Grrrrr.... It is 40 here right now... And a great weather for hot pot - a simmering pot of soup stock at the center of the dining table, and plenty of food ready to be thrown into the simmering pot...

Gather a few friends... Sit around the table... Cook, eat and yak and yak and yak...

Couple things are staples of fall/winter food for me:

Matzah Ball Soup
Sam Adams Winter Lager
Homemade Hard Cider
Elk Steaks
Venison Stew

wow, this is making me hungry....too bad the food options at TRI don't offer any of that!!!

Major YUM!!! I'm coming over to your house for dinner :D

Speaking of Asian, when the weather gets colder I absolutely love Hakka style hot pots...I'm not skilled enough to prepare them (see my earlier post on crockpots for the cooking-challenged), and Hakka style can hardly be found in BOS, but winter trips to NYC or SFO give me the opportunity.

pumpkin or butternut squash soup! i can actually have that any season but in the winter it's like wrapping yourself with a fleece blanket.

I've never tasted that soup. Is butternut squash an acquired taste?
Margaret

#1 fav is Braised Oxtail with garlic mashed potatoes and roasted carrots. It takes hours but so worth it; a lot of fat skimming involved and is probably one of the most grease-free dishes I do.

I've never understood the crock-pot thing; it sounds totally convenient and it does smell good in people's houses but what about all the fat?

If you plan ahead, you can cook it a day or so before, shove it into the
fridge overnight, and lift the fat off when it congeals.

OTOH, some of us rather like fat in moderation.

I can't get enough pumpkin dishes...bread, soup, ravioli, lattes, etc...MMMMMM.

and I'm also a big fan of oven-roasted veggies (esp. sweet potatoes and squashes) over quinoa.

Chili
 

I made some chili the other night with Carrol Shelby's Chili Kit - it was very delicious. They sell it at Safeway and other stores, too, I'm sure. I used some Jennie-O ground turkey, chopped onions, a can of tomato sauce, a can of Del Monte chopped tomatoes with onion/garlic, a can of organic kidney beans, and the mix. Very easy and in less than 15 minutes it was ready. So good with some fresh sourdough bread (or cornbread if you're more ambitious).

The kit comes with four packets: the "main" seasoning packet, a cayenne pepper packet, a salt packet, and a masa flour packet. I only used the first two (about half the cayenne pepper). It made a big batch and it tasted even better reheated for lunch the next day.

Well it depends on what you crockpot and what you do. If you use less fatty cuts of meat, you can avoid the fat issue---slow braising doesn't depend on fat for the unctuous result. But even with more fatty cuts (like your oxtails which you skim while cooking) you can still skim the fat off the top and enjoy the fat-lesser result.

So when you get home, skim the fat off the top and enjoy :)

Another advantage of the crock pot is its ability to cook the toughness out of most any tough (and cheap) cut of meat.

Chili in any way shape and form is the best.

All year I look forward to autumn and locally grown squashes. I love to dice an acorn and a butternut - roast them with lots of butter, honey and brown sugar.

Definately soups - Potatoe, cream of broccoli, meatball soup, Irish stew, etc.
Also chicken and dumplings.

Going home to some minestrone and herb bread tonight.:cool: