Cooking | Gourmandistan

Gourmandistan-to-go: Bacon, egg & cheese “biscuits”

November 10, 2010 by Steve

Michelle’s family was leaving Gourmandistan in 30 minutes or so, and we knew their plans for dinner didn’t include slowing down much before reaching their Western Kentucky home. We despaired at the thought of Mom, Dad and Sister dining on fast food. Then we thought, “Why not make our own?” We had several of Mrs. Gritton’s potato rolls in the freezer, a few nubs of home-cured bacon, a little mayo, some melty (local-ish!) cheese and our usual surfeit of eggs. […]

Categories: Breads & Crackers, Cooking, Cured meats, Eggs, Food • Tags: Locavore

Not-so-scary Halloween Winter Squash Panade

October 31, 2010 by Steve

Gourmandistan gets no trick-or-treaters on Halloween, since our land is remote, inaccessible and surrounded by old people. So we have no bowls of candy, and no pumpkin carved into a frightening jack-o’-lantern. What we did have this evening were a number of winter squashes, a good amount of chicken stock, and half a loaf of day-old no-knead bread. And that, plus onions, is pretty much all you need for a squash panade. Panades have an established place in Gourmandistan, usually […]

Categories: Cooking, Food, Halloween, Recipes, Winter squash

Popcorn balls

October 26, 2010 by Michelle

Starting in the 1930s, Michelle’s 96-year-old grandmother cooked many a farm meal, and legions of farmhands claim she cooked them well—homemade and from scratch. But with the advent of “modern” convenience foods, by the Sixties (the time Michelle was a kid), Mamo felt it was quite forward-looking to seek out shortcuts. Soup mix, pie crust mix, whatever—if it came in a box or a can, it had to be better than “from scratch.” But one thing Mamo always did make […]

Categories: Cooking, Desserts & Sweets, Family, Food, Nuts, Recipes, Sorghum, Vegetarian

Stock & eggs — the circle of life is complete.

October 17, 2010 by Steve

Faithful readers may recall that before Gourmandistan left for Gascony our nation’s population declined by 18—at least in spirit. The flesh of our flock remains in freezers, awaiting our final tribute to our former chickens. Steve is eager to try coq au vin, but he’ll have to wait for a visit from his friend Bill because Michelle has no interest in tenderizing tough yard birds. She thinks the best way to use them is simply making very delicious batches of […]

Categories: Basics, Chicken, Chicken keeping, Cooking, Food, Recipes

Amis and apple clafoutis

October 10, 2010 by Steve

Apples are one of Gourmandistan’s favorite fruits, especially now that, through vigorous research in several countries, we’ve honed in on a few favorites. We’re big fans of crisp, tart apples (although Steve, in a pinch, will eat just about any apple). In France, we prefer thick-skinned Boskoop or Canada varieties. In the U.S., we love GoldRush, developed at Indiana’s Purdue University and grown in large quantities at nearby Huber’s Orchard. Steve will happily gnaw his way through several a day, […]

Categories: Apples, Cooking, Food, France, Fruit Desserts, Recipes, Vegetarian

France, Southern style

September 8, 2010 by Michelle

We invited our British neighbors-for-the-week over for drinks and hors d’oeuvres this evening, a reciprocation for their including us in poolside drinks on Monday. Initially, we planned on an assortment of sausages, cheeses and perhaps a tapenade to accompany bottles of local wines. Then Michelle had a moment of genius. Instead of serving French food to British people vacationing in France, why not instead serve them Southeast U.S. classics made with Southwest French ingredients? Thus were born two marvelous appetizers: […]

Categories: Appetizers, Cheese, Cooking, Duck, Food, France, Recipes

Strawberries in September

September 7, 2010 by Michelle

As Gourmandistan has for the moment relocated to Gascony, we’ve been exploring the markets of our temporary territory, discovering once again the delights offered by French farmers. Some of the nicer things we’ve enjoyed have been fresh strawberries. In America, our usual home, we would shun strawberries at this time of year, since they would most likely be chemical-laden imports with gargantuan carbon footprints. But in Europe, things are different. Everbearing strawberries have been cultivated for centuries here—pumping out sweet, […]

Categories: Cooking, Food, France, Fruit Desserts, Strawberries, Vegetarian

24-hour breakfast people

August 27, 2010 by Steve

One of the nice things about having chickens in the backyard is that we rarely run out of eggs—which means we’re always ready for breakfast. (We’ll have fewer eggs than usual this Winter, but that’s best told in another post.) “Breakfast” isn’t necessarily a morning thing in Gourmandistan. Since we try to have Steve’s home-cured bacon around along with fresh eggs, breakfast can be the perfect answer to “What’s for dinner?,” especially if we’ve been too busy/frazzled to plan ahead. […]

Categories: Chicken keeping, Cooking, Eggs, Food, Recipes, Vegetarian

What a way to watermelon

August 15, 2010 by Steve

Both our farm shares have provided watermelons in the past few weeks, which hasn’t stopped Steve from buying them at our local markets. According to many farmers we’ve talked to, the staggering summer heat has affected many crops—but the melons seem to take the weather well. Noting Michelle’s apprehension at our growing mound of melons, Steve offered to make her some agua fresca. We first encountered this delicious drink years ago at the Mayan Gypsy, a marvelous restaurant featuring Bruce […]

Categories: Beverages, Cooking, Food, Melon, Vegetarian