"gourmet" news and stories

Nostalgia abounds as the reality sinks in that Gourmet magazine is really gone: We'll never receive another issue in the mail. We'll never have another opportunity to crack the glossy binding holding together a new month's culinary content.

We're still adjusting to the news and no doubt you are, too. Check out this poignant photographic essay from Kevin DeMaria, the former associate art director of the magazine. It documents the offices, common areas and test kitchen of the magazine as staffers were looking back, packing up and moving out.

The approach of chilly weather may leave many craving warm libations, but this Vodka Rosemary Lemonade Fizz is truly a drink for all seasons. The bloggers of the Bitten Word tackled this Gourmet recipe, which eschews the usual infusion to instead create a simple syrup with sugar, rosemary and lemon juice subbing for water. The syrup can keep for weeks in the fridge and need only be topped with vodka and a dash of club soda to be served.

Rosemary adds a nice mouthfeel and complexity to the crisp, refreshing drink, but almost any herb will serve well in simple syrup, from lavender to Thai basil. Spill your simple syrup recipes or ideas in the comments.

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

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.

Bowl of tabbouleh. Photo: Jakub_hla, Flickr.

• Potlucks can be reinvigorated with a jolt of Tabbouleh with Feta.
• Gourmet may have closed, but Ruth Reichl still hit Kansas City to promote her new book, "Gourmet Today," at a special dinner.
• A chat with local cook Carol LaBruzzo and a recipe for Italian Wedding Soup.
• The PBS show "The Winemakers" includes a KC contestant: Ryan Sciara of Cellar Rat.
• After "Julie & Julia," what should you read next? The Star says "My Life in France," "Alice Waters and Chez Panisse" and "Under the Table: Saucy Tales from Culinary School."
• Westside Local offers everything from a classic roast-beef sandwich to a soup made of watermelon, cucumber and beets.

• 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.