A Big Bowl Of Hot

This is the weather for something hot and satisfying.Nothing beats a big bowl of anything steamy and tasty.It'll not only thaw you out but provides comfort for the soul.Best of all it's easy to create them,a boon after some heavy duty shoveling and sledding. You can start a cold winter's day off with a smoking bowl of hot cereal.Oatmeal is not only delicious but high in fiber.Add some cinnamon or maple syrup for flavor.Farina is another great start on a frigid January morning.You can have it with milk or even cream .The best bet for both is adding dried blueberries or cranberries for extra flavor and nutrition.For lunch think about a hearty soup. Minestrone is one of the easiest and creative to make.You could start with a rich beef broth and add tomatoes , onions and celery.For true heartiness ,think about adding beef or hamburger along with elbow macaroni.You can also sub in a variety of beans for the meat.Chowders are another sustainable choice.You can use canned corn to make a rich corn chowder.Like minestrone ,it's pretty easy to make up.With any homemade soup it pays to make big batches so you can freeze it and cook them when another storm comes. Luckily a snow day off means time in the kitchen.You can create some big bowls of chili and stews.Chili is one of the easiest dinners and even lunches to make.Just mix up beans tomato sauce along with onion and garlic to create some to definitely take the chill away.Chili powder is a must but you can make it as mild or as hot as you'd like.Crackers are a nice side but it definitely tastes better over polenta or rice.If you want something milder but still as good then think about making goulash.This is a classic Hungarian dish that has a mélange of beef chuck ,onions and tomato paste.Paprika is liberally sprinkled in to give it a sweet heat.It's usually served over egg noddles but some American goulash recipes have it over macaroni.For sheer simplicity try stew. It's an easy blend of carrots, and onions with either beef ,chicken or lamb.If you're feeling ambitious you can also make simple flour dumplings to absorb the gravy. A big bowl of hot is one of your best defenses during this bone chilling time.Start or end your day with one to feel toasty. It's better than any blanket or scarf!

Spaetzle German Comfort Food

Spaetzles are every German or German American's go to comfort food. These versatile noodles can accompany everything from string beans to sauerkraut, from goulash to hoxen . They're even good on their own with melted butter. Anyway you have them is wunderbar- the perfect comfort food for a chilly fall day.

Spaetzle comes from the Southern German or Swabian word spatz for sparrow. The Swabians add "le" to indicated the diminutive and so the name translates into "little sparrow".Spaetzles been around since medieval times and the first recipe was written down during the 1725. It's also big in the Tyrol, along with, Alsace Lorraine, in France, Austria and Switzerland. The dough is easy to make. It consists of simply eggs flour ,water and a sprinkle for salt. The dough is then pushed through a colander and cut into two inch pieces.They are boiled like pasta is however use just plain water instead of salted.You can also buy spaetzles premade as well.

The noodles are good with almost anything. They compliment and take the bite out of sauerkraut, while being perfect for goulash , They absorb the gravy and mellow the dish's spicy taste. They are also good next to hoxen, roasted pork shoulder. Every Swabian family has their own spin on them. Mine likes them with green beans in a butter sauce. I also like them just plain with melted butter as a main meal. I have cousins who prefer them with grated cheese on top, similar to pasta. Some other Germans have them covered with just fried onions,or with only lentils or in a stew.

Spaetzles are the perfect cool weather dish. They are a great comfort food with other specialties or on their own. Their hearty homemade flavor , keeps the chill at bay.

Get Stewed

November’s chilly days call for a nice stew. It’s the perfect and the easiest meal to make for these cold days. You can add as much or a s little as you want. It can be chicken, beef, fish lamb or even vegetarian. Stew is a perfect dish to customize and make your own.

Stew has been around for millenniums. It was first mentioned in ancient Rome‘s by Apicius and or Taillevent wrote about ragouts in his Le Viander cookbook. The English a nd Irish have been making hearty lamb and mutton stews for centuries. These recipes were brought to America where colonists enjoyed Brunswick stew. This was a robust mix of squirrel, rabbit ,pork and beef along with corn, tomatoes and onions. Today the squirrel is omitted but okra and peas are added in for extra flavor.

Today’s stews are just as interesting to whip up. What’s even better is that you can make it in the morning and pop in into a slow cooker for your evening meal . By the time you come home from work, voila - a nice hot dinner! You can vary your stews with red wine for a more French taste or paprika for a Hungarian goulash vibe. Also you can top with a quick Bisquick crust or make dumplings to add to the stew’s richness. If you feel your stew is too ‘thin” then add some barley to thicken it.. Another good thing is that stew is reheatable and makes for good leftovers as well.

This is the perfect season to create a hearty stew. You can use tried and true recipes such as Brunswick or your own creation to come up with a rich and flavorful dinner. Either way a hearty , hot stew is the best way to chase away November’s chills and frosts.