Winter food
Feb. 1st, 2010 04:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
decemberthirtyI did a fair amount of cooking while in Philadelphia last weekend, and at one point I found myself thinking about how much I love cooking in the winter. Thick, steamy soups, sweet and starchy root vegetables, everything hot and hearty... With that moment as inspiration, I thought I might gather and post a few of my most favorite things to cook in the winter.
First, a lovely vegetable tart that I came up with last year. This is what I was making when I went into my "I love winter cooking" reverie. This recipe is very flexible. You can use any kind of crust you like (including a frozen, store-bought pie crust, if you want to), and pretty much any mix of vegetables. There's no shortage of butter in my version, but if you want to make it vegan (or a little lighter!) you could certainly replace it with other fats.
This is my default tart crust recipe:
1 1/3 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
(if you want a sweet crust, add 1/4 cup sugar with the dry ingredients)
1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut up
1 egg yolk, beaten with 4 tbs cold water.
Stir together dry ingredients, cut in butter, stir in egg yolk and water. Form into a ball and refrigerate. Roll out and press into a tart pan. Blind bake for 10 or 15 minutes.
While the tart shell is blind baking, peel and chop an assortment of winter root vegetable. Last weekend I used rutabaga, carrot, parsnip, and purple potatoes, but you really can use whatever you want. Boil your veg in salted water until mashable. While the vegetables are boiling, slice 3 or 4 leeks and start sauteing them gently in butter. You want them to turn out nice and silky, not brown and crisped, so use low heat and maybe put a lid over them. When the vegetables are ready, mash them with a bit of butter. If they seem dry, add broth or milk or liquid of your choice (maybe white wine would be nice?). Spread your mashed veg in the tart shell, put the nice soft leeks over the top, and, if you want, grate some cheese on top too. Pop it back in the oven for 25 minutes or thereabouts.
I don't eat meat very often, but when I do, one of my favorite things to do is to roast a whole chicken. I like to do this because, first of all, it's delicious, and secondly because I feel like this is a less wasteful way to eat meat. I can stretch it forever, and once I've finally used up all the meat, I can make stock from the bones and giblets. Plus, it's so easy. For a long time I was intimidated of roasting a whole chicken, but now I can do it with only about 20 minutes of prep.
1 chicken, approx. 5 lbs.
1 lemon
1 head garlic
1 bunch thyme
Mixed winter vegetables
This recipe also starts with a mix of winter vegetable, and again you can use just about anything: onion, leeks, carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes, celery root, rutabaga, fennel... Peel and chop whatever veg you like, and put them in the bottom of a roasting pan. Toss with olive oil, salt and pepper, and a couple sprigs of thyme. Rinse your chicken inside and out, pat dry, and salt and pepper the cavity. Quarter the lemon and cut the head of garlic in half crosswise. Stuff the lemon quarters, the garlic, and the thyme into the chicken. Tuck the wing tips under and tie the drumsticks together (it looks prettier this way, but it's not actually necessary), then put the chick on top of the vegetables. Rub the skin with a bit of butter or olive oil, salt and pepper it, then roast at 425 for about an hour and half. If the veggies look a little pale when the chicken is done, you can pop them back in the oven while the chicken rests.
This soup is thick and very satisfying. It's a lovely showcase for all of these favorite root vegetables of mine, and is certainly hearty enough to be a meal on its own, or with some good bread. This recipe makes a huge batch, so unless you're feeding a crowd you will have lots of leftovers.
2-3 leeks, sliced
2 stalk celery, sliced
a couple garlic cloves, minced
2 cups chopped, peeled turnips
2 cups chopped, peeled rutabaga
2 cups chopped, peeled potato
2 cups chopped, peeled carrot
28 oz can diced tomatoes
a lot of stock or broth (if you roasted a chicken and made stock, you could use it here... or use whatever broth you want)
chopped fresh parsley or other herbs of your choice
Heat olive oil in a large pot; add leek, celery, and garlic. When these vegetables begin to soften, add all the chopped veggies and toss. Add canned tomatoes with juice and enough broth so it's good and liquidy. Just eyeball it. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer (covered) for about an hour. If you'd like, you can puree some of it and then stir it back in, or you can just leave it brothy. Stir in the parsley just before serving.
I love baking, and I am especially fond of savory baking. This onion galette is very pretty (and delicious!), but it's not the most nutritionally complete meal. The last time I made it, I served it with roasted Brussels sprouts and a green salad, just to make up some of the nutrition that's lacking in the main course.
enough pie crust for a single-crust pie (I cannot give you my pie crust recipe because it's in Philly and I am in State College. But use whatever pie crust you want. You could even use a frozen one if you thawed it out first, though I do think the flavor of the crust is important enough here that I can't recommend that.)
3 medium red onions
a splash of balsamic vinegar
a large handful of grated Gruyere (or similar cheese)
Heat some olive oil in a pan. Slice the onions and add them to the pan. Sprinkle with salt, stir, and cook on medium heat until onions start to soften. Then turn the heat way down and keep cooking for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add balsamic, toss, and cook for another 10 minutes. Roll out your pie crust into a rough circle (or, if you are like me and not good at rolling precisely, roll out your crust into whatever crazy-looking shape you can make, then trim around the edge of a big plate to make a circle.) Put almost all of the cheese in the middle of the tart, leaving about 1-2 inches of crust all the way around. Put the onions on top of the cheese, then fold up the crust all the way around, leaving an open space in the middle so the onion show through. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top of the tart. Bake at 375 for about half an hour.
I know I just said that I don't usually eat meat, yet here I am posting another meat recipe. But what could be more perfect for winter than sausage? I also love this soup for the way the cabbage turns so beautifully silky after it's been simmered.
About four links of fully-cooked chicken sausage (I like chicken-apple sausage in this recipe)
about half a small head of cabbage, thinly sliced
2-3 leeks, sliced
2-3 carrots, chopped
about 1 1/2 cups chopped rutabaga
2 tbs tomato paste
8 or so cups of stock or broth
chopped fresh rosemary and parsley
Heat a bit of olive oil in your soup pot, then add chopped sausage. Let the sausage brown a bit, then toss in the cabbage for a few minutes. Put the sausage and cabbage in a bowl, heat a bit more olive oil, then add leeks, carrots, and rutabaga to the pot. Saute until they start to get soft, then add tomato paste and rosemary. Add the broth, and return the sausage and cabbage to the pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes or an hour. Stir in the parsley just before serving.
What is dinner without dessert? My favorite thing to bake in the winter is spice cake: moist, rich, not too sweet, and perfect when it's right out of the oven. This particular spice cake involves tea, my other winter favorite, so I'm basically guaranteed to like it.
1/2 cup boiling water
6 chai tea bags
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/3 cup cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk (or ordinary milk with a little lemon juice added)
2 egg whites
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 cup powdered sugar
Steep the tea bags in the boiling water for about 5 minutes. Let cool.
Beat cream cheese and butter until blended. Beat in 1/4 granulated sugar and all the brown sugar. Beat in tea and vegetable oil.
Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Alternately add dry ingredients and buttermilk to the sugar mixture, beating after each addition.
Clean your beaters, then beat egg whites in a separate bowl until foamy. Add cream of tartar and beat to soft peaks. Add 1/4 sugar and beat to stiff peaks. Stir 1/3 of egg whites into your batter, then gently fold in the rest. Pour into a 9" square cake pan, and bake at 350 until done. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving.
That turned out to be more recipes than I anticipated--I just kept thinking of more things to add! But the best thing about all of these recipes is that they are easy and most of them are quite inexpensive. Perhaps I will return to this idea and post my favorite things to cook in other seasons too.
What are your favorite things to cook in winter?
First, a lovely vegetable tart that I came up with last year. This is what I was making when I went into my "I love winter cooking" reverie. This recipe is very flexible. You can use any kind of crust you like (including a frozen, store-bought pie crust, if you want to), and pretty much any mix of vegetables. There's no shortage of butter in my version, but if you want to make it vegan (or a little lighter!) you could certainly replace it with other fats.
This is my default tart crust recipe:
1 1/3 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
(if you want a sweet crust, add 1/4 cup sugar with the dry ingredients)
1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut up
1 egg yolk, beaten with 4 tbs cold water.
Stir together dry ingredients, cut in butter, stir in egg yolk and water. Form into a ball and refrigerate. Roll out and press into a tart pan. Blind bake for 10 or 15 minutes.
While the tart shell is blind baking, peel and chop an assortment of winter root vegetable. Last weekend I used rutabaga, carrot, parsnip, and purple potatoes, but you really can use whatever you want. Boil your veg in salted water until mashable. While the vegetables are boiling, slice 3 or 4 leeks and start sauteing them gently in butter. You want them to turn out nice and silky, not brown and crisped, so use low heat and maybe put a lid over them. When the vegetables are ready, mash them with a bit of butter. If they seem dry, add broth or milk or liquid of your choice (maybe white wine would be nice?). Spread your mashed veg in the tart shell, put the nice soft leeks over the top, and, if you want, grate some cheese on top too. Pop it back in the oven for 25 minutes or thereabouts.
I don't eat meat very often, but when I do, one of my favorite things to do is to roast a whole chicken. I like to do this because, first of all, it's delicious, and secondly because I feel like this is a less wasteful way to eat meat. I can stretch it forever, and once I've finally used up all the meat, I can make stock from the bones and giblets. Plus, it's so easy. For a long time I was intimidated of roasting a whole chicken, but now I can do it with only about 20 minutes of prep.
1 chicken, approx. 5 lbs.
1 lemon
1 head garlic
1 bunch thyme
Mixed winter vegetables
This recipe also starts with a mix of winter vegetable, and again you can use just about anything: onion, leeks, carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes, celery root, rutabaga, fennel... Peel and chop whatever veg you like, and put them in the bottom of a roasting pan. Toss with olive oil, salt and pepper, and a couple sprigs of thyme. Rinse your chicken inside and out, pat dry, and salt and pepper the cavity. Quarter the lemon and cut the head of garlic in half crosswise. Stuff the lemon quarters, the garlic, and the thyme into the chicken. Tuck the wing tips under and tie the drumsticks together (it looks prettier this way, but it's not actually necessary), then put the chick on top of the vegetables. Rub the skin with a bit of butter or olive oil, salt and pepper it, then roast at 425 for about an hour and half. If the veggies look a little pale when the chicken is done, you can pop them back in the oven while the chicken rests.
This soup is thick and very satisfying. It's a lovely showcase for all of these favorite root vegetables of mine, and is certainly hearty enough to be a meal on its own, or with some good bread. This recipe makes a huge batch, so unless you're feeding a crowd you will have lots of leftovers.
2-3 leeks, sliced
2 stalk celery, sliced
a couple garlic cloves, minced
2 cups chopped, peeled turnips
2 cups chopped, peeled rutabaga
2 cups chopped, peeled potato
2 cups chopped, peeled carrot
28 oz can diced tomatoes
a lot of stock or broth (if you roasted a chicken and made stock, you could use it here... or use whatever broth you want)
chopped fresh parsley or other herbs of your choice
Heat olive oil in a large pot; add leek, celery, and garlic. When these vegetables begin to soften, add all the chopped veggies and toss. Add canned tomatoes with juice and enough broth so it's good and liquidy. Just eyeball it. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer (covered) for about an hour. If you'd like, you can puree some of it and then stir it back in, or you can just leave it brothy. Stir in the parsley just before serving.
I love baking, and I am especially fond of savory baking. This onion galette is very pretty (and delicious!), but it's not the most nutritionally complete meal. The last time I made it, I served it with roasted Brussels sprouts and a green salad, just to make up some of the nutrition that's lacking in the main course.
enough pie crust for a single-crust pie (I cannot give you my pie crust recipe because it's in Philly and I am in State College. But use whatever pie crust you want. You could even use a frozen one if you thawed it out first, though I do think the flavor of the crust is important enough here that I can't recommend that.)
3 medium red onions
a splash of balsamic vinegar
a large handful of grated Gruyere (or similar cheese)
Heat some olive oil in a pan. Slice the onions and add them to the pan. Sprinkle with salt, stir, and cook on medium heat until onions start to soften. Then turn the heat way down and keep cooking for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add balsamic, toss, and cook for another 10 minutes. Roll out your pie crust into a rough circle (or, if you are like me and not good at rolling precisely, roll out your crust into whatever crazy-looking shape you can make, then trim around the edge of a big plate to make a circle.) Put almost all of the cheese in the middle of the tart, leaving about 1-2 inches of crust all the way around. Put the onions on top of the cheese, then fold up the crust all the way around, leaving an open space in the middle so the onion show through. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top of the tart. Bake at 375 for about half an hour.
I know I just said that I don't usually eat meat, yet here I am posting another meat recipe. But what could be more perfect for winter than sausage? I also love this soup for the way the cabbage turns so beautifully silky after it's been simmered.
About four links of fully-cooked chicken sausage (I like chicken-apple sausage in this recipe)
about half a small head of cabbage, thinly sliced
2-3 leeks, sliced
2-3 carrots, chopped
about 1 1/2 cups chopped rutabaga
2 tbs tomato paste
8 or so cups of stock or broth
chopped fresh rosemary and parsley
Heat a bit of olive oil in your soup pot, then add chopped sausage. Let the sausage brown a bit, then toss in the cabbage for a few minutes. Put the sausage and cabbage in a bowl, heat a bit more olive oil, then add leeks, carrots, and rutabaga to the pot. Saute until they start to get soft, then add tomato paste and rosemary. Add the broth, and return the sausage and cabbage to the pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes or an hour. Stir in the parsley just before serving.
What is dinner without dessert? My favorite thing to bake in the winter is spice cake: moist, rich, not too sweet, and perfect when it's right out of the oven. This particular spice cake involves tea, my other winter favorite, so I'm basically guaranteed to like it.
1/2 cup boiling water
6 chai tea bags
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/3 cup cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk (or ordinary milk with a little lemon juice added)
2 egg whites
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 cup powdered sugar
Steep the tea bags in the boiling water for about 5 minutes. Let cool.
Beat cream cheese and butter until blended. Beat in 1/4 granulated sugar and all the brown sugar. Beat in tea and vegetable oil.
Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Alternately add dry ingredients and buttermilk to the sugar mixture, beating after each addition.
Clean your beaters, then beat egg whites in a separate bowl until foamy. Add cream of tartar and beat to soft peaks. Add 1/4 sugar and beat to stiff peaks. Stir 1/3 of egg whites into your batter, then gently fold in the rest. Pour into a 9" square cake pan, and bake at 350 until done. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving.
That turned out to be more recipes than I anticipated--I just kept thinking of more things to add! But the best thing about all of these recipes is that they are easy and most of them are quite inexpensive. Perhaps I will return to this idea and post my favorite things to cook in other seasons too.
What are your favorite things to cook in winter?
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Date: 2010-02-02 01:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-02-02 03:18 am (UTC)