Eats

I have recently been deriving tremendous satisfaction throwing things in heavy pots (Le Creuset, cast iron, a clay tagine that I bought once), sticking them on the wood stove and seeing what happens. There is a definite pleasure to be found beyond the satisfaction of the relatively minor savings in not firing up the stove. When it is deathly cold out, it feels like cooking the way you would in a Norwegian shepherds’ cabin or playing castaway when you were a kid. Of course, you wouldn’t have caught me dead eating lentils no matter how tough-guy survivalist it felt. More on that in a moment. So, I recommend it to you warmly, if you have the facilities. It also feels appropriately economical for the beginning of the year – and in particular since the things one tends to cook in this fashion – lesser cuts of meat, soup, stew, beans are all cheaper ways of eating.

So, thus far, the items which have proven particularly successful are;

French Lentils (due to early childhood trauma, the regular ones make me squirm)

Fry up chopped carrot, onion, celery (if you have it) in the bottom of the pan add the rinsed lentils, some stock, and whatever dregs of wine you have available. Sprigs of thyme or rosemary are also good.
Once cooked, these are tremendously useful to have handy. Add oil and red wine vinegar to make salad (also very good as warmed salad, or thrown on top of lettuce for light dinner with cheese and unavailable good bread), serve with a few sausages braised in them (very French peasanty) or fry up a bunch of onions and toss together with the lentils and cooked rice (very...Lebanese?) (certainly very good).
Drink something moderate, rustic and French with that (or the Turkish red with the Lebanese version)

Chick Peas.

Word is, one is expected to soak the little buggers prior to cooking, though I have just thrown them in water and stuck them on the stove with no lingering ill effects. It is possible that they retain texture, shape and social standing better with soaking, however. If one likes, the throw boiling water on top and let sit for an hour quick soak is very effective. Either way, then in the heavy pot and on the stove with them. Very good with olive oil and a bit of herb – perhaps warm (quite Italian – as a side dish). Mash up with parsley and a bit of cumin and fritter for felafel (something I never imagined doing, but have seen done to great success)
Can also be used to make a very nice and satisfying thick soup – sauté up onion chopped (could be one red and one white) carrot and celery in a pan with sufficient amounts of olive oil. Add tbs tomato paste and 3/4ths of the cooked chick peas and run them around till warmed. Put through a food processor, return to the pan (this could be done on the stove again) and add chickpea cooking liquid or water until decently soupy, add remaining chickpeas and fry up some sage or rosemary in oil in a pan to put on top. Very satisfying. The actual recipe for this advocates putting smashed garlic, a few bay leaves and sage in the pot when originally cooking the chickpeas. – if you had done this, great.
The same basic game plan can be very well executed with those white cannellini beans – very much more delicate in flavour than the chick-peas. Cannelini are also great warm with oil alongside shrimp – in a warm sort of salad.

Tunesian Chicken Thingy

Brown trimmed chicken thighs in the bottom of a Dutch oven, take ‘em out from the fray and sauté up onion and garlic in the pan, re-introduce chicken, add approx teaspoon each of powdered ginger and cumin, less of turmeric and a stick of . Add a approx two cups of chick peas (either from can or nice ones you cleverly did in the manner suggested earlier) and some liquid (ckicken or veg stock, cooking liquid from the chickpeas if you did that, something) and plonk the whole affair on the woodstove for an hour or two. Guaranteed to please. This goes very nicely with some rice (basmati if possible) – if feeling extravagant, throw bit of cinnamon stick, slivered orange peel and pistachio in some butter real quick and stir into the rice when finished.

Stay Tuned for Chapter 2 – things to drink that taste right with the lingering taste of woodsmoke on ones' clothes.