‘In Winter’s Kitchen’: Eating local despite harsh conditions

“In Winter’s Kitchen,” by cookbook author Beth Dooley, had me at the title.

There have been a few cookbooks that have caught my attention recently that work to resolve the issue of cooking and eating locally sourced foods during winter’s harsh growing season. Those of us who live in the Pacific Northwest are fortunate to have access to a variety of fresh local foods mostly year-round. We have a relatively long growing season, and truly harsh winters — when coaxing good food from the earth seems impossible — are rare.

I’ve just started digging into Dooley’s book, but I am already enjoying its candid pace. Her writing is a fluent read, one with a cadence that pulls you into her story of relocation from New Jersey to Minnesota and the northern heartland of the United States, home to some of our harshest winters.

Dooley is a James Beard award nominee and author of six cookbooks. Her story of embracing the sparse beauty of winter’s food is engaging. Centered around one locally sourced Thanksgiving meal, Dooley separates her chapters into the meal’s various components — apples, wheat, potatoes, beans and carrots, giving each their due attention, and showing how local eating can be delicious eating, even during a harsh heartland winter.

I look forward to sampling the recipes shared at the book’s end. Dooley’s recipes made me hungry to read more, and for this year’s Thanksgiving meal full of the Northwest’s winter bounty.

“In Winter’s Kitchen” is available at milkweed.org or Amazon.com. It’s definitely worth grabbing a copy or getting an early hold on it at your local library.

Old fashioned chestnut stuffing

• 1 pound chestnuts, roasted and peeled*
• 6 slices slightly stale bread (whole wheat, white, baguette) cut into 1/2-inch pieces.
• 2 chopped onions
• 2 chopped celery sticks
• 6 tablespoons chopped herbs (use a mix of sage, thyme, and parsley)
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) of melted butter
• 1/4 cup heavy cream or more as needed
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

My grandmother never used recipes and so neither do I when making this dish. Follow the simple guidelines below to create your own variation, using the bread, herbs and spices you like best. Do not use olive bread or herb bread, in this, the flavors are overwhelming. If the bread isn’t not stale, pop it in a low oven for a few minutes to dry it slightly before beginning. This recipe is easier to follow if you have everything organized and set out before you begin.

Toss everything except the stock, butter and cream into a large bowl. Toss in the stock, then the butter, tossing to coat all of the ingredients. Then add enough cream to make a moist but not wet stuffing.

Generously butter a three-quart baking dish and fill loosely with the stuffing (do not pack it in). Cover the dish with buttered foil and bake for about 20 minutes.

Remove the foil, baste with the turkey juices and continue baking until the top is crusty brown, another 5 to 10 minutes.

To roast chestnuts: With a small paring knife, score the chestnuts by making an X on the flat of the nut. Then place on a baking sheet and set in the oven set to 350 degrees. Or, put the nuts at the edge of a fire, and roast until the shells pull back. When the nuts are cool enough to handle, peel off the shells, being careful to remove the dark brown pith that covers the nuts as well.

Makes 8 servings.

Golden cornbread

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 cup fresh cornmeal
• 3/4 cup flour (either all-purpose or a mix of whole wheat and all-purpose)
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt.
• 11/2 cups buttermilk
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons honey

If you’re in possession of those old-fashioned cast iron corn stick pans by all means use it. A cast iron skillet works nicely as well.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Put the butter into a 8 to 10 inch or divide to put into 12 corn stick or muffin pans and place in the oven to melt. Remove and then pour most of the excess butter into a medium mixing bowl. (This way, the pan is greased while you’re melting the butter.)

In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. In the bowl with the melted butter, whisk together the buttermilk, eggs and honey. Fold the milk-egg mix into the cornmeal and stir lightly until just smooth.

Pour the batter into the buttered skillet or the prepared pans and place in the oven. Bake until lightly browned and springy when touched, about 15 minutes for the corn sticks and muffins and 25 minutes if using the large pan. Serve warm.

Makes 8 to 12 servings.

— Recipes courtesy Milkweed Editions

Erin Pride is a home cook who loves cookbooks and writes about them on her blog, Edible Shelf. For more on the specific recipes Erin tested, visit her website, edibleshelf.com. Follow Erin on Twitter and Instagram @edibleshelf.