Gourmet Gripe
I subscribed to Gourmet about 6 months ago and have become a bit disillusioned with it after trying a few recipes that have come out pretty bland. I made fresh cod cakes from the Gourmet Everyday column last night and was disappointed. I think it may be my fault, though. My parents followed the Pritikin diet when I was a child, which was low-sodium among other things, so I'm very stingy with the salt (out of habit, not some attempt to be healthy). I also tend to cook things from the Everyday column since the recipes are less ambitious; I wonder if that has influenced my experience for ill.
Some of my favorite recipes from Epicurious, I just realized, are from Gourmet (Bulgur "Risotto" with Spinach and Bacon, Chocolate-Dipped Coconut Macaroons), and I do have one keeper from my subscription (Cincinnati-Style Chili), so maybe I'm writing it off too soon. Perhaps I've just made some bad recipe choices. I'm going to eat the leftover cod cakes on a roll with some lettuce and mango chutney, which I bet will salvage them.
That crumble topping looks awesome! What's the recipe for that part?
That was my favorite part of the pie, too. It came from this cookbook I've been thinking about throwing out (Basic Baking by Lora Brody), but now I think I have to keep it (I made a pineapple upside down cake from it that was also pretty awesome).
Walnut Crumble Topping
1/2 cup walnut pieces
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup oats
6 tablespoons butter, chilled and cut in small pieces
Mix the first three ingredients together, then cut in the butter with a pastry blender (I actually used my fingers to mush the butter into the dry ingredients). Then you just spread the topping over the pie filling before you bake it.