I made a vow to myself last fall: No whining on the blog about the weather this winter. Besides the fact that itโs, uh, whining, professionally speaking itโs just lazy โ certainly there are more interesting angles for writing about beef stew than Baby itโs Cold Outside. (Though I have to say, that was a pretty good postโฆand a pretty great recipe.) Well, anyway, as anyone who lives in the Northeast knows, my vow has been extremely easy to keep: We celebrated Christmas on a 70-degree day; the girls didnโt break out their parkas until January 1; and Saturday is the first time this winter that we are expecting some real snow.
I canโt even believe itโs winter-hating me saying this, but I cannot wait.
Why? Itโs almost Pavlovian. When I hear the phrase โexpecting up to a foot,โ I immediately think โItโs a good day for a project.โ
As in a kitchen project. As in the opposite of the make-it-to-get-it-doneย kind of cooking mindset that weโre locked into all week. Anyone who has read Dinner: The Playbookย might recognize these as recipes that Keep The Spark Alive. Some examples:
A zillion-ingredientย Chicken Mole
Bon Appetitโs Shoyu Ramen
Andy Rickerโsย Real Deal Pad Thai
Giuliano Bugialliโs luscious-but-laboriousย Minestrone
Maya Kamalโs Chicken with Green Chilies and Tamarind
Thereโs also homemade sushi, pictured way up top (exact instructions coming soon to a blog near you), and Homemade Fettuccini with Leeks and Bacon, which you can find on page 228 ofย Dinner: A Love Story.
But hereโs the thing, there has been a lot of snow in the past few years, which means this particular rotation in my house is threatening to run its course. And so I ask: What about you? Have you guys had any triumphs in the Project Cooking category? Iโd love to hear about them โ preferably in time to shop before the storm hits. The fussier, the fancier, the more complicated the better. Thanks in advance and stay warm!
This soup, with crusty bread and a really great green salad: http://seattlest.com/2005/11/22/seattlest_gets_jealous_makes_soup.php
Happy Weekend!
Momofuku ramen! The recipe makes so much broth that you will have quick ramen dinners for the rest of the winter.
Thomasina Miers has an amazing recipe for twice cooked Tamarind pork. First you boil it, in a crazy marinade stock thing, then it dries out in the fridge overnight to be sure of crackling. Next day it gets roasted and is hands down one of the best fiddly recipes!
That and Conish saffron buns.
My cooking project triumph is a classic: Julia Childโs boeuf bourgignon. My question to you is how did the Bo Ssam turn out? I think a great idea for a post is to report on how tackling a recipe like that turns out โin real lifeโโฆ Thanks!
I always throw a bag of dried beans in a pot to simmer. Thatโs easy. I also tried pierogi from a Jamie Oliver recipe. Just stock up on sour cream!
Iโm a week late with my commentโฆ anyway, my go-to recipe when i have time to cook would be pumpkin lasagna. Think: homemade pasta from scratch, roasted pumpkin, bechamel/cheese sauce from scratch (iโm sure you do that all the time, but it is a big thing for me), chopped and roasted hazelnuts (more work if you have a hazelnut tree in the garden and have to crack the nuts as well), throw it all together and in the oven it goes. Delicious, warm, comfort food. And it would keep you busy for some time, and the kids can help (even my kids, 3yo and 4,5yo love to โhelpโ, think eating hazelnuts and turning the handle on the pasta machine). Good luck, and i see there are plenty of new ideas for you here.
I used to sit at the kitchen counter and watch my grandfather make pirogi from scratch. My family fills them with cheese, prune, and cabbage. I have to go to a special polish store in town to buy the proper cheese, then it is several hours of work making all the fillings, making the dough, and lastly making the pirogi themselves. 15 yr old me frantically wrote the recipe on a post- it note and now 22 years later I still refuse to use anything but the recipe on the post-it.