January in the Kitchen – “In My Kitchen”

January In My Kitchen

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you had as marvelous a holiday as we did. I wish you all a joyous, healthy, and love filled 2015.

This post is part of a fascinating monthly series about what is new in kitchens around the world, visit “In My Kitchen” hosted by Celia of Fig Jam and Lime Cordial for the January 2015 update. The holidays have been good to cooks and foodies.

In my kitchen today are the clean platters and wine glasses to be put away after our annual New Year’s Day party. I need the step stool to get into the tallest kitchen cabinets and haven’t gotten around to it. Meanwhile the dishes are happy reminders of a lovely party and time spent with good friends.

I will also be reminded of the party by the leftovers, now safely stashed away in the freezer, of three kinds of chili…all beef (A Bowl of Red), Chicken with Sweet Potatoes, and Vegetarian Chili with Beer and Winter Squash. Those quart containers of chili are a safety net for busy winter days.

Under our Christmas tree I found two new cookbooks and a book of the best food writing of 2014. There will be lots of reading by the fire, and new recipes to try once I have lost my holiday bloat. There is a lovely recipe in the a.o.c. cookbook for a pudding using cornbread, I will put my leftover cornbread to good use.

I’m looking forward to posting my first entry for the Cookbook Guru, a monthly cookbook book club for bloggers and cooking enthusiasts. My copy of the 2015 January and February choice, “Jane Grigson’s Vegetable Book”, was delivered today. It will be fun to decide which recipe to write about. My husband’s first comment when he saw the book was “No pictures!” it made me realize how much cookbooks have changed since her book was published in the 70’s. Would a Julia Child without pictures sell today? At the moment, photography seems almost more important than recipes.

In my kitchen is a jar of ghee, a gift from my friend Suzanne who does a lot of Indian cooking. New to me was the fact that it does not need to be refrigerated. I need to find a special recipe for using it. Do you readers have any favorites?

Simmering on the stove is a stockpot of duck soup (isn’t there a movie with that name?). We had roast duck for Christmas dinner and I froze the carcasses until I had the energy to tackle the stock. The weather has been dipping into freezing and it is definitely soup time.

Also in my kitchen are some new spices, Sumac and dried Black Lemons (Omani limes). I haven’t used either of them before but have been reading about them in Yotam Ottolenghi’s cook, “Plenty More”. I’m envious of those of you in the UK; I’d love to visit his restaurant.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And lastly in my kitchen are the last of the holiday cookies.

My husband likes them for breakfast with a cup of coffee.