Steve

St.-Paul de Vence walnut tart requires new pan, rewards much work

April 5, 2017 by Steve

Maida Heatter, in Maida Heatter’s Cakes, first published in 1982, says this walnut tart is “really a fancy cake.” While Gourmandistan is not about to jump into the fray between cakes and tarts (yes, we’re looking in your direction, tortes), we will say this walnut dessert is delicious—though somewhat of a pain in the ass. The tart (or cake, whatever) recipe caught Michelle’s eye ages ago because it supposedly came from St.-Paul de Vence. In 2007, during a wonderful splurge side trip from Provence, we spent some […]

Categories: Baking, Cake, Desserts & Sweets, Food, France, Nuts, Old cookbooks, Pies & Tarts, Vacation

Broccoli and bacon salad proves raw vegetables have a place in Gourmandistan

March 28, 2017 by Steve

It may be a bit of an exaggeration to say that raw food has no place in Gourmandistan, but we are after all a cooking community. While Steve is more than happy to snarf up just about anything in raw form, Michelle usually likes her food a bit more done. (Once, at a three-star Michelin restaurant in France, Michelle pronounced the quivering veal marrow on her plate “raw” and refused to eat it. Whether it was actually raw, and undoubtedly it wasn’t, Steve got a […]

Categories: Broccoli, Food, Recipes, Salad

Irish Colcannon runs through Appalachia, giving Gourmandistan another tribe to talk about

March 16, 2017 by Steve

Gourmandistan has already employed St. Patrick’s day as an excuse to make fun of Michellle’s Irish heritage. This year we thought we’d add Appalachia to the holiday mix, as it’s quite possible one or two of Michelle’s ancestors spent some time there, as many did, between Ireland and settling in other parts of U.S. We could wind through the many, many derogatory stereotypes of this mountainous region spanning the United States from New York to Alabama. However, that would needlessly offend some very sweet […]

Categories: Cabbage, Cooking, Cured meats, Food, Ireland, Kale, Potatoes, Recipes, St. Patrick's Day

The somewhat delayed satisfaction of sesame sticks

February 28, 2017 by Steve

Perhaps it was the miso caramel ice cream we’re still working on. (Trust us, Whole Foods’ so-called “mellow” miso is not white and is way too salty.) But, for some reason, these nutty, buttery sticks did not appeal to Michelle at first. While she initially found them kind of “meh,” Michelle grew impressed by the sesame sticks’ staying power along with their flavor. Alice Medrich, who once again led us to something delicious, calls these cookies “addictively crunchy yet delicate” and […]

Categories: Baking, Cookies, Desserts & Sweets, Food, Recipes

Tahini chocolate chip cookies saltily show the sweeter side of sesame

February 11, 2017 by Steve

While we’re not unfamiliar with sesame paste candies, they weren’t the sweets Gourmandistan usually looked for. It may have been our jealous guarding of tahini stocks for use in Middle Eastern-style dinners. Or perhaps it was Steve’s shuddery childhood memories of the dusty, dried out bars of Joyva Halvah he was forced to sample out of politeness. Whatever the reason, we’re now re-evaluating our search parameters. Michelle found this Danielle Oron recipe in The New York Times (which is obviously popular as it keeps making the rounds […]

Categories: Baking, Chocolate, Cookies, Desserts & Sweets, Food, Recipes

Black-eyed pea cakes because we need all the luck we can use

January 1, 2017 by Steve

So that’s it for 2016, a year that we couldn’t possibly sum up any better than Charlie Brooker did. (Do watch it: it will be the best hour you spend today.) That particular annus horribilis had shaken Michelle’s belief in the power of New Year’s Day black-eyed peas and greens, which, here in the South, supposedly ensure luck in the coming year. Reflecting on the challenges ahead for ourselves, American democracy and the future of our planet, Michelle realized that even the smallest chance for […]

Categories: Beans, Cooking, Food, Holidays & Events, Kale, New Year, Recipes, Vegetarian

Fruitcake icebox cookies for a traveling holiday

December 12, 2016 by Steve

Gourmandistan will be on the move for the upcoming holiday season. With stops planned in Madisonville, Memphis and Jackson before pushing on to New Orleans, Michelle wanted some sweets that could survive the trip, were good enough to gift, and non-messy enough for snacks on the road. Along with a few other selections (do not ask about the sugar cookie decorations gone horribly wrong), these icebox cookies made the cut. Michelle has been baking from Maida Heatter’s Book of Great Cookies since around […]

Categories: Baking, Christmas, Cookies, Desserts & Sweets, Food, Holidays & Events, Old cookbooks, Recipes

Making things a bit sunnier by adding apricots to lentils with sausage and prunes

November 28, 2016 by Steve

Gourmandistan’s old Kentucky home is once again undergoing the Commonwealth’s standard version of Winter, where “the sun shines bright” line in the official state song seems only a bitter, damp and cloudy joke. Looking to brighten things up a bit while avoiding all the heavy work we did while preparing for Thanksgiving, Michelle updated this Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall lentil dish with a dash of dried apricots. We really enjoyed the way the apricots’ tartness added to the savory lentils and sweet […]

Categories: Apricots, Beans, Cooking, Food, Pork, Prunes, Recipes

Korean Fried Broccoli because we need some mind-altering substances at the moment

November 18, 2016 by Steve

Amanda Cohen’s Dirt Candy menu describes this dish as “crack in broccoli form.” We’re not about to disagree. We’re losing track of the nights we’ve made this Korean Fried Broccoli as we’ve watched anything but the news, which at the moment is too distressing and disorienting to bear. Steve has been delighted to discover that stove-top smoking actually works, and adds another layer of robustness to this in-your-face, extra-crunchy-despite-sauce idea. If you have the ingredients at hand (and a way to smoke something) […]

Categories: Broccoli, Cooking, Food, Korea, Recipes

Gourmandistan

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Author Archives: Steve