This week we’re adding up the reasons to be glad everything old is new again in our Past Perfect Issue. Download the free Gourmet Live app for access to all of the issues and recipes, and visit Gourmet.com to read this week’s issue in full, including:
Everyday Occasions brings the bakeshop into the home with Chocolate Glazed Donuts, however, the goal is not professional perfection. Misshapen dough dripping with a heavy-handed laddle of chocolate sauce yields only the most delicious results: a batch of donut merrymaking.
The first ever Gourmet Retro Recipe Remix contest is drawing to a close on March 7! With just a few days left until the judging starts, we want to remind you to submit your take on the featured classic recipe for Canapés Brésiliens by posting your recipe and photo to our Facebook Contest page.
Entering the contest gives you the chance to win a set of five exclusive Gourmet Special Edition Cookbooks, and the winning photo may also be featured on Gourmet.com! Head over to our Facebook page for more details and to enter.
Photo: Gourmet
Whatever happened to the soft-boiled egg? Poached and fried eggs have pushed it to the sidelines. But there’s really nothing simpler. The soft-boiled egg was important enough to spawn an industry of cutsy eggcups to hold the hot shells, egg scissors to slice off the tops, and fanciful egg timers to reach the perfect consistency—all fun, but not essential—so it’s high time you rediscovered its delights, accoutrements or not. Here are five tips for perfection:
Photo: Romulo Yanes
Whether you’re eating meatless on Fridays because you’re observing Lent, or you just want some delicious and easy fish recipes for weeknight meals, we’ve hauled in a great catch for you. These six easy recipes will take you all the way to Easter.
Mahimahi with Charred Onion, Tomatoes, and Tapenade Vinaigrette: This six-ingredient broiled fish dinner takes just 25 minutes to make (and only 10 of those minutes are hands-on). And it’s pretty and healthy, too.
Fish in Papillote: Cooking fish fillets in parchment keeps them incredibly moist. Foil stands in for parchment in a pinch.
Roasted Halibut with Garlic Sauce: Use store-bought mayonnaise to create an aioli in a flash, then spread it over fish and bake briefly. Add steamed vegetables and crusty bread and your succulent dinner is ready in 25 minutes.
Black Cod with Mushrooms and Sansho Peppers: Cooking buttery black cod in a broth that contains soy, mirin, and mushrooms makes for a meal that shouts “umami!”
Broiled Salmon with Citrus-Yogurt Sauce: While you’re broiling the salmon, make boiled new potatoes and a cucumber salad for a light, springy meal. Not only is this salmon delicious, but the recipe makes enough for a pasta dish for the next day’s meal, too.
Scallion-Crusted Arctic Char: Just three ingredients add up to a surprisingly flavorful main course. Add rice and spinach to complete the picture.
If you had to blog about one ingredient, everyday, what would it be?
I can’t explain my infatuation with grits, but I seriously think I could spend a year creating grits recipes and writing about them. I’m obsessed with shrimp and grits, and I love using them as the base for meats (such as pulled pork and short ribs). I’ve even mastered making them in the slow cooker.
I will never eat:
Cooked carrots. I’ve tried to like them, but I just can’t. Give me a raw carrot any day, but apply heat to that same carrot, and I find it absolutely vile. I’ve gotten over many a childhood food dislike, but the cooked carrot will never win me over.
After returning from a jazz show in the wee hours of the morning this past weekend, my stomach acted out accordingly, grumbling a disconcerting melodic riff. With a pantry running low, and my energy even lower, I turned to my griddle and my favorite foolproof Cottage Cheese Pancake recipe. I’m not sure this counted as an exceptionally late midnight snack, the earliest breakfast I’ve ever eaten, or a prelude to shrove Tuesday, but no matter the time of day, pancakes are versatile enough fit the bill and fill the stomach.
Try sweet kernel-speckled Fresh Corn Pancakes served with salsa, sour cream, or guacamole for a zesty, yet comforting dinner. If you like your pancakes with a little crunch and even more spice, Sweet-Potato and Kimchi Pancakes are pan-fried like latkes, but are fragrant and flavorful with a kick from pungent pickled cabbage and Korean chile powder.
For and elegant way to sneak pancakes into your next dinner party menu, try Caviar and Salmon Blini Tortes, which artfully layer buckwheat cakes, creamy egg salad, and rich smoked salmon with a dollop of trout roe.
When do you prefer to eat your pancakes?
We’re dreaming of an exotic escape with our Island Eats collection, now available in the Gourmet Live Store.
Enjoy the ocean’s freshest flavors with Mussels in Green-Peppercorn Sauce that are steamed and then finished with a splash of cream, or opt for a skewered take on seafood with Pepper Shrimp on Sugarcane. A trip to the tropics wouldn’t be complete without a sip of a classic Piña Colada garnished with fresh pineapple and a green maraschino cherry.
Download the free Gourmet Live app then head to the Library to access the Store for our Island Eats collection.
Photo: Condé Nast Archive
When a movie is good, it makes me want to drink. Usually I crave something nostalgic of the film. After I saw The Help in theaters, I had a major hankering for fried chicken, and chocolate pie (which, if you’ve seen the film, is a peculiar longing). I settled on a tipsy tea, which I’ll be serving during the red carpet Oscars pre-show on Sunday.
During the main event, in order to ensure that my guests are able to spend every moment eyeing the TV, I’m pre-making a batch of “American Punch” from the book, Good Spirits, because even though several of the best picture nods are for Frenchie flicks, there are few things more patriotic than gathering to discuss the style of American royalty (and because it contains bourbon).
You’ll need a punch bowl, a lot of ice, a bottle of bourbon (750 ml), 8 ounces simple syrup, 4 ounces of freshly squeezed lemon juice, a bottle of champagne (750 ml), and a 2-liter bottle of ginger ale. Pour all of the ingredients over the ice, stir and serve in wine glasses. If you have time, muddled cherries add a nice touch and gives a pop of the signature Oscars hue.
What will you be drinking during the Oscars?
Photo: Romulo Yanes
Rum is the first thing that comes to mind when I think of islands, the topic of the latest issue of Gourmet Live. Back in my wild and crazy single days, I spent a week at Club Med in the Caribbean, and, as you can imagine, rum played a significant role in that vacation, whether I was swigging planter’s punch around the pool, or buying bottles of rum to continue the party at home.
Once back on the island of Manhattan, the cook in me preferred using the dark rum—not so much for cocktails after all—but for the warm, rounded, butterscotchy depth it brings to foods. Take rum dulce de leche. If you thought dulce de leche couldn’t possibly be improved upon, try adding some rum to it. Then try to resist spreading it on everything in sight, or sneaking spoonfuls of it just before bedtime.
We all know the affinity raisins have for dark rum—hello, rum raisin ice cream—but how about rum-soaked raisins in your apple pie? Believe me, this is a combination that adds that sexy little something to your standard apple pie.
And what could remind you more of the tropics than the banana rum combo, specifically caramelized bananas in rum sauce? At 10 minutes start to finish, there’s no excuse not to treat yourself to this bit of indulgence: Sautéed banana slices, enhanced with a shot of dark rum, mingle flirtatiously with a little butter, sugar, and spices, to form a sauce ideal for spooning over vanilla ice cream.
So what do you add rum to in your cooking?
Photo: Fairchild Archive
The 84th annual Academy Awards are only a few days away, and this star-studded event is the perfect excuse to make your own award-winning dish. So we want you to tell us:
What is your most famous signature dish?
Award season is also a great time to debut new dishes. Try your hand at our Retro Recipe Remix contest, starring Canapés Brésiliens, for a chance to win five Gourmet cookbooks.
Photo: Gourmet
Happy Fat Tuesday, y’all! Are you thinking it’s a great time to celebrate with some Cajun food? I agree, but I’m adding Creole to the mix to avoid a chastising from a family friend from Baton Rouge who recently posted this rant on Facebook: “Grumpy old man time: ‘Cajun’ is not shorthand for South Louisiana’s regional awesomeness….If you want to make me cringe, say, ‘I can’t wait to go to New Orleans to eat all of that great Cajun food!’”
The “grumpy old man,” who’s not quite 30 years old, by the way, could have been quoting my mom, who’s also from South Louisiana. But, he’s right: South Louisiana’s cuisine is a true melting pot. As Marcelle Bienvenu explains in Epicurious’s primer on Cajun and Creole food, both [Cajun and Creole cuisine] have been flavored by many other hands that stirred the pot, including American Indians, African slaves, the Spanish, and West Indians.
So, here are some Mardi Gras meal suggestions that offer a taste of Acadiana’s regional awesomeness:
Shrimp Po’ Boys with Old Bay Mayonnaise
Find more Cajun and Creole recipes from Gourmet at Epicurious.com.
Photo: Kelly Senyei
With Oscar Night less than a week away, I know what I’m serving for hearty nibbles: A pile of crostini (little baguette toasts) with different toppings. It fits right into my style of entertaining, which is to give people choices. To make the crostini, cut a baguette crosswise into ¼-inch thick rounds. Brush them with olive oil and bake them at 350°F until golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Toppings are endless, but here are five favorites:
Guacamole: Take a tip from my colleague, Kelly Senyei, who loves guacamole on toasts as much as on tortillas.
Chickpeas with Garlic and Mint: Rinse and drain a can of chickpeas and coarsely mash them in a bowl with a fork. Mix in 1 or 2 garlic cloves, minced and mashed to a paste, then some chopped fresh mint, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper to taste. If necessary, loosen spread further with a little warm water.
Manchego Cheese with Quince Paste: It doesn’t get much easier than some thin slices of Manchego topped with a slice of quince paste (a.k.a. membrillo).
Steak With Horseradish Cream: Season your go-to steak (I love cheapo chuck blade steaks) with salt and freshly cracked black pepper, then pan-fry until medium rare. Slice thin and top with sour cream you’ve spiked with horseradish. And maybe a radish slice or two.
Goat Cheese and Tapenade: Spread toasts with a schmear of soft, mild goat cheese, followed by another of black or green olive tapenade. If goat cheese tastes too barny for you, use whipped cream cheese. No one will notice!
Photo: Chef Garbo
We came across personal chef Claude Garbo‘s Gourmet magazine styling series and couldn’t resist sharing a sneak peek with you. Chef Garbo finds inspiration from her collection of Gourmet magazines dating back to the 50s and 60s, replicating the food and styling setups of the iconic covers, such as the beignets pictured above.
Chef Garbo selects the dishes to replicate based on the food she prepares for her clients, as well as on the vast array of vintage cutlery and serving dishes she’s collected over the years. She uses natural light to capture the true essence of each meal, from the perfectly placed cocktail glasses to the artfully styled ingredients.
Just as Chef Garbo has drawn inspiration from iconic Gourmet recipes, you too can share in the memory by entering our Gourmet Retro Recipe Remix. Head over to our Facebook Contest page for more details and to enter for your chance to win five Gourmet Special Edition cookbooks!
Location: Dubai
What’s your favorite recipe from your blog
We love all our recipes for different reasons, but the one that holds the most sentimental value to both of us is our Jamaican Oxtail Stew. It’s Lij’s favorite homemade dish and when I cooked it for him the first time, it was love at first bite. Whenever I cook it at home, he falls in love all over again.
If you had to blog about one ingredient every day, what would it be?
I would say eggs. We have quite a few egg dishes because eggs are the perfect food in terms of macronutrient balance. On top of that, they are cheap and easily accessible and can be used in both sweet and savory applications for breakfast, lunch and dinner and for all courses. No kitchen, either at home or professional, is complete without the incredible, edible egg.
I faithfully return every morning to my favorite coffee shop, but occasionally I’m inspired to consume my espresso in inventive ways. Although I’m eternally grateful to my barista, the lure of incorporating coffee into baked goods for a deep and sophisticated element is too hard to resist.
In these Cappuccino Brownies, coffee is paired, not surprisingly, with chocolate for a rich, harmonious flavor. The fudgy, espresso-infused brownies are layered with a cream cheese frosting and coffee ganache. But my next shot of espresso is going in Coffee Toffee “Pie” made with a crispy caramel crust, chocolate espresso filling, and topped with rum-spiked whipped cream for a look that is reminiscent of a frothy latté.
For an adult take on the classic root beer float, I’m trying the Caramel Espresso Float that ditches the soda for sweetened espresso and is finished with whipped cream, chocolate shavings, and chopped nuts.
What’s your favorite way to cook or bake with coffee?
We’re gearing up for an Oscar-worthy spread with awards show fare in our Red Carpet Foods collection, now available in the Gourmet Live Store.
Kickoff your star-studded bash with our Red Carpet Cocktail that blends vodka, cranberry juice, and fresh citrus. Pair your celebratory sipper with homemade Tomato Focaccia and Mesquite-Grilled Red Snapper, and then cap off your evening with a slice of Raspberry Crumble Tart.
Download the free Gourmet Live app then head to the Library to access the Store for our Red Carpet Foods collection.
