Gourmandistan

Gourmandistan

A fabled land of farmers, farm shares, fancy (and not so fancy) restaurants, family meals, food projects and more.

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Author Archives: Michelle

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While solitude wanes, we Frogmore Stew

May 24, 2014 by Michelle

After some years (and as some consolation for skipping this year’s trip to Europe), Gourmandistan has returned for the fourth time with Michelle’s family to Dewees Island, an eco-conscious community constructed on an old rice plantation slightly north of Charleston, South Carolina. Accessible only by ferry, Dewees allows no automobiles, has no golf courses, enforces strict building rules focused on maintaining the beach, wetlands and wildlife, bans wedding receptions and/or wild parties, and to our continuing enjoyment seems always mostly empty. […]

Categories: Cooking, Family, Food, Recipes, Seafood, Shrimp

39

Putting a little snap into scones with pear, ginger and rosemary

May 15, 2014 by Michelle

While we are not entirely captured by the concept of “cream tea,” Gourmandistan does like a scone now and again. But while there are many recipes, most are too sweet, too cake-like or too dry and crumbly for our tastes. After quite a bit of experimentation, we’ve (for now) settled on this version, which we’ve adapted from software engineer-turned-vegetarian-cookbook author Michael Natkin. We enjoyed winy pear flavor spiked with fresh ginger, but added a bit of dried for extra zing plus […]

Categories: Breads & Crackers, Breakfast, Cooking, Food, Muffins & quick breads, Pears, Recipes, Vegetarian

36

A pecan Patronus, surprisingly from the school of dark tarts

May 8, 2014 by Michelle

Before the Harry Potter police descend on Gourmandistan like a pack of Dementors at a Quidditch match, let it be said that Gourmandistan understands Patronus charms are not usually uttered by pecans. But we do feel pecans need some protection. Too often well-meaning kitchen wizards whip up pecan pies, imprisoning the nuts in sickly sweet sugar goo that sucks the soul from the nut. Especially if we’re shelling them ourselves, we Gourmandistanis want our pecans to be the star when we use them. […]

Categories: Cooking, Food, Nuts, Pies & Tarts, Recipes, Vegetarian

55

Meet your new King, Chocolate Elvis Cake

April 19, 2014 by Michelle

Elvis Presley has many, many incarnations. Swivel-hipped Ed Sullivan-censored Elvis. Terrible movie star Elvis. Television-shooting, fried peanut butter and banana sandwich-eating Elvis. Black leather-clad Comeback Elvis. Sweaty sequined Vegas Elvis. Dead Elvis. Some see Elvis as a racist, others as a messiah. Gourmandistan saw Elvis as cake. Our story begins like so many in Gourmandistan, with a bit of food about to go off. In this case, it was bananas, which Michelle (as she often does) starting thinking about making into a […]

Categories: Bananas, Cake, Candy, Chocolate, Cooking, Food, Nuts, Recipes, Vegetarian

58

Guy Savoy, blood orange tart and the meal that almost wasn’t

March 31, 2014 by Michelle

We purchased our copy of Guy Savoy’s 120 recettes comme à la maison in January 2001, the day after we dined at his then-two-Michelin-starred restaurant near the Arc de Triomphe. The day before our cookbook purchase began with Steve learning (having slept through it) that Michelle had spent the night on our chic Paris hotel’s bathroom floor sick with food poisoning (oysters blamed), followed by her announcement that we should probably cancel our dinner reservation. Michelle was at that point refusing to put anything in […]

Categories: Cooking, Food, France, Fruit Desserts, Orange, Pies & Tarts, Recipes, Restaurants, Vegetarian

105

Cutting the fat (if you can believe it) in collards with bacon and cream

March 19, 2014 by Michelle

We know that spring must be near, because tender collard greens are starting to appear at our local markets. Southerner that she is, Michelle immediately began to think of collards and pork. The kind of slow-cooked, somewhat greasy goodness one finds at many “soul food” or “Southern style” restaurants, along with a cruet of vinegar to dilute the fat and give the greens a chance to surface. But while we are a household which indeed reveres fat, even we blanched […]

Categories: Collards, Cooking, Food, Recipes, Vegetables

39

Canard a la moutarde competes with duck confit

March 10, 2014 by Michelle

We Gourmandistanis are big fans of duck confit. We’ve written before about our less fat-intesive method of making it, and we currently have some boned-out bits stuffed in the freezer, waiting for a pizza, flatbread or perhaps a salad. But while we love the convenience of crisping a nice confit leg for dinner, our kitchen (OK, Michelle) is more and more often opting for a rival method—roasting duck legs with bread crumbs, butter and mustard. It takes a couple of […]

Categories: Cooking, Duck, Food, France, Meats, Old cookbooks, Recipes

54

Is it odd to aid a carbonnade with marmalade?

February 23, 2014 by Michelle

If you’re Daniel Boulud, the answer to the question is, apparently not. And while we weren’t previously familiar with the practice, we’re pretty sure it will reappear in Gourmandistan. Looking around for something stew-ish, we once again turned to the overlooked Braise: A Journey Through International Cuisine for inspiration. We found a recipe for “Carbonnade à la Flamande,” which called for an entire beef shoulder roast marinated overnight in crème fraîche, then braised with crumbled gingersnaps and marmalade. While we did […]

Categories: Beef, Cooking, Food, Recipes, Soups & Stews

42

Making things rosier with rosemary grapefruit tart

February 16, 2014 by Michelle

While Gourmandistan has documented its serious love of local fruit, we’re not hardcore enough to remain fruitless through an entire winter. While we (especially Steve) can be satisfied with store-bought pears and apples, the winter fruit we really enjoy comes from the citrus side of the family. While we won’t go so far as to say a day without orange juice is like a day without sunshine, in these drab winter months we’re looking for as many sun substitutes as […]

Categories: Cooking, Food, Fruit Desserts, Grapefruit, Pies & Tarts, Recipes, Vegetarian

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