Food | Gourmandistan

Soar, salty bittersweet: salted peanut brownies

January 26, 2015 by Michelle

Once again in the midst of a dreary Gourmandistan winter, Michelle decided she had to have something sweet. Steve tried to tempt her with a crispy Gold Rush apple, as he has found a local grocery still stocking the locally-grown fruit (though they may not last long now that Steve knows about them). While Michelle did momentarily consider tarte tatin, it wasn’t what she really wanted. A can of salted Virginia peanuts some friends brought over during the holidays gave her an idea, however—and salty peanut brownies with peanut butter icing […]

Categories: Brownies, Chocolate, Cooking, Desserts & Sweets, Food, Nuts, Old cookbooks, Recipes, 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

Moo meets Marco Polo in dan dan noodles with carrot pickles

January 13, 2015 by Michelle

Along with just about everyone who is interested in Sichuan food, we in Gourmandistan are fans of dan dan noodles. This classic dish usually calls for pork and some sort of Chinese noodle or ramen. Our current home version uses neither, and we’re mostly quite happy about it. Our pork-free, pasta-using version started with some surplus ground beef, which Michelle thought of using for dan dan after seeing such a version in Fuchsia Dunlop’s Land of Plenty credited to someone named Xie […]

Categories: Beef, Carrots, China, Cooking, Food, Old cookbooks, Pasta, Pickles, Recipes

Gift, Gourmandistanized: Ghirardelli® Dark & [Sea Salt] Caramel Squares™ Cookies

January 4, 2015 by Steve

A Christmas gift of Ghirardelli® Dark & [Sea Salt] Caramel Squares™ (OK, it’s “Rich Chocolate, Luscious Filling,” but they trademarked the word “Squares”?) could have, we suppose, been enjoyed in the manner intended by its manufacturer: unwrapped and nibbled for “a moment that will carry you throughout your day.” But in Gourmandistan, that would be too easy—and, in yet another instance, Michelle began to think about how to turn a gift into something really, really good. Michelle wondered what might happen if one […]

Categories: Candy, Chocolate, Cookies, Cooking, Food, Recipes, Vegetarian

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

Dim sum all ye faithful (with tofu skin rolls)

December 25, 2014 by Michelle

Gourmandistanis are certainly not the first tribe to discover the joys of eating Chinese food for Christmas. Nor was this year our first indulgence of our Asian inclinations over the holiday (though we’re pretty sure we’ll avoid a blizzard this year). As per a request from Michelle’s lovely sister, we decided to turn our house into a dim sum parlor for Christmas Day lunch this year. We scoured local markets, ground pork and shrimp and assembled various doughs and spices over numerous days, freezing or […]

Categories: China, Christmas, Cooking, Dim sum, Food, Pork, Recipes, Tofu

Sweet Potato Soup with Sorghum Butter continues use of country ham

December 16, 2014 by Michelle

Gourmandistan has been going through our chunked, frozen remnants of Thanksgiving country ham much faster than we’ve ever used Steve’s home-cured guanciale. Our freezer holds quite a few packages of cured pork jowl, which have been waiting to be made into pasta carbonara or spuma. (Michelle, who despises spuma and always finds better options than pasta carbonara, wishes the guanciale packages would simply disappear, and may aid them in doing so someday.) The Newsom’s ham, however, has been called out on several occasions to […]

Categories: Cooking, Cured meats, Food, Recipes, Soups & Stews, Sweet potatoes

Bonus nuts, better chocolate improve Bourbon Chocolate Blonde Brownies

December 8, 2014 by Michelle

Gourmandistan is usually happy to studiously follow an Alice Medrich recipe, but we are not above adding our own enhancements to some of the Queen of Chocolate’s sweets—sometimes because of a mistake. The first time Michelle made these blonde brownies, she wondered why on earth Medrich’s instructions didn’t say to toast the nuts. After doing so, Michelle realized that there was a reason: the nuts were to be added only as a topping and would toast themselves while the brownies were baking. Since the nuts were already […]

Categories: Brownies, Cooking, Desserts & Sweets, Food, Recipes, Vegetarian

Seeking Eternity’s end through Kentucky country ham salad

December 4, 2014 by Steve

Gourmandistan recently tackled its first entire Kentucky country ham in ages and ages. We were stunned, after serving a Thanksgiving party of eight, to find that most of it still remained. That’s when we rediscovered a saying attributed to Dorothy Parker: “Eternity is two people and a ham.” One solution? Ham salad. Country ham is a signature Kentucky product which (like tobacco, bourbon and coal) may be a reason the people of our Commonwealth are so vibrant and robust. It’s salty, funky and smoky, […]

Categories: Cooking, Cured meats, Food, Pork, Recipes, Salad, Sandwiches