Making cheese at home may seem quite daunting -- but cool, creamy ricotta is an exception.

Some of the most notable "Gourmet" recipes never made it to the magazine. Through its 69-year run, the magazine's food editors and test kitchen staff developed hundreds of adventurous, experimental, personal and just plain luscious recipes that for one reason or another escaped the print edition. With Gourmet.com's 2008 launch, multimedia supplements to magazine features, test kitchen video throw-downs, staffers' favorites and perusals of family archives afforded the opportunity to showcase Web-exclusive content, and a chance to serve up these recipes to their more cyber-savvy readers.

Though an Oct. 13 Tweet by the magazine's Executive Editor John Willoughby advised followers to "Go to gourmet.com, copy Web-exclusive recipes that will disappear: strawberry dumpling, banana upside down cake, curried pork noodles, etc.", Slashfood has been told by other Condé Nast insiders that after the magazine's recent, sudden shuttering, the future of Gourmet.com content remains uncertain, save for mag-published recipes that will be migrated to sister site Epicurious.com.

We're not taking any chances. We've clicked our way through 300-plus Web-exclusive recipes from October 2005 to September 2009 to find the 25 you simply must copy, paste and collect before they're (possibly) lost to the ages.

1. Frozen Peanut Butter Pie with Candied Bacon
Recipe by Andrea Albin

2. Potted Stuffed Squab
Recipe by Edna Lewis

3. Confit Gizzard with Honey Mustard
Recipe by Ian Knauer

4. Savory Duck Fat Doughnuts
Recipe by Ian Knauer

Get more recipes -- including Dijon ice cream and zucchini whoopie pies -- after the jump.

• Ashmead's Kernel apples may not be pretty, but they have "the most intense, complex flavor of any fruit in the world."
• Harvest whites for the season include Hungary's Tokaj and Italy's Campania.
• The ins, outs and tasty recipes for Chinese Bao -- "chewy-soft" steamed and stuffed buns.
• Los Angeles has a lot of new dining spots in the works, ranging from a second location for Umami Burger to the upcoming Cafe Habana.
• Restaurants: Venice's AK has become the Tasting Kitchen, with a "magic chef" and hunger-inducing dishes, and LA's Amalia morphs rustic Guatemalan cooking into "urbane cuisine."
• The end of Gourmet, and more love for the fallen mag.

Even sandwich artists are mourning the loss of Gourmet Magazine.

[Via Twitter]

Fried chicken. Photo: thebittenword.com, Flickr

• Fried chicken goes international, from Creole to Korean kitchens.
• L.L. Bean heiress Linda L. Bean gets ready to mass market Maine lobsters and end Canadian lobster dependence.
• A look at "Top Chef" hostess Padma Lakshmi's Sunday routine.
• Jewish delis are suffering from waning popularity, and those that are left struggle to keep the meaty magic alive.
• The end of Gourmet magazine after almost 70 years, and those mourning its demise.
• The dangers of E. Coli and pre-ground beef, and the story of Stephanie Smith.
• When cooking becomes boring, A Good Appetite suggests playing "cupboard roulette."
• The Minimalist makes a crustless, Pan-Baked Lemon-Almond Tart.
• Joining old Italian pros as they chop, stew and jar plum tomatoes in prime autumn tradition.
• Cooking with Dexter finally learns the artificial flavor of the fast food beneath the golden arches.
• Rogacki is "a temple devoted" to Berlin deli fare, in West Berlin, Germany.
• Restaurant: After 10 years, Brooklyn's Saul has only gotten better, Queens' Engeline is a rare slice of Filipino fare and the Lower East Side's Ten Bells mixes wine and charcuterie.
• Food Stuff finds R.W. Apple Jr.'s new book, SoHo crepes and Saratoga chips.
• New York's openings and closings and food calendar.

Photo: Sara Bonisteel

After nearly 69 years of good tastes, Gourmet Magazine will close after its November issue, the New York Times reports.

The magazine, owned by Conde Nast, has been published since December 1940. Cookie, Modern Bride and Elegant Bride are also slated for closure, the paper said.

"Thank you all SO much for this outpouring of support," Ruth Reichl, the magazine's editor in chief, said Monday afternoon on Twitter. "It means a lot. Sorry not to be posting now, but I'm packing. We're all stunned, sad."

The cuts come after a three-month study by McKinsey & Co., which looked at the publishing company's costs, the Times said.

In an e-mail obtained by Gawker, Conde Nast CEO Chuck Townsend said Gourmet will live on through television and books. "Gourmet magazine will cease monthly publication, but we will remain committed to the brand, retaining Gourmet's book publishing and television programming, and Gourmet recipes on Epicurious.com," he wrote. "We will concentrate our publishing activities in the epicurean category on Bon Appétit."

Drew Schutte, a senior vice president at Conde Nast Digital, said Gourmet.com would "remain up at least through the end of the year," Mediaite reports.

Sources tell Slashfood that staff has to be out of building by the end of day Tuesday.

Leave your thoughts about Gourmet's demise in the comments below.

[Via New York Times]

Photo: sassyradish, Flickr.

In an enticing alternative to the usual coffeecake breakfast sweet, this nectarine tart serves the same function but with an extra dose of fresh fruit. Not only is the yellow cake perfectly golden, unctuously buttery and studded with luscious nectarines, Flickr user sassyradish heralds it as also being "moist, light and laced with vanilla and almond."

In this recipe adapted from the September issue of Gourmet, the shopping list calls for the usual pantry baking staples to be paired with the sliced fruit of your choice -- perfect for last-minute brunch-time entertaining.

Check out the elegantly simple recipe for yourself at blog Sassyradish.

Become a member of the Slashfood Flickr pool to get a shot at having your photos featured in Feast Your Eyes.

Zucchini whoopie pie! Zucchini tequila slushie!

Those nutty Gourmet chefs, of the insane toasted avocado marshmallows, recently went head to head in their third Test Kitchen Challenge, all about zucchini.

In the savory round, watch Gina Marie Miraglia Eriquez make zucchini shoestring "fries" as a decadent topping for a "zucchini three ways" salad and competitor Andrea Albin whip up some spicy zucchini fritters with basil-mayo dipping sauce. We'll leave it up to you to decide whether or not Albin's performance-enhancing drug -- bacon -- gave her an unfair advantage over her opponent.

In the sweets round Eriquez appeared to have a stronghold on Albin when she "pulled out the guns" with her zucchini whoopie pies. (Click the video to see how she pulled it off.) But what better way to wash down a zucchini whoopie pie -- or five -- than with Albin's zucchini lime tequila slushie?

Check out the video, vote for your favorite and let us know who you think won and why in the comments.

[Via Gourmet]

Yeah, it's a teensy bit Inside Baseball for the fooderati, but we got a big kick out of seeing our favorite Gourmet staffers (Wuzzap, Terrebonne? Lookin' fresh, Knauer and Houghtaling!) in a cute 'n campy Gourmet.com video sending up Editor-In-Chief Ruth Reichl's '90s tenure as an undercover restaurant critic for the New York Times.

Reichl's penchant for wearing outlandish disguises to protect her dwindling anonymity was the underpinning of her 2005 memoir Garlic and Sapphires, but somehow we doubt even she would have the quenelles to stomp into the Four Seasons' Pool Room wearing quite this much codpiece.

[via: Gourmet.com]

As I've mentioned before on this blog, my fiancee has been sick for some time. This winter hit us hard, and he was sicker than ever last week. I found myself stocking up on Jell-O, pudding, soup, saltines, ginger ale and applesauce.

After he was tucked into bed and happily fed, I sat down on the couch and wondered what I was going to eat. I spent so much time making sure our cabinets were stocked with things he could keep down, I completely forgot to take care of myself.

AOL Food has an ongoing gallery of "Ten-Minute Mains" from Gourmet Magazine. I remembered seeing a fast and hearty recipe that I knew I had the ingredients for. Polenta pie with cheese and tomato sauce was a luxurious meal that I happily threw together in no-time flat. Ready-made plain polenta (in a plastic roll) proved to be a friend. After the aromas of fresh basil, tomato and cheese took over my apartment, I cuddled into the corner of my couch with a BIG bowl of this pie and found myself thinking, "What a treat."

Whether your significant other is not feeling well, or he or she is out for the night, it's important to find recipes that are quick enough to cook up for yourself. Cooking for one is not something to be ashamed of and it should not be a daunting task. Take the time on the weekend and flip through cookbooks and Web sites to find easy meals that are quick to prepare on the weeknights and reheat well for leftovers.

Recipe for polenta pie after the jump.

Gourmet's Barry Estabrook investigates the plight of Florida tomato pickers. The following is an excerpt of his findings published on Gourmet.com.

A little slavery is okay, just not too much of it.

At this writing, that appears to be the official government position in the state of Florida, and it could explain why the fields of the Sunshine State provide such fertile ground for modern-day slavery. In the past dozen years, police have broken up and prosecuted seven slave operations there, freeing more than 1,000 men and women who were kept captive and forced to work for little or no money and threatened with death if they tried to escape. (For more on the plight of the Florida tomato pickers, see my article "The Price of Tomatoes" in the March 2009 issue of Gourmet.)

Late last year, two members of the Navarrete family, the operators of what has been recognized as the most brutal slave ring the state has seen, were sentenced to 12 years in prison; two others received lesser sentences. Justice having been done, it was an ideal opportunity for Governor Charlie Crist, who enjoys a very high approval rating, to spend a bit of that political capital to condemn the practice and announce bold steps to prevent it.

The story continues at Gourmet.com: Politics of the Plate: Florida's Slave Trade

Sorry to say my kitchen has a big boo-boo right now and is out of commission. Go figure? As soon as I finally get in the kitchen, I have to leave. Long story short, there was a leak in our pipes which warped the floors in our bedroom and living room. The construction crews came in and tore up the place looking for the leak, leaving a trail of dust ad hardwood flooring everywhere.

So, in the meantime, I thought I would share one of my favorites recipes to entertain with during the fall and winter months: Meatball Sliders. Yes, I know they aren't novel or even my idea, but I don't think they are served enough at functions. Easy to make and minimal clean-up keeps me going back to these over and over.

Do you make your meatballs in big batches? I sure do. The next time you make one of those tantalizing batches of goodness, roll a dozen or more meatballs in mini form, simmer in sauce and freeze them. That way, the night before the party you can start defrosting them and you're all set to go. I slice up some mozzarella (I tend not to use fresh because of the high water content) and stick them in the oven.

Tips and recipe after the jump.

When my great-aunt Flora finally had to give up living independently and move into nursing facility, all my Philadelphia relatives pitched into help our cousin Betsy clean out her mom's apartment. A lifetime of furniture, dishes and objets d'art were given, donated, pitched and sold. I acquired a half-moon shaped hallway table, several very heavy pint glasses, and small selection of Flora's Gourmet magazine collection.

You see, Flora was something of a expert home cook, and from the time she finished medical school (she was a bit ahead of her time), she would often relax by going home and cooking elaborate meals. Gourmet magazine was her favorite supplement to frequent shopping and dining trips to Europe and over the years, she amassed a considerable collection of back issues. She read each issue cover to cover, and many of them bear the signs of being taken into the kitchen and cooked from.

When I heard the recent speculation that Gourmet will be one of the next major magazines to fold, I immediately thought of Flora (as well as the countless other people, myself included, who adore the magazine the Ruth Reichl helms). I hope it's not true, but worry (especially in light of some of the other recent glossy closures) that it's a prediction that will come to pass.

Kat Kinsman inspired me to take a dab into the biscuit world, even though these are a little less traditional. Biscuits come in all different shapes and sizes. The perfect example of this are these funky Buttermilk Fantails from Gourmet Magazine's latest issue. The shape alone caught my attention and I instantly decided that these were going to be my weekend project. Luckily, they were much easier to put together than I imagined.

Light and airy, these fantails are composed of the simplest ingredients and if you plan on spending the day at home, easy to make. From start to finish (including rising time) they took a total of 5 hours, with only 45 minutes of active time. All you'll need is a muffin tin and thin, sharp knife.

Word to the wise, make sure you don't use old yeast. The first step of this recipe requires you to see foam, if you don't, start over. I used old yeast and while I saw what I thought resembled foam, it wasn't enough and my biscuits didn't rise to their full potential. While the texture and taste was on target, I would have preferred them to be fuller and fill the entire muffin tin. I shall try again this weekend.

Check out this recipe and more ultimate comfort foods in this gallery.

You always remember your "firsts" - first kiss, first date, first day of school, first day on the job, but this "first" probably tops them all for me. Over the holidays I decided to go all out and make my first rib roast (in my new, "first" All-Clad roasting pan). New to the neighborhood, I hunted down my local butcher and secured a roast for Christmas Eve. This hefty 11-pound beauty was the apple of my eye, but at the same time, she scared me to death. Thinking to myself I said, "Maybe I should have test drove on a less-expensive cut of meat first." Oh well, there was no turning back now.

The next step was to find a recipe the that tickled my fancy. Luckily, that didn't take long; the October 2008 issue of Gourmet Magazine had a succulent rib roast on the cover - that would be the one. Reading the recipe over and over for days, I was ready for my big night. I spent the afternoon crushing peppercorns and digging out my finest bottle of olive oil to slather all over the meat, kosher salt and a little bit of love was all this recipe called for. Certainly, the intense flavor of the meat would shine if properly cooked.

Recipe and more after jump.