"ian knauer" news and stories

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.

Venerable food mag Gourmet has been keeping it (un)real lately, from editor Ruth Reichl's bizarro star turn as Amy Winehouse and Kiss' Gene Simmons to today's "Iron Chef"-style smackdown between two test kitchen toques.

Today the steely, dry-humored Maggie Ruggiero (the woman behind an astounding fried cubano) faces off against bald-pated Ian Knauer, who pulls the cross-armed, stern smackdown stance off rather better. The ingredient du jour? Avocado, sweet and savory. The savory dishes both have a certain Asian flair and the sweet (shown above) basically blew our minds and made us want to go use a blowtorch on everything in our kitchen cabinets. Avocado marshmallow on a stick?! Maggie, let's be friends. Ian, not to be outdone, turns out a gorgeous avocado creme brulée.

The two share a window through which they taunt one another, like a modern day Statler and Waldorf. Maggie on Ian: "Razzle dazzle; flash in the pan ... [I'm] someone who enjoys eating food and not just playing with it." Ian on Maggie: "We were born on the same day. She's a little older than I am. She's got experience on her side. I have youth." Oh, snap! Check the video, vote and let us know who you think owned it.

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.