Recipes | Gourmandistan

Bunny Bundt: Early Spring Marmalade Carrot Cake

February 13, 2013 by Steve

Not satisfied with making enough jam to slake Steve’s appetite for fruit-laced yogurt, last winter Michelle decided to also make Seville orange marmalade. After peeling, juicing, slicing and boiling, she’d produced several batches—exactly none of which met her stringent standards. Some seemed too thick with slabs of peel, others too runny and light. Steve thought they were all fine, especially the “blended” jars that Goldilocks-edly straddled the thick-thin divide. Unfortunately, Steve does not eat that much marmalade. He finds its […]

Categories: Cake, Carrots, Cooking, Food, Fruit Desserts, Jams & Preserves, Old cookbooks, Recipes, Vegetarian

Grappling the Bear’s Paw with Fuchsia Dunlop (and Stir-Fried Green Soy Beans)

February 7, 2013 by Steve

While we wait for the magical time Gourmandistan can plant its flag (and food-eating faces) somewhere in Asia, we at least have Fuchsia Dunlop. Her cookbooks have been a main gateway to Gourmandistan’s greater understanding of Chinese food and culture. We find Dunlop’s recipes so useful we months ago rush-ordered her new cookbook, Every Grain of Rice: Simple Chinese Home Cooking, from the UK, not content to wait for its recent release in the USA. Every Grain of Rice focuses on dishes […]

Categories: China, Cooking, Food, Recipes, Soy Beans, Tofu, Vegetarian

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

Rocking the winter CSA with pan-roasted Hakurei turnips

January 22, 2013 by Steve

A native son of Perm, Gourmandistan’s CSA czar, Pavel, is unafraid of winter—especially now that he has a greenhouse. We’ve enjoyed week after week of fresh produce from our cold weather farm share this year. Somewhat understandably, it’s been a bit heavy on the root vegetables. Fortunately, many of them have been creamy, crispy Hakurei turnips, a lovely variety that’s especially delightful when small. Steve thinks they’re wonderful raw, sliced thin and sprinkled with a bit of sea salt, but […]

Categories: Cooking, Food, Recipes, Turnips, Vegetarian

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

Grapefruit ice, brown sugar shortbread and the surprising benefits of staleness

January 10, 2013 by Steve

Sometime we may speak at length about Bill Neal, as his recipes are consulted frequently when Gourmandistan needs to go Southern. But for now, we will speak of staleness. Steve loves fruit, and stubbornly tries to stay organic and somewhat local even in winter. (This does, however, require a somewhat strained definition that includes the entire southern US.) So we take in a lot of citrus, which Michelle will only eat if all traces of pith and membrane have been […]

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

In the belly of the beans

January 6, 2013 by Steve

While we Gourmandistanis have been privileged to encounter several different British people on the Internet, we have somehow never managed to discuss beans on toast. From our readings, advertising and a hefty dose of British satellite TV (we miss you, Come Dine With Me!), we’ve concluded there is some strange cultural connection to what appears to be creepily plain canned baked beans. On toast. Often, microwaved. This affection for one of the ultimate expressions of boringly prepared bland brownness may explain […]

Categories: Beans, Cooking, Food, Pork, Recipes

An early taste of good fortune with Pork & Black-eyed Pea Chili

December 31, 2012 by Steve

We’ve chronicled our betwixt-and-betweenness with that Southern New Year’s staple, black-eyed peas, here and here. But once again we faced the turn of another calendar year (way to let everyone down, Mayan Apocalypse!) and the tradition of turning the boring little buggers into something edible. Michelle was determined to do even better than last year’s outing, and stumbled across a Michael Symon recipe for black-eyed pea chili that sounded good to her. It sounded good to Steve as well, though it pained […]

Categories: Beans, Cooking, Food, New Year, Pork, Recipes, Soups & Stews