Winter

I’ve spent many a summer night enjoying an ice cream cone, flanked by Mexican and Filipino families, at Mitchell’s Ice Cream in San Francisco’s Mission District. This ice cream is inspired by ube, the sweet potato ice cream they serve up in addition to all the other exotic flavors they offer. Mitchell’s is so popular that the place is just as packed when the inevitable summer fog rolls in and chills things down as it is when the sun is shining. There’s always a line. But don’t think for a minute that the flavor of this ice cream is too adventurous. Imagine a nice slab of spiced pumpkin pie; this ice cream delivers that classic flavor in one neat scoop of ice cream. The best sweet potatoes to use are a vivid, electric orange. I try to find the brightest orange ones when shopping. Don’t tell, but sometimes I scrape a bit of the skin off one, just to check.

One of the common ways to enjoy Korean dumplings is in a fragrant beef stock. A hot bowl of mandu guk is extra satisfying on a cold winter’s day. It’s easy to assemble if you’ve got frozen mandu and stock on hand. Any dumpling filling will do, but meat dumplings are generally preferred. For fun, you could mix different kinds or even make them out of different colored doughs (see page 23). The shape of choice for Korean dumpling soup is the big hug, though you can shape your dumplings anyway you’d like. The stock imbues the wrapper with its flavors and also thickens a tiny bit from the starches in the dough. For Korean New Year celebrations, chewy slices of dense rice cakes called duk are added to the stock for bowls of duk mandu guk.

Apples and walnuts ripen at about the same time, and are often grown in the same region. Pair them with a crusty, rustic loaf of bread, some spices, milk, and eggs, and you’ve got a perfect dessert for a fall afternoon. Puddings and bread puddings are particularly easy to make in a slow cooker, and the results are nearly always perfect.

Beans are as much a staple in Tuscany as they are in rural regions anyplace else in the world. Traditionally cooked in an earthenware pot called a fagioliera, this simple bean dish works beautifully in a slow cooker insert. Embellish it with fresh vegetables such as tomatoes or summer squash if you like, then serve with a crusty loaf of French bread and a green salad. Choosing good-quality salt and olive oil will help elevate the dish to something special.

This sauce bridges two seasons—it marries the citrus fruit of winter and spring’s rhubarb. Its delicate color and bright flavor makes it the ideal accompaniment to Ricotta Cheesecake with Orange and Aniseed (page 55).

With the addition of sprightly tangerine juice, this twist on traditional butterscotch sauce goes very well drizzled over Buckwheat Cake (page 44) paired with orange or tangerine sections instead of the cider-poached apples, or spooned over Pâte à Choux Puffs (page 232) filled with Caramel Ice Cream (page 144) and topped with toasted or candied nuts.

Pretty much everyone has a neighbor or friend (kind of a June Cleaver type) who loves to cook and also somehow manages to be a CEO and raise three Rhodes scholars while spending three hours a day (minimum) in the kitchen. This is the recipe you give that person when she says, “Oh, I’d so like to make something for you.” This is a labor of love, and while not quite as physically intensive as, say, coal mining, it takes a bit of effort. But it’s worth it, because the recipe is big enough to be made in ramekins so it can serve as six little meals, and it stores well, too.

To the uninitiated, winter squash can be a bamboozling vegetable. Sure, it tastes delicious, but being so hard and often so funny-looking, it’s a bit intimidating whole. The first time I got one home, I felt like I was working with a tree stump. How was I going to get to all of that delicious flesh in the middle? Machete? Chainsaw? Actually, a good sharp chef’s knife is all you need, and if you don’t want to go there, most supermarkets now sell precut squash. I don’t mind the work, because of the wonderful reward—a succulent, sweet, yum-alicious treasure that, when pureed and roasted, tastes like candy. Really! If you’ve ever worked with a pumpkin, taking on squash isn’t all that different. Only there’s no trick here, just treat. (Personally, I’m a fan of cutting squash in half lengthwise then prebaking it so I can easily scoop out the middle, but that’s just me.)

When a confirmed, dyed-in-the-wool meat eater starts claiming a vegetable dish is his favorite meal of all time, that’s when I know I’m onto something. I made this for my husband, Gregg, and he went absolutely ga-ga over it. (And no, Gregg’s not one of those guys who would say it’s great just because I made it. He’s an honest food critic.) I’ve noticed that a lot of people who avoid vegetables gravitate to this dish. It could be because it’s colorful or comes in its own bowl, but I really think it’s because the hearty taste elicits a comfort food response. Squash has so many things going for it. It’s easy to digest and has numerous qualities—anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, immunity-boosting—that make it a boon for anyone dealing with cancer. Squash is also a natural vessel for all sorts of wonderful fillings. And if you aren’t in the mood for roasting squash, this quinoa pilaf makes for a yummy dish all on its own.

As a Cape Codder, I’m crazy about cranberries. And “apple” was my son Lennon’s first word, so you know how we feel about them in our house! This pie is the perfect combination of tart and sweet. It is an ideal dessert to end any holiday meal. It is extremely pretty, with its tiers of fruit and deep golden crust. Look for firm, sweet apples to balance the tartness of the cranberries. I like Braeburn, Fuji, or Jonagold. To make this dessert completely refined sugar–free, double the proportions for the Single Flaky Sucanat Pie Crust recipe (page 130) and roll out as instructed below.

This is not your mama’s pumpkin pie! This vegan spin on the old-fashioned favorite is light, fresh, and decidedly modern. I consider this one of my greatest achievements in this book, because I was able to make pumpkin pie without eggs, and without tofu, which is the usual substitute in vegan baking. I much prefer this version of pumpkin pie to the one I grew up on, because it’s not too rich and is made without refined sugar, making it a treat my whole family can indulge in, until we’ve eaten every last crumb!

This soup is very warming, and more filling than more common, very brothy miso soups.

This is a good, basic, everyday sort of soup, suitable for cold weather. Try Cheese and Herb Corn Muffins (page 150) as an accompaniment.

This long-simmering, yet easy winter soup is a natural choice as a hearty main dish. Make Whole Wheat Vegetable Muffins (page 149) while it’s cooking.

This is just the sort of mild soup that is so comforting on cold winter days. Quick Sunflower-Cheese Bread (page 144) is a good accompaniment, as are Cheddar-Oat Griddle Biscuits (page 153).

(A chunky mélange of rutabaga, carrots, potatoes, and parsnips with a hint of cheese) This hearty soup makes use of a couple of underused winter vegetables—parsnips and rutabaga—to great results. Make sure you have a good, sharp knife for cutting the rutabaga.

The sweetness of baby carrots and a pretty, pale-orange color make this an uplifting dish for a chilly winter day.

Though beet borscht is generally eaten cold, the addition of potatoes creates a more robust version for fall or winter. Onion-Rye Scones (page 155) complement this soup well. Unless you are fond of hand grating, using a food processor makes the job much easier.

This is a good way to make use of those unnecessarily large bouquets of parsley that we get at our supermarkets, as well as fennel fronds that usually go to waste.

Here’s a soup to warm your heart even on the bleakest day of winter. Use it as a guideline, and make your own innovations according to what you have on hand. The beans are very nourishing, the meat accent lends heartiness, and the greens are healthy, giving balance and color. It’s interesting how cooks of the past just knew these things instinctively.