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DEL.ICIO.USWhat do you miss most about warm weather cooking?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Are you loving this weather as much as I am? I admit, it makes me approach cooking in a totally different way than last week’s freezing temperatures did.
In fact, last night we were having a friend, a real meat and potato kind of guy, over for dinner. Instead of having to figure out some cold weather dish to prepare, which involved spending most of the day in the kitchen, I realized with the temperature in the 60s I could easily throw some steaks on the grill at the last minute. Wow, that made my life so much easier. I had one of my kids working on a chocolate pudding cake while I made some twice baked potatoes and steamed green beans. Dinner was ready in under an hour. Even better, there was hardly any cleanup.
Afterwards when I was getting my son’s school lunch ready I cut tomato slices for his sandwich and tasted an end. It was totally flavorless. It made me realize, even more than wishing for easy grilled meals, what I truly missed was having a tomato that tasted like a tomato.
What about you? What favorite food or way of eating does winter deprive you of most?
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By R
February 9, 2009 2:47 PM | Link to this
About warm-weather cooking - I don’t know many people who completely avoid cooking outside during our winters here. This isn’t Minnesota after all. But there are two issues that are more relevant even with our weather: seasonal produce (tomatoes as you mentioned - either very bad or very expensive or both), and seasonal entertaining. I’ll cook outside all winter long in most any weather, but only on days like yesterday is it practical to really entertain outside.
By sd
February 9, 2009 4:24 PM | Link to this
I agree about the tomatoes. (And everything else that grows in my garden)
However, the weather does not stop me from grilling. I have smoked meat almost every weekend this winter. Did a double pork loin this weekend in a mustard sauce.
I get up early on Saturday mornings and get a wood fire going. Then I smoke meat all day, just adding a few pieces of wood every hour and a half or so. So easy. And if you do a bunch, you can eat it all week.
By Mike T.
February 9, 2009 9:52 PM | Link to this
Winters are a great time for outside cooking, it makes more sense to stand around a hot grill this time of year,than in sultry hot summer weather.
By kch
February 10, 2009 7:24 AM | Link to this
We grill all year long. But yes, warmer weather means grilling every day for us. It’s quick, easy, gives food the best flavor, and less clean up. We steam our veggies in foil on the top rack, put the fish/steak/or chicken on the other rack.
By Jeanne Besser
February 10, 2009 1:57 PM | Link to this
Glad to see so many people grill all winter long. I guess for me it’s more of an issue of lighting than temperature! When it gets dark at 6 I can’t see what I am doing. I wonder if you all have grills in better lit areas than I. What is your secret (unless you are doing it during the day like sd)?
By R
February 11, 2009 2:27 PM | Link to this
No real secret - lighting is a winter grilling problem. Luckily, our house’s floodlights cover the grill area pretty well and I have a couple of clip-on halogen snakelights for a closer look. Pick them up any place that sells grills, from Target to Expo. I know a couple of folks who swear by cave-exploring-style headlamps - also at Target, REI, etc.
By salads and grilled kabobs
February 23, 2009 4:12 PM | Link to this
I like salads in the summer, and of course I could still have them in winter, but my tastebuds just want hot soup, so that’s more what we have in winter. In summer DH makes chicken and veggie kabobs - we could do so in winter but we are very wimpy about going out on the deck to cook so it has to wait till warmer weather.
By Angela
March 10, 2009 1:29 PM | Link to this
We grill year-round, for the same reasons others have mentioned. But I try hard to eat seasonally (even by month depending on what veggie we’re talking about) and so what I really miss most about warm-weather cooking is the variety of produce. Veggies, like tomatoes, and especially berries. I’ve become more picky over the years - for example, I no longer buy Chilean or Mexican produce due to concerns about pesticides, etc. being used there that are banned in the US and other countries. Too hard to know what’s on the food. So I really miss my berries and salad ingredients during the winter.