what are your rainy day recipes?

I woke up wide awake three hours early and I am almost done everything I have to do for today. It's nasty and overcast here, and I can feel autumn coming in my bones (fall is my favorite season).

What is your favorite recipe for a day like that? :hi:

but you would have needed to soak the beans overnight, so that's no go.

I love to make a big pot of spaghetti sauce and cook up some meatballs to go with it.

not much beats a roasted chicken. I like to lift the skin over the breast and put in thin slices of garlic and ginger and then stuff the cavity with citrus (limes or oranges).

and have them for sat or sunday. I've been meaning to make Boston Baked Beans, old school style.

Do you cook them in a slow cooker or in the oven? I have my grandmother's beanpot and I love the smell of beans cooking in the oven.

:hi:

but I don't feel like cooking lasagne noodles and am not sure everyone likes the no boil kind.

Tastes to me like fresh pasta.

hot. Tomato soup / grilled cheese for lunch. At the Panera where I work, they'll be doing lots of soup in sourdough bread bowls today. It's not that chilly out, but any drop in
temperature about 10 degrees makes people want soup.

Dinners: homemade vegetable soup with hot bread, beef stew. Wow, I'm really stuck in soup mode, aren't I?

Big baked potato.

I get carb-crazy in the fall, and my waistline expands.

I used some homemade chicken noodle from my freezer this week, and I urge you to fulfill your craving. :hi:


I love Panera Bread btw. I practically lived at the one in Boca Raton on rainy days.

(I'm on an African kick lately. This isn't really a Fall recipe...it's a "late summer when it starts to get cold at night" recipe as you can't get high-quality ingredients (plantains, chilies and coconut milk) for this in the fall) from Discovery of a Continent by Marcus Samuelsson. (I'm recommending this cookbook to anybody looking for an adventurous new cuisine.)

1 medium onion, chopped
2 red chilies, finely-chopped, ribbed and seeded
1 cup coconut milk
Juice of 2 limes
2 tbsp. white vinegar
1/2 cup peanut oil (or substitute another good frying oil such as canola.)
5 yellow plantains, peeled, quartered lengthwise, and cut to 1-inch pieces
2 tsp. chopped cilantro
1/2 tsp. ground ginger (I usually substitute 1 tsp. of fresh ginger, finely minced)
1/2 tsp. salt
Freshly-ground black pepper

Combine onions, chilies, coconut milk, lime juice and vinegar and bring to a simmer over low heat. Simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add plantains and cook for 10-15 minutes, turning occasionally, until browned on all sides. Remove plantains and drain on paper towels, blot dry.

Add plantains, cilantro and ginger to coconut stew base and bring to a boil to heat plantains through. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Samuelsson recommends serving with mashed root vegetables or rice. I prefer a hearty chunk of good bread.

the rice on the side? It sounds so interesting, I feel like heading our for some plantains!

I've never served it with rice...I stumbled across the side-serving recommendation when I pulled out the cookbook to make sure I got the measurements right. I usually go with the root veggies (taro and yam in particular because they're sweet starchy complementary flavors) on the side or a good piece of bread to mop-out the bowl. I would serve it over the rice, though.

As for garnish, I wouldn't as it has a delicate taste but I might adorn it with a crispy-fried sliver of plantain if I were serving it for a fancy dinner. Just fry until crisp some 1/8"-to-1/4"-thick long-slices of plantain when you fry the plantains for the stew, lean one out of each bowl standing on its' narrow side after adding the stew.

Remove bag from box; remove plastic wrapper. Place in microwave. Nuke for 2 minutes, 30 seconds. Carefully open bag, pour in bowl. Enjoy.

:9

some people are picky... :rofl:

although the chili usually comes when it is a little cooler.

The first really cool day often triggers a baking impulse in me.

Cut up a cleaned chicken (leg is 2 pieces, that size) dredge pieces in seasoned 1/2 flour, 1/2 breadcrumbs mix. Brown chicken in skillet using a few Tbs olive oil for a few minutes. Add, garlic, olives (type to taste), artichoke hearts, tomatoes, capers, chopped onion, beef broth. Simmer for 1 hour. Should be plenty of liquid.

Serve over angel hair pasta.

cloudbase says it's good