Baby, it's cold outside

[reverendtmac]

It's only -6C here right now, but we're about to get whumped by a big ol' storm (watch the Colts/Pats game for a preview) - so I've got a nice lil' chicken roasting with a tray of onions, garlic, and potatoes coated in olive oil n' thyme underneath. Nigella Lawson's recipes for both...

...but this storm thing better be a joke, 'cause I'm out of beer and whisky and I can't even buy any on Sunday on this dirthole island

[Mabelline]

Yes, today's a good day to be cold. The venison has 20 more minutes at 275*, the potatoes will go back in to crisp up, and the bread's just about ready to get baked. I also made some SWestern corn because DH is very depressed. Yesterday, A 48 year-old lady burned to death in an RV she was living in. It was started by an electric heater.

I'll get all that done, then make the egg custard.

I think we all tend to forget the dangers of cold weather, but I just hope that everyone takes the precautions necessary.

[fifi]

Definitely a day for cooking today.  Bones and veg have been roasted and veal stock has been simmering on the stove for a few hours now.  Chocolate macademia nut cookies are cooling on a rack.  Baked beans are in the oven to go with ribs tonight.  Next up is a sweet potato/chipotle gratin, some cornbread to go with the ribs and beans and a pot of black bean/pork/corn soup to use up some leftover pork and have lunches for the week.  That should do it for today!

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This can't possibly be a coincidence. I was just cleaning out the freezer and found a nice sized package of smoked pork butt chunks residing forlornly in the corner. There is an attractive jar of black beans decorating the bar. Now, I wonder if I have any corn. (That is a new one on me but it sure sounds good.) Well, I have to go to the store for coffee anyway.

Please elaborate on the sweet potato gratin.

[Della]

We are going to have pork spare ribs tonight. Slow cooked in the oven for several hours. Baked beans & cornbread.

My attempt at recreating summer even though it is too cold to grill (at least for me it is!)

[Jake]

Definitely a day for cooking today.  Bones and veg have been roasted and veal stock has been simmering on the stove for a few hours now.  Chocolate macademia nut cookies are cooling on a rack.  Baked beans are in the oven to go with ribs tonight.  Next up is a sweet potato/chipotle gratin, some cornbread to go with the ribs and beans and a pot of black bean/pork/corn soup to use up some leftover pork and have lunches for the week.  That should do it for today!

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This can't possibly be a coincidence. I was just cleaning out the freezer and found a nice sized package of smoked pork butt chunks residing forlornly in the corner. There is an attractive jar of black beans decorating the bar. Now, I wonder if I have any corn. (That is a new one on me but it sure sounds good.) Well, I have to go to the store for coffee anyway.

Please elaborate on the sweet potato gratin.

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The pork/black bean/corn soup was an invention a couple years ago to use up some leftover pork and gilled corn. I also add onion, jalapeno, a can of tomatos and a TON of cilantro, both in the soup and for garnish because I love cilantro.

The sweet potato thing was going to be a variation of something else I do, but I can't decide on a cheese that would compliment so I've gone back to to the old standby. (Any thoughts or suggestions are most welcome) Sliced sweet potato, heavy cream blended with chipotle in adobo to taste. Arange layers of potato in a buttered dish, pour cream mixture over, bake until done. Now, normally we only get yams up here, but I picked up some actual sweet potatos at the market yesterday and plan to use those. What are the differences between yams and sweet potatos? Perhaps I should do some research.....

[fifi]

Jake, I don't think I could improve on your sweet potato gratin. It sounds simple and lovely. I have a confession to make. I first went to Steingarten's simplified version of the potatoes, then I just started seasoning the cream, pouring it on and being done with it. I don't miss anything. I got into an experimental mode of pouring cream on just about anything in the gratin pan. I ran into some really fresh and sweet carrots. Those were really good.

I get really confused about yams and sweet potatoes. And I am in the south! We aren't too careful about what we call what so who knows. I found this topic in the Southern Food Culture forum.

[bloviatrix]

Here in NY we've been pretty fortunate. After a brief cold blast before Christmas, it's been running kind of warm (40s). This weekend, the weather has changed and it's finally getting cold. It's 30F/-1 C. I happen to have some heavy cream in my refrigerator. So I'm making a pot of penne ala vodka. We'll have hot cocoa (from scratch) for dessert.

[Pam R]

It's -32 C here right now (not factoring in the wind which makes it about -45). All I can say is Chicken Soup. Tonight we had them with matzo balls - but any way you like them.

I also like braising when it's this cold - if nothing else having the oven on for a couple of hours helps warm up the house!

Tomorrow should be much nicer .. .the high is -24 C ... so maybe I'll bbq ;)

[andiesenji]

Our brief winter is on hold for now down below in the Valley and L.A. basin.

Up here the overnight low is supposed to be 32 and the high should be 61 tomorrow.

However, in West Hills, where I work, it is supposed to be 80.

Quite a change from a week ago when it was rainy and cold and we even had snow for a little while.

At this altitude we are much colder in the winter (and hotter in the summer) than down below.

I like to bake when it is cold, and I agree that braising is comforting when the temps are low.

At the present time I am baking scalloped potatoes with wafer-thin pork chopped layered in with the potatoes.

[Smithy]

Paprika chicken thighs started off with the Cajun trinity (man, am I learning a lot from eGullet) and finished with mushrooms, garlic, vermouth & olives in my (new/vintage-from-EBay, Fifi made me do it) Le Creuset French oven: cooked atop the stove to get it going, then simmered in the oven until it was falling-apart tender. Juices poured over last night's shrimp risotto, which wasn't all that wonderful and really benefited from the chicken juices. Oven-roasted broccoli, tossed in olive oil, lemon oil, salt & pepper (looked bad, tasted great). All of that went to help heat the house, and we need all the help we can get. It's a 3-dog night tonight, and we have only 1.

[Smithy]

...but this storm thing better be a joke, 'cause I'm out of beer    and whisky  and I can't even buy any on Sunday on this dirthole island 

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Can't get any down here in mainland Minnesota on Sunday, either. We have to go across the border to Wisconsin. At least it isn't a ferry ride!

Stan and Garnet Rogers had bad things to say about Prince Edward Island, but I always assumed it was just showmanship...

[Susan in FL]

Oh my! I had seen this thread listed, but never looked at it before. I decided to take a look this morning because it's our first cold day. They are predicting a week of winter weather and it's supposed to get back to 70 next Monday. So anyway, it was 44 degrees when I got up, so I thought I can join in with you all, and get some dinner ideas for the week, and then I read the first post...

It's our first subzero night of the season. It started out beautiful and sunny, about 30 (F). We are now down subzero and plummeting fast. I'm reminded tonight that we have many of those brittle nights to come. That season during which those lovely greens in the market can flash freeze in the trip from the market door to the car.

How easily I do forget that it is so cold in other parts of the world! Nevertheless, thanks for the good cold weather food ideas. I'll be following the topic this week.

[snowangel]

We haven't even seen zero for several days now...

[Mabelline]

Did you get your butt smoked (aren't you so glad there's a place like this, where a question like that is not an insult?) ?

[Bella S.F.]

Great thread. I gave up (easily and happily) that "never thought I'd be warm again" feeling 17 years ago with a one-way plane ticket to San

Francisco, but I sure remember and ... oh, it is great to cook at those times.

fifi, I love the idea of your pork roast, and can't wait to make it this weekend. My mom died a week ago Friday, and I want to make something comforting. That is the first thing that grabbed my interest.

I have a question about the fresh picnic. I have tried to ask a number of times, but my four or five year life as a Gulleteer has had me need to rejoin because I keep messing up signing on and ... why does my mouth runneth over? Anyway, I used to make fresh (and smoked) picnics back east. I have never seen them out here. Could that just be something regional? (For example, I used to use light cream, here they have heavy cream or half and half. and the California roast I could get there I have never seen here.

So... should I just buy a pork butt to make the recipe? I know I could go to a good butcher and find out but you're here now, so to speak.

[Bella S.F.]

Great thread. I gave up (easily and happily) that "never thought I'd be warm again" feeling 17 years ago with a one-way plane ticket to San

Francisco, but I sure remember and ... oh, it is great to cook at those times.

fifi, I love the idea of your pork roast, and can't wait to make it this weekend. My mom died a week ago Friday, and I want to make something comforting. That sounds like it will be just that.

I have a question about the fresh picnic. I have tried to ask a number of times, but in my four or five year life as a Gulleteer has had me need to rejoin because ... why does my mouth runneth over? Anyway, I used to make fresh (and smoked) picnics back east. I have never seen them out here. Could that just be something regional? (For example, I used to use light cream, here they have heavy cream or half and half. and the California roast I could get there I have never seen here.

So... should I just buy a pork butt to make the recipe? I know I could go to a good butcher and find out but you're here now, so-to-speak.

Thanks!

[Bella S.F.]

Damn, see how well, I'm doing, I thought that I previewed, edited, and then posted. I feel like a jerk. Sorry for the two posts.

I can now also ask... can anyone tell me about Jeffrey Steingarten's Gratin Dauphinoise mentioned? I also heard people talking about them at a Christmas Eve party, but they didn't know how they were made. Is it much different from the traditional recipes?

[fifi]

Sometimes I have had to order the fresh ham cut even here. They show up in cryovacs in the grocery around the holidays. But my favorite source for pork is still my big Asian market with a real butcher. I really prefer the shank portion because it is easier to cut. I certainly don't understand why the shank is often a little cheaper than the butt.

You can certainly do the recipe with just a pork butt. I have done it and it comes out just fine. Try to find one with a good fat cap. That ends up as some luscious fat. While wrestling the thing out and starting to dissect it for service, there are always some wharf rats hanging around with a knife to snitch some and eat it on crackers.

This isn't really Steingarten's "recipe." I think of it as more of a technique. I can't compare it right now because I just loaned that book to a friend. (Yes . . . I know where she is.) For the potatoes, I just poach some garlic in the cream, enough to cover the potatoes, and add a little nutmeg. You cut the potatoes in even 1/16 of an inch or so. Professionals would use a mandoline but I can do ok with a knife. It is easier to do if you cut the potato in half lengthwise and cut half rounds. Then you arrange the slices in the bottom of the gratin, overlapping by about 1/3 both horizontally and vertically. It will kind of look like fish scales. You want only one layer. Salt and pepper to taste. Sometimes I will add some herbs. Pour the cream over the potatoes. Bake on the bottom rack of the oven at 325 F for 45 minutes to an hour. This may differ depending upon your gratin and oven. The cream will break into butter and milk solids and you should get some good browning, especially at the edges. Hmmm . . . I have a potato. I have cream. I have dinner!!!

edit to correct an oops: I just checked my Word file. That is 1/8 inch slices, not 1/16th.

Edited January 17, 2005 by fifi (log)

[Smithy]

I think what makes Steingarten's gratin writeup so exceptional is his fanatical attention to detail, written in his inimitable style. He specifies in the essay that he will be so detailed because it is so important...but he's so entertaining that I laughed instead of saying "oh, c'mon!" while I was reading all that detail. I will say that the gratin I made from his recipe last Friday night is the first with which I've been impressed. My dinner guests were impressed too. My husband said, "You should have ignored his instructions and made more layers so we'd have more." To which I replied, silently, "Aha! A reason to get another pan!"

Fifi, one step you omitted was that he adds the cream after the potatoes have baked a while. He starts with the flavored milk over the potatoes, cooks that covered, then adds cream after the milk is nearly absorbed and finishes cooking the dish uncovered. I have no idea whether it matters, but I am not inclined to mess with perfection.

By the way...what difference does it make to bring the milk, and later the cream, to the boil (twice) before adding it to the gratin? Anyone?

I had never read Jeffrey Steingarten until Fifi set me onto him for this gratin technique. What a treat! Thank you, Fifi!

[fifi]

OK . . . I am about to call my friend and have her read the thing to me. She picked the book up off of my coffee table and randomly opened it and was reading while waiting on me to get dressed. She was similarly hooked. I love his writing.

As I recall, he later gives a simplified technique but I don't remember what he skipped. I think I took it a step further, in simplification that is. I can't tell enough difference to work harder than I need to. I never could understand adding milk to the cream and then adding butter. You end up with about the same ratio of milk solids to butter.

When I see a recipe that gets obsessive about the detail, I do it by the book the first time. If it is good enough that I am going to repeat it, I will see if I can simplify it without sacrificing something. This was a prime example of that process. Yep . . . I am lazy.

[suzilightning]

supposed to go into single digits here(the guy on metro traffic just said tomorrow is supposed to be "Wicked Cold"). i'm off for a week(have to use up comp time) and john just got home from poughkeepsie. i was craving meat gravy so made a bolognese with ground buffalo, red and yellow peppers and Bully Hill Ives.

took split pea soup up for the people at work, made cinnamon buns for john's breakfast and have to do the following tomorrow:

vegetable beef soup to take up to work later in the week(and for our dinner as well)

rye bread

more cranberry orange tea cake

just got a delivery of free trade cocoa so maybe some fudgy bourbon brownies

[Bella S.F.]

Which of his books is the recipe in?

[fifi]

I think it is in It Must've Been Something I Ate.

Amazingly enough, there isn't a general topic here on gratins. So . . . I started one here.

[snowangel]

I did not take advantage of the temps to "cold smoke" a butt or shoulder or whatever we're supposed to call it.

But, I did have an experience that smarts of stupid. I stuck all of that stock outside on the deck, where is just about flash froze.

Lesson learned. When it is 20 below, be sure and wear mittens or grab a pot holder before grabbing the metal hand of said pan. I have a nice frostbite mark on my hand. A nice wipe strip that has been white for a couple of days. It is regaining feeling. Why in the hell I didn't just drop the pan (nothing would have spilled, it was rock hard frozen, I'll never know. I could have dropped the thing, hoping for a ding on the vinyl floor that would force me to replace it.

So, fifi, just when I was on a non-spending money kick (other than for home improvement), you entice me into believing that I NEED a gratin pan. OH! Isn't a gratin pan home improvement related?

It's been about soups, braises and heavy carbs here lately.

[snowangel]

It is a balmy 34 (f) outside. I am rethinking my plans of "carnitieine" a boneless butt and getting a bone-in shoulder to smoke. Somehow, the idea of smoking a butt when everything one touched outside lead to frostbite just steared me off the later. Me does think that burgers on the grill with home-grown tomatoes will happen once again.