Actor Jennifer Garner took to social media to share that she almost set fire to her kitchen while cooking her traditional beef stew on Christmas.
The recipe, created by chef Ina Garten, involves adding Cognac — a type of brandy — to a pot filled with browning vegetables and igniting it with fire to burn off the alcohol. As anybody could assume, that doesn’t always go as planned.
In Garner’s four-minute cooking tutorial, she is shown setting fire to the pot and stepping back while the flames extend up towards her stove fan. The camera then zooms in on the 49-year-old actor’s shocked face as she waits for the fire to simmer down.
Jennifer Garner almost sets kitchen on fire
Garner loves to share her cooking adventures with her followers on Instagram. She tends to upload short videos of her time spent in the kitchen, many of which are edited to add some comedic value.
Pairing her comfy, all-black outfit with a pair of glasses, the mother-of-three gave her Christmas cooking update. In her video, she drew attention to the chaos that ensued while cooking a recipe taken out of Ina Garten’s cookbook.
On December 29, the 13 Going on 30 actress uploaded her latest cooking video, captioning it, “The thing about traditions—all you do to give them meaning is keep them.”
Sharing the entire recipe onto her account, she went on to say that cooking Ina Garten’s beef bourguignon is a Christmas tradition in her household. Garner wrote that the dish makes her feel “happy, cozy, and relaxed.” However, there was one drawback. She wrote, “until I almost lit the kitchen on fire—Ina would never.”
Later in the video, Garner reveals that she doubled the amount of brandy needed for the recipe. She is shown shouting into the pot, “Can you believe that just happened? That was wild,” after telling the camera to not “double the Cognac.”
Ina Garten responds to Jennifer Garner
Turns out, Garner wasn’t 100% right. The famed chef left a hilarious comment on Garner’s video. Ina Garten, best known for hosting the Food Network’s Barefoot Contessa, wrote on Garner’s post: “That’s my favorite!!! And I almost set the kitchen on fire every time! Happy New Year!!! Love you.”
It looks like “almost setting your kitchen on fire” should be a caution warning on Garten’s popular recipe as it is the norm. Here’s to hoping Garner’s next Christmas has less of a fright!