Three Square
Hearty cabin meals for cold days: a loaded frittata, a quick curry, and a rich mushroom bolognese
Sweet Potato Chorizo Frittata
We each have our own morning routine, but for us a good day on the hill starts with a solid breakfast. This high-protein skillet is loaded with long-lasting energy to keep us powered throughout the morning. It might not be the best grab-and-go option for nailing a first chair, but when we have the time, this fully loaded frittata is one of our winter favorites.
Bringing together a couple different flavors, the frittata combines sweet potatoes, poblano chiles, chorizo sausage, and shallots. The sweet of the caramelized shallots and sweet potatoes plays nicely off the mild spice of the poblano and chorizo. Layer on the eggs and it binds all these tastes together.
There are two important steps to remember when making a frittata. The first is to make sure you thoroughly whisk your eggs, completely integrating the yolks with the whites. Otherwise you’ll get unappealing pockets of whites in your skillet. The second is not to overcook the eggs—they’ll continue to cook after you remove them from the oven, so take them out as soon as the top center begins to firm.
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 shallot, sliced thin
- 1 small sweet potato, diced
- 1 medium poblano pepper, seeded and diced (or substitute bell pepper)
- 4 ounces chorizo
- 6 eggs
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Preheat oven to 425°. In a 10-inch cast-iron skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the shallot, sweet potato, and pepper. Sauté until the vegetables are tender and beginning to brown, about 10 minutes. Add the chorizo and sauté with the vegetables for 2 minutes.
- Whisk the eggs and salt together until the whites and yolks are completely blended. Pour the eggs evenly into the skillet, then transfer to the oven. Bake for 8 to 9 minutes, until the eggs are set. Serve and enjoy!
Quick Curry with Soba Noodles
Coming in from the cold, there are few things quite as heartening as a hot bowl of curry. Rich, fragrant broth mixed together with chicken, vegetables, and noodles, it’s the Thai version of chicken noodle soup.
What’s great about this curry is that it’s fast enough to make if you want to pop back to the cabin for lunch, but it’s also portable enough that you could put it in a double-walled insulated food container and take it with you. Make a big batch in the morning, divide it up, and bring it along for the ride.
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 2 tablespoons red curry paste
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
- ½ onion, chopped
- 1 large red bell pepper, chopped (about 1 cup)
- 1 medium carrot, chopped (about ½ cup)
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 can full-fat coconut milk
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon Sriracha
- 1 lime
- 2 cups broccoli florets
- 1 chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 4 ounces buckwheat soba noodles
- Bunch of cilantro
- In a large pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the red curry paste and ginger and sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the onion, bell pepper, carrots, garlic, sugar, and salt and sauté until the onion is translucent and vegetables just begin to soften, about 5 minutes.
- Add the coconut milk, soy sauce, Sriracha, and juice from half the lime. Stir to combine, then add the broccoli and chicken. Simmer for 9 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
- In the meantime, prepare the soba noodles according to package directions.
- To serve, ladle the curry over the noodles and garnish with cilantro and a wedge of lime. Or, pack in thermoses to enjoy while on the slopes.
Mushroom Bolognese with Parmesan Polenta
After a long hard day out in the cold, all we want is something warming, rich, and luxurious to eat for dinner. If we had a slow cooker we could make a traditional beef bolognese sauce, but we don’t. So instead we make this quick-cooking mushroom bolognese. It tastes every bit as rich, but takes only a fraction of the time to make.
While this could easily be served over pasta as well, we prefer the creaminess of polenta. We enhance this cornmeal porridge by adding grated parmesan cheese, which smooths the texture and gives it a great umami kick. Combined with the savory mushroom bolognese sauce and we have everything we need to keep us warm for the rest of the night.
- For the Polenta
- 1½ cups medium-grind cornmeal
- 6 cups broth or water
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoons butter
- For the Mushroom Bolognese
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 2 pounds crimini mushrooms, quartered
- 2 shallots, sliced thin
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup red wine
- ½ cup broth or water
- Handful of parsley, chopped
- To make the polenta, bring 6 cups broth or water to a boil in a heavy-bottomed pot. Add the cornmeal in a steady stream, stirring constantly to ensure it doesn’t clump. Add the salt, then reduce heat to a lively simmer and cook 25 to 30 minutes, until the liquid has been absorbed and the cornmeal is tender, stirring frequently to prevent clumping and scorching. Once the polenta is done, stir in the butter and grated parmesan cheese.
- While the polenta cooks, prepare the mushroom bolognese. Heat the oil and butter in a large skillet or frying pan. Once the butter has melted and foaming subsides, add the mushrooms. Cook 5 minutes, until they begin to brown. Add the shallots, garlic, and salt to the skillet and cook an additional 5 minutes, until the shallot is soft and the pan is dry.
- Stir in the tomato paste, then add the wine. Let the alcohol burn off, about 1 minute, before adding the broth or water. Simmer until the sauce thickens, about 5 minutes.
- Serve in shallow bowls, topped with parsley and freshly grated cheese.
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