Favourite Winter Recipes

[simonr]

I know we have the odd foodie on here.

Now the nights are drawing in and winters closer (apart from for the likes of Dzone and F-Kharma that enjoy the Dubai sunshine) what sort of food do you like to eat and are there any recipes to share ?

One of my favs is:

Moroccan Lamb Tagine:



Serves 4-6

I prefer mutton to lamb tagine as the meat stands up better to the spices. The heady fragrance is from Ras el-hanout, a Moroccan spice blend. If you can’t find it, make your own by mixing a teaspoon each of ground cinnamon, ground cardamom, ground cumin, mild chilli powder and garam masala with a pinch of saffron.

2 tbsp plain flour
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
600-800g Lamb (neck or shoulder), cut into smaller chunks
4 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, finely sliced
2 crushed garlic cloves
1 tbsp grated fresh root ginger
11/2 tbsp Ras el-hanout
1 tbsp tomato purée
500-600ml lamb stock
100g dried apricots, chopped
1 preserved lemon, chopped, or a few
squeezes of lemon juice
1 tsp clear honey
Parsley
Couscous, for serving

Method

1 Season the flour with salt and pepper and coat the lamb pieces in the mixture. Heat half the oil in a large heavy-bottomed pan or a cast-iron casserole and cook the meat until browned all over.

2 Add the onion and a little more oil, if necessary, and cook for 5 minutes until it starts to soften. Add the garlic, ginger, spice blend and purée and fry for a few minutes until fragrant and the mutton is coated in the mixture.

3 Pour in enough stock to cover and bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cover the pan with a lid and gently cook, stirring occasionally, for 1.5 hours.

4 Remove the lid and stir in the apricots, preserved lemon and honey. Simmer uncovered for another 30-40 minutes, stirring frequently, until the Lamb is tender.

Take off the heat and add chopped parsley - let it cool a little then taste and adjust the seasoning adding more honey if needed.

Serve with couscous or rice (some steamed greens are nice too if you want to hit your 5 a day).

This tastes even better on day 2 when the flavours develop chilled overnight in the fridge.

Oh and a nice glass of red goes nicely with this - an Italian Amarone if you're flush with cash (hey this is cheaper than eating out !)

[clintlove]

Re: Favourite Winter Recipes

egg nog and whiskey with a christmas tree shaped Reese's Peanut Butter Cup

[toasty]

Re: Favourite Winter Recipes

Two things I love this time of year:

-Hot Mulled Apple Cider: simmer mulling spices in cider for 20-30 minutes or so. Tastes great, and makes your house smell incredible.

-Shepherd's Pie: in a cast iron skillet, start cooking up some onion and carrots in butter. Once that's going, brown a couple of pounds of bison in the same skillet. When you're about 5 minutes out from being fully browned, add some corn and peas to the mixture. Once the bison is fully cooked, add salt, pepper, dried herbs of your choice and worcesterchire sauce to taste, and follow that up with enough beef broth to keep it moist while it simmers for about 10 minutes. Reseason/sauce if necessary.

While that's happening, prepare mashed potatoes per your favorite recipe.

Cover the meat and veggie mixture with the mashed potatoes (don't smooth it out, let it stay rough). Cook at 400 for about 30 minutes, and then finish it off under the broiler for a couple of minutes (watch it closely!) to brown the peaks of the mashed potatoes.

Obviously, this is a foundational recipe, and it can be tweaked to fit your taste, but there is nothing more satisfying on a cold winter's day than shepherd's pie.

Oh, did I mention red wine? Also a big fan of red wine this time of year. Actually, I like red wine pretty much any time of year, but even more so now.

[simonr]

Re: Favourite Winter Recipes

^^ sounds good Toasty.

Bison meat sounds interesting - is it very strong and gamey (like venison) ?

[toasty]

Re: Favourite Winter Recipes

No, not gamey at all, surprisingly. It tastes very similar to ground beef -- in fact, most recipes call for ground beef or lamb, I think -- but there's a subtle different that I really like with the bison. It also happens to be quite a bit healthier than beef, but I prefer bison regardless.

[demonAfro]

Re: Favourite Winter Recipes

Just like a hearty soup and crusty bread.

These make plenty quick and easy

Spicy tomato and lentil soup

Categories: Soups
Yields: 6 bowls

2 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic; minced
2 red chilli; chopped
5 carrots; finely diced
2 tins chopped tomato
1 tsp cumin
1 1/2 L vegetable stock
200 g red lentils

1. Gently cook the garlic and chilli in the oil until soft.
2. Add the carrots and cook until starting to soften.
3. Add all the other ingredients and simmer for as long as possible (~1 hour)

Sweet potato and coconut soup

Categories: Soups
Yields: 6 bowls

1 tbsp groundnut oil
1 clove garlic; crushed
1/2 inch ginger; peeled
675 g sweet potato; diced
1 tbsp lemongrass; chopped
1 pt vegetable stock
1 pt coconut cream
2 limes; zest and juice

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan and gently fry the onion, garlic 
and ginger for about 5 minutes until tender. Add the sweet potatoes 
and lemongrass and cook for a further 3 minutes.
2. Add the stock and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, 
covered, for 20 minutes until the vegetables are tender. 
3. Cool the soup slightly, then liquidise with half of the coconut cream 
and process until smooth. 
4. Return the soup to the saucepan, add the remaining coconut cream. 
Season with salt and pepper. Heat through without allowing the soup 
to boil, and add the lime juice. 
5. Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish with the lime zest.

[lilsensa]

Re: Favourite Winter Recipes

-Shepherd's Pie: in a cast iron skillet, start cooking up some onion and carrots in butter. Once that's going, brown a couple of pounds of bison in the same skillet. When you're about 5 minutes out from being fully browned, add some corn and peas to the mixture. Once the bison is fully cooked, add salt, pepper, dried herbs of your choice and worcesterchire sauce to taste, and follow that up with enough beef broth to keep it moist while it simmers for about 10 minutes. Reseason/sauce if necessary.

Shepherds Pie is the bomb. My mom used to make this.

[JonQPublik]

Re: Favourite Winter Recipes

I make a kick ass Shepherd's Pie, but I'm not sharing the recipe!

I always tend to cook more this time of year– here's some of the things I love to make:

Pork Stew (using white wine and vegetable stock as a base, fresh rosemary as the signature spice)
Squash Bisque
Stuffed Shells
Chicken and Dumplings
Bread Pudding (again, secret)


Cripes, my brain is freezing! I know there's others...

[diegoff]

Re: Favourite Winter Recipes

^ all of those, but with some (a lot) malbec wine

[Jenks]

Re: Favourite Winter Recipes

I'm a braising and roasting machine in the wintertime. My favorite is roasting chicken. So simple, so fucking delicious.

Get a free range bird, no hormones (no tyson chicken or any of that supermarket shit- there's a huge difference.)

i like @ 4lb birds.

Rinse the bird inside and out and pat dry inside and out and let it sit and dry a bit. Dryness is very important in roast chicken, which is why you won't see any butter or oil or any crap shoved in the cavity in my roasted chicken. Putting stuff in the cavity, like a lemon, adds moisture, which = soggy skin. Dry chicken + high heat = crispy skin awesomeness.

Once your bird is dry, start making it fucking RAIN with kosher salt all over all parts of your bird. 3 tbsp or so, dunno, never measured it. Crack some fresh pepper all over the bird as well, giving the whole thing a good patting down, a good smacking all over. (you know you love it)

Now truss your bird. If you don't know how to do this, you should, google/youtube it.

Preheat oven to 450.
Place trussed, salted and peppered bird tits up in a roasting pan/broiling pan (basically anything that keeps the bird from sitting in it's own juices.)
Roast at 450 for 50 mins without checking the bird- don't open the door, don't baste the bird, don't do fucking ANYTHING! Let it roast!
At 50 mins, insert a meat thermometer into the thigh a couple of inches without touching the bone, (every serious cook should have a nice quality instant read meat thermometer, it's science, don't try to be the nonthermometer hero.) You're looking for 165ish and not a cunt hair over 170. Once you've got 165ish, remove it from the roasting pan and let it sit for 10 mins on a carving board. The bird will eventually get to 175 sitting on your countertop cooking from the inside out.

While the bird is resting- guess what: the beautiful little bird that it is has left you a little present, a roasting pan full of win and awesome- ie the juices.

Finely dice a shallot, some garlic, some thyme, whatever and add a cup or so of good white wine (important, don't use bottom feeder wine, drink and cook with the same bottle) and bring to a boil. reduce reduce reduce, until you've got a nice thick consistency that's still able to pour <this is for dipping, the bird, or whatever you've made to go with this bird (garlic mashed potatos anyone?) However, i don't pour this reduction on my bird, because that makes the skin soggy which is exactly the opposite of what this high heat roasting technique is all about. Dip, don't pour.

Carve your bird. Again, learn how to do it properly, google/youtube. Nothing says fail like perfectly roasting a free range bird only to hack it up like O.J. did Nicole.

Open a bottle of Willamatte Valley Pinot Noir. Drink and start snarfing down that delicious succulent roasted bird. Enjoy.

WAIT!! Don't throw away that carcass you dumbass!!!...make a stock or a soup out of it. NO WASTE!

I <3 winter cooking. Take a grill away from a man and put him in the kitchen and we'll see if he's a real cook.

[simonr]

Re: Favourite Winter Recipes

Place trussed, salted and peppered bird tits up in a roasting pan/broiling pan

assume we're still talking about cooking free-range chickens !

Great cooking tips Jenks ... like a decent bottle of wine it's worth spending a few more £ or $ on decent free-range and using the full carcass to make stock (which you can freeze and use later in risottos).

Tonight I'm doing roasted pork chops w. cider/onions/apples/mushrooms and throwing in some dijon mustard and creme fraiche at the end to make a nice sauce.

[danielRR]

Re: Favourite Winter Recipes

My family is part Cornish, so we often break out the Pasty recipe in Winter. Just had one last night for dinner. All inclusive man-meal. Gotta love it.

[Nusystem]

Re: Favourite Winter Recipes

Is that your recipe SRoss, it looks yummy???

[DreamGirlie]

Re: Favourite Winter Recipes

Tonight I'm doing roasted pork chops w. cider/onions/apples/mushrooms and throwing in some dijon mustard and creme fraiche at the end to make a nice sauce.

This sounds yummy! I have pork chops for dinner tonight, care to share your recipe

[liquidsky]

Re: Favourite Winter Recipes

Cranberry-Apple French Toast Casserole

2 tablespoons butter
2 cups diced Granny Smith apple (about 2 apples)
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Dash of ground cloves
1/4 cup packed brown sugar, divided
1 pound dinner rolls, quartered
Cooking spray
1/2 cup sweetened dried cranberries
1 1/4 cups apple juice
1 1/4 cups 1% low-fat milk
3/4 cup whole-berry cranberry sauce
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
6 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted


Preheat oven to 250°.

Melt butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add apple, cinnamon, and cloves to pan; cook 10 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring frequently. Stir in 2 tablespoons brown sugar; cook 2 minutes or until sugar melts. Remove from heat.

Place quartered rolls on a jelly-roll pan; bake at 250° for 15 minutes. Arrange rolls in a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle cranberries evenly over rolls; top with apple mixture. Combine apple juice and the next 5 ingredients (through eggs) in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Pour egg mixture over roll mixture; sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons sugar. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 350°.

Uncover dish, and sprinkle with almonds. Bake at 350° for 55 minutes or until golden.

Yield: 12 servings

-------------------

Applesauce Spice Cake

2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for the pan
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
1 stick unsalted butter, plus more for the pan
1 cup granulated sugar
1 2/3 cups jarred chunky applesauce
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
Pinch ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 cup dark or golden raisins
2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
2 pints vanilla ice cream


Heat oven to 350° F. Butter and flour a 9-inch springform or round cake pan.

In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. In a large saucepan, over medium heat, melt the butter. Remove from heat and stir in the granulated sugar, applesauce, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, vanilla, and eggs. Add the flour mixture and stir just until combined. Stir in the raisins. Pour into the prepared pan. Bake the cake until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes.

Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. Using a knife, loosen the cake from pan. Invert it onto the rack. Turn it over again onto a serving plate. Sprinkle the cake with the confectioners' sugar, slice into wedges, and serve with the ice cream.

In Advance: Bake the cake and let it cool. Set aside at room temperature for up to 24 hours. Cover with foil and warm in a 250° F oven for 30 minutes.

To Freeze: Cool the cake in the pan. Cover the pan tightly with two layers of aluminum foil. Store for up to 3 months.

To Reheat: Refrigerate the cake overnight. Warm in a 250° oven for 30 minutes.


Yield: Makes 8 to 12 servings