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Man it's cold outside!!

post #1 of 31
1/17/03 at 2:57pm
Thread Starter 
I know we have discussed this in the past,but seeing we have so many new members I thought we could touch base again.

I know not everyone is living in the freezing cold (here it's supposed to get down to almost 0)

I love cooking comfort food in the winter,especialy braises.

Tonight is a braise of lamb shank with apricots (dried)lemon zest,rosemary and lots of garlic. The kitchen smell terrific and the wine is open.

Tell me,what do you love to cook on those dark cold nights with the fire blazing?
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post #2 of 31
1/17/03 at 3:06pm
Rabbit braised in Guinness beer along with very simple side dishes and a lemon souffle to balance things out.

BTW, I'll be right over. ;)
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post #3 of 31
1/17/03 at 7:15pm
Good old pot roast!

I have a hankering for what my grandmother called "g'dempte chicken"- braised chicken. It included poor man's kishke. As if 'real' kishke weren't simple enough- beef or sheep sausage casing filled with flour, rendered chicken or beef fat, onions and seasonings :eek: . The even simpler version, called helzel, is made with trimmed chicken neck skins instead of casings, sewn up with cotton thread and cooked in with the braising pot. You have to grow up on that kind of thing to appreciate it! I do have an 8 pound roasting chicken in the freezer; I guess I could use that, couldn't I? Wouldn't have the flavor of an old hen, but those are hard to find where I live. Think I'll skip the helzel.... :rolleyes:
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post #4 of 31
1/17/03 at 8:08pm
:smiles:

{drool}

Oh man!! Lamb shank and apricots! Fireplace!

Rabbit and Guiness!! (gasp!)

Pot Roast, Yum! (I dunno bout the other stuff Mezz!:) )

I must say, I am VERY envious if that's what yer eating.

CC, freezing here, I think they're saying wind chill is below zero, that hasn't happened here in a while.

ANYWAY, I was fortunate enough to have a starter of potato leek soup, then Osso Bucco (By that I just mean a cross cut veal shank, we like roasting big cuts of meat this time of year) over toasted barley, butternut squash, fricasse of porcinis, more leeks...ohhhh. ONLY because it's my birthday month. :)

NORMALLY I would be content with a nice stew and crusty bread.

Drinking cheap aussie and chilean wines right now, and I enjoy a good single malt.

CC, how 'bout you? I'm betting you enjoy a good cognac or something similar?:)

I'm imagining my space heater as a roaring fireplace:)

And I have to say the dishes you mention are among my all time favorites. I love lamb and bunny! Tasty and lean.
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post #5 of 31
1/18/03 at 8:27am
Thread Starter 
Mezz,

You bring back fond memories:)

Koko, I would invite you over but theres nothing left! Next time. ;)

The lamb was excellent if I may say so myself. Drank a couple bottles of fitou from the Languedoc that worked like a charm.

Chef1x, there was a time I drank brandy and the like,but I lost my desire for them after I discoveried vintage Ports.:lips:
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post #6 of 31
1/18/03 at 11:20am
Trahana!

Do you know what is this?
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post #7 of 31
1/18/03 at 11:21am
Thread Starter 
Sour dough soup? :)
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post #8 of 31
1/18/03 at 11:23am
:D Just testng if you got rusty...:cool:
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post #9 of 31
1/18/03 at 11:33am
Thread Starter 
Not rusty, wiser!!

And I still love Greek food :chef:
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post #10 of 31
1/18/03 at 1:43pm
What exactly is sour dough soup? What else is in it? Love all med. food myself.

Hmm, CC, since you like all those wines, I pegged you for a cognac drinker. I love a good port myself, don't drink them as much these days 'cause I'm supposed to lay off the sugary stuff, but I indulge now and then.

A nice port, a roaring fire, a good cigar on a cold winter night?

Did I mention that I scored a whole case of Quinta do Noval '91 port and I have one Quinta '70. I don't know what the heck I'll do with it all; not like I have a wine cellar:)

What's on for tonight?

I'm solo tonight so I thought I'd make a nice consomme with a bruonise of vegs. Haven't done that in years, but I need to practice my frenchy skills ya know, just in case;)
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post #11 of 31
1/19/03 at 7:19am
Chef1X:

You really need to send me the '70 Quinto asap. NOW! :chef: :bounce: :chef:
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post #12 of 31
1/19/03 at 9:47am
Hi chef1x sour dough soup, trahana or tarhana, in the dialects of Middle East is a tiny peppled shaped pasta.
Usually is made with semolina or wheat flour mixed with yoghurt or buttermilk.

In Greece we make two kinds of trahana:
The sour trahana anad the sweet trahana.

The sour is more popular. It's made with flour kneaded with the rich milk of August. The first 15 days of August are days of fast, so in the country side where they keep they Ortodox calender there is abudance of milk. In August they prepare the best trahana!
So, after you have kneaded the dough you let it rest in heat so it sours a little, then the dough is broken onto small pieces and dried under the sun.

Sour trahana is cooked as a soup in water or broth or milk.

Trahana is consumed all over the Balkans and as far as Persia!

It was an easy way to preserve food with high nutritional values as wheat and milk.
Since you live in NYC go to Astoria and ask for some trahana. Greeks are delighted to cook such things:)

Yeah, I know Cape Chef. Once you've tasted Greek Food is difficult to forget it.
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post #13 of 31
1/19/03 at 10:15am
Thread Starter 

Diane Kochilas

Have you made her Kotosoupa Me Trahara?

It seems very nice,it's on page 226 of The Glorious Foods of Greece.
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post #14 of 31
1/19/03 at 11:19am
I live in the Tampa area and it was 28 degrees when I woke up this morning! I have a bubbling stew on the stove - large chunks of pork and dark meat chicken with marsala, cremini, pearl onions (and later will add carrots).

We're gearing up for the big game here - 30 minutes to go! It will probably be pretty cold in Philly - but let me tell you, Florida or not - it was cold here today. Nothing warms the soul or the belly like a long-cooked stew.
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post #15 of 31
1/19/03 at 11:19am
:D Funny Cape Chef I have just made some , I took a dish and I came here to have it in the Cafe

No, I usually make the simple variation with water.
1 cup trahana 5 cups water + milk ( about half cup) some salt there it is.

You know, I am not so fond of the american habit of using broths in making soups.Rarely in Greece we make trahana soup with chicken broth:)
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post #16 of 31
1/19/03 at 12:25pm
I'ts unseasonably warm. It's been that way all fall and winter and no snow in sight. TROUBLE.

So I fired up the smoker today and am doing pork ribs. Haven't decided on sides yet. Good thing it's slow cookin'.

Phil
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post #17 of 31
1/20/03 at 5:05pm
Phatch, where are you? HAWAII??

28 in Tampa, !? Wow, ok , I feel a little for you Chiff, I had no idea. I was just there in November, loving the heat!

Athenaeus, that sounds really good. My GF lived in Greece for a couple of years, but I don't think she's had that. I like the simplicity of it. Sorry for being lazy and not looking it up myself, but this is served hot? This is like couscous with addition of sour milk?
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post #18 of 31
1/20/03 at 6:21pm
I'm in Salt Lake City. We should be having temperatures in the 20s for the high, but we're getting El Nino weather.

Phil
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post #19 of 31
1/20/03 at 6:34pm
Well, duh, I did see your photos, I should have known.
Nice snow there.:)
I have family in Flagstaff, AZ and was in Canyon de Chelly 2 years ago for New Year's. Nice dry cold, lite wind:)
Mmm smoked pork ribs, tell me more... Believe it or not, I just recently had my first real taste of true BBQ at some joint in Florida. I thought I knew enough about it, having travelled through the south to New Orleans many times. But this was beyond.....made me realize the home cooked bbq is probably always better.
The Raiders will win.

BTW, Koko, I said I only have ONE bottle of the '70 and can't imagine what occasion I would open it unless Panini made me a wedding cake. I DO have lots of the '91 which is VERY good as well, lookit up, and maybe we could trade goods!:)
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post #20 of 31
1/20/03 at 6:45pm
KOKO, Oh pr@###$$%%^^&&**thpt!!??

Just remembered I was unemployed. How much do you want to buy it for? On eBay?;)
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post #21 of 31
1/21/03 at 6:13pm
Thread Starter 
Phoebe,

I wish we could send eachother a bit of our temps to balance things out.

All I can say is "Man it's cold outside" I love barley based soups,the barley add a gentle silkiness to the whole concoction.

Phoebe, If you want to try something a bit different,toast your barley first until it's nutty brown. adds a nice flavor and texture suprise.
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post #22 of 31
1/22/03 at 7:42am
Hi CC,

Sorry I can't bottle our weather here for you. The L.A. Times had a picture of some chilly East-Coasters on the front page today, all bundled up with frosty eyelashes. Some soup might help!

I love the idea of toasting the barley first. Do you just spread some out on a cookie sheet in the oven or toast them in a skillet?
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post #23 of 31
1/23/03 at 9:19am
For all the problems that this state has(CA) one good thing is the weather. When the temp falls to 65* we are all pulling out our winter coats brrr... Of course the weather was one reason I left the east coast as soon as I could hated the stuff.
Anyway, when the temps go way down I make a big pot of stew and and batch of cornbread. That seems to do the trick.:D :D :D
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post #24 of 31
1/23/03 at 2:57pm
I just got in 60 lamb shanks....cooking for a party this Sat....oh man it hasn't made it to 10* yet today and it is REALLY cold, so cold I bought socks at the store on my way to PC.
I toast barley on a cookie sheet

Went to The Hill today and hit Volpi's, got some interesting reduced cream from Italy, Porcini tortolini, Langangia, Italian ham,
parmesan.....ummmm I got pancetta in the fridge. I think it's gonna be a creamy porky shroomy kinda evening with a Shiraz.
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post #25 of 31
1/23/03 at 4:13pm
You think you're cold? It's been -35°C for the last few days here.


I’m hibernating until it gets warmer...
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post #26 of 31
1/24/03 at 3:37pm
I personally like toasting barley and all grains in an iron skillet, or just any old big pan. You have a little more control than in an oven, just constantly move the grain and you get a nice even "toast." I do this with barley, cous cous, quinoa, millet, etc.

Phobe, if you don't be carefull, us east coasters might toast you for being too warm. :) Being from the Bay Area myself, we don't look too kindly upon you water hoggin', sun-drenched southerners:) No wonder the Raiders moved back to Oakland!:D
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post #27 of 31
1/25/03 at 2:39pm
Ooooooh, I'm shaking in my boots. :eek: :p Bay Area!!!! And we all thought you were pure Brooklyn. Where did that swagger come from, a catalogue? :smoking: :D
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post #28 of 31
1/25/03 at 2:44pm
Thread Starter 
:lol: :lol: :lol: :crazy: :crazy: :crazy:
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post #29 of 31
1/25/03 at 4:26pm
HEYYY!!!!:cry:Thtop that!

Ya better watch it there miss, before I shred yer books, feedim to you and THEN to the Lutefisk!

:look:

I'M not the one buying my cookware from Williams and Sonoma:D

And here in Brooklyn, we toast things just to keep warm! Not for some pendantic pleasure. AND I only moved to Brooklyn to keep away from the shopping malls and celebrity theives. Before that I lived in the East Village for 10 years where we ate Lost Angelonas for literary slam breakfasts!:D :D ;)

I can't WAIT to move back to CA just so I can help deep-six you Puck Express patrons once and for all!!!!!!

CC, WHAT are YOU laughing about?!! This person is from LA!!??
This is worse than say, Long/Staten Island!!??

'nuff said:chef:
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post #30 of 31
1/26/03 at 2:02pm
Thread Starter 
Phoebe,

I like to toast my barley on a sheet pan in the oven on a pretty low temp.This helps to really allow the starch to release it's sugers and toast.

I see Shroom snuck that in to ;)

It's just starting to snow here so I got vegetarian chili and pesto stuffed mushrooms for my little vegetarians and some smoking hot wings for me ;) (football ya know)

Hey Chefx1.......take it easy man.this is a family site.

Peace rules!
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