Wintery Thoughts......

Winter is coming. I can feel it. It's still warm out here but there is something in the air ,especially at night, that made me go to my old haunt Marshalls and buy a new winter coat yesterday. I am also thinking of getting an air conditioner cover since taking it out of my window is not feasible and it becomes drafty in cold weather. I dread the sun setting at 4 pm, the trees being bare, the generally bleak feeling that comes with shorter days and colder temperatures. I used to love it when I was younger, I loved winter sports and I loved the cold. Lately, I am not feeling as fond of this season as I used to. This inevitable change in seasons has lead me to food-ish thoughts lately. In the summer, I really do not cook much. It's hot, I don't feel like eating much and I do not want to heat up my small space by turning on an oven. The winter however is a different story. I work so I do not cook nightly but I tend to make one or two things that I can live off of for a week, usually on Saturdays or Sundays. Today, I want to give you a few recipes for winter foods that I make regularly. These are dishes I turn to time and time again and really love. The man loved my cooking, these are some of his favorite winter dishes too.



First up is a soup. I never would have thought I could love lentils so much, but this soup is just delicious and there is nothing more soothing and satisfying on a freezing cold day than sitting down to a bowl of this and some garlic bread or cornbread. It tastes better as it sits in the fridge for a few days too. Do not let the "exotic" ingredients scare you, it has a really wonderful flavor!



Tomato-Coconut Lentil soup



1 onion diced

3-4 cloves garlic chopped ( the more the better!)

2 tbl olive oil

2 to 3 tsp cumin

1 tsp tumeric

2 tsp gr coriander

2 tablespoons fresh (or three tbl dried) mint.

1 tsp white pepper

1 cup red lentils. (must be red, they will dissolve and thicken the soup)

1 cup green lentils

1 (28 oz) can tomato puree or stewed tomatoes (puree gives better texture)

1 (15 0z) can coconut milk (I use the low fat one)

salt to taste



Saute the onions and garlic, add the spices and cook a bit till the rawness is diminished and they are slightly toasted. (If you are using fresh mint add it just before serving so the flavor is brighter, dried mint can be added to the onions in the beginning). Add 4 cups water, add the green lentils and cook till they are almost done...( I cooked them for about 45 min to an hour) now add the red ones and you will need to add more water...add just enough for them to cook. If you want to you can add a boullion cube or two to the water for additional flavor ( I like ham flavored), you will have to add less salt later on if you do this. This will be very thick but you will be adding other liquid in a bit so do not worry, you can always adjust liquid later. Now, cook the red lentils for about 20 minutes, they will dissolve and thicken the soup even more....add a bit more liquid if needed and now add tomatoes and the coconut milk and salt to taste, cook for about 10-15 more minutes till everything is combined. This is fabulous and tastes even better a few days later.





The second recipe I want to give you today is for a really wonderful tomato sauce that I have had many times at a favorite restaurant in Manchester Vermont. I love Manchester. My Mom and I used to go there a lot, it was very close to where I grew up. She had family nearby and we also loved to go shopping in town when there were a lot of outlets. I have gone back in recent years with the man and we loved eating at " The Perfect Wife". We even had a brush with fame there once. Tim Daly the actor of Wings/Private Practice TV show fame was there with his wife eating and we were perched high above him in the tavern eating while acting like we were not watching him. By the way, he hates tomatoes as evidenced by him picking them all out of his dish.

Being the weirdo that I am, I even have a picture of this restaurants devastatingly beautiful coconut cream pie set to the main display on my cell phone. It is so heavenly that just looking at it daily serves as an anchor for me in my stressful life.

Chef Amy Chamberlain is tremendously talented and one of the nicest people you could ever meet. There is a fabulous appetizer she serves that involves a bed of super tasty curry tomato sauce in a casserole dish. On top of the sauce there are big, warm,creamy blobs of baked goat cheese. This is served with eggplant "fries" or sticks of fried eggplant for dipping. Is your mouth watering yet? Chef Amy also uses it in a dish with rice pilaf, roasted sweet potato hash and a sun dried cherry chutney. I wrote to her and she graciously sent me her wonderful recipe after scaling it down to household proportions since she makes gallons of it at a time for her restaurant.

This has become a staple for me. There is so much I do with it. I have used it over chicken breasts, over fish, dolloped it into raw egg whites or whole eggs and scrambled for a delicious breakfast. I've also dropped raw whole eggs into it while it gently simmers to poach them that way and served over basmati rice for a different dinner or lunch. I've simmered shrimp in it (deeeelicious!), dolloped it over a baked sweet potato and a real favorite is dumping a few cans of chickpeas and maybe a cut up potato into it and creating a wonderful stew to serve over steamed basmati rice. Just delicious! The recipe makes about 2 quarts and freezes well. I try to always have some on hand in my freezer so I can throw together something good in a few minutes that tastes like I spent hours fussing. Even if you do not like curry I think you might like this one. It's pretty mild. If you are ever in Manchester please pay Amy a visit, you will not be disappointed!



Yellow Curry Satay:



1 lg. onion, diced

4 T. chopped garlic

2T. good curry powder (Look for Madras brand in a gold tin)

1 T. ground cumin

2 t. dried basil2 t. dried oregano

1/2 cup mango chutney ( I use Major greys found at the grocery store)

1 can coconut milk ( I use low fat again, still tastes great)

5 c. canned diced tomatoes

1 c. canned tomato puree



Sweat the onions and garlic til soft. Add spices and toast them a little. Add chutney and coconut milk. Simmer till combined nicely. Add tomato product. Simmer for one hour. Season to taste with salt and pepper.



The last three recipes are nothing exotic or thrilling but they are always loved and appreciated. They are both totally American Mom/apple pie type of recipes. First we have good ole chocolate chip cookies. I must tell you that nothing disappoints me more than a crunchy chocolate chip cookie. Most recipes make a nice cookie that you must eat the day they are baked or they taste stale and hard the very next day. Not so with these. This recipe comes from Cooks Illustrated magazine. These cookies taste fresh for days afterward if they make it that long. They are chewy and delicious and so easy to make. I like to mix up the dough and use a cookie scoop to portion the dough out into cookie sized dough balls. Then I freeze the raw dough in a ziplock baggie. I bake on demand as needed, but you could easily bake up a full batch and they will still taste fresh days later. I just do not want a batch of baked cookies laying around to binge on so I only make as many as I want to eat at the moment.


Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies


2 cups plus 2 tbsp all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter (12 tbsp), melted and cooled until just warm
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. In a large bowl, whisk together butter and sugars. Beat in the egg, egg yolk and vanilla. Stir in flour mixture, followed by chocolate chips.Drop by (scant) 1/4 cups onto the baking sheet and pat lightly so the cookie is an even thickness, not a ball shape. Cookies will spread as they bake and this ensures a more even spread.Bake at 325F for 15-17 minutes, until just turning light brown all over. The edges should only be very slightly more brown, if at all, from the rest of the cookie. Allow cookies to cool before removing them from the baking sheet.Makes 18-24 large cookies. (I make smaller cookies, not 1/4 cup of dough, more like half of that)

These are wonderful and just the best. They stay fresh tasting for days.

Another favorite cookie also comes from Cooks Illustrated. These are positively addictive. They are called Brown Sugar Cookies but they taste so rich and buttery, like caramel. They are so flavorful and I cannot stop at one. They have a wonderful chewiness to them and that combined with the browned butter flavor makes them irresistable. Here is the recipe taken directly from the Cooks Illustrated website. These take minutes to mix up despite the long directions, do not be put off by that. They are very easy and quick!

Brown Sugar Cookies

Published: March 1, 2007
Makes 2 Dozen Cookies



The most efficient way to bake these cookies is to portion and bake half of the dough. While the first batch is in the oven, the remaining dough can be prepared for baking. Avoid using a nonstick skillet to brown the butter. The dark color of the nonstick coating makes it difficult to gauge when the butter is sufficiently browned. Use fresh brown sugar, as older (read: harder and drier) brown sugar will make the cookies too dry.

INGREDIENTS

14 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 3/4 sticks)
1/4 cup granulated sugar (about 1 3/4 ounces)
2 cups packed dark brown sugar (14 ounces)
2 cups unbleached all purpose flour plus 2 tablespoons (about 10 1/2 ounces)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1. Heat 10 tablespoons butter in 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat until melted, about 2 minutes. Continue to cook, swirling pan constantly until butter is dark golden brown and has nutty aroma, 1 to 3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and transfer browned butter to large heatproof bowl. Stir remaining 4 tablespoons butter into hot butter to melt; set aside for 15 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 large (18 by 12-inch) baking sheets with parchment paper. In shallow baking dish or pie plate, mix granulated sugar and 1/4 cup packed brown sugar, rubbing between fingers, until well combined; set aside. Whisk flour, baking soda, and baking powder together in medium bowl; set aside.

3. Add remaining 1 3/4 cups brown sugar and salt to bowl with cooled butter; mix until no sugar lumps remain, about 30 seconds. Scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula; add egg, yolk, and vanilla and mix until fully incorporated, about 30 seconds. Scrape down bowl. Add flour mixture and mix until just combined, about 1 minute. Give dough final stir with rubber spatula to ensure that no flour pockets remain and ingredients are evenly distributed.

4. Divide dough into 24 portions, each about 2 tablespoons, rolling between hands into balls about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Working in batches, toss balls in reserved sugar mixture to coat and set on prepared baking sheet, spacing them about 2 inches apart, 12 dough balls per sheet. (Smaller baking sheets can be used, but it will take 3 batches.) Note:I personally skip the rolling in extra sugar step. They are sweet enough for me without it.

5. Bake one sheet at a time until cookies are browned and still puffy and edges have begun to set but centers are still soft (cookies will look raw between cracks and seem underdone; see photo below), 12 to 14 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking. Do not overbake.

6. Cool cookies on baking sheet 5 minutes; using wide metal spatula, transfer cookies to wire rack and cool to room temperature.

Tip on checking for doneness from Cooks Illustrated:

Achieving the proper texture—crisp at the edges and chewy in the middle—is critical to this recipe. Because the cookies are so dark, it's hard to judge doneness by color. Instead, gently press halfway between the edge and center of the cookie. When it's done, it will form an indent with slight resistance. Check early and err on the side of underdone.

Finally, something I am not proud of but it has been so popular with the man over the years that I have to tell you about it. It is called "Meatloaf Muffins". I know it does sound trashy, but I will confess that I am a meatloaf lover. My Mom used to make the best meatloaf on earth, but I began to make one from a Weight Watchers recipe and the man loved it so much that it became a winter thing here. I have used turkey instead of ground beef to lighten it up and it tastes fine. I realize that it is "processed" with the stuffing mix but what can I say? It seems to go over big. It was always good for me with my dieting because of the portion control and people love getting their own individual loafs. The recipe makes 12 "muffins".
If you are a Weight Watcher one muffin is 4 points.

Meatloaf Muffins

2 lbs lean ground beef or turkey
about 1/2 cup ketchup (I just squeeze randomly from the container into the mix)
1 7 ounce box of stovetop stuffing
1 1/2 cups water
1 to 2 eggs
salt and pepper

Mix this all together. Just use the stuffing dry out of the box, smash everything together with your hands. Now divide it into 12 Pam sprayed muffin tins. I actually use an ice cream scooper for this. Bake the "muffins" at 350 for about 35 minutes. If you like your meatloaf crusty, turn out the muffins onto a Pam sprayed foil lined baking sheet to bake for an additional 15 minutes till they are browned and done. If you do not like a crusty loaf just finish baking in the tins. The man used to love taking this in a sandwich for his lunch.

I will be posting more recipes in the near future but these are the ones that came to mind recently with thoughts of winter. I hope you try one or two and enjoy as much as I do!

That's all for now! :)