Beans | Gourmandistan

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

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

Bringing out the old to ring in the new with rabbit and some colored-eye soup

December 31, 2015 by Steve

Our version did not use black-eyed peas (instead it used yellow eyes), which we feel is OK because this post is not really about New Year’s. But, if you happen to have some dried beans, rabbit and bacon around when the calendar turns to 2016, we certainly think you’ll enjoy this dish. This “hearty and hospitable” soup was featured in a mid- to late-1980s food magazine, unnamed in the photocopied page contained in Michelle’s old three-ring binder that Steve found while recently cleaning […]

Categories: Beans, Christmas, Cooking, Food, New Year, Old cookbooks, Rabbit, Recipes, Restaurants, Soups & Stews

Merguez stew somewhat reduces bean surplus

November 17, 2015 by Michelle

Having snapped up quite a few containers at a recent farmers’ market, Gourmandistan currently has a surfeit of dried beans. Trying to decide what to do with some of them, Michelle came across a recipe from Steve Sando, founder of the Rancho Gordo heirloom bean company patronized by chefs such as Thomas Keller. Sando’s recipe called for marrow beans, which are white. Since we had made white chili not long ago (reminder: buy our book!), Michelle went with a different hue, choosing instead red kidney […]

Categories: Beans, Cooking, Food, Lamb, Recipes, Soups & Stews, Spinach

White chili, because we have a book to sell

November 9, 2015 by Steve

White chili has run wild on the Internet. But back in the 1980s, before everyone was connected, few people had heard of the idea. That was how Tim Barnes, a restaurateur featured in our just-released book, Lost Restaurants of Louisville, was able to convince many people that he had invented it. The recipe, using white beans instead of traditional red kidney beans and chicken instead of beef, was sometimes credited to Barnes and sometimes to his chef James Aydlett. The dish became so popular […]

Categories: Beans, Chicken, Cooking, Food, Recipes, Restaurants, Soups & Stews

Al dente adjustment to a Jacques Pépin lentil, cabbage and bacon salad

March 20, 2015 by Michelle

Like most who inhabit this food-centric segment of the global web, Gourmandistan is not going to question the legendary Jacques Pépin. But we will cheekily update his recipe to add a bit more crunch. Michelle found this 1991 recipe (and its accompanying article declaring “la salade has arrived”) in the New York Times archives when looking for something to do with a Savoy cabbage. We thought the ingredient list had promise, but the cooking methods and the delicate Savoy made the end result a bit mushy and […]

Categories: Beans, Cabbage, Carrots, Celery, Cooking, Food, Recipes, Salad

Garbure Gets Gourmandistan Ready For 2015

January 1, 2015 by Steve

Once again Gourmandistan enters a new year, and once again we enjoy black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day, without resorting to Hoppin’ John. Steve managed to come down with a nasty cold between Christmas and New Year’s Eve, meaning Michelle had to manage the kitchen by herself while Steve wheezed, coughed and slept in isolation. (While Michelle missed her sous chef, we both hope the bug has missed her.) While sniffly Steve was in no shape to help search for a recipe, […]

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

Moroccan Harira Makes Merguez Meatballs Mandatory

February 3, 2014 by Michelle

We really enjoyed this chickpea- and lentil-laden North African soup, whose “sophistication” (per Daniel Boulud) can be found in its “haunting taste and rich textures.” We were also happy to find an alternative way to use merguez beyond grilling the sausage and stuffing it into some sort of bread. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that.) Boulud’s version of harira uses merguez mini-meatballs, which not only gave us a deliciously different way to use them but also gave Steve a frisson […]

Categories: Beans, Cooking, Food, Lamb, Meatballs, Morocco, Recipes, Soups & Stews

Garbure ≠ garbage + ordure; or you are what you etymologize

May 16, 2013 by Steve

The next time you’re eating “brunch” with a “spork,” you should stop for a moment and thank Lewis Carroll. (Perhaps you should then explore the idea of no longer brunching, especially if you frequent places providing sporks as utensils.) Carroll, one of Steve’s personal literary lions, introduced the idea of such “portmanteau words” in Through the Looking Glass, his sequel to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Portmanteaus are everywhere these days, from “Brangelina” to “breathalyzer” to “bromance.” (While we’re not particularly […]

Categories: Beans, Cabbage, Cooking, Duck, Food, France, Recipes, Soups & Stews