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Monthly Archives: August 2011

08.31.11: Labor Daze

Posted on August 31, 2011 by Kelly Senyei

Labor Daze

The latest issue of Gourmet Live is stretching the summer spirit and offering a serving of comfort amidst the impact of Hurricane Irene. Our resident ingredient guru Kemp Minifie shares her tips and tricks for preserving the season’s bounty (hint: freezing is cooler than canning). And guest columnist Garrett McCord shows us the true meaning of a “labor of love” this holiday weekend, as he tries to convert a moldy-cheese hater into a blue cheese lover.

It’s then time to hit the road for this month’s Gourmet Live & BlogHer Road Trip, which is bringing you the local’s guide to Chicago’s best pizza, hot dogs, pork chops, and more. We also make a stop at Penn State’s ice cream university for a candid chat with the program’s director, Dr. Robert F. Roberts. Gear up for a festive Labor Day with our Top 10 entertaining tips, and discover how design critic and guest columnist Alexandra Lange fell in love with the perfect fork.

You’ll find all of these stories and more in the latest issue of Gourmet Live. And now we’re dishing out three times the App Exclusive content, so check out three full-length features from this week’s issue:
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Image of the Day: Heirloom Tomatoes

Posted on August 31, 2011 by Allison Poindexter

Heirloom Tomatoes

Is the combination of historic weather and the dwindling days of summer getting you down? Turn to Fresh Local Best for instant culinary inspiration in the form of a no-cook summer favorite: thick slices of heirloom tomatoes sprinkled with salt and cracked black pepper. Up the flavor ante with an optional drizzle of tangy balsamic syrup and a handful of blue cheese crumbles.

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Five Ham Finds

Posted on August 30, 2011 by Allison Poindexter

The full-length feature version of Five Ham Finds by Kelly Senyei appears in the current issue of Gourmet Live. Download the free Gourmet Live app for this story and more.

Ham Hickory

Photo: Kimberly Setner

Whether you want to get a head start on winter–holiday menu–planning or are looking for an easy, crowd–friendly option for entertaining year–round, one of our five favorite ready–to–eat mail–order hams will likely fit the bill. We sliced and sampled until every last piece was tasted and every ham bone was spoken for and ready to star in a batch of collard greens or a summer rendition of split pea soup. And although not everyone here at Gourmet Live shared my predilection for the HoneyBaked brand, everybody was eager to claim their own favorite flavor or texture among the selections.

Gourmet Live’s Kelly Senyei headed up a taste test of spiral-sliced, smoked, and sugar-coated mail–order hams to find the best ones around.

Download the free Gourmet Live app to see her five, pig-perfect picks.

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Bringing Home the Bacon … With a Rifle

Posted on August 29, 2011 by Allison Poindexter

The full-length feature version of On the Hunt by Hank Shaw appears in the current issue of Gourmet Live and online. Download the free Gourmet Live app for this story and more.

Wil Boar

Photo: Holly A. Heyser

First I removed the limbs. Front legs are not attached to the body by bone, so they are easily removed. The back legs are attached by a ball–and–socket joint, and it takes a little skill not to massacre the hams while doing this. Fortunately I’d studied the classic book Basic Butchering of Livestock & Game by John Mettler. The backstrap (loins) I deboned—I did not feel like breaking out the hacksaw to split the backbone to make proper pork chops, which can be tricky. Sawing off the shanks and ribs was much easier. Love me some wild boar ribs. That left a lot of stray bits all over what remained of the carcass. Sausage meat!

Gourmet Live guest columnist, hunter, gatherer, and cook Hank Shaw heads to the hills of California to show us what it’s like to stalk, kill, and cook wild boar.

Read the full-length version of Bringing Home the Bacon … With a Rifle then download the free Gourmet Live app for recipes and more.


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Kemp’s Kitchen: Chill Out with Herb-Infused Ice Cubes

Posted on August 29, 2011 by Kemp Minifie
Cilantro Ice Cubes

Photo: Kemp Minifie, via iPhone

It’s easy to overbuy at the farmers’ market at this time of year. My nose and my eyes overrule the rational side of my brain. Fresh herbs, in particular, are my biggest weakness. Each one beckons with its intoxicating aroma, and I can’t resist buying more than I really need. What to do when I realize I’m not going to be able to use up the whole bunch before it rots? Chop it up and freeze it in ice cubes!

I got the idea from Ian Hemphill, author of The Spice and Herb Bible. I met Hemphill a decade ago in Sydney, Australia, where he has a shop called Herbie’s Spices. This is a fellow who’s more passionate about herbs and spices than anyone I’ve ever met. In his chapter on coriander (cilantro, in this case), he recommends “prolonging the enjoyment” of the fresh herb by chopping the leaves and stems, packing them in ice cube trays, then filling the trays with water and freezing them.

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Now In the Store: Better with Bacon

Posted on August 27, 2011 by Kelly Senyei

Better with Bacon

We’re bringing back a favorite in The Gourmet Live Store this week with our Better with Bacon collection loaded with both sweet and savory inspirations from the king of cured meats.

Fire up the flames with classic BLT Burgers, or opt for a decadent dessert in the form of Frozen Peanut Butter Pie with Candied Bacon.

Download the free Gourmet Live app then head to the Library to access the Store for our Better with Bacon collection and more.

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10 Questions for Chris Cosentino

Posted on August 26, 2011 by Allison Poindexter

The full-length feature version of 10 Questions for Chris Cosentino appears in the current issue of Gourmet Live and online. Download the free Gourmet Live app for this story and more.

Chris Cosentino

GL: With your restaurant Incanto’s menu including everything from Leg of Beast to Blood Pappardelle, is there a single dish you consider the most extreme?

CC: I don’t like the word extreme because it reflects a personality or trend versus what we’re actually doing at the restaurant, which is just serving good food with California ingredients (including offal) firmly rooted in Italian traditions. Also, what may be adventurous for an American diner is completely normal for another person from a different culture, so extreme is a relative term. I put food on the menu for flavor, not shock value.

Gourmet Live caught up with offal pioneer Chris Cosentino, who’s taking snout–to–tail cooking (and eating) to all new heights.

Read the full-length version of 10 Questions for Chris Cosentino then download the free Gourmet Live app for recipes and more.

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Weekly Roundup: Bring on the Bacon

Posted on August 26, 2011 by Allison Poindexter

Bacon Grits

Juicy, smoky, sweet, salty, and crispy, bacon is one of those meats that make carnivores swoon. From classic sandwiches to bacon-inspired sweets, this week’s roundup highlights the versatility of our favorite cured pork product.

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Spain’s Foie Gras

Posted on August 25, 2011 by Allison Poindexter

The full-length feature version of Spain’s Foie Gras by Gerry Dawes appears in the current issue of Gourmet Live. Download the free Gourmet Live app for this story and more.

Spanish Ham

Different types of jamón Ibérico in La Boquería market in Barcelona. Photo: Gerry Dawes©2011/gerrydawes@aol.com.

Indeed, jamón Ibérico de bellota, from free–range pata negra (black hoof) Ibérico pigs fattened on acorns, is to Spain what foie gras is to France—except that this luxury food item is available in even modest bars, stores, and restaurants all over the country. Named for the acorn (bellota) element of the Ibérico pig’s diet, this delicacy is at the top of Spain’s ham hierarchy, with prices to match. (In Europe, it goes for the equivalent of roughly $30 per pound at entry level to about five times that.) Less costly versions—made from pigs fattened on fewer days of free–range acorn foraging to supplement a cereal diet (jamón de recebo), or little or no acorn consumption (jamón de cebo)—can still be delicious yet don’t send pork partisans into the same heights of gastronomic ecstasy as do the top–of–the–line Ibérico de bellota hams.

Gourmet Live guest columnist Gerry Dawes takes a look at the pampered gluttonous lives of the celebrated Ibérico hams, the Spanish equivalent of France’s Foie Gras.

Download the free Gourmet Live app for the full story and more.

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The Pigs Are Alright

Posted on August 25, 2011 by Allison Poindexter

The full-length feature version of The Pigs Are Alright by Kristin Kimball appears in the current issue of Gourmet Live and online.  Download the free Gourmet Live app for this story and more.

Kimball Pig

Photo: Kristin Kimball

And what meat. Of the animals we raise for eating, pigs are my favorite on the plate. The traditional scale of luxury runs from high on the hog to low: loin, chop, belly, feet, and offal. But if you ask me, when it comes to pork, there is no relation between price per pound and enjoyment. In fact, I’d take a cheap piece of fresh pig liver, transmogrified into pâté, over a slice of expensive loin any day. And I’m always amazed by how even a tiny bit of pork fat, combined with salt, makes magic with other food. If you think you don’t like kale, or Brussels sprouts, or cabbage—or cardboard—come over to our house and I’ll cook some for you with a little fatback or pancetta, and then tell me what you think.

Gourmet Live guest columnist and farmer extraordinaire Kristin Kimball reveals how her family can raise and care for pigs and kill and eat them at the same time.

Read the full-length version of The Pigs are Alright then download the free Gourmet Live app for recipes and more.

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08.24.11: Hog Heaven

Posted on August 24, 2011 by Kelly Senyei

Gourmet Live: Hog Heaven

The latest issue of Gourmet Live is going hog wild with an in-depth look at pigs, from birth to plate. Join farmer Kristin Kimball as she shares her complicated relationship with the hogs she raises for food, and catch up with offal pioneer Chris Cosentino, who doesn’t let a single part of a good pig go to waste at his popular San Francisco eatery, Incanto.

Then it’s then time to dig in with our picks for the five best mail-order hams from across the country. Spiral-sliced, sugar-coated, and smoked, get a jumpstart on your holiday menu-planning with flavors for every occasion. The gluttony continues as Gerry Dawes spotlights Spain’s celebrated Ibérico ham, and Hank Shaw takes us along for the ride as he stalks, kills, and cooks a wild boar.

You’ll find all of these stories and more in the latest issue of Gourmet Live. And now we’re dishing out three times the App Exclusive content, so check out three full-length features from this week’s issue:

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Image of the Day: Beetroot, Zucchini & Apple Salad

Posted on August 24, 2011 by Allison Poindexter

Apple_beetroot_zucchini

Green Kitchen Stories’ earthy and delicious Beetroot, Zucchini & Apple Salad, topped with macadamia nuts, Queso Manchego, and herb and mustard dressing, is the perfect end-of-summer salad. Marinated, grilled zucchini contrasts with raw beets and apples, giving this healthy creation a great textural contrast.

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A Summertime Bounty in Southwestern France

Posted on August 23, 2011 by Allison Poindexter

The full-length feature version of A Summertime Bounty in Southwestern France by Sara Bonisteel appears in the current issue of Gourmet Live. Download the free Gourmet Live app for this story and more.

France Farmers Market Radishes

French breakfast radishes, with their slender red roots tipped with white, have a mild peppery flavor that pairs perfectly with fresh sweet cream butter and a couple of grains of coarse sea salt for an appetizer or bar snack, which is how I first learned to eat them Stateside, at a gastropub in Brooklyn. In the Dordogne, we sliced them in chunks for our salad, served with a homemade Dijon vinaigrette.

Gourmet Live guest columnist Sara Bonisteel snaps and samples her way through France’s Le Bugue on the Dordogne’s gorgeous, gluttony-inspiring farmers’ market while making stops for radishes, cheese, sour cherries, eggs, and more.

Download the free Gourmet Live app for the full story and more.

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A Corny Story

Posted on August 23, 2011 by Allison Poindexter

The full-length feature version of A Corn Story by Kristin Kimball appears in the current issue of Gourmet Live. Download the free Gourmet Live app for this story and more.

Corn

Photo: Francesca Yorke/Getty Images

I’m thinking about that as I choose my ears for dinner. In summer’s decline, I crave ears that are as mature as the season feels now, the kind of corn you find for sale on a street corner in Chiapas: ears with hulking kernels that I can sink my teeth into, with a complex corn character. Most farmers here grow the corn that American tastes demand, the extra–sugary hybrid varieties with kernels that pop off into your mouth when you bite. When picked at just the right stage, and eaten very fresh, I guess they deserve their celebrity. But as soon as their sweetness begins to fade, I find there’s nothing to back it up. These modern varieties have gained extra Brix points—the standard measure for sugar content—but lost their substance, the nourishing, nutty depth that makes corn more than a vehicle for salt and butter.

Gourmet Live guest columnist, and New York farmer extraordinaire, Kristin Kimball sings the praises of the controversial yet delectable over-grown grass, and darling of farmers’ markets across the country, corn.

Download the free Gourmet Live app for the full story and more.


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A Worthy Cause: Bloggers Without Borders

Posted on August 22, 2011 by Kelly Senyei

Bloggers Without Borders

The food blogging community is a powerful place for countless reasons—its talent, creativity, humor, originality, and most profoundly, its ability to bind together both in times of triumph and in moments of despair. And two weeks ago, the community was rocked upon learning that one of its prominent members, Jennifer Perillo, lost her husband to a sudden heart attack.

Out of an abundance of support and love, fellow food bloggers Shauna Ahern of Gluten-Free Girl and Maggy Keet of ThreeManyCooks launched the #AFundForJennie campaign to benefit Jennifer and her two young daughters. The fundraising effort is being organized through a new nonprofit organization, Bloggers Without Borders, which was created by Maggy, Erika Pineda-Ghanny, and Aimée Wimbush Bourque, with the goal of using our “combined voices to help bloggers in need and the people in their community.”

Please visit the A Fund for Jennie project page to learn more and to find out how you can donate to this worthy cause.

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Kemp’s Kitchen: For the Love of Lard

Posted on August 22, 2011 by Kemp Minifie
Old Fashioned Sugar Cookies

Photo: Kemp MInifie, via iPhone

It’s no secret that lard—rendered fresh pork fat—makes the best pie crust. And not only does it result in tender and impossibly flaky pastry, it also makes the most supple and easy-to-roll out dough ever (hence why Pillsbury uses it in its refrigerated pie crusts).

But lard also makes a fantastic sugar cookie. I revisited a super-easy recipe that appeared in Gourmet magazine in April, 1993. This time though, instead of using the processed lard available at the supermarket, I used freshly rendered leaf lard—from the fat surrounding the kidneys—from locally raised pigs, a product you can now readily find at farmers’ markets. Not only is it available in New York City, but I was just in northern New Hampshire and found it at two different stands at the local farmers’ market.

I beg to differ, however, with the headnote to the recipe, which calls attention to the sandy nature of using lard. When I tried my hand at these cookies I discovered that the lard made a delightfully crisp cookie with the just the right amount of interior chewiness to keep it from shattering (no sandy texture in sight!). And, rest assured, there’s no hint of pig in the flavor; that’s something you want in your ribs, but not in your cookies.

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Market Man Rides Again

Posted on August 22, 2011 by Allison Poindexter

The full-length feature version of Market Man Rides Again by Jane Lear appears in the current issue of Gourmet Live. Download the free Gourmet Live app for this story and more.

Peter Hoffman

Photo: Michael Harlan Turkell, http://harlanturk.com

Like Alice Waters, at Berkeley’s Chez Panisse, Hoffman had found inspiration in France as well as in his own backyard; his early mentors included the teacher and author Madeleine Kamman, who trained him in Paris and encouraged his interest in regional cooking, and Chris Letts, a Hudson River fisherman (and now educator) who introduced him to the natural world and the concept of foraging. At Savoy, the young chef’s cooking (Rosenfeld ran the front of the house and made the pastries) was down–to–earth yet visionary; to many, the fact that he wasn’t afraid to fail was constantly intriguing. Dishes such as grilled tuna sauced Catalan style, with ground nuts, peppers, and tomatoes, and served with knock–‘em–dead all–American onion rings, soon put his kitchen on the map. It was pioneer food, the sort that began to change the way America ate. Ruth Reichl, who wrote about the California food scene before she began reviewing for The New York Times, knew what she was seeing and tasting, and, in 1995, awarded Savoy two stars.

Gourmet Live guest columnist Jane Lear looks back and forward at the farm-to-table movement with Peter Hoffman, New York’s original locavore chef.

Download the free Gourmet Live app for the full story and more.


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Now in the Store: Crazy for Corn

Posted on August 20, 2011 by Kelly Senyei

Corn recipes

From Cornmeal Crepes with Ricotta and Ham to Summer Vegetable Succotash, take advantage of one of the season’s standout veggies with our Crazy for Corn collection, now available in the Gourmet Live Store.

Indulge in a hearty bowl of Kemp’s Creamy Creamless Chile Corn Chowder or fire up the grill and add flamekissed flavor to your next meal with Salvadoran Grilled Corn dressed with cayenne pepper, fresh lime juice, and a dash of sea salt.

Download the free Gourmet Live app then head to the Library to access the Store for our Crazy for Corn collection and more.


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Kitchen Essentials: Herbs

Posted on August 19, 2011 by Allison Poindexter
The full-length feature version of Kitchen Essentials: Herbs by Sabrina Sexton appears in the current issue of Gourmet Live. Download the free Gourmet Live app for this story and more.
Kitchen Essentials: Herbs

Photo: Brian Hagiwara/Getty Images

Store chopped herbs in the refrigerator, covered with a moist paper towel. But be mindful that they have a tendency to lose their flavor and last just a few days. To combat this, extend the lifespan of fresh herbs by making compound butters or flavored oils. Mixing chopped herbs into seasoned softened butter, vegetable, or olive oil preserves the flavor and color of the herbs. A dollop of chilled compound butter is a great topping for grilled meat or fish, and can be used in place of plain butter in many recipes. You can also harness your inner professional chef by garnishing a plate with homemade flavored oil, or by whisking it into marinades and vinaigrettes. Compound butters will last for two weeks in the refrigerator or in the freezer for three months; wrap them tightly so they don’t pick up other flavors. Flavored oils will last several months in the refrigerator, and can be frozen, as well.

Institute of Culinary Education chef Sabrina Sexton shares her tips and tricks for adding fresh flavor to your next dish with a tutorial on fresh and dried herbs.

Download the free Gourmet Live app for the full story and more.


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Weekly Roundup: Farm Stand Favorites

Posted on August 19, 2011 by Allison Poindexter

Eggplant

In honor of the dwindling days of summer, this week’s roundup features a few recipes for farm stand favorites that take full advantage of the warm weather smorgasbord still available at local farmers’ markets. From Kale and Honeydew Summer Salad to Graffiti Eggplant with White Bean, Lemon and Basil Spread, each delectable dish is healthy, fresh, and full of season flavor.
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