Winter Food

By Sally Wise

Bestselling author Sally Wise shares her favourite recipes for cooking in the cooler months.
From warming soups to hearty pies and tasty curries and casseroles, there's something for everyone in WINtER FOOD. Using fresh, accessible ingredients you can cook the perfect meal for your friends and family from starters, main meals through to desserts and preserves. Sally's recipes focus on flavour, quick and easy preparation and natural ingredients, and with over 90 recipes to choose from you'll never be in doubt of what to cook on a winter's day.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Australia
• Release date: May 1, 2011
• ISBN: 9780730498223

Sally Wise

Sally Wise is the bestselling author of Slow Cooker, Ultimate Slow Cooker and many other cookbooks which feature delicious preserves and everyday cooking. A regular guest on ABC radio, she runs the Sally Wise Cooking School in the picturesque Derwent Valley in Tasmania.  

Book preview

SOUPS AND STARTERS

PEA AND HAM SOUP

Serves 4–6

3 carrots

½ parsnip (optional)

1 onion

300g green split peas

300g bacon bones or ham hock

1½ teaspoons salt

5 cups water

Peel and dice the carrots and parsnip, if using. Peel and finely dice the onion. Place in the slow cooker with the remaining ingredients and stir.

Place lid on cooker and cook for 4 hours on High or 8 hours on Low.

CREAMY TOMATO SOUP

Serves 4

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 teaspoons butter

1 onion, finely diced

2 cloves garlic, crushed

2 × 410g tins diced tomatoes

2 sprigs rosemary

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

2 teaspoons tomato sauce (ketchup)

3–4 teaspoons tomato paste

¾ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon brown sugar

¼ teaspoon paprika

pinch of mustard powder

1 teaspoon sweet chilli sauce

1 cup chicken stock

½ cup pouring or thickened cream

Heat the oil and butter in a saucepan, add the onion and sauté over low heat until soft. Add the garlic and sauté for 1 minute more. Stir in the tomatoes, rosemary, sauces, tomato paste, salt, sugar, paprika, mustard, chilli sauce and chicken stock and bring to the boil. Simmer for 15 minutes. Remove the rosemary sprigs and stir in the cream. Heat again but do not allow it to boil.

Serve with fresh crusty bread.

LEEK AND POTATO SOUP

Serves 6

1kg leeks

600g potatoes

2 cups chicken stock, or water with 3 teaspoons chicken stock powder

¾ cup cream, light cream or evaporated milk

½ cup grated tasty cheese (optional)

white pepper, to taste

Remove the green section of the leeks and discard them (these would make the soup bitter). Wash the white section of the leeks well and cut into 1 cm dice. Place in the slow cooker.

Peel the potatoes and cut into 1 cm dice. Add to the cooker with the chicken stock.

Place lid on cooker and cook for 4 hours on High or 8 hours on Low.

Purée with a stick blender or in a food processor.

Turn off the heat, then add the cream and cheese, if using. Stir well to combine. Add salt and white pepper to taste. If the soup is too thick for your liking, simply thin it down with a little more cream or milk until it reaches the desired consistency.

CREAM OF MUSHROOM SOUP

Serves 4

375g mushrooms

½ small onion

1 clove garlic

¾ cup chicken stock, or water with 2 teaspoons stock powder

½ cup cream, light cream or evaporated milk

½ teaspoon Dijon mustard (optional)

Wipe the mushrooms and slice finely. Peel the onion and garlic and dice finely. Place in the slow cooker with the stock.

Place lid on cooker and cook for 4 hours on High or 8 hours on Low.

Purée the ingredients until the desired consistency is reached. Stir through the cream. Add the mustard, if you think it is needed, and salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

PARSNIP AND BLUE CHEESE SOUP

Serves 4

This unusual soup is my personal favourite. Choose your audience well with this one, but it is a real treat for those who love blue cheese.

500g young parsnips

1½ cups chicken stock

2 teaspoons lemon juice

50g blue cheese (a hard variety, not a brie or camembert)

½ cup cream

white pepper, to taste

Peel and chop the parsnips, removing any sign of woody core. Place in the slow cooker with the chicken stock and lemon juice.

Place lid on cooker and cook for 4 hours on High or 7 hours on Low, or until the parsnip is tender.

Add the blue cheese and purée until very smooth.

Stir in the cream and add salt and a little white pepper to taste.

Note: Reduce the amount of stock and eliminate the cream to turn this into a parsnip and blue cheese dip.

MINESTRONE

1 tablespoon olive oil

125g (4½oz) bacon, rind removed and diced

1 onion, peeled and finely chopped

4 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

1 carrot, peeled and diced

1 small potato, peeled and diced

1 red capsicum, deseeded and diced

125g (4½oz) green beans, cut into short lengths (optional)

4 rounded tablespoons tomato paste

½ teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon dried thyme

500g (1lb 2oz) bottled tomatoes, drained and finely chopped

3 cups chicken or vegetable stock

2 cups cooked macaroni

½–¾ cup freshly grated or shaved parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons chopped parsley (optional)

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the bacon and cook for 5 minutes or until bacon begins to crisp. Stir in the onion, garlic, carrot, potato, capsicum and beans and sauté, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until the onion is transparent. Add the tomato paste, sugar, thyme, bottled tomatoes and stock. Bring to the boil and simmer for 30 minutes. Add the macaroni and bring back to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve the minestrone topped with the parmesan and parsley, if using.

Serves 4

ROAST SWEET POTATO, APPLE AND ONION SOUP

Serves 4

This recipe came about because our children had an ongoing aversion to pumpkin, so there was no way they would eat pumpkin soup. Sweet potato is a great substitute and works well with the apple.

1 dessertspoon softened butter*

1 tablespoon olive oil

750g sweet potatoes, peeled and diced

½ apple, peeled, cored and diced

1 onion, peeled and finely chopped

2 teaspoons gluten-free chicken stock powder

3 cups water

½ cup pouring or thickened cream**

sour cream*** and gluten-free sweet chilli sauce optional, to serve

Heat the butter and oil in a large saucepan over medium heat and add the sweet potato, apple and onion. Stir to coat, reduce heat to low, cover with the lid, then cook for 7 minutes, or until the vegetables are almost tender. Stir in the stock powder and cook for 1 minute more. Pour in the water, bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer until the vegetables are very soft. Purée, then return the soup to the pan and reheat. Add the cream and salt and pepper to taste and stir well. Do not allow to boil after the cream is added.

Serve with a dollop of sour cream and a little sweet chilli sauce if liked.

VARIATIONS

The method above recommends slow