During the winter, we seek comfort foods like bubbly casseroles filled with gooey cheese. But in a time where visual interest drives so many of our choices, we want our recipes to look just as good as they taste. Whether you’re looking for a beautiful and tasty pasta dish or a photogenic roast duck for your holiday meal, with our most pinned winter recipes, your dinner will be ready for its close up (and for you to devour).
Cauliflower and Goat Cheese Souffles
Adding puréed cauliflower to an appetizer-sized soufflé gives the dish the heartiness to be a vegetarian main when served with a salad. Get the recipe for Cauliflower and Goat Cheese Souffles »
Birch Syrup and Soy Sauce-Glazed Roast Duck
Amy Thielen’s take on traditional teriyaki uses a bit of birch syrup in addition to mirin (sweet rice wine). Compared with maple syrup, birch is more feral—darker, less sweet, and more acidic—and she prefers it for cooking. It also doesn’t hurt that she can harvest it at home: Every spring she taps the silver birch trees in her yard and boils down the syrup over a wood fire. You can find birch syrup online, or use maple. (If doing so, omit the teaspoon of sugar.) Get the recipe for Birch Syrup and Soy Sauce-Glazed Roast Duck »
Honey-and-Butter-Baked Pears with Cold Cream
These sticky caramelized pears get served warm with a glug of fresh chilled cream for dessert at Henne Kirkeby Kro chef Paul Cunningham’s holiday feast. He uses “double cream,” a dairy product not available in the U.S. You can use chilled crème fraîche on its own, or thin it slightly with chilled heavy cream to approximate the texture. If you can find organic heavy cream where the fat separates and floats to the top, skim off this fat and use it. Get the recipe for Honey-and-Butter Baked Pears with Cold Cream »
Celery Root, Carrot, and Potato Gratin
During the holidays, Paul Cunningham of Henne Kirkeby Kro likes nothing more than a comforting vegetable gratin, and here he keeps it simple: Potatoes, carrots, and celery root are seasoned with thyme and fresh bay leaves and then simmered in cream before getting baked under a layer of bubbling Gruyère and bread crumbs. Get the recipe for Celery Root, Carrot, and Potato Gratin »
Cheddar and Sausage Balls
These holiday favorites benefit from a spicy, sage-heavy bulk pork sausage. Make more than you think you need; they go fast. Get the recipe for Sharp Cheddar and Pork Sausage Balls »
Chicken and Dumplings
This dish from Andrea Reusing of the restaurant Lantern, in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, highlights the flavor of heritage chicken. Get the recipe for Chicken and Dumplings »
Juniper Berry-Crusted Rack of Venison with Mostarda
Searing the venison before coating it with spices ensures that the spices retain their potency but don’t burn before the venison is cooked. A sweet and sour pear and berry mostarda is the perfect condiment for this lean roast. Get the recipe for Juniper Berry-Crusted Rack of Venison with Mostarda »
Espresso Waffles with Mocha Drizzle
Almond flour and espresso powder give bittersweet edge to these waffles, which are glossed with a sauce of condensed milk, coffee, and dark chocolate. Get the recipe for Espresso Waffles with Mocha Drizzle »
Congee
This comforting porridge, often eaten for breakfast in China and other parts of Asia mixed with fish or meat, gets a jolt of flavor from its garnish of scallions, chiles, and shallots. This recipe appeared in the iPad edition of our December 2012 issue along with Sushma Subramanian’s story Feed a Fever. Get the recipe for Congee »