Gourmandistan

Hoppin’ John Biryani and saag paneer, our pagan rituals for a better year

January 1, 2020 by Steve

Gourmandistan is about as far from a theocracy as possible. However, we are not above indulging in bits of propitiation, as evidenced by the atheistic Michelle’s insistence on egg baskets, angel ornaments and other religious emulations. The turning of the calendar to a new year found us once again looking for ways to eat black-eyed peas and greens, a tradition supposedly guaranteeing luck and good fortune in the coming months. While we are skeptics, we find ourselves already crediting good […]

Categories: Cooking, Food, India, New Year, Peas, Pork, Recipes, Rice, Southern Food

Apricot buttercream (and filling) elevate (and recreate) a 1980s cake

September 16, 2019 by Steve

Back in the 1980s, when Michelle and Steve first got together, Michelle made Steve a really good birthday cake. Michelle doesn’t remember much about it, other than that the filling and icing were deliciously flavored with dried apricots. And it was baked in our first apartment kitchen, which (amazing as it now seems) we thought was incredible because it had a dishwasher and new appliances. Over the years Michelle kept Steve, but she somehow managed to lose the recipe which […]

Categories: Apricots, Baking, Cake, Desserts & Sweets, Food, Fruit Desserts, Old cookbooks, Recipes

Potato and egg salad pleasantly pinpricks plussed-up farm share

July 12, 2019 by Michelle

Before they created Gourmandistan, Michelle and Steve begat a blog called “Farm Share Squared,” in which they attempted to chronicle the travails of two people who somewhat unadvisedly signed up for two separate farm shares. The early, iWeb-based effort was a struggle on several levels (Michelle is so happy that the horrible photos were lost forever when Apple jettisoned the platform), not the least of which was what to do with all the produce. Now, simply because of Steve’s fanciful […]

Categories: Cooking, Eggs, Food, Independence Day, Potatoes, Salad, Vegetables, Vegetarian

Slice-resisting Strawberry Pretzel Icebox Pie straddles both sides of beach vacation

June 2, 2019 by Steve

Once again Gourmandistan was lucky enough to experience Dewees Island, a place we have grown to love over many years. Our route to this small South Carolina island always includes an overnight stay in Asheville, North Carolina, possibly the hippest place in the Tarheel State and now home to one of Michelle’s mother’s dear friends who was also Michelle’s favorite high school English teacher. In Asheville, we enjoyed another dinner at Chai Pani and left with homemade bread and Kilwins […]

Categories: Cooking, Desserts & Sweets, Food, Fruit, Fruit Desserts, Pies & Tarts, Strawberries, Vacation

Trifling raspberry almond gems just a small part of wonderful reunion

April 28, 2019 by Steve

Steve may not have heard all the meal plans in advance of Michelle’s recent girls’ weekend. He may have been, at Michelle’s behest, deep in a cabinet or office drawer, straightening yet another part of the house Michelle’s friends might perhaps peek into once they arrived from their homes across the country. The reunion of coeds who first met at Vanderbilt University in the 1970s had taken much coordination (and a bit of cajoling), and Michelle wanted to make sure […]

Categories: Cake, Desserts & Sweets, Food, Friends, Jams & Preserves, Puddings and custards, Raspberries

Putting effort into pork cracklings pays off for A. Wong siu mai

February 27, 2019 by Michelle

Our recent trip to London raised our expectations for dim sum, and definitely reinforced our desire to explore more of the higher ends of Chinese dining. At Yauatcha Soho, where we enjoyed both lunch and dinner dim sum, we were introduced to venison puffs, lobster dumplings with caviar and cheung fun with crunchy tofu skin. We enjoyed the restaurant’s aquarium-bordered, sparkly-lit subterranean dining area, with its hip music and hipper waiters. However A. Wong, an equally-Michelin-starred but less bedazzled establishment, […]

Categories: China, Cooking, Dim sum, Food, Pork, Recipes, Restaurants, Shrimp, Vacation

Making Twiglets at home a twisted way to remember London

February 16, 2019 by Steve

Our recent trip to London was all too brief. In ten days, we only just scratched the surface of the city. We didn’t get to anywhere near every restaurant, neighborhood, shop and cultural site we had bookmarked in advance. But we did return with some great memories, renewed friendships and, it seems, a terrible craving for Twiglets. Before we get to what their current corporate owners call “a unique wholewheat product,” we’d like to assure our readers that we did do […]

Categories: Breads & Crackers, Cooking, England, Food, Recipes, Vacation

Cardamom apricot oatmeal cookies delightfully dispose of white chocolate

December 5, 2018 by Michelle

Many delightful things lie in wait within Gourmandistan’s various freezers, fridges, pantries and cabinets. Most of them shuttle in and out, and are replaced frequently. But some things seem to stay, long past the time we remember why we bought them. Miniature white chocolate chips were one such ingredient—but we finally found a great way to get rid of them. Michelle doesn’t remember every detail of her decision to bring white chocolate into our home. While the substance does have […]

Categories: Apricots, Baking, Cookies, Desserts & Sweets, Old cookbooks, Recipes

Putting dates, walnuts and caramel with pumpkin welcomes fall into our home

November 9, 2018 by Steve

Fall seemed unwilling to visit our Kentucky hollow for many months, but finally gave us a few vibrantly colored leaves to photograph. We took advantage of some sunny, mild days to plant daffodils in the field by our new bridge, hoping we’ll see some new color in springtime. We’re of course anticipating what we’ll do with squash, apples and other harvest items. But we thought we’d bring in the season with an attempt to recreate pumpkin loaf in a […]

Categories: Baking, Cake, Desserts & Sweets, Food, Nuts, Recipes, Winter squash

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