Cold weather cooking ideas

We just got to our house in the Smoky Mountains of Western North Carolina. Snow is in the forecast for tomorrow and then bitter cold for most of the week. I have enough seasoned firewood to last a lifetime and plenty of wine!!

Was wondering if you all had any favorite “go to” cold weather recipes?? Thinking of roasting a chicken today but also was thinking a beef stew, maybe split pea and ham soup, etc etc

Would love your favorite suggestions!!

Two of mine:

Shanghai red-cooked chicken
carrot, red lentil, and sweet potato soup

-Paul W.

I am in love with the giant white lima bean from Rancho Gordo made into corn, Andouille sausage, and bean soup. Here is a similar recipe but using canned beans. I prefer to cook my own, but I'm sure you can tweak it to suit your needs.
https://nationalpost.com/pmn/life-pmn/f ... uille-soup

[Jenise]

We just got to our house in the Smoky Mountains of Western North Carolina. Snow is in the forecast for tomorrow and then bitter cold for most of the week. I have enough seasoned firewood to last a lifetime and plenty of wine!!

Was wondering if you all had any favorite “go to” cold weather recipes?? Thinking of roasting a chicken today but also was thinking a beef stew, maybe split pea and ham soup, etc etc

Would love your favorite suggestions!!

So your house wasn't damaged by the recent hurricane?

I love cold weather foods, especially long-cooked meats and soups. I just bought split peas for a split pea soup; however mine won't include ham. Good as that can be, I prefer what to my tastes is a more elevated, French-y version made with a small amount of onion and carrot, then garlic, herbs d'Provence, green peppercorns and bay leaves. The liquid part is half and half water and chicken broth, and I puree it when the peas are soft. It's all about the peas--the other ingredients are there not to share the spotlight, but make the peas shine even brighter. Served with a glass of sherry? Divine--a match made in heaven. And no I don't have a recipe, I just make it but it wouldn't be hard to nail from my description. Per pound of peas: about two quarts liquid, a little chopped onion, one peeled carrot, 3-4 cloves garlic, a tablespoon of Herbs d'Provence, a teaspoon of green peppercorns, and 2-3 bay leaves. Simmer for about an hour, puree, adjust liquidity and salt. If you're looking for ways to leave meat out of your diet--here's a way. You won't miss it.

If you're into tea, cold weather is the best time for lapsang souchong.*

And hard to beat a simple bowl of chili con carne on a cold night.

*This statement just made me brew a pot of lapsang. It's cold here, and the wind is picking up.

[Jenise]

My earlier post created a craving: I'm making pea soup!

Other things: almost any dish involving braised chicken thighs. Garlic overload style, or involving sherry and mushrooms, or herbs/white vermouth/fresh fennel. Another dish I only make in winter: posole (pork, hominy, chiles). Beef burgundy of course, and nearly always served spooned over thick slices of toasted pillowy bread (the kind that every supermarket in the country with an in-store bakery used to sell for $1.99 a loaf).

Yes - soups! We regularly (in winter) do a ham hock and green pea soup that sticks to your ribs in cold weather, and we also love oxtail stew.

cassoulet
pot au feu
beef Bourguignon
coq au vin
choucroute
chili
bouillabaisse is great on a cold night
chicken and dumplings
Where in Smokies? I grew up in Piedmont but know mountains well, I do know "unusual" ingredients might be hard unless near Asheville.
In NY we're getting a little snow tomorrow then single digits, Betsy is mentioning Bolognese.

I talked myself into making chili con carne and cornbread per my own suggestion.

[Jenise]

The pea soup I made yesterday was terrific. I had a two pound package, and coincidentally around noon decided to have a cold weather wine party around the fire pit at 3:30. It was only 40F out, but spectacularly sunny, clear and still. No wind at all. I sent out invitations saying I'd supply all the wine and had no idea if anyone would show up but five couples did, including one who couldn't stay long because he's in recovery from four months so far of chemotherapy, but it was GREAT to see them. Everybody brought food though I had not suggested it--that's the kind of friends I have--and I put out olives, Martins pretzels from Pennsylvania, and at sunset I brought out mugs of hot pea soup. Couldn't have been more perfect.

cassoulet
pot au feu
beef Bourguignon
coq au vin
choucroute
chili
bouillabaisse is great on a cold night
chicken and dumplings
Where in Smokies? I grew up in Piedmont but know mountains well, I do know "unusual" ingredients might be hard unless near Asheville.
In NY we're getting a little snow tomorrow then single digits, Betsy is mentioning Bolognese.

We technically live in Waynesville…..although we seem to be more like Maggie Valley….we are very close to Cataloochee if you know that park

If you're into tea, cold weather is the best time for lapsang souchong.

I'm fond of lapsang souchong tea. My dad could never understand that. He said that lapsang souchong smelled like a ship's paint locker and reminded him of his time in the Navy.

-Paul W.

We just got to our house in the Smoky Mountains of Western North Carolina. Snow is in the forecast for tomorrow and then bitter cold for most of the week. I have enough seasoned firewood to last a lifetime and plenty of wine!!

Was wondering if you all had any favorite “go to” cold weather recipes?? Thinking of roasting a chicken today but also was thinking a beef stew, maybe split pea and ham soup, etc etc

Would love your favorite suggestions!!

So your house wasn't damaged by the recent hurricane?

I love cold weather foods, especially long-cooked meats and soups. I just bought split peas for a split pea soup; however mine won't include ham. Good as that can be, I prefer what to my tastes is a more elevated, French-y version made with a small amount of onion and carrot, then garlic, herbs d'Provence, green peppercorns and bay leaves. The liquid part is half and half water and chicken broth, and I puree it when the peas are soft. It's all about the peas--the other ingredients are there not to share the spotlight, but make the peas shine even brighter. Served with a glass of sherry? Divine--a match made in heaven. And no I don't have a recipe, I just make it but it wouldn't be hard to nail from my description. Per pound of peas: about two quarts liquid, a little chopped onion, one peeled carrot, 3-4 cloves garlic, a tablespoon of Herbs d'Provence, a teaspoon of green peppercorns, and 2-3 bay leaves. Simmer for about an hour, puree, adjust liquidity and salt. If you're looking for ways to leave meat out of your diet--here's a way. You won't miss it.

Jenise….. our house did fine… some trees down but compared to so many others we were lucky. We are elevated (3700 elevation) so my main concern was a tree landing on the house or a mudslide….the I40 highway heading into Tennessee collapsed a few miles from my house.

Ironically…. We sold our home in Nantucket in September after 30 years there. We were on the ocean and the beach kept moving towards us. We kept saying we were one hurricane away from a disaster…./ and then we had one in the mountains of NC!

[Jenise]

John, the irony of life is endless, isn't it? Glad your house was okay.

And Dale: pot au feu. Damn that sounds good right now, will put it on the menu for later this week!

Hot chocolate. Who needs food?

We technically live in Waynesville…..although we seem to be more like Maggie Valley….we are very close to Cataloochee if you know that park

We used to hike sections of the AT near there, and my brother spent a couple summers working at Nantahala Outdoor Center not so far from you. Beautiful area. Glad you didn't have damage!

One of our favorite cold weather dishes is a venison-black bean chili that's easy to make, goes well over rice and gets better the next few days as it sits in the fridge.

It's going to go above freezing tomorrow, hit 31F today, but still good for a warming meal. Gukbap!

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/102 ... -with-rice

Warm stew with a spicy edge. I used Korean radish, kelp instead of SD tomatoes, and added a few dried anchovies (crushed) in the broth building stage.