you're making things up on the spot with no planning, no script, and you really are dependent on each other. It was not profitable, but it was fun, and it was a real education and getting in front of a real audience who will let you know whether that was funny.

[Ina Garten]

What do you look for in friends?

[Tina Fey]

What do I look for in friends?

[Ina Garten]

So important to me. Good friends.

[Tina Fey]

Yeah. Sense of humor. Of course.

[Ina Garten]

Yeah. I could. I just couldn't be friends with somebody who doesn't have a sense of humor. Yeah, It'd just be too door.

[Tina Fey]

It's tough.

[Ina Garten]

Yeah.

[Tina Fey]

They gotta like to eat. They have to. They have to, like, food and ease, you know, in this show that. That we've just been working on, this TV show called Four Seasons, I'm dying to talk about, but there's a question comes up in the show of, like, do. Do we believe in soulmates? And my character in the show was like, no, what are you talking about? You know, there's one. You believe there's one person in the whole planet that's meant for you. And you end up at the same dorm at college, like, get out of here. But Colman Domingo is in the show, and his character, and he also, he himself, he says it much better, which is like Coleman says that he believes that there are such a thing as soulmates. And we have many of them, and you find them in different. Sometimes it's romantic, Sometimes it's friendship. And I do think. I believe in that, that there are some people, the moment you meet them, they're like, okay, you just know we're.

[Ina Garten]

Gonna be friends forever.

[Tina Fey]

Yeah.

[Ina Garten]

Yeah.

[Tina Fey]

You're one of us, you know. Oh, that's so cool. Whatever that means to you.

[Ina Garten]

Do your daughters think you're funny or do they roll their eyes?

[Tina Fey]

They roll their eyes once in a while. Once in a while, I get a nod of approval.

[Ina Garten]

Do they watch Mean Girls?

[Tina Fey]

They have seen Mean Girls. They don't feel they want to see it anymore. Kids don't like to watch their mom and stuff, you know, which I get. And I used to think it was a mom thing, but then I was working with Steve Carell on this last show, and I was sort of relieved to hear that his kids don't watch him in the office. And I was like, oh, good. It's my moms and dads. It's just your parents. I took it, you know, less personally.

[Ina Garten]

Both of us have been married for a long time. What do you know about marriage now that works?

[Tina Fey]

Well, I think, you know, again, the plan of the husband goes away Monday through Friday. No, Jeff and I have been married since 2001. So why does it work? I mean, I think being respectful of each other. I mean, we work together a lot.

[Ina Garten]

I got in my head when you were starting to talk.

[Tina Fey]

Yeah. Being respectful of each other and, you know, speaking kindly to each other.

[Ina Garten]

And cheerleading each other.

[Tina Fey]

And cheerleading each other.

[Ina Garten]

Yeah.

[Tina Fey]

Rooting for each other. And I do think it's okay to also be like, sometimes we have hobbies that are separate, and my husband's becoming a gardener with each passing year. And I'm like, that's great. I'm like, go outside. And I'm sure he's the same way.

[Ina Garten]

If I, you know, and he cooks, go on tour. Just incredible.

[Tina Fey]

He's an incredible cook.

[Ina Garten]

Yeah.

[Tina Fey]

And he's really funny. And I think that is the most important of all.

[Ina Garten]

He's funny, he's empathetic. He's real cute, and he'll drop everything and run to you. And he's adorable.

[Tina Fey]

Yeah. And he's adorable.

[Ina Garten]

Hello there.

[Tina Fey]

Yeah. Those are the qualities.

[Ina Garten]

How Important was it to your career starting out at Saturday Night Live?

[Tina Fey]

I can't express enough gratitude. It's the only job in TV where you can write whatever you want every week and you can take risks. You have just the set design, the costume design, every. It's like the top notch of everything. And these what I would call little baby brat writers being like, here's what I want. There's no other job like that.

[Ina Garten]

And also, one thing I love about my job is every day is different. And it must be true when you're working on snl, right?

[Tina Fey]

Yes. Every day is different. And it is. Listen, it is a high stress environment. You learn a lot about failure and surviving failure. It really taught me everything that I have ever been able to use since.

[Ina Garten]

Tell me about the Restless Leg Tour. I love the name of it. With your great friend Amy Poehler, we.

[Tina Fey]

Called it the Restless Leg Tour because we were under pressure to come up with some kind of name for. Could have easily been called the Frozen Shoulder Tour, the Dry Eye Tour. It could have been so many different ailments. We could have named it after. Everyone's so happy to be out. It's such a joyful experience and it feels in many ways like the cleanest transaction of all the things compared to making movies or tv, where it's like, we go there. We do have this experience with the audience. There isn't studio notes, network notes. There aren't five passes and everyone has a good time. And then we go back to a nice hotel and don't have wine. We're both like, I can't drink wine anymore. Gives me acid reflux. Good night. And then. And we just, you know, are so excited to go to a hotel bed. But it is really, really fun. I could do it forever.

[Ina Garten]

You must have young women ask you for advice all the time. What do you tell them?

[Tina Fey]

It's hard, you know, I think things are diff. Like, it's hard. Even I'm a generation away. Yeah.

[Ina Garten]

I don't even know what it is now. You know, it's true in the food business. I mean, it's totally different from when I went in 40 years ago. It's a different business entirely. A lot of women ask me, how can I have a cooking show on tv? And I remember hearing Bobby Flay saying, you don't get a cooking show on tv.

[Tina Fey]

He said, I have them all.

[Ina Garten]

We have them all. He said, you get a job as a dishwasher, you learn how to bake, you go to cooking school. You learn a lot. You Figure out. And at the end of the line is the cooking show. It's not the beginning of the line.

[Tina Fey]

That's good advice that Bob is giving. And I give similar advice, which is if you want to make comedy, if you want to be a comedy writer, like, start writing, get it in front of an audience, make your friends read it. And I always tell people, if they want to work in TV or film, to try to get any job on the set. Yeah, it's good if you've done a couple different jobs because you really kind of understand what you're asking of people.

[Ina Garten]

That's exactly right. When you created 30 Rock, did you have any idea how successful it would.

[Tina Fey]

Be in many ways, you know, compared to some TV shows? It never really was that successful. It was never, you know, in the top 10.

[Ina Garten]

Oh, it's so iconic.

[Tina Fey]

Thank you. I think creatively it was really successful. We won a lot of prizes. And party with the cast of Mad Men. What a time. What a time it was.

[Ina Garten]

Who wouldn't want to do that? When you walk down the street, people call you Liz.

[Tina Fey]

No, let me think. If people ever says anything to me on the street, people say, like, Sarah Palin, or sometimes people say, like, Amy Poehler, and I'm like, close. Don't look alike at all.

[Ina Garten]

Yeah.

[Tina Fey]

Because I just know we're like salt and pepper shakers. I know it's a set, but I bet when you do leave the house, people will be like, oh, my gosh, it's you. Let me tell you. Do you sear a roast before you make it? I need, you know.

[Ina Garten]

Exactly right.

[Tina Fey]

Yeah.

[Ina Garten]

People. When I'm on an airplane, I've had the pilot come back and go, my wife would insist that I get a selfie, and I'm like, shouldn't you be flying the plane?

[Tina Fey]

Let's get it really quick. Really quick.

[Ina Garten]

When you were writing your fabulous memoir, Bossypants, which I just adore, did you learn anything about yourself that you didn't know?

[Tina Fey]

Right before it came out, I was like, well, this is me sort of talking about my life story and having written so many things, like with a writer's room, like, well, this one's all me.

[Ina Garten]

Oh.

[Tina Fey]

The one thing that I really did not put together until I was writing the book was this thing that happened to me when I was a little kid where I was slashed. And it was this. It never connected till I was writing the book. That it was this thing that in some ways could have been ruinous to my self esteem. But in fact, because everyone was so nice to me after it happened and treated me like I was so special that I was like, yes, I'm extremely special. And it ended up being this weird confidence boost that I wish on no one. But I was always sort of an invisible kid outside that I'm very quiet.

[Ina Garten]

All of a sudden. Everybody was paying attention to me. Yeah.

[Tina Fey]

And I sort of. And I was almost like, famous, Right. Because then every year you'd go to school and be like, that's the girl that that thing happened to. And I'd be like, no pictures, please. So it was like a weird.

[Ina Garten]

Isn't that interesting?

[Tina Fey]

Yeah. And I never thought about that. I never put that together until I was writing the book.

[Ina Garten]

So you grew up in a household where your mom was Greek, right?

[Tina Fey]

Yeah, my mom was Greek.

[Ina Garten]

Did she cook Greek food?

[Tina Fey]

She did. She would cook some Greek. She would make. Yeah. Like spanakopita and pastizio. Pastizio love Greek food. I love it, too.

[Ina Garten]

She.

[Tina Fey]

And I will say she used to Americanize it just a little bit in that, like, she would leave the cinnamon out because that is the putting cinnamon in the mix in the savory. She'd be like, I'm not doing that. So that's still my favorite way to make it. It's just a tiny bit of cinnamon in, but not nearly as much. And she would make kurulaychia, the little. The little braided cookies. They're little twists.

[Ina Garten]

Yeah. Are they fried or baked?

[Tina Fey]

No, they're baked. And they're, like, perfect with coffee. They have a little brandy in them, I think. And all those things are like. She'd be like, these are kind of a pain in the ass. Like, everything's like. She used to make the spanakopito in the actual triangles. And it was like. And then at a certain point, she was like, I'm not doing it that way anymore. It just gets too much of a pain. And then she'd do, like, a pan.

[Ina Garten]

A pan of it. Oh, yeah, yeah. It's actually a good idea. It's much simpler to do in a pan.

[Tina Fey]

In a pan. Yeah.

[Ina Garten]

I keep making the triangles. Yeah, that's a good idea.

[Tina Fey]

We lived right by the Greek church, and so, like, the best would be, you know, the Greek festival at the church. Because that's when you would really get everything. And the Holy Grail, which I don't know if you ever made them, was once a year you could get Lucumades, which are delicious. They're basically donuts. They're little fried dough balls in warm honey sauce. You only get it once a year. And that's why Greeks live to be 100, because they only eat like that once a year.

[Ina Garten]

But it's also nice that you have it to look forward to. Yes.

[Tina Fey]

Yeah, it's nice. My mom's aunt came to visit from Greece when I was probably like 10 or 11. And she was, she kept wanting to pull the dandelion greens out of the cracks in the sidewalk because we were to eat. And she's like, these are good. And we're like, these are. And my mom finally told her, like, no, like auntie, like, cats pee on those. We can't cook those. That said, I do love dandelion greens. I love a boiled dandelion.

[Ina Garten]

So are you going to show me how to make Greek potatoes?

[Tina Fey]

I'm going to try. I can't believe I'm going to try to show you how to cook.

[Ina Garten]

I'm going to show you how I make chicken with mustard sauce.

[Tina Fey]

Delicious.

[Ina Garten]

So good.

[Tina Fey]

Together they will pair beautifully.

[Ina Garten]

Excellent. Cheers. Cheers.

[Tina Fey]

I feel like I've entered my own dreams.

[Ina Garten]

Oh, cheers.

[Lemonade Pet Insurance Narrator]

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[Ina Garten]

How many times have you wished you could be in two places at once? With wix you practically can. Wix's website builder is packed with powerful AI tools to make running your business online easier. Build a full site just by talking with AI. Get an AI agent to manage your sales and marketing or work like a 10 person team even if it's just you. So you don't need superpowers to get everything done. You just need Wix. Try it now for [e-mail] I'm here with a multi talented Tina Fey. Who knew she's also a cooking teacher. Are you going to show me how.

[Tina Fey]

To make your Greek potatoes?

[Lemonade Pet Insurance Narrator]

I try.

[Tina Fey]

I am. I might be mono talented. So we'll find out.

[Ina Garten]

So we're starting out with Idaho potatoes.

[Tina Fey]

3 pounds of Idaho potatoes and we just are basically.

[Ina Garten]

Nice little delicate flavor wedges Just a little something.

[Tina Fey]

Yeah, just a little something real. You're like, I only had one bite, but it's a quarter of a full size potato. This is nobody's business what size your potatoes are, but they soak up so much flavor. They're not like the most jazzy recipe, but oh, man, they're so good.

[Ina Garten]

Can't wait.

[Tina Fey]

Okay, so this is some chicken broth.

[Ina Garten]

Third of a cup.

[Tina Fey]

Then this is lemon juice. Yeah.

[Ina Garten]

Every Greek thing has lemon juice in it.

[Tina Fey]

Every Greek thing has lemon juice in it.

[Ina Garten]

And this is lemon zest.

[Tina Fey]

Yeah. Zest of two lemons.

[Ina Garten]

That's a lot of lemon zest. Yeah.

[Tina Fey]

You really want.

[Ina Garten]

It's a lot of potatoes too. Yeah.

[Tina Fey]

Third of a cup.

[Ina Garten]

How much oil is this? Oil? All right.

[Tina Fey]

A teaspoon of these are all teaspoons, right? Am I right? These are teaspoons.

[Ina Garten]

That's a teaspoon.

[Tina Fey]

Teaspoon of pepper.

[Ina Garten]

Are you left handed? I am.

[Tina Fey]

Oh, wouldn't it be crazy if I was like.

[Ina Garten]

I'm not.

[Tina Fey]

I'm just so nervous. I'm just so excited to be here. I forgot I was. Right angle oregano.

[Ina Garten]

And, you know, I'll show you what I do with oregano before you put it in.

[Lemonade Pet Insurance Narrator]

Okay.

[Ina Garten]

So I'm gonna take this tablespoon and I actually crush it between my hands. Ooh.

[Tina Fey]

To get the.

[Ina Garten]

It gets. Yeah, it really brings the flavor out. That's so. And there's something about dried oregano versus fresh. Fresh is very, like, so strong it overwhelms everything. And then garlic. This is like classic Greek cooking, isn't it? Yeah. Oregano, lemon, garlic. Just perfect.

[Tina Fey]

You could put this on anything, really. You could carton a cigarettes. If you poured this on and baked it, it'd be delicious.

[Ina Garten]

So you just pour it over the wall.

[Tina Fey]

Just pour it over there. And you will kind of toss it around.

[Ina Garten]

When it comes to entertaining and cooking, like Thanksgiving, who cooks in your house?

[Tina Fey]

Jeff is kind of the head cook, but I become the stage manager. Can I do this with my hands? Would that be best?

[Ina Garten]

Absolutely. Somebody has to have the organization down making charts. Yeah. Do you make a chart?

[Tina Fey]

Yeah. On Thanksgiving especially, you have to know.

[Ina Garten]

What'S coming out of the oven and what's going in the oven and when. Yeah, yeah. I love Thanksgiving, but you have to organize it. Yeah.

[Tina Fey]

And my husband's very creative and he'll be like halfway through the day, be like, should I also do a ham? And I'm like, absolutely not. Oh, okay. I think that got enough of that.

[Ina Garten]

Liquid on There, that's great.

[Tina Fey]

Okay, so now we're gonna put this in 450 degree oven for 50 minutes and shake it up. Turn em over halfway through.

[Ina Garten]

These are gonna be so good.

[Tina Fey]

And I should have said with that liquid too, you wanna make sure it tastes. I should have tasted it before to make sure it tastes like, nice and salty because that's all gonna soak in and you don't want it to be.

[Ina Garten]

Yeah.

[Tina Fey]

Bland.

[Ina Garten]

Actually. I have this big thing that if you season things while you're going along, it really seasons the inside. If you cook it and then season it later, it just tastes salty.

[Tina Fey]

Salty on the outside. Yeah.

[Ina Garten]

And you put salt and pepper in, so. Yep, that's good.

[Tina Fey]

Yep. So that's.

[Ina Garten]

I wish you could smell this.

[Tina Fey]

Smells so good, right? Yes, it does smell good. Again, it just looks like little plain guys.

[Ina Garten]

Okay, I'm gonna show you how I make the chicken.

[Tina Fey]

Okay, great.

[Ina Garten]

So the key to cooking chicken and making sure it's really browned and crisp is to make sure it's dry before it goes in the pan. So I just use paper towels, make sure it's really, really dry. So what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna make chicken with mustard sauce. And I start with the chicken thighs.

[Tina Fey]

Okay.

[Ina Garten]

And lots of salt and pepper.

[Tina Fey]

They boneless or they have bones?

[Ina Garten]

They're bones. They have bones in them? Yeah. I think it keeps them much more moist. Okay. And then I turn them over, season on the other side. Okay. So wanna hand me some olive oil? Yep. There we go. I'm just gonna put. Think this is a big enough pan for chicken for two.

[Tina Fey]

That's a gorgeous pan, by the way.

[Ina Garten]

Okay, so I'm gonna do skin side down.

[Lemonade Pet Insurance Narrator]

Okay.

[Ina Garten]

Let's put it right in and not move it. And then it doesn't stick. That's gonna cook for 15 minutes without moving it.

[Tina Fey]

Okay.

[Ina Garten]

Okay. So here's where I am with the chicken. Beautiful. So I put onions in the pan, and I turn the chicken over. They're perfectly browned. And now I'm gonna take the chicken out. Don't wanna overcook it. And I'm gonna make a sauce. So I used to joke that I could just, like, saute onions in a pan and serve Jeffrey a sandwich from the deli. And he would think I cooked all day. That's so good. And now you want to hand me the wine?

[Lemonade Pet Insurance Narrator]

Yes.

[Ina Garten]

So I'm going to put some wine in the pan. Okay. And I'll make a cream sauce.

[Tina Fey]

This is technically stem, what you're doing. This is science right now.

[Ina Garten]

Science. I think we need two glasses of wine.

[Tina Fey]

I think we do.

[Ina Garten]

And then I'm going to put in tablespoon of mustard. Just go Dijon mustard. Tablespoon of coarse mustard. So you know what's in it? That's perfect. Eight ounces of creme fraiche, and I love creme fraiche. It's got that little bite. Is there a whisk here? There's a whisk right in that. Perfect.

[Tina Fey]

Thank you.

[Ina Garten]

Thank you, Chef.

[Tina Fey]

Yes. Yes, Chef. Right away, chef.

[Ina Garten]

We're like in an episode of the Bear now.

[Tina Fey]

Yeah, because we've been screaming at each other.

[Ina Garten]

Come on, Adam. Put my up on up. And then I'm gonna put the table chicken back in. So the flavor of the sauce gets into the chicken and it reheats it. Okay, this is gonna come in here. Can do the easy way or the hard way.

[Tina Fey]

Which is this?

[Ina Garten]

This is something in between. Okay. So that's just gonna reheat and cook a little bit.

[Tina Fey]

I feel compelled to bust this for you.

[Ina Garten]

Oh, you can bust that. Thank you very much.

[Tina Fey]

I work for tips.

[Ina Garten]

So you think your potatoes are ready?

[Tina Fey]

I think so. Let's try it.

[Ina Garten]

So good.

[Lemonade Pet Insurance Narrator]

Yeah.

[Tina Fey]

Okay, good. They're nice and brown.

[Ina Garten]

Those look and smell so good.

[Tina Fey]

Yeah, There you go. That's delicious. A little parsley, right? To be classic.

[Ina Garten]

And I love. They have. Do you have sliced lemons on it?

[Tina Fey]

Yeah, that's the thing. You know, I learned that move from you. You did. You wanted to show what it's gonna taste like, right?

[Ina Garten]

Yeah. Are we ready to plate this?

[Tina Fey]

Absolutely. Use this guy, I guess.

[Ina Garten]

Yeah. Potatoes first.

[Tina Fey]

Now a serving is 14 potatoes. In my world, you know, I have to give you three potatoes because comedy, it's a rule of threes, so I can't get in.

[Ina Garten]

Design is three, too. Yeah? Yeah. You have to have an odd number of everything. Yeah. So what's three in comedy?

[Tina Fey]

If there's something like a gag happening in a show, you know, like, if you repeat it, you should repeat it three times.

[Ina Garten]

Oh, that's so interesting work. I had no idea. Now I'm gonna look for it.

[Tina Fey]

Rule of threes.

[Ina Garten]

All right.

[Tina Fey]

Look at that. Holy moly. Holy moly. Look at that business.

[Ina Garten]

A little parsley.

[Tina Fey]

Yeah.

[Ina Garten]

And I think dinner served.

[Tina Fey]

Perfect.

[Ina Garten]

Beautiful.

[Tina Fey]

I love chablis right here. Okay.

[Ina Garten]

I'm tasting your potatoes.

[Tina Fey]

This is a high pressure moment.

[Ina Garten]

They're so good.

[Lemonade Pet Insurance Narrator]

They're good.

[Ina Garten]

They're so good. They're delicious.

[Tina Fey]

Yay. But the sauce seems easy. Okay, here I go. Ready?

[Ina Garten]

Yeah. The sauce is really easy.

[Tina Fey]

Disgusting.

[Ina Garten]

Oh my God. I'm gonna kill myself. She hates it.

[Tina Fey]

It's so good.

[Ina Garten]

Not bad.

[Tina Fey]

The highest form of praise.

[Ina Garten]

Highest form of praise.

[Tina Fey]

So good.

[Ina Garten]

I say these girls can cook.

[Tina Fey]

We did it. Thank you for having me.

[Ina Garten]

So much fun. You can come anytime and you don't even have to cook up.

[Tina Fey]

You're going to regret saying that when I come again tomorrow.

[Ina Garten]

Okay.

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[Tina Fey]

From rural roads to remote job sites, Western States Cat gets you the gear you need fast. Need a machine for the week? A specialty attachment for one tough job? From new and used equipment purchase and rental parts and service Western States Cat has it with our extensive rental fleet, on site delivery and expert support your partner wherever you build, visit westernstatescat.com today Western States Cat. Together we build the future.

[Ina Garten]

ACAST powers the world's best podcasts. Here's a show that we recommend.

[Tina Fey]

On his first day back in the White House, Donald Trump signed a controversial executive order stating that there were only two genders, male and female, and that those genders are tied to biological sex. This statement was simple and devastating, and it signaled that the gender backlash had reached a boiling point. I'm Julie Kohler, the host of White Picket Fence. This season, we're examining the many faces of this gender backlash, how it's showing up in our politics and culture. It's a scary time, but it's also a moment for imagination. What becomes possible when we imagine a better future? Subscribe to White Picket Fence. Wherever you listen to podcasts.

[Ina Garten]

ACAST helps creators launch, grow and monetize their podcasts everywhere. Acast.com.