For the first time in a while, we’re having a run of fairly cold weather in Louisiana. This is what some of us like to call “Gumbo Weather.” When I head to the folks for Christmas, I’m gonna beg Mom to make some of her AWESOME chicken and sausage gumbo.
Anyway, what are your favorite cold weather foods?
Barf Beeley… er, Beef Barley soup is always a winner.
A good Irish stew or chicken soup is hard to beat.
Russian borscht with a dollop of sour cream… yum!
Chicken soup and hot chocolate.
At home: Big ol’ boiled brisket dinner with cabbage, potatoes, carrots.
In a restaurant: Piping hot Chinese hot’n’sour soup.
Chicken paprikash for me. Spaetzle or potato dumplings on the side.
No, wait.
Garlic soup.
Man, I had a bowl of garlic soup in a Spanish joint in the Village last night…poached egg in it…big chunks of toasted bread…you rip open the egg and let the yolk mix into the broth…thought I’d died and gone to heaven.
Yeah. Garlic soup.
The favorite in our house is rice and noodle chicken soup.
We only have it in the winter, and it’s always right when you come in from a day in the cold air.
On cold mornings it’s Chream of Wheat, with fresh ground cinnamon sprinkled on it.
Chicken & dumplings, made w/ leeks and carrots and plump, buttery dumplings.
Spinach bisque; mmmm, tastes like warm, creamy, comforting chlorophyll on an icy day.
A knockoff version of the Greek lemon & rice soup; made w/ garlic simmered in the chicken broth, then rice added, a egg yolk stirred in along w/ squeezed lemon. Yum!
Chili–made w/ browned steak, simmered long w/ dried chiles, garlic and (yes, heresey) good canned tomatoes; grated cheese, diced onion, etc. atop–pure comfort in a bowl.
Veb
I second the suggestion of gumbo, but this is my So Cold That You Can’t Leave the House Food:
Sopa de Totilla (Tortilla Soup)
Even in the southwest, it’s hard to find good tortilla soup.
Some places make a kind of spicy tomato soup, but don’t try it! I’ll give you all the recipe:
1 yellow onion, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 TBS olive oil
8 cups chicken broth
1 cup tomato juice
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1-3 jalapeno peppers, chopped (depending on heat tolerance)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp Worchester sauce
2 cups cooked chicken, chopped
1 tomato, peeled, seeded & chopped
corn tortillas (don’t even think about flour)
1 avocado
Monterrey Jack cheese, shredded
In a large saucepan (4 QT), saute onion, garlic in olive oil. Add broth, tomato juice, cumin, chili powder, jalapenos, salt, and worchester. Heat to boiling, then simmer for 1 hour. Cut tortilla into small strips (think small bandaid size) and fry in veg oil until crisp. Drainon paper towels. Add chicken and tomato to saucepan and cook 5 minutes. Put 4-5 tortilla strips in each bowl, pour soup over strips, garnish on top with avocado slices and shredded cheese.
We had Lamar’s Sopa de Tortilla for dinner tonight.
It was damn good. And it wasn’t even that cold out.
(Question: Why fry the tortilla strips if you’re just going to drown them in the soup? I skipped that step, because my wife is an anti-fat freak…was I missing an Important Flavor Note?)
Like most everyone else, my thoughts turn to soup when the weather gets cold. My Mom makes a clam chowder that is out of this world (New England, of course). I have the receipe, and I am a competent cook, but Mom makes it better. She used to always have it ready when I drove home at Christmas–a good first night meal because it wasn’t ruined if I was late. Now that I fly home, I get to town in the middle of the day, so it’s usually not waiting for me, although it is still often the first meal.
On wet days, especially if it’s windy, I’m also partial to popcorn and hot chocolate. And, although I love microwave popcorn (the reason the microwave was invented as far as I’m concerned), popcorn popped on the stovetop, with lots of butter and salt, is called for on these dreary, rainy afternoons.
Oh, man if I hadn’t eaten so much this weekend, I’d be starving! I just have to share this…
This weekend was my Dad’s family’s Christmas get together. It was at my Uncle Charlie’s house, and we roasted a pig. Ooohh yeah!
(He had the coolest thing made, take an old 50’s style fridge, reinforce the inside with a layer of metal, put in a bar to hang the pig, set your coals at the bottom. Jeez, it’s better than a coonass microwave, and a lot faster. Oh, there also was a vent at the top. It performed wonderfully. There was only one bad thing about it… Usually when we roast a pig, we gather around the fire to keep warm. With this new device, there’s so much insulation around it you use half the fuel, and feel almost no heat. I kinda miss starting the fire at 5AM, hanging the pig and having to tend it constantly. That was were all the guys ended up gathering and talking. Know what I’m trying to say?)
Ok, anyway, after all the sweets, rice dressing, cornbread dressing, sweet potatoes, bread, et cetera, et cetera, and of course the roast pig, and then even more sweets, I think I’ve gained 10 lbs this weekend.
By the by:
Lamar, I think I’m gonna try that!
Also:
Who is it that has the recipe thread, and can you add to it? I have a recipe for a dessert I’ve never seen outside of my family (I made it for the people at work last year, and they are begging for it again this year! It went over so well I’d like to share it.