December things...to eat, cook & drool over
a few of my wintry, holiday season favorites
I’m starting this month with an outline of what’s to come. Below is a quick list of what peak season items (fruit/veg) I’m focused on at the moment and what recipes you can expect to hit your inbox over the next few weeks of this holiday season. I always find it useful to settle my brain around certain ingredients that feel very “present” each month (meaning they’re appearing abundantly at greenmarkets and grocery stores). This exercise helps me settle into a shopping and cooking routine each month. That routine tends to store memory and tastebud cravings that I innately return to the following year and that translates directly to cooking intuitively through the seasons…you’re building muscle memory each month, each year. Going forward, I'll be kicking-off each month with a post in this fashion—“outlining” the things I’m loving and craving the most, encouraging muscle memory build, intuition and perhaps exploring certain vegetables or fruits you’ve never used before. I’m curious if it helps you navigate your own patterns and routines in the kitchen. Drop me a line or a comment if you find it useful and inspiring.
Well Fed is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Here are my December “things”:
*quince: the photo above kind of speaks for itself. quince is possibly the most drool-worthy fruit I can think of and it sparks my heartbeat hardddd this time of year. quinces look like a cross between apples and pears and are incredibly aromatic…your entire kitchen will be scented with the intoxicating fragrance. Quince are high in vitamin C and fiber and are anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial (so they’re an aid in preventing colds and long-term disease and are good for digestion and may help with heartburn). The fruit itself must be cooked in order to be edible…poaching, a slow bake or pickling are typical methods of preparation. I poach a large batch of quince each November/December in the same method: a classic simple syrup base studded with coffee beans, vanilla, cinnamon stick and lemon. The resulting sweet-tart-tangy-aromatic flavor is insane. This process produces a few very resourceful items (which can also double as great stocking stuffers): a gorgeous cocktail cordial; a compote/paste for yogurt, cheese plates, pate & charcuterie, baked goods and more; whole poached pieces or slices. I’ve also used a similar base to pickle the quince - adding equal parts water, sugar and white vinegar to the base and dropping the vanilla.
recipe (coming out later this week): Quince & Cognac Custard Tart this is one of those recipes that simply stands out, it’s pretty special and (I hope) will be a holiday star on whatever table it’s presented on.
*chicories: my love for bitter greens and gorgeous color schemes runs deep. Beautiful chicories are the umbrella family that include radicchio, castelfranco, sugarloaf, rosalunga, acquerello, treviso, escarole among others—extremely colorful and artful in their own way. Find my recipe for chicory and pear salad with pink peppercorn-buttermilk dressing here. And then there’s puntarelle—a chicory sort of in a category all its own. It’s delicate bitter flavor and it’s odd finger-like shape and gnarled bottom base make it a prized wintry/holiday vegetable. It’s a bit painful to prep, very thinly julienne slice each “finger” or push through a special wired puntarelle cutter, but it’s very much worth it. Eat it fresh or braised. I’ve been making it riffing off the classic Roman preparation tossed into a refreshingly crisp salad with an anchovy and garlic dressing. It’s a perfect balance to indulgent, heavy holiday fare and helps to balance blood sugar, detox the liver and kidneys and release water retention. If you plan to serve up Christmas ham, lamb or pork roast/porchetta, this salad would be a delicious pairing.
recipe (to look forward to): Puntarelle Salad with Walnut, Apple & Anchovy-Garlic Dressing
*cabbages (and Brussels sprouts): if you’ve resigned cabbages to summertime coleslaw, sauerkraut or kimchi, you’re highly overlooking a deliciously cheap very flavorful and health-supportive veg. Cabbages this time of year (or kind of all-year-round) in Denmark are king. Braised red cabbage (rød kål) is traditionally served at every single holiday table. But there are lots of different varieties to choose from: savoy, pointed cone-shaped, caraflex, napa, and the brassica family-adjacent veg, Brussels sprouts. Cabbages and B.sprouts are cruciferous veg, super high in antioxidants and have been show to lower risk of cancer and heart disease. It’s worth noting that if you have hypothyroidism you should beware of this veg family as it can block the uptake of iodine to keep thyroid function regulated. Outside of thyroid concerns, cabbages are excellent for general health and there’s something particularly satisfying, and particularly easy, about a hard seared wedge of cabbage adorned with whatever dressing and toppings you can think of. It’s a lightly sweet-bright-tangy foundation for something hearty enough to stand on its own as a meal or as a nice side dish. Warming braised cabbage and stuffed cabbage also come to mind. I’ll be highlighting the classic French dish chou farci in a few weeks (stuffed cabbage) which looks like a piece of art, is basically a “cabbage cake” and is a genius way to use up leftover bits lying around in your fridge.
recipe (to look forward to): Choose-Your-Adventure Chou Farci with Coriander Creme Fraiche
*potatoes and other rooty wintry veg: for my family, December wouldn’t be December without fried potato pancakes (latkes) to celebrate Hanukkah. There’s only one time of year I’ll painstakingly hand-grate onions and potatoes while trying not to get the salt-licked tears streaming down my face in the mixing bowl. Vegetable options grow real slim late December through end of February/early March, but potatoes are always an option along with other rooty wintry things like Jerusalem artichokes, turnips and celery root. My latke recipe will be forthcoming and perhaps a bonus J-choke or turnip recipe.
recipe (to look forward to): Potato Latkes & Sweet Potato Latkes
*lastly, this isn’t necessarily a fruit or vegetable, but what’s the holiday season without a cookies. I recently made a new cookie that will definitely be part of my annual holiday baking repertoire. Double Ginger Molasses Cookies with Caramelized White Chocolate. Very, very, very good and child approved. Could easily serve as a fancy gingerbread man dough. Salty-sweet-tangy-gingery…these are everything, not lying. And, holiday bonus, you don’t need a stand mixer to make the dough.
recipe (to look forward to): Double Ginger Molasses Crinkle Cookies with Caramelized White Chocolate
