Recipes | Gourmandistan

Bourbon Praline Pound Cake does good with good gifts.

January 6, 2014 by Steve

Home-grown heirloom pecans and good bourbon whiskey are not things to be wasted. We thought this rich-but-light, bourbony-but-not-overly-so pound cake was an excellent way to use both. Every year we receive a bottle of Maker’s Mark bourbon from our neighbor, a sign of appreciation for allowing him, his horse and his fox hunting friends free access through our land. Because Steve enjoys bourbon whiskey but is not much of a drinker, and Michelle despises the stuff, the bottles tend to […]

Categories: Cake, Cooking, Desserts & Sweets, Food, Nuts, Old cookbooks, Recipes, Vegetarian

Braise Boulud for pot roast with watermelon radish and miso.

December 30, 2013 by Steve

We have a refrigerator full of root vegetables from our farmer friend, Pavel. Since we vaguely recall agreeing to continue our farm share through the winter, we’ll most likely have even more daikon, black and/or watermelon radishes. With a pot roast recipe like this, we’re actually happy about it. We’ve detailed several times our sometimes desperate search to whittle down our winter veg. Nonetheless, we’re still looking for new ways to do it—especially for watermelon radishes. Like our beloved Hakurei turnips, these […]

Categories: Beef, Cooking, Food, Meats, Radishes, Recipes

Do Santa right with Dried Cherry Oatmeal Cookies.

December 21, 2013 by Steve

Spoiler alert: Gourmandistan doesn’t actually believe Santa exists. This year, we’ve not even pretended to be into Christmas. There’s not a single holiday decoration out in our house. And, there has been very, very little holiday baking. But if the jolly old elf with his judgmental list was real, this oatmeal cookie would guarantee some extra presents. Based on a 1980s Lee Bailey recipe, these cookies delightfully straddle the line between chewy and crispy, and come out of the oven […]

Categories: Cherries, Christmas, Cookies, Cooking, Food, Old cookbooks, Recipes, Vegetarian

Lamb pilaf parlays leftovers into more leftovers.

December 13, 2013 by Michelle

We knew our final leg of local lamb was going to be like the rest of the animal—stringy and lean. We ended up liking it better as leftovers, then even more leftovers. For the first round we cooked it slowly and wine-fully, following a traditional French braising method. The resulting meat was pleasant-tasting and tender, but we couldn’t finish it. We discussed hashing the remainder, or perhaps making Scotch broth, but we felt the urge for something different. Perusing one […]

Categories: Cooking, Food, Grains, Lamb, Meats, Recipes, Rice

Antique Worcestershire sauce makes our current brisket favorite.

December 5, 2013 by Steve

We found a century plus-old recipe for Worcestershire sauce while we were in England that seemed surprisingly easy to make. So of course, once we returned home Steve had to make some. Like just about every other adequately-equipped American cooking household, we have a bottle of Lea & Perrins located in our cupboard, ready to be added to soups, sprinkled on steaks or, in a Turner family tradition, dropped onto baked potato skins. (It’s delicious.) The Worcestershire sauce recipe, copied […]

Categories: Beef, Cooking, Cucumber, England, Food, Old cookbooks, Pickles, Recipes, Sandwiches

Duck fat fried eggs: clean fridge, clean plate

November 24, 2013 by Steve

A bit of duck fat, shallots, bread and some eggs don’t take up much space, but they are a delicious way to clean. With Thanksgiving and the onslaught of holiday cooking coming up, Michelle has been scouring our fridge and freezers, looking for the stuff Steve squirrels away in the back, as well as the leftovers he refuses to give up on. (Steve will someday find a use for those pork necks, he swears.) While searching for Thanksgiving and “Black […]

Categories: Breakfast, Cooking, Eggs, Food, Recipes

Semi-tarting up our demi-Tarte Tatin

November 18, 2013 by Steve

We are almost as fond of our Tarte Tatin as we are of apples (and Steve is very, very fond of apples). It’s something we make just about every year when apples are in season. But like just about everyone else, we at times crave variety. So this season we decided to see what a little spice would do to one of our favorite desserts. After Steve took five minutes to bang out one of his patented pâte brisées, Michelle […]

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

Fried Pie Face-off: Neal vs. Egerton

November 9, 2013 by Steve

Fried dried-fruit pie is one of those foods that everyone loves to argue about because nobody can find the “real thing” anymore. Michelle remembers her parents debating, decades ago, the merits of pies her dad would bring home from country stores all over Western Kentucky. It seems they were never quite as good as they remembered their mothers making. Then chains like McDonald’s and Popeye’s started offering their own versions, trans-fats took over, and the “real thing” became even harder […]

Categories: Apples, Cooking, Food, Fruit Desserts, Old cookbooks, Pies & Tarts, Recipes

Nigel Slater’s spiced sesame lamb (with a few Americanizations)

November 3, 2013 by Steve

Nigel Slater’s Eat is a nice volume of mostly-quick meals. We picked up a copy in Britain. (It has not yet been released in the United States.) Another “in Britain” bonus was getting to view several episodes of Downton Abbey months before the American audience does. (Spoiler alert: Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham, at times becomes discomfited by modern manners.) Among the fun things for us about British cookbooks is the constant reminder that cooking terms are not nearly as […]

Categories: Cooking, Cucumber, England, Food, Lamb, Recipes, Yogurt