2 Cozy Cold Weather Meals

The EASIEST chili + a Cassoulet-ish bake

We had a very meat heavy week. Maybe it’s the chilly weather, but I was in the mood to cook things in a big pot low and slow. So many things to say about this kind of cooking. Like how I love my heavy Le Creuset enamel cookware pieces and something simmering in them on the stove for hours is really comforting to me. That brings me to the subject of slow cookers. If this sounds tone deaf or pretentious, I apologize but they really suck the soul out of cooking. I just don’t understand how you can cook something like chili or braised meats in them, don’t you lose all the activity of the meat browning and the deglazing of the pan and the experience of stirring and smelling and the ebbs and flows of heat and, and… I’ll never get them. I hear they have ones now that have browning or sautéing functions but I don’t buy that it can replace that magic that happens in the bottom of a heavy dutch oven. I realize cooking might not be as sacred to everyone as it is to me, but give it a little thought. 

Chili and all the fixings

Ok, stepping down off my high horse… In honor of Halloween we had a big pot of chili with all of the fixings. One of my favorite meals that I make probably only once a year. For me the “fixings” are homemade cornbread, sour cream, shredded cheddar (shredded yourself, not the bag), chopped red onion, chopped cilantro and Trader Joes’s organic version of Fritos. YUM. My recipe for chili is so simple and I call it Stupid Easy Chili. There’s a hack in there that makes it really quick and painless to pull together. I buy all but 1 ingredient at Trader Joes. I’m not a huge fan of buying meat from TJs. Yes, they have grass fed beef but I’m not sold on it. I want to know how long it’s been in that perfectly square plastic block. Since we don’t eat massive amounts of meat, I’m more inclined to buy something even more high quality, like from the farmers market and keep it in the freezer. But this recipe is a slamdunk for super good chili. And if you’re a paid subscriber it will hit your inbox later today. PERFECT for this weekend. OH! And then the night after Halloween I baked Yukon Gold potatoes and topped them with the little bit of leftover chili plus all the fixings - an awesome meal in itself! So yeah, subscribe for this recipe, you won’t regret it. 

Cassoulet-ish Plan

The next big meal we had was what I’m going to call Cassoulet-ish. Cassoulet is a really traditional French bean stew/bake thing that is the result of some farmer having a lot of leftover bits of meat like duck, sausage and pork and his wife stretching it all out for their big hungry family by baking it with beans and veggies. Like so many dishes we love, it started out as peasant food and now Bon Appetit and NYT cooking have whole guides on the thing. My version this week wasn't super tradition hence the “ish” part. But in the spirit of the dish, it was an evolution of things I had. I needed 2 cups pf black eyed peas for a recipe I was developing for a client. I could have bought canned, but I found some beautiful Rancho Gordo dry Yellow Eyed Peas at a local shop. So the wheels turned and my mind went “ Ok, let me cook a big pot of beans from dry. I’ll cook some cubed pork shoulder in there for flavor and it will cook down at the same time as the beans getting all shreddy and tender. I’ll pull out 2 cups of beans and then the remaining beans plus the pork shoulder… What could I do? Well I have a duck confit leg from D'artagnan needing to be used in the fridge…. Cassoulet!” White beans are traditional in Cassoulet but I knew these Yellow Eyed Peas would be fine. So here’s the loose plan… 

1. Cook a big pot of white beans with cubed pork shoulder in there. 

2. Buy (or don’t) a duck confit leg. You could totally buy chicken legs, season them, brown them in the bottom of the pan, then lay them skin side up on top of the cassoulet before you baked and they would cook all the way through, yum. 

3. Sauté onion, garlic, carrot, celery, herbs, tomato paste and splash of wine until soft. 

4. Either in the big pan you sautéed veggie in or in a big baking dish, combine the beans, pork, some kind of stock to moisten everything, and either shredded duck confit OR lay the chicken legs on top. 

5. Make a buttery breadcrumb topping: Combine melted butter, breadcrumbs and some chopped parsley. Sprinkle that on top of the whole thing. 

6. Bake it until the breadcrumbs are golden and everything is kind of “happy together”. If you were using the chicken legs you’d want to at least go for 35-40 minutes so you ensure those are cooked well and crisp. 

7. I mean.. Can’t you smell that already?

This Coming Weekend’s Cooking Plan:

We’re going to our lake house for the weekend, so this morning as I lay in the dark at 6am, I was planning our food for the 2 days. That’s how prominent the thoughts on what we’re going to eat are. Saturday night will be our big dinner then we’ll eat the leftovers on Sunday. And I went through all the items I already have that could make the framework of the meal. I texted my husband this morning from the Whole Foods parking lot, “Fried Chicken Thigh Sandwiches with Coleslaw OR Sunday (eaten on Saturday) Sauce with Braised Pork Shoulder & Meatballs served with Pasta” His response actually surprised me, he chose the pasta. But my thinking on the chicken was that I had the following needing to be used: a bottle of buttermilk, fry oil from those doughnuts last week, and half a head of cabbage. The Sunday Sauce: I held back and froze some cubes of raw pork shoulder from the cassoulet, I have canned San Marzano tomatoes, a hunk of parm, half a bunch of parsley,  old bread to soak in milk for the meatballs, and I bought a bag of really good imported dried pasta last week. I’m going to cook the sauce today (simmering in a heavy Dutch oven haha) , because the real secret ingredient to amazing braises is to make them the day before. And then I can enjoy my day at the lake. 

Mentioned doughnut recipe: Nutella Stuffed Bomboloni on The Kitchn.com

What I’m Loving This Week:

1. Pasta by Missy Robbins and Talia Baiocchi: WOW. A cookbook hasn't spoken to my soul like this in a long time. A fat bible of all things fresh pasta but more importantly of regional Italian sauces. And I mean REGIONAL and TRADITIONAL. None of this adding cream to Carbonara bullshit I see around. HAH I sound like my favorite person to hate on: Stanley Tucci. It’s visually stunning, the recipes are real deal and the cover design fits with the aesthetic of my home which is always a plus. This is a good $25 to spend. I read it before bed last night. 

2. Diwali: The Hindu holiday Diwali was yesterday. In previous years I had heard the name and knew of it, but not much about it. This year we went to Diwali festival in our town last week and Dean’s teacher at school, who I’ve grown close to over our shared love of cooking, is Hindu and has educated me on the significance and the food. It’s beautiful! On par with the level of significance of Christmas to Catholics/Christians, Diwali is all about ringing in the new year with a clean mind (and home!), being with family, light and HUGE meals. The colors surrounding the tradition are gorgeous too - Magentas, bright oranges and yellows. Last night she sent home part of her Diwali feast for us and you can imagine how happy all three of us were. 

3. Juicing: We’re still going strong on our juice kick. It’s now a must with all the chili, braised meats and pasta. The combo I’m loving this week: lemon, grapefruit, ginger, collard greens, green cabbage, celery & apple. Little Known Fact: If you have stomach issues, ulcers (of which I have had)  or  heartburn, cabbage juice, drank everyday for 2 weeks, can literally heal the lining of your stomach-  it’s powerful medicine. 

I’m still working on a non-alcoholic holiday drinks edition for you all. That’s what’s floating around in my brain. Until next week XO Liv