DawgTalkers.net Forums Thread Like Summary - WINTER RECIPES?

What are some of your favorite recipes you like to make in the winter months?

Two of ours are Cabbage and Noodles ( I know this is a favorite any month but we tend to make it more in the winter. )
and Chicken Paprikash my moms family recipe.

Cabbage and Noodles , Haluski is made from four ingredients:

Egg noodles
Butter: The sauce to cabbage and noodles is lots of butter.
Onion: It adds another layer of flavor to the cabbage.
Green cabbage: It’s not haluski without the cabbage!
Salt and pepper: For seasoning

Yours?

My wife just pulled the Christmas ham bone out of the freezer and it's in the crock pot for 24 hours

Heavy whipping cream.

That's a first-class pro tip. Nothing adds as much depth of flavor to a soup or stew as a ham bone. My "Ham Bone Soup" with Great Northern Beans will make you say "sweet baby Jesus that's good".

This soup does not get the recognition is deserves!

Potage Parmentier. Simple ingredients; incredible taste.

This was the first recipe I made out of Julia Child's cookbook 'Mastering the Art of French Cooking'.

Honestly, I don't recall, lol... it has been ages since I've made it, but the beauty is that you can start with a Tsp and adjust to a Tbsp if you so desire.
I do know that I liked it or I wouldn't have shared the recipe originally with the gamer friends.

Ok, I lied... one more, and this one is a family recipe. My Grandma's Swiss Steak recipe (straight from the churches of SugarCreek)


This is something I grew up eating, and this is the perfect time of year for it. It's just simple, good, stick-to-your-ribs eating.

Grandma Burris' Swiss Steak

Prep Time: maybe 10 minutes.
Cook Time: a bit more than 3 hours.


What you need:
4-6 Eye of Round or Top Round steaks.... whatever you can fit in a single later in your largest skillet that has a lid.

In a bowl, mix up some flour, salt, pepper, and paprika. Maybe a cup of flour, then season as you see fit.
Dredge the steaks in the flour mixture, coating them well. Set aside.

Heat a lidded skillet and melt either some Oleo, lard, or a mix of butter and oil (Gram always used vegetable oil or Oleo, but I lean toward olive oil and butter). You want probably three tablespoons worth of butter plus probably the same in olive oil. You're looking for enough to brown both side of the meat while the flour will soak some of it up.

Get the oil hot, but not smoking, then add the steaks in a single layer, trying not to crowd them too much. Cook maybe five minutes per side to brown the outside.
If you're wanting to do a large number of steaks, either use two pans, or remove them as you brown them to make room for the next batch and then after they're all browned lay them back in the pan overlapping them all a little so they all fit. Don't overcrowd the heck out of it, though, or you won't have enough room for it to make gravy.
When the second side is browned, you're going to just leave everything in the pan (or add all the rest of the steaks back to the pan) and add about 4 cups of water... however much water it takes to fill the pan until the water is even, or just slightly above, the top of the steaks.
Turn the heat to High and bring to a boil, then cover with the lid and reduce to Medium-Low and simmer. Check it every so often, but you're going to just let it slowly simmer with the lid on for close to three hours.


As it cooks, the meat will become fork-tender and the water will reduce and work with the fats and flour and make a nice brown gravy.
In the last hour, put some potatoes on to make mashed potatoes to serve with it. The gravy is the PERFECT gravy (season to taste) for going over mashed potatoes.

so, I have another site that is for the guys I've been gaming with for almost three decades, now, and on it we have a recipes section (Culinary Pwnage) and this is one of mine that bridges the gap between butternut squash soup and potato leek.
I don't generally measure when cooking, so the measurements are approximations. Feel free to substitute heavy cream for the milk.

Roasted Butternut Squash & Leek Soup

1 - Butternut Squash
3-4 cups Chicken Stock
1 Tbsp Brown Sugar
Leaf Sage (perhaps about 1 Tbs?)
1/2 Tsp Ground Cardamom
1 Tsp Ground Coriander
1 1/2 cup Milk (or Half-n-Half)
1 Tbs Nutmeg
1 Tbs Kosher Salt


Cut the Butternut Squash in half, lengthwise.
Put it in a roasting pan (or on a cookie sheet... whatever, Honey Badger don't care), cut side up and pop it in the oven @400 degrees until fork tender. It should only take about 25-30 minutes, but I left it in for a little over an hour without a problem (I was busy talking to someone, lol). It browned up a little on the surface, I think this added some flavor.

Pull it out of the oven and let it cool a little so you can work with it. Scoop out the contents and set aside.

Dice up almost an entire Large Leek.
In a stock pot (or a deep skillet... whatever, Honey Badger still don't care), sautee a large Shallot and the Leek until softened.

Add the squash, chicken stock, and everything else EXCEPT the milk and simmer for a wee bit.

If you have a wand mixer, you can finish it right in the pan, if not, lightly blend it all up in a food processor... or just mash the heck outta it with a whisk. Leave some lumps for character, though Either way, add the milk, then blend it all up. Bring it back up to a simmer just to warm it.

Season to taste with more salt & sage as desired.