Vegetables | Gourmandistan

Sisyphus and the world’s simplest tomato sauce

September 8, 2011 by Steve

Gourmandistan may not harbor the world’s biggest tomato fans, but our borders can certainly hold a lot of tomato sauce. We rely on cup-size bags of frozen sauce for pasta, pizza and many other dishes that make the cold months bearable. In past years we’ve bought flats of San Marzano tomatoes from Hazelfield Farm to make one of our most-requested recipes, Roasted Tomato Sauce. This season, however, the weather wasn’t cooperating with the tomato plants—at least on our Padua-predisposed schedule. […]

Categories: Cooking, Food, Italy, Recipes, Tomatoes, Vegetarian

Basque in the afterglow: garlic, sausage & red pepper soup

August 29, 2011 by Steve

Possibly the saddest lie Michelle has ever told involves a pony, the Pyrenées and picture-taking. Steve had asked to stop on a narrow, guardrail-less road winding its way towards St.-Jean-Pied-de-Port so he could photograph a Basque pony, one of a small herd climbing the steep mountainside. Michelle, a raging acrophobic, suffered Steve only a few shots before declaring she was worried he would “fill up the card” on the digital camera. Steve, who has much experience with Michelle’s fear of […]

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

The trouble with tomatoes.

August 10, 2011 by Michelle

Slime. Goo, guck, glop. Or whatever you want to call the viscous heart of just about every raw tomato. That (and lots of little tough seeds) is why Gourmandistan can be very, very wary of its fresh “love apples,” much to the dismay of many of our friends who eat tomatoes out of hand in their gardens. We certainly think bacon, lettuce (or avocado) and tomato sandwiches are delicious, but (at least in our world) only require very thin slices […]

Categories: Cooking, Food, Pasta, Recipes, Tomatoes, Vegetarian

Creamed carrots, a cookbook, and the customs of Gourmandistan.

July 23, 2011 by Michelle

“I don’t think these are all that good” said Pavel, our Foxhollow CSA farmer, as he handed us a fat bunch of carrots at a recent market. We accepted the ill-omened roots as part of our share graciously, as the laws and customs of Gourmandistan forbid the flinging of substandard produce back into a farmer’s face. (Beware, visitor: unless you are a farmer, you have no absolute guarantee this custom will hold for you.) We like Pavel and his products, […]

Categories: Carrots, Cooking, Food, Nuts, Recipes, Vegetarian

A side dish for all seasons

July 9, 2011 by Michelle

One of Michelle’s recent rummagings of antique store cookbook sections resulted in a copy of Roy Andries de Groot’s 1966 Feasts For All Seasons. De Groot’s books were a big influence on many of the 1970s and 1980s California chefs—particularly his Auberge of the Flowering Hearth (1973), which describes a year of seasonal cooking at a small inn in the French Alps. De Groot’s wealthy, blue-blooded, European perspective can sometimes be a bit annoying, but there’s much that is incredibly […]

Categories: Cooking, Food, Old cookbooks, Onions, Recipes, Vegetarian

Snow peas, with hints of pork and brevity

June 5, 2011 by Michelle

Before we had chickens, we had a garden. And from the first season, our garden grew peas. Like sweet corn, peas start turning starchy the moment they’re picked, so the freshest are always the finest. (Steve, of course, would simply stand in the garden and eat peas off the vine. But Michelle holds herself to higher standards and insisted he actually bring them to the kitchen.) After their first lovely flower, the tangled pea vines would produce sweet crunchy pods […]

Categories: China, Food, Peas, Pork, Recipes

Asparagus soup, a delicious penance

May 29, 2011 by Michelle

We try. We really, really try to restrain ourselves at our local markets. But we grow weak in the presence of so many fresh vegetables, acutely aware of the change of seasons. (Because of the dampness, strawberry season this year has been lamentably brief.) Overeager to grab good things before they’re gone for another year, we ended up with way too much asparagus sitting in our refrigerator. The previous week’s haul drooped their tips in disappointment as we added yet […]

Categories: Asparagus, Cooking, Food, Old cookbooks, Peas, Recipes, Soups & Stews, Soy Beans, Vegetarian

Sooke and Salad

May 11, 2011 by Michelle

Steve recently celebrated a milestone birthday, and Michelle magnificently arranged for a semi-surprise trip to British Columbia. (It was a “semi-surprise” because Steve was planning on a May baby chick delivery, and needed to be told in advance that the first week wouldn’t be the best choice.) We tremendously enjoyed the entire trip from Vancouver to Victoria by way of Tofino, especially the view from our room at the latter’s Wickaninnish Inn. Who wouldn’t love a thrilling floatplane adventure and […]

Categories: Cooking, Food, Lettuce, Recipes, Restaurants, Salad

Are you smarter than a four-year-old?

April 18, 2011 by Steve

On a recent prowl through an antique shop Michelle spied a copy of The Cooking of Provincial France, a 1968 Time-Life “Foods of the World” edition. Initially Michelle thought it would be a nostalgic and campy romp, but then she noticed that the author was M.F.K. Fisher. Fisher’s spirit hovers over all food writers (except those obsessed with airplane meals, the McRib, Peeps, etc., who are driven by much scarier spirits). Fisher’s prose is marvelous, her joy in food transparent. […]

Categories: Breads & Crackers, Butter, Cooking, Food, France, Old cookbooks, Radishes, Vegetarian