Flipping through the last issue of Gourmet, I was on the hunt for pie recipes. While I did find a couple of pies, I was distracted by a few of the side dishes (the photos in Gourmet are always so lovely… and distracting). You see, I am a sucker for sweet potatoes. From the marshmallow topped Thanksgiving staple to simply roasted in the oven and everything in between (unless it comes from a can. If you are eating sweet potatoes, or yams for that matter, from a can… we need to talk). So when I saw the simple baked sweet potatoes with acorn squash, I stuck a bookmark on that page and went back to my pie search.
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Tagged as: acorn squash, brown sugar, fall, gourmet, holidays, nablopomo, sides, squash, sweet potatoes, thanksgiving
I woke up this morning to a stream of twitter messages proclaiming that Gourmet is being shut down. I was still in bed. This is not the kind of news that a food lover wants to wake up to. Partly I blame my morning ritual, because if I weren’t so eager to connect first thing in the morning I would not have found out until later… after my morning tea. Instead, I was lying in bed reading my email and then catching up on twitter on my iPhone. The news was almost devastating enough to pull me out of my warm cocoon to verify the news on a real computer… almost. It was chilly this morning, I couldn’t bear the sad news and the cold so I stayed in bed wondering what this could mean for the magazine industry, the food world, and me.
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Tagged as: gourmet
Please note: this post contains obscene butter usage.*
I’ve been thinking a lot about butter lately. Not in terms of health concerns or anything like that. The thing that has held my focus the most is simple yet perplexing to me… there can never seem to be too much butter in something. No, I’m not running for president of the Paula Deen fan club or anything like that (even if we are from the same hometown). But… can you think of anything that a little butter does not make better? Cooking mushrooms? butter. Radishes? butter. Pancakes? butter. Toast? butter. What are brownies without butter?… Have you ever put butter on a biscuit? How about a muffin? But… why would you do that? I mean, they are made with a reasonable amount of butter already. And yet, it isn’t wrong. It is oh so right. Right? (or am I the only one who butters her biscuits?). Anyway, this is what has been running through my head lately.
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Tagged as: brown butter, cake, gourmet
After months of internal debate, I broke down and subscribed to Gourmet and Bon Appétit. I was hesitant because I had just unsubscribed from some other magazines in an effort to save some trees (plus I just wasn’t reading them any more… stuff like Lucky and Self). But after seeing so many recipes from both of these food-lover magazines regularly popping up on the blogs I read, I began to feel left out. That’s right, I’m a joiner. So I subscribed. And instead of choosing just one, I subscribed to both. I recently received the second issue of each, and so far have no regrets… there are many recipes I have enjoyed making and so many more I want to try.
The peach pie I made last month along with the sour cream ice cream both came from Gourmet. And the entire July BBQ issue of Bon Appétit makes me drool. I can’t wait to do some real barbecuing… mmm, pulled pork.
The strawberries at the farmers’ market winked at me so I brought them home. A whole half flat of them. Red, juicy and oh-so-sweet. And as luck would have it, there is a no-cook strawberry ice cream recipe in this month’s Gourmet. So I put two and two together and got ice cream…
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Tagged as: gourmet, ice cream, strawberry
Me: I’m making sour cream ice cream to go with the pie.
Dan (face scrunched up into the “ew, yucky” face): Huh?
Me: I think it will be good with the sweetness of the pie.
Dan: I don’t know…
I win. The proof is in the pudding, er, ice cream. Though it does sound a little different, this sour cream ice cream is a little tart, but also reminiscent of cheesecake. And perfect with peach pie. I imagine it would be good with other fruit pies and cobblers as well. Then again, it’s also good with a spoon.
Sour Cream Ice Cream
(adapted from Gourmet, July 2009)
1 16oz container of sour cream
1 cup half-and-half, chilled
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream, chilled
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
*equipment: ice cream maker
1. Purée all ingredients with 1/4 teaspoon salt in a blender until mixture is smooth and sugar is dissolved.
2. Chill until very cold (I chilled it overnight, though I think an hour or two would probably be fine).
3. Freeze mixture in an ice cream maker (according to manufacturer’s directions).
4. Transfer to an airtight container and put in the freezer to firm up, about 6 hours.
* Cream mixture can be chilled up to 24 hours.
* Ice cream can be made 3 days ahead. Let soften 20 minutes in the refrigerator before serving.
Tagged as: fourth of july, gourmet, ice cream, sour cream
