Cold Weather Food

[rachelmanija]

Yeah, yeah, I realize that 50 F and rainy is not "cold weather" for much of the world. Guys, I have only ever lived in Maharashtra and California, and mostly in hot parts of both! I am thin-blooded!

Currently in oven: chopped baking potatoes, red potatoes, sweet potatoes, and garlic. (What I had minus onions; I'm extremely sensitive to onion fumes and couldn't face them when I can't open a window.)

Awaiting oven: Chicken parts rubbed with brown sugar, cumin, salt, and pepper.

In refrigerator marinating: more chicken parts soaking in soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, brown sugar, and chopped garlic.

Contemplating: cake. Though that would require leaving house to buy milk.

Tell me of your favorite cold weather food, either ones you make or ones you just eat. (Recipes are great if you actually make them yourself.)

Comments

[poisoninjest.livejournal.com]

I love this. Probably gonna make it tonight, in fact. The cumin and cornmeal make it the perfect thing to warm you up.

[sparkylibrarian.livejournal.com]

Curry! Coconut milk, chicken, onion, sweet potato, peanuts if
I have them, and Thai curry paste. Served over warm rice. Mmmmmm.

[veejane.livejournal.com]

I make lentil soup with sausage, and chicken soup with rice or barley or some other grain. Biscuits, pies, lasagna (I like the ritual of it), and when there's time, bread.

I used to roast chickens or chicken parts and put slices potatoes and onions in the bottom of the pan to cook in the hot juices. But I've become reactive to onions like you are, so severely that I can't cut them at all. I miss onions so! At Thanksgiving, my mother made onions in sherry sauce, and I ate way more than my fair share. (I also teared up while doing the crossword, because she'd been handling the raw onions and hadn't washed her hands. I don't think she believed it was that bad till she saw it.)

[woodburner.livejournal.com]

Chicken and dumpling stew! (As in ACTUAL DUMPLINGS, not those noodles which people for some reason call "dumplings". A dumpling is a ball of dough, not a farging noodle.) It must have cream and carrots in it and be cooked all day in a slow cooker. NOM.

I'd give a recipe but we don't... really have one. We just throw chicken and carrots and broth and cream in a pot with some spices, and throw in some gluten free biscuit dough when it's nearly done.

[tool-of-satan.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I can't think of anything I only eat when it's cold out except latkes, and that's because I only eat them around Hanukah. Although they are a traditional sort of cold-weather food, I suppose.

My latke recipe is just the one from the Junior's Restaurant cookbook, except that I skip blanching the potatoes since it seemed to have a very high cost/benefit ratio. Also they list laughably small quantities of butter and oil - I just start with large amounts and replenish as needed.

[yhlee.livejournal.com]

You're lucky! I haven't had lunch (although I had breakfast) and Joe is determined to clean out the fridge before we leave Saturday, which means tonight I am probably doomed to canned soup and cress. I want real food...

[jinian.livejournal.com]

Beef stew and split pea soup are both so easy and good that I don't have any really interesting recipes. The secrets are: brown some flour with the beef, and use lots of ham (turkey ham acceptable if anyone has a pork issue). I made a great shepherd's pie a couple of months ago that was totally standard except for using mashed sweet potatoes instead of regular.

[dancinghorse.livejournal.com]

If I'm feeling heavy-duty I do pot roast in the slow cooker with an onion and a green pepper and soy sauce, and eat it with potatoes and a like TOTALLY retro carrot-and-pineapple salad. Old Maine-winter comfort food there. Snow to the eaves and temps below zero.

Or I'll bake a pot of Boston baked beans. With cole slaw and maybe some kielbasa.

Out here in the warmer zones, I like a nice chipotle chicken stew, or penne pasta with sweet Italian sausage, fresh tomatoes, fresh basil, and shredded Romano (I got the makings for that today--om nom nom nom).

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

Oatmeal cookies with a ton of walnuts . . .

yum, I think I will make those tomorrow.

[gaudior.livejournal.com]

There's this Tibetan dish called thanthuk which I only just met this year, but adore-- it's a hot rich soup with noodles, tofu, carrots, and snap peas, and it's wonderful. I must find a recipe.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Stew!

Get yourself some stew meat - either the pre-cut stuff if you're lazy, or some chuck roast or something like that if you want to cut it up yourself. I have no amounts because it's different every time I do it. I tend to put more meat in, to make it a hearty stew instead of a vegetable soup with meat, but my mom likes it the opposite.

Heat some oil in the bottom of a stewpot. Toss the meat in, brown on all sides. If you're more organized than I am, dredge the meat in flour first. (If you wish to get fancy, when you start, brown onions first, throw in some garlic, then brown the meat in that.)

Fill the pot (with meat) with water (well, how much you fill it depends on how much meat you have...do it 'til it feels right, You can always add more or boil it off later). If you're feeling wacky, use beef stock or thorw in some beef bouillon cubes (watch the salt, though...easy to overdo it). Bring to a simmer, simmer about 1.5 hours, until the meat is starting to soften a bit.

In the meantime, cut up any vegetables you want to put in. Carrots, onions and potatoes are the classic ones, but if you've got other vegetables that you want to include, go for it. Corn, peas, and mushrooms I've all done with success. My mom has put in okra before (though she denies it), which I hated, but I hate okra. But just about any veg you like will work (turnips, green peppers, etc.).

Once you've done the 1.5 hours of simmer on the meat, put in the toughest vegetables first - root vegetables, onions, etc. Keep simmering. Once those vegetables start to soften, you can put in the less tough ones; mushrooms, frozen peas, frozen corn, fresh peas and corn, etc.

If you feel like it, throw a couple of bay leaves in with the tough vegetables.

If you're my mother, you get annoyed that the stew isn't brown and put Worcestershire sauce in. If you're me, you get angry at her for ruining your perfectly good stew.

When the vegetables are just about done - cook to your own liking on the mushiness factor - see if the thickness of the stew is to your liking. If you haven't cooked the potatoes so much that they're starting to disintegrate and thicken the stew themselves, and if you failed to dredge the meat in flour when you simmered it, then get some of the stew liquid in a measuring cup, whisk in some flour until it's all dissolved, then pour it back into the stew and stir.

If the stew is too liquid, turn it to a boil and boil some off. If at any point it looks like there's not enough liquid, put some more in.

It's a very forgiving dish. :)

[raucousraven.livejournal.com]

Tom Kha Kai: chicken stock, coconut milk, and lemongrass are required, though. (I just happen to have some of each in the house -- HUZZAH.) Thai chiles and lime zest are recommended as well. Boil with mushrooms and tofu/shrimp and serve!

That potato recipe looks fantastic. Mm, cold-weather food!

[raucousraven.livejournal.com]

Oops, forgot: some fresh ginger is also recommended for this recipe, but the most important part is the lemongrass. It won't taste right without that. Salt can replace the fish sauce, too, although the resulting soup won't be quite as rich.

[cicer.livejournal.com]

It is freezing today. Arg. I don't think we southern Californians are used to this weather! Coldness! Wind! Water coming from the sky! Is the world ending?! What is happening here!

My favorite winter foods are mostly soups. I particularly like lentil soup, navy bean soup, and cream of corn soup. All are made by my dad, so I can't offer recipes. But mmm, so good. Also, hot chocolate! And coffee, and tea! And warm pastries just out of the oven! *foodgasm*

[shati.livejournal.com]

My favorite of all is mulled apple cider -- I usually use cinnamon sticks, allspice berries, cardamom, nutmeg, and cloves. And a little orange juice if I'm in the mood, but no alcohol. (Although I think I've accidentally fermented cider before.) Unlike most hot drinks, it doesn't make me thirsty, so I guzzle it down when I'm cold.

Other than that, hot carbs. But hot carbs are also my favorite hot weather food.

[chomiji]

Mmmm, Pot Roast!

[lady-ganesh.livejournal.com]

I make one variety or another of this chili a lot. Of course it's good in summer too 'cause then you have chili dogs later. you wimp

[fourthage.livejournal.com]

I am so easy. I make a normal meat and cheese sandwich and just pop it in the toaster over for melty goodness.

[rurounitriv.livejournal.com]

Mine is meatball soup - recipe (such as it is) found here. (http://rurounitriv.livejournal.com/182641.html) I tend to keep a bag of those little pre-made meatballs and broth (canned or homemade) in the house on a regular basis anyway, so that helps.

[coraa.livejournal.com]

Spaghetti bake. This is super, super simple, and also inexpensive -- cook enough spaghetti such that you wind up with about 2 cups cooked. Mix with a seasoned tomato sauce -- bottled spaghetti sauce is fine, or doctor up the plain stuff with a smidge of garlic and a touch of basil or oregano or both. (You can also doctor up a can of plain diced or crushed tomatoes if you don't have sauce.) Pour the sauce-noodle mixture into a pan. (An 8x8 inch pan is about right, but I've also used a loaf pan, and also even more oddly-shaped vessels. Just so it's oven safe.) Top with mozzarella (or any other cheese you like) and bake at 350F until the cheese is bubbly and beginning to brown, somewhere between 30 and 45 minutes. Let cool about 10 minutes, until it's closer to sliceable than scoopable, and serve.

I also like stew, which I make by browning chunks of beef or lamb on all sides, deglazing the pan with a cup of red wine, adding chunks of onion, potato and carrot, topping up with broth or water, and baking for 2-4 hours at 350F. (It might need more water added intermittently.)

I also love Tom Yum soup, served piping hot and as spicy as it can be and still be comfortable. Oh, and my mother's cauliflower curry, for which I do not have the recipe. And schnitzel with spaetzle....

And the legume soups -- split pea, black bean, white bean, lentil -- which I make without a recipe, starting with bacon and onions in a pot until the bacon has rendered and the onions are golden, adding garlic and a diced carrot (and, if I feel like it, maybe a diced bell pepper, or a can of crushed tomatoes, or a splash of white wine, or a diced potato, or...) and water and then the legumes, and cooking until they fall apart.

And parsnips and carrots tossed with sesame oil and coarse salt and baked at 350F until fork-tender, dressed with a mixture of lemon juice and honey.

And acorn squash split in half with the seeds scooped out, and butter and brown sugar put in the cavity, and then baked for an hour at 350F, and eaten like dessert.

Oh, and butternut squash soup (curried or not), with the seeds reserved, and toasted with oil and salt, and floated on top like croutons.

Mmm.

[lizw.livejournal.com]

Shepherd's pie! I make it with Quorn mince, since I'm vegetarian.

[oracne.livejournal.com]

Grits. I don't think you actually need a recipe for those.

[mount-oregano.livejournal.com]

What they said: soup!

[movingfinger.livejournal.com]

Chicken 'n' dumplings. There are no substitutes. The chicken must be boned. There must be vegetables, also. This is soft, warm, nourishing, comforting food.

I have advanced to putting parsley in the dumplings these days.

[cofax7.livejournal.com]

I made a dead-easy beef stew with mushrooms on Sunday.

1. Pour boiling water over some dried mushrooms & let soak.
2. Put stew beef (or chuck in one-inch cubes) into a pot with carrots, celery, onion, fresh rosemary & bay leaf, add water, simmer for 1.5 hours or so.
3. Add the water from the mushrooms and some barley, and some water. Simmer until the barley is cooked. (I was out of barley so I used brown rice, worked fine.)
4. Add the chopped dried mushrooms and a bunch of chopped fresh mushrooms. Cook for another 20 minutes or so.

Salt & pepper to taste. Goes well with crusty bread, and freezes well.

[vom-marlowe.livejournal.com]

Porcupine meatballs and baked apples. Nummy! Both are super-easy and tasty and cheap and filling and pretty healthy. I'll provide recipes if they sound good.

Also, have you tried frozen onions? If it's the chopping that's the trouble (I run into this when my allergies are bad), it's great.

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's a good idea.

What's your baked apple recipe?

[vom-marlowe.livejournal.com]

It's super simple. Take your apple and cut around the stem in the top, angled in (if that makes sense). Cut down as far as your knife goes, but not all the way through the bottom of the apple. What you want is to remove a section of apple, like a little plug or cork size.

Do this to two apples per person.

In a small cup, mix a couple of tablespoons of loose brown sugar and a small spoonful of cinnamon. (If you like cinnamon.) Put the apples in a small glass pan with a little water, just enough to cover the bottom (you don't want it to dry out). Pull out the wee apple corks and spoon in a spoonful of sugar mix getting it deep into the apple. Put the cork back in. Repeat.

Put pan in 350 oven for about 45 minutes, until they smell lovely and the juices have come out and turned sugary and wonderful. Serve hot plain, with a little cream (my preference), or with vanilla ice cream.