5 Foods I’m Most Excited to Cook this January
New year, new content category. In 2023, I’ll pick out five favorite foods I’m most excited to play with in the kitchen that month and highlight them here and share what dishes I make along the way. They will certainly honor the season (what’s fresh), perhaps what’s on trend (no more butter boards, y’all), and lean into skills I want to sharpen in the kitchen (e.g., using new tools, new methods, etc.)
Kicking off January, the five foods I’m most excited to cook are:
CITRUS SEASON— Citrus season actually starts as early as October and lasts as late as spring (March/April) depending on the varieties you want. Some mandarins and white grapefruits, for example, aren’t ready until a bit after the New Year.
RACLETTE - Santa brought me a Swissmar raclette grill so get ready for hygge family meals centered on cheese. I recently learned raclette is 400 years old! I’ll be heading over to Bloomy, a new favorite local shop in Westchester to source my cheese and some of my sides like pickled goodies (they have pickled zucchini I’ve been thinking about!), fresh baguette and of course cheese, along with other delights (cured meats, vegetables, etc.) I’m crossing my fingers my carb and cheese loving kiddos will be over the moon for raclette nights this winter.
WINTER SALADS - Until greens season returns, I’ll be bending the limits of salads in this cold season. I’m talking about finding beautiful root vegetables, shaving them thin and tossing them with ancient warm grains and tart dressings, honoring chicory season by finding all the bitter beauties like endive, radicchio, frisee and escarole and matching them up with savory proteins like sizzling lardons, poached eggs, and warm, salty dressings. I’ll embrace Cobb-style brassicas (Brussels + kale) and warm-meets-cold salads like tuna nicoise starring warm, shallot-smothered vinegary potatoes and cold, crunchy haricot vert, and so. much. more.
STEAMED EVERYTHING - Santa knew to find some balance when he delivered that raclette grill and so he also bestowed me a tiered bamboo steamer. Steaming is actually the healthiest way to eat vegetables and after the season of holiday indulgence, I’m looking forward to a reset. When done correctly, some of the best bites I’ve ever tasted were steamed or blanched vegetables and proteins so I’m excited to sharpen this skill set. I’m eager to make banana leaf steamed fish, steamed broccolini with anchovy-lemon dressing, and maybe just maybe baby’s first bao’s in time for Chinese New Year later this month.
LEGUMES - Did you know legumes actually reduce greenhouse gases? Their nitrogen fixing properties are beneficial to soil quality and if you watched my insanely beautiful Lacinato Kale thrive all last year in my garden, I credit it entirely to the bountiful sugar snap peas that prepped the beds beforehand. My incredibly environmentally conscious friend, Kiko, introduced me to Napa-based Rancho Gordo beans during a Cookbook Club White Elephant swap and I’m so excited to learn more about their heirloom varieties. I’m doubling down on these technicolor beauties, seeking ways to lean into lentils, gobble up more garbanzos and favor more favas in 2023.
