Three Square

Winter comfort food: cinnamon-apple Dutch baby, smoky eggplant curry, and mushroom stroganoff

Issue 15

Fresh Off the Grid

Recipes and photos by Megan McDuffie & Michael van Vliet

That chill wind means one thing. Winter is here, and with it another way of engaging with the outdoors. Our forays become shorter and more bracing, the season’s cold charm punctuated by meals that hearten, soothe, and comfort.

Cinnamon-Apple Dutch Baby

Warm, fluffy, and delicious, this cinnamon-apple Dutch baby is a great way to greet a cold winter morning. But first, what exactly is a Dutch baby? It’s a type of popover pancake that’s baked in an oven rather than cooked on the stovetop, and it doesn’t use yeast or chemical leavening agents such as baking powder or baking soda.

While the recipe is almost certainly derived from the German pfannkuchen, the name Dutch baby comes from Manca’s Cafe in Seattle, where the dish was developed (and the name trademarked) in the early 1900s.

What we love about this recipe is how hands-off the process is compared to making pancakes on a griddle. Once the batter is prepared and the apples sliced, everything goes into a hot cast-iron skillet and straight into the oven. Enjoy your coffee, watch the snow come down, and 30 minutes later you have a warm, toasted, fluffy popover.

Serves 2–4 | Total time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

3 eggs
½ cup whole milk
½ cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon sea salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 apple, sliced thin
1 teaspoon cinnamon
To serve: maple syrup

Directions

Place a 10- or 12-inch cast-iron skillet in the oven and preheat to 425°F.
Whisk eggs and milk together in a medium bowl until blended well. Add the flour, 1 tablespoon sugar, and salt. Whisk to incorporate dry ingredients evenly.
Carefully remove the skillet from the oven. Melt the butter in the hot skillet, then add the apple slices, cinnamon, and remaining 1 teaspoon of sugar. Stir to coat the apple slices and spread them evenly in the skillet. Pour the batter over the apples, then return the skillet to the oven.
Bake for 20 minutes (resist the urge to open the oven for at least 15 minutes before checking on it) or until the Dutch baby is puffed and golden brown.
Remove from the oven and serve with maple syrup.

Smoky Eggplant Curry

Nothing warms you from the inside out like a rich, hearty bowl of curry. This version is our own adaptation of a traditional northern Indian curry called baingan bharta. For authentic baingan bharta, the eggplant is cooked by laying it directly on a bed of coals, infusing it with a smoky flavor. But with our Weber buried under a few feet of snow, we opted to use the oven broiler instead. While wonderfully effective at softening and charring the eggplant, the result wasn’t quite as smoky as we wanted it, so we added a spice more commonly associated with European cooking: smoked paprika. This helped give this dish the robust smoky flavor we wanted, without digging out the grill.

As with all curries, the intensity of spice is a matter of personal preference. This recipe is definitely on the mild side of the heat spectrum. If you want to dial it up, add crushed red pepper flakes to taste.

This curry makes a wonderful hot meal at home or on the slopes—just pour it into an insulated container and take it with you.

Serves 4 | Total time: 1 hour

Ingredients

2 pounds eggplant
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 large shallot, thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons grated ginger
2 teaspoons tomato paste
2 teaspoons garam masala
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 15-ounce can coconut milk
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon sugar
1 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained
To serve: basmati rice, naan, cilantro, lime wedges

Directions

Preheat the oven to 450°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone liner. Cut the eggplants in half and place them cut side down on the baking sheet. Roast for 40 to 45 minutes, until the insides are tender. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
Heat the oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Add the shallot and garlic and sauté 2 to 3 minutes until translucent. Add the tomato paste, garam masala, and smoked paprika and cook for an additional 30 seconds.
Pour the coconut milk, salt, and sugar into the pan and stir to combine. Carefully scoop the roasted eggplant out of their skins and add to the pan, together with the drained chickpeas.
Bring to a simmer for 10 to 15 minutes to let the flavors come together.
Serve over rice or with naan, topped with cilantro and a squeeze of lime.

Mushroom Stroganoff

When it comes to winter comfort food, stroganoff is king, thanks to its creamy sauce, filling egg noodles, and mushrooms bursting with umami flavor. While this dish is typically served as beef stroganoff, we felt that with a few tweaks we could make a vegetarian version that could hold its own.

The key was to showcase the mushrooms. We used crimini mushrooms because they can be found at any grocery store, but we also added some oyster mushrooms as well. A trip to a well-stocked grocery store will provide you with a variety of mushroom options; lobsters, chanterelles, and morels would all work great. And of course, a variety will provide a diverse range of textures to the meal.

The other trick to giving this version the rich flavor of its meaty inspiration is to swap out the traditional Worcestershire sauce for liquid amino acids, which lends the meal a much appreciated umami pop. Liquid amino acids are a naturally vegan and gluten-free seasoning with a flavor profile similar to a mild soy sauce.

Serves 4 | Total time: 25 minutes

Ingredients

2 tablespoons oil
1½ pounds mixed mushrooms, quartered
1 large shallot, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon sea salt
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons flour
4 cups vegetable broth
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon liquid aminos (or soy sauce)
1 teaspoon dried thyme
8 ounces egg noodles
¼ cup sour cream
To serve: parsley, fresh cracked pepper

Directions

Heat oil in a high-sided skillet over high heat. Add the mushrooms, shallots, and salt and cook 6 to 8 minutes, until the mushrooms are browned. Add the garlic and sauté for 1 minute. Stir in the flour and cook until lightly browned.
Slowly add in the vegetable broth, stirring and scraping any browned bits off the bottom of the pan. Add the Dijon, liquid aminos, thyme, and noodles. Bring to a boil and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently so the noodles cook evenly.
Once the noodles are nearly done, temper the sour cream by adding some of the hot liquid from the pan to the sour cream a tablespoon at a time, blending with a spoon or fork before adding additional liquid. (This step will help prevent the sour cream from breaking or curdling.)
Remove the skillet from the heat and gently stir the tempered sour cream into the stroganoff. Serve immediately, topped with parsley and fresh cracked pepper.