Fruit | Gourmandistan

Impulse to action via Roasted Plum Frozen Yogurt

August 13, 2012 by Steve

We have been talking about fresh plums all summer long. When we finally spotted them at a recent market, we (OK Steve) couldn’t resist snapping up a bagful without bothering to ask the vendor anything regarding variety, locality or organicity. When we returned home all we knew was they were big, very purple and seemed very, very unripe. A few days later we also discovered they were very, very sensitive, as almost half of our purchase “ripened” into juice-weeping balls […]

Categories: Cooking, Food, Fruit Desserts, Ice cream, Plums, Recipes, Vegetarian, Yogurt

A parching, painterly interruption leads to Peach Ice Cream Pie

July 29, 2012 by Steve

Horrifying heat is not good for ice cream. Neither, it seems, is it good for house painters. After weeks of weather-related delay, our house and kitchen were freshly painted and finally freed from painters. The outside, in its lovely new creamy white color, was baptized by a couple of non-drought-relieving nickel-sized hailstorms (thanks again, global weirding!). After restoring the cookbooks, WWII posters and various tchotchkes to our kitchen we were ready to once again bespatter its freshly painted walls with […]

Categories: Cooking, Food, Fruit Desserts, Ice cream, Peaches/Nectarines, Pies & Tarts, Recipes, Vegetarian

Potato Salad and Patriotism (with a bit of Blackberry Cobbler)

July 4, 2012 by Steve

It’s the 4th of July, a day many Americans celebrate with beer, bizarre outfits and bloviating about “the greatest best country God has ever given man on the face of the earth.” Gourmandistan takes a slightly different path to celebrate the Fourth, a bit quieter than the usual American practice of blowing stuff up real good. Unfortunately, to the sort of people who desperately want to believe they live in “Real America,” being different is a dangerous thing. These people […]

Categories: Blackberries, Cooking, Food, Fruit Desserts, Independence Day, Old cookbooks, Pies & Tarts, Potatoes, Recipes, Salad, Vegetarian

Baked peaches for a baking planet.

July 1, 2012 by Steve

A few of Steve’s “friends” (mostly the Facebook and “Fox & Friends” kind) might deny any existence of global climate change. Try as they might, though, they can’t deny it’s been horribly hot in Gourmandistani territory the past week or so. All-time heat records are being broken every day. The astonishing heat contributed to something called a “land hurricane” that swept through not too far from here, killing several and knocking out power to millions without any letup in temperature. […]

Categories: Cooking, Food, Fruit Desserts, Peaches/Nectarines, Recipes, Rice, Vegetarian

Peach Cobbler and Prejudice

June 21, 2012 by Steve

Gourmandistan prides itself on its inclusiveness and tolerance of all cultures and traditions, especially the edible ones. But xenophobia seems to be hard-wired into the human psyche, and even those of us who strive to be civilized may still retain traces of irrational antipathy towards certain groups. For Steve, this happens to be people from Indiana—something that did not help when a nascent Gourmandistan decamped to Indianapolis for about a year. Long, long ago in an advertising galaxy far, far, […]

Categories: Cooking, Food, Fruit Desserts, Old cookbooks, Peaches/Nectarines, Recipes, Vegetarian

Blueberry jam with lemon verbena, British jubilee with venom verbiage

June 3, 2012 by Steve

Steve was very happy when Susan of the delightful Susan eats London gave a bloggy boost to his pressure on Michelle for more blueberry jam. Michelle had been avoiding making more for fear it would once again cook out too thick. But when Steve bought a few “extra” quarts at this Saturday’s market, she made another batch, and some sweet cream biscuits to boot. The chopped fresh lemon verbena in this version adds just a touch of herby tartness that […]

Categories: Blueberries, Cooking, Food, Jams & Preserves, Recipes, Vegetarian

Blueberry alarm clock

May 28, 2012 by Steve

Blueberries may, quite possibly, be nature’s most perfect food. According to these helpful folks at the High Bush Blueberry Council, they border on some kind of super fruit—low in calories, loaded with fiber and vitamins, and packing enough antioxidants that one might safely hoover up an entire grill’s worth of free radicals without turning into the picture of Dorian Gray. (Have a great Memorial Day, everyone!) In season, Steve likes to finish his morning routine with a fistful of berries […]

Categories: Blueberries, Breakfast, Cooking, Food, Muffins & quick breads, Recipes, Vegetarian

Short Sour Cho Chweet Cherry Season

May 20, 2012 by Steve

About five minutes after his favorite fruit farmer, Sandi Deutsch, made a facebook post about picking sour cherries, Steve called and demanded her entire haul. The next afternoon we faced an all-to-perishable pile of crimson, scarlet and neon red cherries, perhaps six pounds in total, that needed to be dealt with quickly. We also knew it would likely be our only chance at local cherries in 2012. Tiny sour cherries, also known as “pie cherries,” have a very brief appearance […]

Categories: Cherries, Cooking, Food, Fruit Desserts, Pies & Tarts, Recipes, Vegetarian

The solution: Strawberry Ice Cream

May 15, 2012 by Steve

The problem? A large quantity of soggy, slightly discolored strawberries. We were so excited at the arrival of fresh fruit season that we ordered up several gallons. Unfortunately, between our order and the pickup, there were heavy rains. Rain makes mushy berries, and hard rain gives them bruises. The berries were so beat up even Steve didn’t want to eat them out of hand—and Steve has (in Michelle’s eyes, at the very least) an amazingly high tolerance for damaged fruit. […]

Categories: Cooking, Food, Fruit Desserts, Ice cream, Old cookbooks, Recipes, Strawberries, Vegetarian