Cold-weather eats

I'm eyeing my dried beans these days, and looking at the scrappier cuts of meat that stew well with them.

I've also been making soups like crazy lately.  Not the long-simmered, Laurel's Kitchen type, but more like an Asian soup:  a good clear broth, some bitter greens, some tofu, some scallions, and maybe some shrimp.  Or an autumn miso soup with red miso and mushrooms, or even a tom yum with rice stick or bean thread noodles and a splash of coconut milk to cloud it.

Stews, roasts, soups...anything warm and soothing! As well as rich, rich comfort food afterwards. Time to gain a few pounds to keep warm ;)

I managed to get a lot of leeks when they came in to the farmer's market in the fall, and made batches of leek and potato soup and froze them -- now is the time they get thawed out and brought to the table. Crumble some crispy bacon into the bowl and it is extra delicious.

 I don't really have a recipe but I can give you the general how to. 

 I saute some onion until it's nice and golden. 

  Roast the squash in the oven until it's fairly soft but not super mushy. Usually about 20-30 mins at 350. (though this depends on how thick it is). 

  Then I cut it up and throw it into the stock (veggie or chicken).  I usually use a couple of litres at a time.  Throw in the onions and let it simmer at least until the squash is totally cooked through.   Then I season it with a bit of salt, pepper and add some tumuric, curry powder and cinnimon.  It's probably a couple of tsp each though I usually just add until I like the taste.   

  Then I blend it with a hand blender so it's all smooth.  If I have it on hand I'll add a bit of sour cream or plain yogurt to make it extra creamy.  

Mme. Qa'bong made squash soup yesterday.  I'm not crazy about those smooth soups; they're rather bland, and I like to chew my food. 

I got into the kitchen first today and made channa dal, North-South Curried Eggplant and basmati rice.  I had lime pickles, hot coriander chutney and yogie on the side.

I used a recipe from the Saskatoon Indian Vegetarian cookbook for the channa dal.  This one online is purdy close.

I made a chickpea, courgette, rutabaga, carrot and potato couscous a couple of days ago.  I even used a couscousiere.

Has anyone tried the big breakfast at Mario's on Market St.? 10 eggs, 10 sausages, 10 rashers of bacon, 10 slices of toast, five black pudding slices, tomatoes, mushrooms and baked beans and hold the spam?

Yikes, Fidel. That breakfast would make a Scotsman blush.

I don't eat nearly enough couscous, but come winter when I start making hearty Moroccan dishes, it's a must. I need to start buying bigger bags of it, I think. Last night (and leftovers for lunch) I made a tomatoey chickpea and raisin dish with garlic, ginger, cumin, coriander, cayenne and cinnamon. I had some beets, potatoes and carrots lying around so I threw them in too. Not traditional, but very hearty. And the beets added some nice colour and sweetness.

I've got a bunch of frozen chicken bits in the fridge, lagatta. I think I need to make some stock this weekend. I've been using salmon stock lately, because that's what I had, but it doesn't quite have the same kick for this November chill.

Oh--and I made a delcious Oatmeal Stout a month ago or so that is ready to drink and has been warming my bones. Well, when whisky hasn't been doing the same job anyway.

I was proud of my kid today - when presented with the "mystery seed" at the grains display at Agribition, she immediately knew they were chick peas, aka garbanzo beans.  Most of her classmates hadn't a clue. 

Oh man I LOVE hummus.  I have about ten different recipes for hummus and pretty much always have one or two going in the fridge. Hummus, chopped spinach and roasted peppers grilled on sourdough rye...my latest gotta have.

I am lucky this year.  I am sooo not a soup person, I have never liked anything except tomato when I am sick but my partner makes the best soups so I am enjoying a cold, snowy winter with wonderful soups to warm me up.  My favourite he makes is corn soup but my second is his everything soup.  It always has different ingredients but is always oh so yummy.

We call our 16-year old "The hummous monster" because he loves it so much.  I make the regular chickpea-tahini-olive oil-garlic-lemon juice hommous, without any stylish ingredients.

I've been eating couscous leftovers for lunch all week, so am ready for something different.  If we can find unrotten Esrom cheese at Stupidstore (it's amazing how often they put spoiled Esom on their shelves), we'll have raclette tonight.  I find Esrom has more taste and better melting properties than Raclette cheese.  I've tried Oka for raclette; it was OK, but nothing special.

There's split-pea soup in our future this week as well.  I picked up a half-price Limberger at Stupidstore last week, so it should have lots of taste by the time I have it with crusty bread and pea soup.

I went out to the Vancouver Alpen Club, a sehr authentisch German restaurant. I had pork schnitzel with mushroom gravy, pan-fried potatoes, saurkraut and pilsner. I may have shared a sausage sampler appetizer too. It brought me much happiness.

Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muß man essen.

Oy! Roladen followed by Rolaids.

ETA: Recipe please, Michelle?

I'm sure I've posted it on babble before, but it's probably in the archives. :)  Anyhow, I don't have the exact amounts of anything, hope that's okay.  It's pretty simple.

Ingredients:

Beef in roladen cuts, which means long slices, very thinly cut - just ask your butcher.  Get maybe 8-16 of them, they freeze well.

Bacon strips (sorry! use turkey bacon if you can't do pork), cut in half cross-wise (to make them half-length)

Dijon mustard

Paprika

2 large onions

A few regular dill pickles (not too big), cut lengthwise in quarters (or if they're long, cut them in half, then in quarters).  Basically, pickle slivers.

Olive oil

A large package of white button mushrooms, sliced as you like (big or small, doesn't matter)

Salt and pepper

Preparing the Roladen:

Lay the piece of beef out flat.  Spread a thin layer of mustard on it, not quite to the edges.  Sprinkle some salt, pepper, and paprika.  Be very liberal with the paprika - that's what gives it the flavour.

Lay a half-slice of bacon length-wise in the centre of the roladen (so that it doesn't reach any of the edges - the idea is that it is inside the roladen roll).

Cut a few small wedges of onion from one of the pieces of onion, about the same size as the pickle slivers. Put one sliver of pickle and one sliver of onion at the end of the prepared roladen and roll it up around them so they are hidden in the centre.

Secure the rolled-up roladen with wooden toothpicks so it doesn't fall apart during cooking.  (And don't do what my mom did one time, getting mint toothpicks by accident. That did not turn out so well, as you might imagine!)

Prepare the others that way as well.

Cooking the Roladen:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Chop the rest of the onions roughly - if you like them fine, chop them fine, if you like big chunks, chop them big. Doesn't matter.  I tend to like them fine.  Put them aside.  The mushrooms should already be chopped and set aside too.

The best plan is to use a big roasting pan or oven container that you can use on the stovetop and then put into the oven.  If you don't have one, that's fine, just do the stovetop stuff in a large pan, and you can get the drippings later into whatever you use for the roasting pan for the oven.

My mom says that the best idea is to ensure that the number of roladen you make can fit into a nice snug layer (or two) in the roasting pan.  She usually can fit 8 per layer in hers - so she either does 8 or 16.  It will vary depending on the size of your pan and the size of your roladen beef slices.

Warm the pan on medium high heat, and fry up the rolled up roladen in the olive oil until they're browned nicely all around.  I don't know how much oil - I don't skimp because it adds to the flavour.

Keep the paprika, salt, and pepper handy while frying, and use them regularly, the paprika especially - I usually apply paprika regularly while frying up.

As they get done, take them out of the pan and put the next bunch in to fry until they're all browned and removed from the pan.

In the same pan, with the roladen removed, and with all those yummy drippings and leftover paprika and stuff, throw in the chopped mushrooms and onions and fry them up until the onions are soft and golden.

At this point, if you're not using the same pan for the oven, transfer the onions and mushrooms to the oven pan, getting as much of the scrapings from the pan as you can.  If you're using the same pan, leave the onions and mushrooms on the bottom, sprinkle a bit more paprika on them, then layer the fried roladen on them so that they fit nice and snug together, either in one layer or two.

Sprinkle some more paprika on the layer of roladen (or each layer if you do more than one layer).

Fill the roasting pan up with water so that it just barely covers the layer of roladen.  If you're not using the same pan for stovetop and oven, this is a good opportunity to get the rest of the drippings - put some water in the frying pan and scrape the drippings off, then use that as part of your filling-up water.

Put a lid on the roasting pan, and bake in the oven for two or three hours, until the roladen is very tender when you check.  It's a good idea to check after a couple of hours.

Once it's done, you'll have a ton of gravy fixings - you can make it as thin or thick as you like by the usual method - add a bit of cornstarch mixed with water to the drippings, and stir over heat until it thickens.

Serve with cooked red cabbage, and dumplings.  Or you could serve it with flat noodles or potatoes, and maybe a salad or something.

Thanks, Michelle!

Well, you were too late, Mr. Tea.  ;)

I went and made chili already today, along with a homemade guacamole.  I still haven't discovered that perfect blend of spices and ingredients yet when it comes to chili.  Mine was fine, but I've had better.  My guacamole was pretty good, though.  I'm trying to cut back on salt, so maybe that's what I was missing, in both the chili and guac.  I'm having a tough time since I do like to cook with salt.  I don't cook with a ton of it, but I miss it when I leave it out completely.

Anyhow...I'd still be interested in your chili recipe if you want to post it, Mr. Tea!

I'm loving this thread. Making me hungry.

Those of you not of the Jewish faith may be unfamiliar with "cholent" but it is the ultimate cold weather food.

You cook it overnight and eat it the next day. All the flavours blend together and create a delicious, hearty stew that is great to dig into after coming in from the cold.

Ideally, you use an electric "crock pot" (if you don't have on, it's worth getting one. I find it indispensible in the winter months.) Mine is 6 quarts.

Anyway, here's a good basic cholent recipe:1/4 cup kidney
1/4 cup great northern
1/4 cup chick peas
1/4 cup navy/lima/cranberry/black ( basically your choice)
1/2 cup barley
1 onion sliced and if you want sauteed
3 potatos peeled and chopped.
vegetables as you see fit ( 1 pepper, 6 mushrooms)
For meat, you can use beef stew meat or any tough cut that breaks down the longer you cook it, but what has made mine a success with my kids was to add about 4 hot dogs cut up.
1 large can of crushed tomatoes
Spices:
Salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika, cumin
1/2 bottle beer. a lager or darker beer is better - Sam Adams light works well, but whatever you got should work

Directions:
Soak beans overnight in large bowl. If you are short on time, you can boil them.

Add all ingredients into crock pot. Add about 2 -3 large squirts of ketchup too, some bbq sauce if you have doesnt hurt.

Place all ingredients into the crock pot. Add 1/2 - 3/4 bottle of the beer, and enjoy the rest. Fill the rest with water. Cover and cook on Low. I usually make this friday afternoon, and saturday lunch it is ready to eat. There is some experimenting you will need to do with moving the lid on or off or just a crack, depending on how much water has been absorbed.

Ms. C and I are both trying to lose weight. I have dropped 2 lbs since the start of the year. That means we are eating more salads and smaller portions of meat and vegetables. If I can continue following this eating pattern and continue adding some exercise to my weekly routine, I am hoping to have lost 15lbs by the end of April.