Pork | Gourmandistan

Kentuckifying pasta with corn, country ham, butter and peppers

August 14, 2015 by Michelle

We are big fans of the late Judy Rodgers, even though we find some of the recipes in her fabulous Zuni Cafe Cookbook a bit confusing. However, Rodgers’ delicious “Pasta with Corn, Pancetta, Butter & Sage” isn’t one of them. We’ve enjoyed this simple-to-prepare dish many times. But, at this point of our summer season, we decided to vary it a bit. (This decision may have been influenced by our lack of sage plants, which drowned during our recent unseasonably heavy rains.) Instead […]

Categories: Cooking, Corn, Cured meats, Food, Pasta, Peppers, Pork, Recipes

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

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

Butternut squash, mushroom and country ham cannelloni lighten the load

October 19, 2014 by Michelle

We’re still working our way through our winter squash collection. After the recent pumpkin lasagne and a batch of Paula Wolfert’s squash soup (always delicious), we were still looking at a lot of squash. Michelle suggested making some squash pasta sauce, but Steve thought that would be too close to pouring soup over spaghetti. Instead (partly because he’s been on quite a pasta roll) he suggested making cannelloni, and Michelle quickly agreed. In the pantheon of pasta shapes invented by Italians, cannelloni (“little reeds”) […]

Categories: Cooking, Food, Pasta, Pork, Recipes, Winter squash

Harvest lasagne with pumpkin, kale and pork

October 7, 2014 by Michelle

Last week we were told by our CSA farmer, Pavel, that the enormous orange and green gourd he handed us was known as a Musque de Provence pumpkin. Maybe some of our francophone friends will tell us whether it should be called musque or musquée. The English language sites seem to be just about equally split, though the French sites do lean toward the side of musquée. It’s apparently also known as the “Fairytale Pumpkin,” for obvious reasons. We can’t say exactly where it sits on the pumpkin family […]

Categories: Cheese, Cooking, Food, Kale, Pasta, Pork, Winter squash

Pork chops with plums, cider and Petoskey stones

August 29, 2014 by Steve

This week, Gourmandistan briefly relocated to Lake Michigan’s Grand Traverse Bay, just north of Northport, Michigan on the Leelanau Peninsula. It’s the first time we’ve been to a Great Lakes beach (downtown Chicago doesn’t count), and seeing the sand and sculpted landscapes left from ancient glacial action has indeed been impressive. Steve has enjoyed wandering the cool, curiously critter-free water, finding colorful minerals, smooth pebbles and a few things he’s convinced himself are Petoskey stones, since he’s resisted buying the varnished […]

Categories: Cooking, Plums, Pork, Recipes

Not exactly shrimp and grits because we’re not exactly in Charleston

July 20, 2014 by Michelle

On our recent trip to Dewees Island, we enjoyed the proximity to fresh seafood. On a recent trip to Whole Foods, not so much. Looking for a way to dispose of some of our bounty of farm share tomatoes, we had been talking about taking a shot at recreating a dish we liked at Slightly North of Broad (SNOB) in Charleston called “Maverick Shrimp & Grits.” It added tomatoes, sausage, onions, garlic and country ham to the classic Low Country dish. Steve finally […]

Categories: Cooking, Food, Okra, Pork, Recipes, Restaurants, Shrimp

Sorghum-braised belly, one benefit of being an ex-reviewer

June 22, 2014 by Steve

When Steve was reviewing Louisville restaurants, he mostly wanted to remain anonymous. While that practice (along with the profession) is dwindling today, during the decade-plus he was writing reviews, Steve shunned chefs and took pride in his Zelig-like ability to escape notice even when they did meet him as a diner. Now, as Editor of Louisville’s edition of Eater.com, Steve is supposed to hobnob with all sorts of industry folks—something he’s still a bit uncomfortable doing after all those years of anonymity. But hobnob he has, […]

Categories: Cooking, Food, Pork, Recipes, Restaurants

Design vs. function found in blanquette of pork

June 1, 2014 by Michelle

Phaidon Editorial Director Emilia Terragni was recently described as “Queen of Cookbooks” on the strength of the publishing house’s marvelous-looking books from such luminaries as Ferran Adrià and René Redzepi. Terragni first became known through the English language publication of The Silver Spoon, an Italian cookbook first published by the design and architecture magazine Domus. Gourmandistan owns this admittedly gorgeously-designed cookbook. It serves as a stand for Steve’s computer monitor. Phaidon’s beautiful books have often seduced us. But, while pretty, several painfully useless purchases have prevented […]

Categories: Cooking, Food, France, Pork, Recipes, Soups & Stews