I keep trying to like winter. As a Wisconsin native, I’m supposed to laugh in the face of bitter temperatures and dagger-like winds. I’m supposed to delight in cross-country skiing, treasure the holidays, and be invigorated by a good snowball fight. Each year I give winter the old college try, but strive as I might, the most I’ve been able to muster is ambivalence.
Except in the kitchen. It’s at the stove where I am unequivocally in love with winter.
Whenever anyone asks me, “What are your favorite foods to prepare?” slow-cooked, cold-weather dishes leap to mind. Beef stew, gumbo, garlic soup, choucroute—these are the warming, flavor-layered, greater-than-the-sum-of-their-parts concoctions that satisfy my inner cook. It may be all harsh force and sharp angles outside, but inside I am smoothing the rough edges off root vegetables, coaxing tough meat cuts into tenderness and gently teaching garlic how to behave.
I have a great admiration for winter vegetables. Take celeriac: Beneath that knobby, dusty armor lies a warrior ingredient. It makes a righteous salad when cut into slivers and napped with mustard dressing. It withstands lengthy simmering to add its nut-and-celery depth to stews.
And celeriac, boiled with Yukon Golds, turns mashed potatoes into a noble dish.
Other root crops—beets, carrots, turnips, sweet potatoes—are heroes of the winter table, too. Undemanding, they can be steamed and tossed with butter and citrus zest. They bake under a blanket of cheese sauce and breadcrumbs. They do their best work, perhaps, when slicked with olive oil, given a light snowfall of salt and oven-roasted.
Some Northern crops don’t even hit their stride until the mercury drops low. Parsnips sweeten, Brussels sprouts mellow and kale is pacified after the first frost. In fact, many local foods come into their own during winter—think dried beans, cured hickory nuts and wild rice. And who can deny the delayed pleasures of last summer’s frozen tomato sauce, autumn’s stored-over apples, or the transplanted garden herbs that flourish in pots in a south-facing window?
Not me. I love winter...cooking.
Visit our Eat Seasonal page to find out what foods are in season right now. We hope you will savor these delicious winter recipes by Terese Allen:
Garlic Soup with Ham, Poached Egg and Rosemary Croutons
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