I really like Gourmet and in fact, that magazine was the one I chose to do my magazine publishing practical on in college. I'd forgotten the "Four Ingredients" thing, but it makes sense that the less you have to work with, the more you'd better know what you're doing. I haven't read French Cooking in Ten Minutes, but I'd love to check it out, thanks!
I miss Gourmet. A lot. Not what they were when they died, but what they were before the redesign 3 years previously. They got rid of a lot of good stuff. Pick up the Pomaine book. The philosophy is great. Just read the first few pages. I own a lot of cookbooks. Lots of them are weird. Few of them I reference. But that "what is it good for? I don't know. But it's bound to be good for something." aspect is just perfect.