2018 - The Amateur Gourmet

Come Join The Fun on Instagram

Hello there, you’re probably wondering where I’ve been these first few months of 2018, and the answer is: INSTAGRAM.

If you’re not following me there, download the app and look me up: @amateurgourmet.

It’s just a much easier way for me to share my cooking adventures, and also much more exciting, especially with the stories feature where I shoot videos as I go. For example, last night I turned the spring risotto you see above (which I’d documented in Stories on Sunday) into risotto cakes by shaping them into patties and frying them in oil. The whole thing is captured in real time:

And the results were pretty stupendous.

So if you miss hearing my voice and seeing my pictures (and my mistakes), now you know where to find me. To reiterate: @amateurgourmet on Instagram. See you there!

Pork Belly and Smoked Sausage Cassoulet

The last time (and only time) I’ve ever made cassoulet, it was a bit of a Noah’s Ark affair. There was duck, there was sausage, there was bacon. My cup, quite literally, was runneth over with meat and beans. Cassoulet is meant to be a hefty dish and, as a general rule, the bigger your cooking vessel, the better off you’ll be. This time around, I thought I was in good shape making Donald Link’s Pork Belly and Smoked Sausage Cassoulet from his Down South cookbook. There were only two meats to worry about, pork belly and smoked sausage, and only one pound of dried white beans. This time I’d have my cassoulet under control.

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Paris Highlights

Travel is a funny thing. The more you build it up in your head, the less likely you are to do it.

Which is why, a few months ago, when our friends Harry and Cris told us that they were going to France for Christmas and New Year’s (Cris is from Bordeaux), I spontaneously suggested that we all spend New Year’s together in Paris. The idea took, especially since Craig had never been to France, and I cashed in all of our Delta miles and booked us two roundtrip tickets to Paris. In terms of great spontaneous decisions, this was one of the best I’ve ever made.

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