Steve

Beginning Baking (Again) With Bernard Clayton’s Rich White Bread

May 4, 2013 by Steve

Steve was starting to think he was so big. He started to think he was a better baker than most. It may have begun with his pâte brisée, or perhaps his pizza dough. Maybe it was when he made that batch of bialys or his “perfect” Parker House Rolls. Perhaps it was time he was taken down a peg. Perhaps it was time for Bernard Clayton’s New Complete Book of Breads. Actually, Steve’s comedown didn’t start with Bernard Clayton—it started with […]

Categories: Cooking, Food, Recipes, Vegetarian • Tags: Bread, Old cookbooks

Benedictine Arnold

April 28, 2013 by Steve

Once again, it’s Kentucky Derby time. Around here, locals like to tell Derby guests that Louisvillians love Benedictine. They are lying. Benedictine is boring, and often unpleasantly and artificially green. Yet somehow, it sits as a fixture of virtually every Derby buffet. In her Boston Cooking-School Cook Book, Fannie Farmer, who trained eponymous Benedictine inventor Jennie C. Benedict, offered several “cream cheese salads” that seem more interesting. Her student, Benedict, who brought the cucumber-flavored cream cheese spread to the world, on […]

Categories: Appetizers, Cooking, Cucumber, Food, Kentucky Derby, Recipes, Sandwiches, Vegetarian

Plagiarizing the Pistachio out of The Purple Pig’s Lemon Panna Cotta

April 12, 2013 by Steve

Providing Bon Appétit Magazine with a recipe for Lemon Panna Cotta with Lemon Marmalade was very nice of Jimmy Bannos, Jr. It may make us seem ungrateful to wish he had included in his published version the sugared pistachios that grace the dessert at The Purple Pig. We’ve enjoyed multiple meals at The Purple Pig, a seemingly always-packed place nestled at the southern tip of Chicago’s Magnificent Mile. We’re usually torn between too many choices—from Turkey Leg Confit with Crispy Lentils to Pig’s […]

Categories: Cooking, Custards & Puddings, Food, Fruit Desserts, Jams & Preserves, Lemon, Nuts, Recipes, Restaurants

Trompe l’oink

April 1, 2013 by Steve

This is not a post about how to treat your family to plump, juicy pork chops without frying. It is instead about Nut Cutlets—or “nutlets,” as Steve insists on calling them. We found this recipe in Kitchenology with Principia Friends, a 1933 cookbook written by “St. Louis mothers” as a fundraising tool for Principia College. Perhaps because of Depression-era budgets, the book has an entire section on “Meat Substitutes”—with ideas like Mock Veal Loaf (broken spaghetti, chopped walnuts), Cheese Rarebit […]

Categories: Cooking, Food, Holidays & Events, Old cookbooks

Ramping up cheese biscuits with roast duck, slaw and (of course) ramps

March 28, 2013 by Steve

It is wonderfully once again time for ramps, a benefit of Gourmandistan’s close proximity to Appalachia. (Other benefits are elk viewing tours, excellent attorneys/former judges and enormous amounts of dirty, dirty coal money to support Steve’s beloved UK Wildcats.) Michelle bought some ramps immediately upon spotting them at our first spring farmers’ market, and we happily enjoyed them in several dishes before inspiration struck twice and we ended up with what may be the best sandwich on earth. It started […]

Categories: Biscuits, Cheese, Cooking, Duck, Food, Ramps, Recipes

Refining Rocky Top Relais & Chateaux Roasted Broccoli Salad

March 24, 2013 by Steve

What with the luxury accommodations, lovely scenery and lavish menus, it’s not hard to see why people may confuse Blackberry Farm and Gourmandistan. Here are a few key differences: • While Blackberry Farm remains firmly fixed in the foothills of Eastern Tennessee’s Smoky Mountains, Gourmandistan, when given the proper incentive, tends to wander about the globe. • Relais & Chateaux property catalogs can be found at both places. But Blackberry Farm has them as a proud member of the association, while Gourmandistan merely collects them as […]

Categories: Broccoli, Cooking, Food, Nuts, Recipes, Restaurants, Salad, Vegetarian

Turning head cheese horror into souse-rousing success.

March 18, 2013 by Steve

Working one’s way through a whole (or even half) pig at home can lead down some interesting avenues. Head cheese was starting to look like a dead end. Last year, when we received our half hog from Bob Hancock, we insisted on as close to primal cuts as possible, including the entire head (which, apparently, the folks buying the other part didn’t mind giving up). We decided to make head cheese, and tried Nathan Foot’s recipe from Primal Cuts. We […]

Categories: Cooking, Food, Nose-to-tail, Pork, Recipes

Pee, pan-dairy pancakes & a pledge you should make

March 15, 2013 by Steve

Gourmandistan is not normally a territory enthused about the prospect of kidneys. Even a fan such as Jaques Pépin is forced to describe their flavor as “an assertive taste that some may not find inviting.” Putting it bluntly, kidneys pretty much always taste of urine, quite possibly because their primary function is producing the stuff. While we’ve received them in several whole animal purchases, we’ve usually (somewhat secretly and shamefully as nose-to-tail enthusiasts) allowed them to go to waste. Today, however, […]

Categories: Breakfast, Cooking, Family, Food, Old cookbooks, Recipes, Vegetarian

Rotating Shrimp Balls (and coconut milk) in Hot & Sour Thai Broth

March 1, 2013 by Steve

This amazing mix-and-match shrimp event started as many things in Gourmandistan do, with dim sum. Our successful shao mai, semi-successful har gow and further representations of our growing repertoire created quite a pile of shrimp shells. Steve, taking inspiration from Conor Bofin, decided he would maximize the value of the wild-caught, non-frozen shrimp and make shrimp stock. (Stunning revelation on checking Conor’s post: Steve forgot to add bay leaf. The stock turned out OK anyway.) Michelle, seeing Steve’s proposal as […]

Categories: Coconut, Cooking, Food, Recipes, Shrimp, Soups & Stews, Thailand