Appetizers | Gourmandistan

Shrimp and grits pâté part of new Thanksgiving tradition

November 29, 2015 by Steve

Last year’s Gourmandistan Thanksgiving was a lovely gathering where everyone enjoyed themselves, including both Michelle and Steve. One reason, aside from some delightful company, was the decision to limit ourselves to simple, Southern-influenced items, many of which we could make ahead of the actual meal. Centered around country ham and roast chicken and featuring cornbread/biscuit stuffing, broccoli casserole, cranberry sauce and multiple pies, our dinner was such a lovely time we decided to do it again this year—and to share this simple […]

Categories: Appetizers, Family, Food, Holidays & Events, Old cookbooks, Recipes, Shrimp, Thanksgiving

Crispy okra fries make us yearn for Chai Pani, possibly larger okra.

July 16, 2015 by Michelle

When Gourmandistan had a larger garden, we once planted several rows of okra. We dreamt of the days we’d spend enjoying Southern cormeal-battered, deep fried tiny pods. Unfortunately, our okra seemed to grow so quickly that a tiny bud in the morning would become a six-inch monster by afternoon, unusable (at least to us) for anything. Our recent visits to Chai Pani introduced us to another way to enjoy fried okra, and now we (at least Steve) think we might welcome larger pods into our domain. After enjoying meals at […]

Categories: Appetizers, Cooking, Food, India, Okra, Recipes, Restaurants, Vegetables, Vegetarian

Rabbit nems resurrect thoughts of France, sausage making

January 19, 2015 by Michelle

Gourmandistan has had an idea of recreating rabbit nems in our imaginary fiefdom almost since the time we discovered them in Normandy a couple of years ago. As we recall, the rice paper-wrapped treats we bought from a Caen market lapin vendor were filled with ground rabbit and subtle spices. We’d buy the uncooked rolls along with some containers of sauce, go home and fry them, and have a wonderful and easy lunch. While those particular nems seemed a bit less Asian than other Vietnamese rolls we’ve enjoyed in France, the lovely texture and taste […]

Categories: Appetizers, Food, France, Rabbit, Recipes, Vietnam

Sort-of French salt cod fritters (accras de morue)

November 24, 2014 by Michelle

Gourmandistan recently purchased about a pound of Canadian salt cod, as Michelle would like to try to recreate a friend’s stepfather’s legendary crusty cod hash. (Our first attempt was tasty, but also un-crusty and un-photogenic.) It turns out that a pound is quite a bit of dried cod, so we’ve been looking for some other ways to use the salty stuff. We thought salt cod fritters would be a good idea. Our first tastes of salt cod fritters came from French markets. This exotique […]

Categories: Appetizers, Cooking, Fish, Food, France

Bettering beaten biscuits with lard and a little “Derb-kee” sauce

April 28, 2014 by Steve

It’s Kentucky Derby week again, and we were searching for seasonally appropriate (at least for the Louisville area) dishes to discuss. Michelle was disinclined to make beaten biscuits, though alternate Derby food ideas were not forthcoming. Even though Steve pointed out that Charles Patteson included a food processor version of the infamous long-kneaded dough in his cookbook (along with the pre-Emancipation slave labor and post-Civil War “biscuit brake” methods), Michelle resisted. She’d been subjected to far too many virtually tasteless, artificially white and […]

Categories: Appetizers, Biscuits, Cooking, Food, Kentucky Derby, Old cookbooks, Recipes, Sandwiches

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

Spuma spurs slight civil unrest in Gourmandistan.

February 26, 2013 by Steve

Mutterings of dissent can still be heard every time the refrigerator opens and the speckled, pinkly pale jar of spuma is spied. Its funky, fatty taste did not please Michelle’s palate at all. Despite Steve’s insistence that ceviche, salami and sun-dried tomatoes prove the world agrees that “cured means cooked,” Michelle could not get past the idea she was eating “raw bacon.” Steve’s admission that he’d happily sampled “raw” bacon as a child further sickened Michelle, who had already decided […]

Categories: Appetizers, Cheese, Cooking, Cured meats, Food, Recipes

Oatcakes and the origin of species

March 15, 2012 by Steve

St. Patrick’s Day is upon us, which means some small part of Michelle’s DNA demands recognition. Exactly which part is unclear, since her Kentucky lineage includes all sorts of pale folk from various areas of both Ierne and Albion who spent the past few centuries emigrating, intermixing and occasionally dallying with Native Americans for an extra bit of “flava.” Nonetheless, like many Americans, Michelle feels obligated to act Irish in mid-March—even though she disdains whiskey, seldom fights and is mostly […]

Categories: Appetizers, Cooking, Crackers, Family, Food, Grains, Ireland, Recipes, St. Patrick's Day, Vegetarian

Precipitation, Parties and Brioche “Pizzas”

April 23, 2011 by Michelle

People will tell you Gourmandistan is a lovely place, but it can be difficult to visit. Michelle had planned to entertain a couple of friends on Saturday for a multiple birthday lunch, and thought she’d found the perfect casual (and vegetarian!) idea—Yotam Ottolenghi’s brioche “pizzas.” All that was needed was the cooperation of Steve and Mother Nature. But before Michelle had decided whether the “pizzas” should be the appetizer or the main course, the ominous weather forecast caused her to […]

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