Winter

Sensible and practical—the quintessential qualities of a colonial American dish. Pot roasts hold up extraordinarily well to a long cooking period—perfect for preparing during long days of hard work.

This dish pays homage to the many German immigrants that have made their homes in the Midwest and the northern states over the last two hundred years. While fine German bratwurst is to die for, any high-quality sausage will taste wonderful in this hearty dish.

At certain times of the year, parts of Northern California’s Sonoma County sprout masses of wild mushrooms, and at one time apple orchards covered many of the hills now blanketed with vineyards. Gone today are many of those venerable old trees, but remnants of some orchards remain, as does the heritage that inspired this savory slow-cooked meal.

Hearty winter root vegetables take well to long hours in the slow cooker. Turnips or rutabagas can be substituted for the parsnips in this easy slow-cooker classic. For a richer flavor, treat yourself to a bit of cream.

Apples were one of the first tree crops to be planted in America and were originally used to make hard cider. The flavor of this soup is predominantly of squash with just a hint of apple for extra sweetness and a touch of acidity.

Tillamook cheddar cheese is made by a farmer-owned cooperative in Tillamook County, Oregon, that was founded in 1909 by dairy farmers to establish quality control over their product. Today the Tillamook co-op ownership is 150 families strong. And the Portland-based Oregon Brewers Guild, which boasts that Oregon is home to more microbreweries per person than just about anyplace on earth, currently has forty-one small, independent brewing members scattered throughout the state. I can think of fewer toothsome marriages than that of a good, sharp cheddar and a full-flavored beer.

White chili is usually made with white beans and fresh green chiles rather than the usual red or pink beans and dried red chiles. The bit of cream gives it a very rich mouthfeel. White chili is a wonderful change of pace on a cold winter evening by the fire.

Virginia historians claim that the original Brunswick Stew was created in Brunswick County, Virginia, in 1828 by a camp cook for a member of the Virginia State Legislature. The original recipe called for squirrel rather than chicken, but most Yankees nowadays pass on the squirrel.

Posole is both an ingredient and a dish. The ingredient is dried field corn soaked in lye or wood ashes in order to loosen the thick skin and make it easier to remove the kernel. It is the primary ingredient in the dish posole, which is a Mexican and southwestern favorite for Christmas Eve and New Year’s Day. Posole can be made with either red or green chiles. Canned kernels, known as hominy, can be used, but dried posole stands up the best in the slow cooker. Serve with warm, fresh corn tortillas.

The sweet potatoes in this comforting soup need nothing more than traditional Southwestern spices and a topping of jalapeños and toasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds).

I love pumpkin in just about any form, but put it in a cake with cream cheese frosting, and there’s no holding me back. This cake is perfect to bring to a hang-out night with your friends or for you and your roomies to munch on for dessert. Or breakfast! Hey, pumpkin is a fruit and cake has grain and dairy products . . . sounds like breakfast to me.

This is a superb date dish because all of the prep can be done and the mess cleaned up long before your date arrives. Then just bake and serve. We use pork tenderloin because it is all dark meat and it stays moist even if it’s a little overcooked. With this classic combination of pork, apples, and sweet potatoes, even the most inexperienced cook can look like a pro.

My mom calls this chili, but my dad insists it’s Mexican spaghetti. I don’t care what they call it; anything that’s super simple, delicious, and makes a lot is a winner in my book. As an added bonus, the ingredients are cheap and it can be made up to a day ahead and reheated. The green chile cornbread goes perfectly with the chili, but if you prefer you can leave out the chiles or heat it up with a finely diced jalapeño.

Homemade chicken soup is easy to make and tastes so much better than the stuff you get in a can that it’s worth the extra time it takes. I use a whole chicken to make the broth, but only put the dark meat in the soup. You can use the white meat to make Chicken Salad Pitas or Barbecue Chicken Pita Pizzas and save yourself the step of cooking the chicken.

Beets are another one of those things that sounded gross so I wouldn’t try them. By now you know the next line . . . once I tried them I really liked them. They are sweeter than most vegetables, which is fine by me. This salad can be eaten as a side dish, but with the potatoes and eggs, it’s filling enough to make a meal of it.

This is based on a French dish popular during the cold winter months. They use Reblochon, a super delicious stinky cheese, but since it’s hard to find here (and expensive), I used Swiss instead. This is so delicious that I cut it into quarters as soon as it comes out of the oven to avoid the fights over who got more. (And I’m not kidding about that.)

This chili is so tasty that your carnivore friends may not even notice it doesn’t have meat. It makes a lot, so if you have leftovers, freeze individual portions in resealable bags. For a quick meal, just nuke one and eat it my favorite way: poured over a baked potato.

Meatloaf is one of my dad’s self-professed specialties. He will spend an hour putting it together, and I swear he adds a pinch of just about every spice in the cabinet. Here we have narrowed down the list substantially, but it is still every bit as good as his. Sorry Dad.

Chicken and dumplings is a great cold-weather dish. When we lived in the Midwest, we would always have this after a day of sledding or building snow forts, but when we moved to Arizona this tradition became a problem. Now when I want chicken and dumplings, I turn down the air conditioning, close the blinds, and pretend it’s snowing outside (if I don’t close the blinds, the palm trees kind of ruin the effect).

It’s easy to forget that citrus fruits do have a specific season, since they seem abundant all year round. The major exception is tangerines, which are rarely seen except during the winter. My favorite varieties for making this sorbet are the oddly shaped tangelos, whose juice is mischievously tart, and the mottled honey tangerines, whose coarse, funky exterior belies the bright-colored and exceptionally sweet juice within.