My Vegetable Blog

I was saddened to hear yesterday about the end of Gourmet magazine. I didn't grow up reading Gourmet – I only started reading it a few years ago, well into Ruth Reichl's tenure as editor – but there's no doubt that the magazine informed my cooking and thoughts on food as I became more and more interested in the subject.

The September 2007 issue, dedicated to “Latino Food: America’s Fastest Growing Cuisine," was probably my favorite. In the weeks after it arrived, I went out and bought a tortilla press, got acquainted with masa harina and made my own tortillas and tamales for the first time.

Kemp's Black Beans – from Executive Food Editor Kemp Minifie – is one of my favorite recipes from any source. Top five, easy. It's so simple, but the combination of sherry, soy sauce and balsamic vinegar is brilliant and makes the dish so much more than the sum of its parts. I use it all the time.

I don't always have the best luck with cookies, but the Glittering Lemon Sandwich Cookies in the December 2008 issue were as delicious as they were adorable. I took a batch of these tiny gems to my office holiday cookie contest last year, and while they didn't win (you're just never going to win a contest with lemon cookies as long as chocolate exists), I did get lots of compliments on those "yummy little Pac-Man cookies."

There were the Wild-Mushroom Bundles with Collard Greens that I made for Thanksgiving last year, the Corn and Potatoes with Heirloom Tomatoes that my parents and I enjoyed on a lazy Saturday last summer with glasses of basil lemonade (that were, OK fine, a little too basily), and Test Kitchen Director Ruth Cousineau's Strawberry Dumplings that are now my standby dessert for sticky summer days when it's too hot to turn on the oven.

For a magazine that some have said wasn't enough about recipes, Gourmet gave me many that I'll continue to use for years and, more importantly, helped me think about food in a whole new way. It will truly be missed.

Related Posts

Gourmet's Tamales with Poblanos and Fresh Corn, and Pozole Rojo

Thanksgiving Recap 2008

Potatoes and Tomatoes with Corn-Two-Ways

Black Beans and Rice My Way (Kemp's Black Beans)

The Kitchn - Recipe Review: Gourmet's Strawberry Dumplings

Epicurious - Glittering Lemon Sandwich Cookies