Three Square
Winter cabin meals: gingerbread pancakes, slopeside stromboli, and chicken and dumplings
Gingerbread Pancakes
There are a lot of great seasonal foods appearing around the holidays (peppermint sticks, cookies, hot chocolate) but one of our favorites is gingerbread. Who can resist the smell of a freshly baked loaf of gingerbread being pulled from the oven? Absolutely heavenly. But as quickly as the holidays arrive, they’re gone—and with them, all the gingerbread.
Well, in our opinion, gingerbread has what it takes to be an all-winter treat. So to incorporate it into our normal meal lineup, we decided to blend it with another winter favorite: pancakes. While not all food mashups are a good idea, gingerbread pancakes are genius. Now we can get our gingerbread fix with the same effort it takes to make hotcakes in the morning.
- 1½ cups flour
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup milk
- 2 eggs
- ¼ cup unsulfured molasses
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
- Additional butter or ghee for cooking the pancakes
- Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the wet ingredients and whisk thoroughly. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold until just combined.
- Heat a nonstick skillet or griddle over medium-low heat. Once hot, melt a knob of butter or ghee. Pour ⅓ cup batter onto the griddle—you may need to coax it into an even pancake shape (you’ll notice the batter is quite thick because of the molasses). Repeat until your skillet/griddle is full.
- Flip once you begin to see bubbles on the surface of the batter, about 2–3 minutes. Cook the other side until set and the pancake is cooked through, an additional minute or two. Repeat until all the batter is used. (If you’re going to need to make multiple batches, we recommend transferring the pancakes to a preheated 200°F oven to keep them warm.)
- Serve with butter and maple syrup.
Slopeside Stromboli
We’ve had a lot of cold-cut sandwiches over the years, and while many have been good, they’re just not something we look forward to. Especially if we’re coming in from a full morning out on the slopes. Which is going to win, that cold ham and cheese sandwich we packed or whatever it is we’re smelling from the lodge’s food court? The truth is, we want a lunch we’re going to be excited about. And we are always excited about stromboli.
While it does take a little bit more time to prepare in the morning, we think it’s well worth it. Plus, if you make an extra large stromboli, it can provide you with lunch for an entire weekend of skiing. Just put the leftovers in the refrigerator.
For the pizza dough purists, you’re welcome to make your own dough. But for the practical individual, supermarket-bought pizza dough in a can works just as well and already comes as a square. Your preferred toppings might vary, but the important thing is that there’s enough cheese to hold it all together (but not so much that it explodes while baking).
Allow sufficient time to cool, then cut off a hunk, and wrap it up to go. No matter how your day goes on the slope, lunch will definitely be one of the highlights.
- 1 lb pizza dough
- 4 oz sliced provolone
- 6 oz sliced cured meats: prosciutto, pepperoni, sopressata, etc.
- ⅓ cup roasted red peppers
- ¼ cup pizza sauce
- Two handfuls arugula or spinach
- Sea salt
- 1 egg, beaten
- Pinch of dried oregano
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- On a piece of floured parchment paper, roll the dough into a large rectangle (roughly 10×13). Layer the ingredients, starting with the cheese, then the meat, peppers, and sauce, then top with arugula. Sprinkle with sea salt.
- Brush the edges of the dough with some of the egg wash. Tuck the short edges in, then starting with the long edge closest to you, roll the stromboli, much like a burrito, taking care to seal the seam well, then rolling the log so the seam side is down.
- Move the parchment paper and the stromboli to a baking sheet. Brush the remaining egg wash over the top and side, cut small slits in the top to vent the steam, and sprinkle a pinch of salt and dried oregano over the top.
- Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the dough is cooked through. Remove from the oven and cool for a bit before cutting into slices. Serve immediately or transfer to containers for lunch on the go. Extra slices will keep in the refrigerator for a day or two.
Chicken and Dumplings
After a long day out in the cold, it’s nice to come back to a dinner that’s not just filling but genuinely comforting as well. Chicken and dumplings is this in spades. Not only is it delicious and stick-to-your-ribs hearty, but it has a sort of transcendental nostalgia about it. Even if you didn’t have it for Sunday night family dinners when you were young, eating a bowl makes you feel like you did.
The great thing about this recipe is that it doesn’t take much time, as a lot of the steps can be overlapped. For example, you can be gently sautéing the vegetables while you prepare the dumplings. Or better yet, after the dumplings are in and everything is simmering, you can pour yourself a cold one.
- Dumplings
- 1 cup flour
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup half-and-half
- 2 tablespoons butter
- Chicken
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1 cup chicken broth
- ¼ cup half-and-half
- 1 teaspoon thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces
- ½ cup diced carrot
- ½ cup sliced celery
- To make the dumplings, mix the flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Gently heat the butter and half-and-half in a small saucepan until the butter melts, taking care not to let the liquid start bubbling too quickly. Remove and add to the dry ingredients. Mix with a fork until a soft dough comes together. Tear into 8 pieces, then cover with a kitchen cloth and set aside.
- Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Once hot, add the onions and salt and cook, stirring often, until the onions just begin to take on some color, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and butter. Once the butter has melted, add the flour and cook, stirring frequently until golden, 3 to 4 minutes.
- Pour in the stock, half-and-half, thyme, and bay leaf, whisking so that the flour mixture is evenly incorporated. Bring to a brisk simmer, then add the chicken, carrots, and celery. Reduce the heat, place the dumplings on top, and cover. Cook at a low simmer until the dumplings are cooked through, 15 to 20 minutes.
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