Seasonal Favorites: Winter Recipes
Winter in California is the season for arugula, along with many other lettuces. A few years ago we planted some in our garden and now each year the arugula re-seeds itself and takes over with a flourish, starting in December...
What better on a chilly day than a plate of steaming hot beef stew with light, fluffy dumplings? My super-hero father decided to make goulash for us recently and when the first recipe he tried didn't work out (go figure...
Updated from the recipe archive. First posted 2006. Enjoy! "This isn't your everyday pot roast," my father declared as we sat down for dinner to enjoy the roast that he had been cooking all afternoon. No, indeed it isn't. The...
My first memorable encounter with borscht was at a pot-luck party I had in San Francisco, in which my friend Elisabeth brought a huge, must have been 12 or 16-quart, pot of drop-dead delicious, deep purply red soup filled with...
Everybody loves turkey breast for their turkey sandwiches but the more flavorful meat comes from the dark meat found in turkey thighs and legs. These, by the way, are much less expensive than the breasts. Mom and dad have a...
Updated and revised. When the days are cold, dark, and damp, all we really want to do around here is to curl up with a nice big pot of stew. Known as "Carbonnade a la Flamande", this Belgian beef stew...
Being a quintessential Swiss dish, cheese fondue conjures up images for me of alpine ski huts, deep snow and 20°F weather. Well, we don't get much snow or cold weather in the California central valley, but that doesn't mean we...
Recipe updated Aug, 2011 Chicken and dumplings - the ultimate comfort food. When we were kids, my mother used to make chicken and dumplings for us by simply adding Bisquick biscuit dough to chicken stew. We would always fight over...
It's that time of year again, bone chilling weather and NFL playoffs. The perfect time for steamy hot and hearty chili. Whether you like your chili with beans or without, with turkey, chicken, ground beef or chuck, scorchingly hot...
During the winter months, our local Whole Foods gets one or two shipments in a week of freshly cooked Dungeness crab. Like all seafood, crab tastes best when it is as fresh as possible. When buying crab, ask the guy...
All winter long it's Dungeness crab season here in the Pacific Northwest. Dungeness crabs tend to weigh in between 1 1/2 and 2 1/2 pounds, and have perfect meat for making crab cakes. These crab cakes are a step-up riff...
Cream of mushroom soup was the first soup I fell in love with as a child. Of course, back then it was Campbell's. At age 8 I could make it myself, quickly learning that adding milk tasted a whole lot...
Last spring I discovered with delight wild morel mushrooms popping up in our backyard. After two winters of biking the American River bike trail looking for edible mushrooms, having been bit by the wild porcini bug on forays in Northern...
People either love turnips or they hate them. And if they love them, it was probably an acquired taste. I can still remember making a face when thinking I was biting into a yummy potato in one of my mother's...
One of the things I love about butternut squash, or any winter squash for that matter, is that they're practically indestructible. They last for months. You can harvest one in November and still find it perfectly good to eat in...
The trick to a great French onion soup is starting with good stock. French onion soup is usually made with beef stock. I've made delicious soup with stock from the leftover rib and chine bones of a rib roast. Another...
Time for gingerbread! Please welcome Garrett McCord who has whipped up this beautiful dark and gingery gingerbread for us. ~Elise I get cravings throughout the year for the spicy, treacly flavor of gingerbread. Sure, I can easily satisfy myself come...
"Now this is how oxtails should taste," my father declared after taking a bite of these glazed oxtails. I couldn't agree more. We have a thing for oxtails in our family. Oxtail stew was a favorite winter dish my mom...
This was the year I fell in love with black eyed peas. (The food. Already loved the band.) They have a wonderful flavor, almost smoky, even without bacon or ham. Earlier this last summer we put them in a salad...
We first posted this kale soup recipe four years ago and it has since become a regular winter staple in our home. Roasted vegetables, puréed and then cooked with broth, kale, and white beans make up this hearty soup. Of...
For those of you snow-bound, this is a rich and hearty dish, perfect for a cold winter day. For me it conjures up images of ski lodges and cabernet, it's so warm and comforting. Flavorful lamb shanks are first browned...
Revised and updated, Jan 27, 2009, in honor of the Year of the Ox Have you ever had oxtails? Most people I know haven't even heard of them, which is really quite a shame. Think braised beef short ribs, but...
When I told my friend Becca that I had made oyster stew, she looked at me with a twinkle in her eye and asked, "well, did you like it?" As I nodded yes, she added laughing, "it's a lot better...
My old neighborhood in San Francisco used to have a fabulous Hungarian restaurant where I loved to go for pork stuffed cabbage rolls. The restaurant has since gone out of business, but my love for the dish remains.
Prime rib refers to the king of beef cuts, the standing rib roast, "standing" because to cook it, you simply position the roast on its rib bones in the roasting pan, no need for a rack. Estimate 2 people served...
Okay, so not everyone loves turnips as much as we do. But even if you aren't the biggest fan of that radishy root, this recipe might just turn you around. Not surprisingly, cream, butter and onions bring out the savory...
The debate didn't last long. "You could have used boneless beef short-ribs. You're paying for the bones when you buy them bone-in," my mother remarked in while we were all enjoying this wonderful stew. "It's better with the bones," my...
Ever wonder why Boston baked beans are called "Boston" baked beans? It's the molasses. Boston has been tied to molasses since colonial days, when the city was a trade center for rum from the Caribbean. Molasses is used for rum...
Spareribs with sauerkraut is something I've never had outside of my own home. My father claims that there are restaurants in Minnesota (where he grew up) that serve them. But I certainly have never seen them as a menu item...
The big food thrill of winter in Northern California is that it is Dungeness Crab season. There is simply nothing better than fresh cracked crab, but you have to make sure the crab is very fresh. During the season we...
There's something about winter that just begs for the making of split pea soup, wouldn't you agree? Like the proverbial groundhog, who failing to see his shadow, retreats into the comfort of his burrow, in the chilly, foggy dampness of...
Who knew the boy could bake? Here's another classic Christmas cookie from Hank. Enjoy! ~Elise This cookie is my other favorite Christmas cookie, along with walnut snowballs. I am sure my mum made all kinds of Christmas cookies over the...
My father is of German Austrian descent, so naturally we eat a lot of pork chops and sauerkraut. Recipes containing the same have almost a genetic pull over him. Add some kielbasa and the urge to try the recipe becomes...
Updated, from the recipe archive. First posted in 2005. ~Elise One of my father's favorite dishes to make in the winter is a hearty turkey stew with lots of root vegetables like rutabagas, turnips, and carrots. It's warming, filling, and...
Can you say addictive? Get into the holiday spirit with Hank and his snowball cookies! ~Elise This was my all-time favorite Christmas cookie when I was growing up. Mum made them by the bushel, and we'd pop the walnut-sized balls...
We've had some wonderfully cold, rainy, winter storms here lately in Northern California. This soup is the perfect hardy accompaniment to a cold winter day. Note, this soup is the kind that is much better the next day, as the...
My friend Steve-Anna, who has been tempting me with tales of her white chili for years, finally sent me the recipe. It originally comes from the Beyond Parsley, by the Junior League of Kansas City, MO. Both she and I...
