Some Favorite Winter Cookbooks
With the windchill it felt like -13°, so today seemed like a perfect time to drink ginger tea and write about some of my favorite winter cookbooks. The cookbooks that inspire the braised meats, roasted root vegetables, soups and stews, and warming spiced beverages that convince me that I’m cozy, not miserable. Here are eight of my favorite books for winter cooking.
Sunday Suppers at Lucques
Sunday Suppers at Lucques isn’t strictly a winter cookbook but is arranged by season, with the winter section featuring ingredients like cauliflower, blood oranges, and parsnips. Suzanne Goin’s recipes are often composed of several simple sub-recipes, so you can choose to make all or only some of the parts. Recipes are also arranged by menu, with a salad or appetizer, two mains, and a dessert, so you can also make the entire menu if you like. Persimmon and Pomegranate Salad with Arugula and Hazelnuts; Braised Beef Short Ribs with Potato Puree, Swiss Chard, and Horseradish Cream; Kabocha Squash and Fennel Soup with Creme Fraiche and Candied Pumpkin Seeds; and Toasted Pain d’Epice with Kumquat Marmalade Butter all sound excellent, don’t you think?
Winter Drinks
Hot toddies, milk punches, spiced drinks flavored with herbal amari, wassail, and more to warm you up when it’s cold outside. Mix up a Hot Buttered Rum, Rosemary Gin and Tonic, Winter Pimm’s Cup, Averna Stout Flip, Jalisco Hot Chocolate, or Chartreuse Toddy, and save yourself the frigid walk to your neighborhood bar when the temperatures drop to below freezing!
The Christmas Chronicles
I LOVE Christmas and I love Nigel Slater, so I think you know what I think of this book. It’s only been published in a UK edition, which means that all of the measurements are in grams and liters, but don’t let that stop you from reading it and attempting the recipes. As usual, Nigel Slater’s writing is gorgeous and insightful and witty, and he fills this book with all kinds of interesting holiday knowledge tidbits, as well as recipes for panettone, Christmas pudding, and more.
Cold Weather Cooking
Cold Weather Cooking is my go-to book for 1980’s-style “fancy” comfort food. The authors seemed to have missed the low-fat mania of that time period, because these recipes do not hold back on the butter and they are AWESOME. The book is organized chrono-logically, starting with the end of summer and going all the way through early spring. Recipes like Rutabagas Anna (with a cup of duck fat, bacon fat, or butter), Roast Pheasant with Champagne Cabbage and Noodles, Winter Pot Roast, Cornbread Stuffing with Linguica and Kale, Tangerine Rye Rolls, and Chocolate Chestnut Mousse Cake are among the warming offerings here.
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