We don't spend a lot of time rhapsodizing over winter ingredients. This stands in contrast to late spring, when food writers and bloggers babble poetry over strawberries, or the summertime, when ripe tomatoes come in for a lot of breathless excitement. But winter has its own ingredients — like the rutabaga I can hardly wait to cook, or even the bags of heirloom beans that turn into pantry stars in the colder months. Read on for three more ingredients that are inspiring me to cook this winter — I'd love to hear yours! What's exciting you in the kitchen right now?
Here are a few ingredients that have been lighting my imagination in the kitchen. They're certainly not restricted to the winter season, but they are available now and are giving me new ideas.
- Turnips - Ah, root vegetables. I really do look forward to root vegetables in the winter, but I've never been a big fan of turnips. Their bitterness has always been a bit much for me. But then last week I roasted them silly — they were charred, honestly — with duck fat and honey, and I finally fell in love. (Duck fat — the great matchmaker!) I'm inspired now to do a little more turnip experimentation.
- Duck Breast - Duck breast, the source of the above-mentioned duck fat, is not a cheap cut of meat. It's on a level, at least where I live, with a really good steak. It has been inspiring me, though, because of how much it brings to the kitchen. A little bit of duck makes a very satisfying meal, and it leaves behind enough rendered fat for batches of roasted vegetables and stew starters. Duck, when I can fit it into the grocery budget, has been something new, something delicious, that makes me look forward to cooking dinner.
- Pomegranate Molasses - This tangy, rich syrup is my new secret ingredient. I've been dreaming of ways to sneak it into things: Grain salad dressings, bean dips, glazes for meat.
There are just three of the things that are motivating me to extend my cooking beyond my usual routine. What about you? Is there any winter produce that gets your creativity flowing? Or other ingredients you pull out of the pantry this time of year? What's inspiring you to cook these days?
Related: Late Winter Inspiration: 20 Things On the To-Cook List
(Image: Faith Durand)
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Leeks!!!! Oh how I could write the ways about how I love leeks. Leeks vinaigrette, leek soup, creamed leeks, braised leeks, roasted leeks....
How do I adore thee, let me count the ways...
Greens! I'm growing some really nice red-stemmed chicory in my garden right now plus I love chard, kale, mustard greens, etc....
Citrus--very fresh and seasonal out here in the west.
Gorgeous savoy cabbage! And Napa! And whatever else is in markets - I could eat (...and have eaten) entire plates of it braised with EVOO, salt and pepper.
I know I'm going to sound like a debbie downer - but nothing. All of the vegetables I used now are frozen, nothing has that really vibrant flavor or color. Winter foods are just so heavy and unappealing to me; I can't wait to make....something in the spring.
I'm burnt out! Nothing is making me excited to cook!
I was pretty into broccoli, cauliflower, and kale for a couple months, but now the first two aren't on sale anymore...sigh. I think we've hit that point of northern winter where you can still get cabbage and kale and some root vegetables fairly cheap, but you maybe need a bit of a break from them.
I'm liking bread baking right now, and revisiting old recipes that I really like. Just comfort food.
Kale has been my big love this winter - my mum used to serve it sauteed in butter and I'm really enjoying kale salads and pestos.
Leek risotto and frittatas.
And curry - chickpea curry with lots of greens is amazing all year round.
Florida is having a great grapefruit year! majorly into grapefruit salad made with pink or red grapefruit, a bit of honey and campari or some home-infused cherry vodka. also, florida cherry or grape tomatoes; not the same as the local greenmarket varieties available in the late summer, but sweet and oddly fresh-tasting when roasted. roasted rutabaga, roasted daikon radish, and lots and lots of kale ... although here in the northeast, the last of the local kale ran out about 3 or 4 weeks ago.
Pears and winter citrus, although I suppose I'm not necessarily "cooking" with either of those things. Brussels sprouts and parsnips. And braised everything! I love making hearty winter dishes that reheat magnificently throughout the week.
I second greens, and I'm a kale freak, too.
All the winter greens & root vegtables inspire me these days. I hit the lottery at the grocer's last weekend. Snagged a variety of root veggies - cubed already! - just as they were being marked down to next to nothing. Back home, I tossed in a couple handsful of mushrooms, a couple smallish onions, quartered & the remainder of a savoy cabbage cut into wedges and roasted them.
By the time I got through 'tasting' that was dinner that night. The rest got added to salads, pasta & a fritatta throughout the week, with a few winter greens tossed in for good measure. It definititely curbed my tendency to graze while dh is away on business. And comfort food doesn't have to be heavy.
I love cooking this time of year! It's such a nice time to be in a warm kitchen and make a comforting meal. I've been treating myself to one or two special, unusual ingredients that help lively up the staid winter vegetables. Little splurges, but it's worth it! I got some meyer lemons and castelvetrano olives and baked them with thinly sliced potatoes. Bright and comforting!
http://outoftheordinaryfood.com/2013/02/02/potatoes-with-meyer-lemons-and-castelvetrano-olives/
I added meyer lemons and ginger to add some zing to a chard and French lentil soup...
http://outoftheordinaryfood.com/
And I bought a tiny tub of black truffle butter, expensive, but I'm just using little bits...I added some to roasted golden beets, carrots and parsnips and wrapped them in peppery crepes...
http://outoftheordinaryfood.com/2013/01/31/crepes-with-pretty-roasted-roots-castelvetrano-olives-and-black-truffle-butter/
And I made mushroom and walnut "steaks" with a creamy white wine/walnut/truffle butter sauce...
http://outoftheordinaryfood.com/2013/02/03/roasted-mushroom-steaks-with-walnut-black-truffle-sauce/
Pears and parsnips, though not necessarily together. Parsnips have such a sweet and spicy flavor. Just love 'em.
Roasted squash with olive oil, a little brown sugar, honey, and salt. Might sound weird, but it's great.
In the wintertime the co-op always gets these huge starchy carrots. They are nothing special in the summer, when you have beautiful tender young carrots, but in the winter those big meaty chunks are just about perfect in split pea soup. Such a beautiful color contrast too, there being so little that's really colorful this time of year.
I'm a second debbie downer, I'm afraid. After a whirlwind courtship of farmer's markets bursting with things to slake my locavore's lust, having become a rabid locavore in CA, the selection of onions and a million of apple varieties we're down to in MN....I'm ready for foods that increase my carbon footprint.
My definition of "winter vegetables" is seriously warped from living in semi-tropical Houston and the gardener's paradise that is CA.
Back to my childhood Ohio reality...
of course, before any Minnesotans flame me here, I exaggerate. I think the thin, northern winter light is getting to me. All I want lately is chocolate, sugar, butter, and lots of it. Any vehicle for melted butter and/or sugar is what I want to "cook"
Time to go sit under what my kids call my grow light...
Pears and parsnips make a lovely soup.
Romanesco and Brussels sprouts!
I made a delicious cannellini bean kale soup with spicy pork sausage mini meatballs. It was really lovely. Found the recipe here: www.finecooking.com/recipes/cannellini-bean-kale-soup.aspx
Oops. My comment "cannellini bean kale soup" was a little off topic so...
I too can't stop loving kale. I hear people talk about kale daily, post on FB about it. I think kale is kinda blowin' up right now, which is... great I guess!