Michelle

“A Charlie Brown Christmas” kind of Thanksgiving in January

January 12, 2011 by Michelle

Steve felt sorry for the little 10-pound turkey, spotting it lodged awkwardly in the bottom of the Foxhollow Farm Store frozen meat case the week after Thanksgiving. As it sat there through December, Steve began to wonder if the bird had died in vain—and possibly, what Gourmandistan could do with a turkey. We’ve never been big fans of America’s almost-national bird, suffering through bland braised turkey breasts and, in Michelle’s case, a bad experience with brining early in the free-range […]

Categories: Cooking, Food, Recipes, Thanksgiving, Turkey

Appetizer solution (white bean bruschetta)

January 10, 2011 by Michelle

Our dinner guests being vegetarian wasn’t the problem—having dinner guests was the problem. Dinner guests, while certainly welcome in Gourmandistan, do require certain steps to be taken, such as picking up the numerous books and magazines scattered about, removing the cats’ countertop colander bed and making hors d’oeuvre. Michelle looked around the place and assembled some meat-free prospects: a few dried white beans in the pantry, a Blue Dog baguette in the freezer and some fresh sage leaves in the […]

Categories: Appetizers, Beans, Cooking, Food, Recipes, Vegetarian

Momofuku Mo Problems: A Christmas Blizzard of Chang

January 2, 2011 by Michelle

We certainly didn’t intend to eat at all four of David Chang’s restaurants as we began our quick planning for a Gourmandistan Christmas in New York City. But the path was set long before Snowicane, Snomageddon, Snowpocalypse or whatever you call the sixth-worst blizzard ever to hit the City. It started when Michelle beat Chang’s fiendishly democratic online reservation system for two of the available 12 seats at Momofuku Ko for Christmas lunch. Then, Steve made reservations for Má Pêche’s […]

Categories: Christmas, Food, Restaurants

Hoppin’ new year (black-eyed pea soup)

December 31, 2010 by Michelle

In Gourmandistan, we recognize there is a tradition saying eating black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day will bring good luck in he coming year. We also agree with Edna Lewis that black-eyed peas “are a little dull.” So, in an effort to bring our readers both good luck and good taste in 2011, we present an alternative to the traditional peas and rice. Happy New Year, everybody! BLACK-EYED PEA SOUP (adapted from Elizabeth and Alexis Terry’s Savannah Seasons: Food and […]

Categories: Beans, Cooking, Food, New Year, Recipes, Soups & Stews

Struffoli, Steve’s sole holiday food tradition

December 21, 2010 by Michelle

It’s a sign of how denatured Steve’s Neapolitan heritage is that he believed a traditional family holiday dish was spelled “struvela.” It’s actually struffoli—something Steve didn’t figure out until recently. Steve has memories of picking at the honey-covered dough bits as they sat on an increasingly sugar-sticky paper doily for days, a concept Michelle finds bewildering as well as slightly disgusting. Nevertheless, acceding to Steve’s whim, she decided to help bring struffoli to Gourmandistan. Steve’s mother was happy to give […]

Categories: Christmas, Cooking, Desserts & Sweets, Family, Food, Italy, Old cookbooks, Recipes, Vegetarian

Pursuing perfect Parker House rolls

December 15, 2010 by Michelle

These days Steve can bang out a perfect pâte brisée without looking at a recipe. He’s also now pretty good at pizza dough, as well as pasta and no-knead bread. But Michelle found Steve a new challenge in the November issue of Saveur magazine—buttery, puffy Parker House rolls. Steve took the Tom Colicchio article out of Michelle’s hands and, on his first try, made a passable imitation of a dinner roll. However, they were judged to be a little underdone […]

Categories: Cooking, Food, Recipes, Vegetarian, Yeast breads

Snappier Ginger Snaps

December 12, 2010 by Michelle

Nashville Seasons was one of Michelle’s earliest cookbooks (the very first was Betty Crocker’s New Boys and Girls Cook Book, and the second was the 1979 Marion Cunningham version of Fannie Farmer). Her mother gave Michelle a copy of the classic southern Junior League cookbook for Christmas in 1980, during Michelle’s senior year of college—Jean’s own edition having become worn from much use. The 1964 cookbook was published at the crossroads of culinary skill and convenience. While the authors still […]

Categories: Christmas, Cookies, Cooking, Family, Food, Old cookbooks, Recipes, Vegetarian

Couscous and Coincidence

December 5, 2010 by Michelle

Yotam Ottolenghi came into Gourmandistani consciousness from two different directions. Michelle, constant comber of media and things food-related, had seen his weekly “The New Vegetarian” pieces in The Guardian and mentioned them to Steve. Steve, adrift in a sea of RSS feeds, forgot the mention—yet somehow coincidentally stumbled across Ottolenghi’s website, mentioning his food to Michelle. Michelle, after graciously reminding Steve that she already knew of the Israeli/Italian/German chef and his stylish London restaurant and take-outs, agreed we should explore […]

Categories: Cooking, Food, Pasta, Recipes, Spinach, Vegetarian, Winter squash

France, meet farm share

November 12, 2010 by Michelle

On our recent trip to Gascony we once again enjoyed the sight of plump orange potiron squash at local markets. We’ve watched vendors slice wedges from these squat, pumpkin-esque gourds, but never bought even a piece—although we would often joke about what we’d do if we ended up with a whole one for ourselves. Now, thanks to our friends at Foxhollow Farm, we know (sort of). The drought-stricken year seems to have barely slowed Foxhollow’s production of squashes, and as […]

Categories: Cooking, Food, France, Recipes, Soups & Stews, Winter squash