Meats | Gourmandistan

(Re)iterating Bertolli’s baby artichokes, olives, meatballs and sage

May 11, 2013 by Steve

We found this recipe in Chez Panisse Cooking while looking for a creative way to use some semi-impulse-bought baby artichokes. (They were from Castroville and on special at Whole Foods. Even die-hard locavores couldn’t resist.) We were initially attracted by the interesting mix of ingredients, a step up from our previous effort. Then we were intrigued by Paul Bertolli’s perplexing introduction. Telling us his mother “used marinated artichokes and a type of green Spanish olive ” he “can’t find anymore,” Bertolli […]

Categories: Artichokes, Cooking, Food, Meatballs, Old cookbooks, Pasta, Recipes

Saying “Bon Voyage” with Bollito

April 30, 2013 by Michelle

Katie from Katie At The Kitchen Door is a Boston-based blog friend who posts gorgeous photographs, writes insightful cookbook reviews and brims with youthful enthusiasm. She asked us to help out with a guest post while she is on vacation in Italy, hinting that she would like something Italian-themed. We decided to honor one of the only things we enjoyed about Florence, a bollito sandwich. Link here to Katie’s site for the recipe, as well as a tale of our miserable trip to […]

Categories: Beef, Cooking, Food, Italy, Recipes, Restaurants, Sandwiches

Ramping up cheese biscuits with roast duck, slaw and (of course) ramps

March 28, 2013 by Steve

It is wonderfully once again time for ramps, a benefit of Gourmandistan’s close proximity to Appalachia. (Other benefits are elk viewing tours, excellent attorneys/former judges and enormous amounts of dirty, dirty coal money to support Steve’s beloved UK Wildcats.) Michelle bought some ramps immediately upon spotting them at our first spring farmers’ market, and we happily enjoyed them in several dishes before inspiration struck twice and we ended up with what may be the best sandwich on earth. It started […]

Categories: Biscuits, Cheese, Cooking, Duck, Food, Ramps, Recipes

Turning head cheese horror into souse-rousing success.

March 18, 2013 by Steve

Working one’s way through a whole (or even half) pig at home can lead down some interesting avenues. Head cheese was starting to look like a dead end. Last year, when we received our half hog from Bob Hancock, we insisted on as close to primal cuts as possible, including the entire head (which, apparently, the folks buying the other part didn’t mind giving up). We decided to make head cheese, and tried Nathan Foot’s recipe from Primal Cuts. We […]

Categories: Cooking, Food, Nose-to-tail, Pork, Recipes

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

The Future Is Now: Fried Taro Puffs

February 19, 2013 by Steve

Despite certain appearances to the contrary (Slow Food-ishness, Southern accents, surrounding areas stuffed with gun-toting reactionaries), Gourmandistan is a place that embraces Progress. While we’ve seen that bitterly clinging to the past certainly brings its share of disappointments to some, we know anticipating the future can be dicey as well. (Steve, for one, still remembers 1997 as the year he didn’t get his atom-powered convertible chariot.) Recently, at the Roger Smith Cookbook Conference that Steve attended in New York City, several panels bravely tried to […]

Categories: China, Cooking, Dim sum, Food, Pork, Recipes, Shrimp

Well Shao Mai Mouth!

February 3, 2013 by Steve

We do declare, we never saw dim sum developing in Gourmandistan. But then, we didn’t foresee Pavel burying us in brassica, either. Gourmandistan’s dive into dim sum started with turnip cakes, because Steve wanted to whittle down our winter oversupply of daikon radishes. Kimchi wasn’t going to cut it, as (especially after it’s gone really pungent) a little goes a long way. Seeking another Asian avenue, Steve researched turnip cakes, and found the dish was simply a batter of rice […]

Categories: China, Cooking, Dim sum, Food, Pork, Recipes, Shrimp

Winter blues, lamb stew, with these turnips what to do?

January 26, 2013 by Steve

Gourmandistan has roasted, mashed, souped and snacked up seemingly a ton of turnips and rutabagas. Yet each Friday at our weekly winter farm share, Pavel continues to proffer more. The weather has turned ugly, forcing Steve into our old truck each morning for an icebreaking session in the creek. The chickens are miserable, and we miss fresh greens and fruit. Worst of all, it isn’t even February. Enough whining about winter, though—we understand others have winter much worse, without even […]

Categories: Cooking, Food, Lamb, Recipes, Soups & Stews, Turnips

Ravioli, Tortelli, Mezzalune, a Marriage

January 14, 2013 by Steve

It’s an unseasonably warm mid-January afternoon in 1988. Michelle is stomping around Louisville’s downtown, where we lived at the time, in a wedding outfit. People are driving by, honking their horns and hooting congratulations. Michelle is angry. She is angry with Steve, who has both sets of keys. Steve took Michelle’s keys when he drove back to the apartment from the wedding site to get the marriage license, which he had forgotten. He then forgot he already had his keys […]

Categories: Beef, Cooking, Food, Italy, Old cookbooks, Pasta, Potatoes, Recipes