Recipes: Banish the cold with these winter warmers

This is not the time of year for dieting and deprivation but for eating well – a good breakfast, a sustaining lunch and a wholesome evening meal to provide our bodies with the warmth to withstand this cold weather.

My suggestion is to stock up your store cupboard with some wholesome grains which are quicker to cook than mashed potatoes and as speedy as pasta. Giant cous cous – large pearls of toasted wheat that mop up the flavours of olive oil, garlic and spices; spelt, an ancient relative of wheat and pearl barley which our grandmothers used to thicken soups and fill hungry stomachs when wages were less than 3 per week.

These foods are absorbed more slowly by the body and release their energy at a pace that will take us up to the next meal without feeling a dip in energy.

Beef with pearl barley, beetroot and horseradish dumplings

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This recipe has been inspired by a meal of bortsch eaten in a Georgian restaurant. At its best bortsch includes a good beef stock and a delicate dice of beetroot and tender beef. Beetroot is usually cooked separately because it can bleed its red juice into other foods. But why not use its colour to brighten an otherwise dull stew?

Serves 4

1-2 tbsp olive oil

4 shallots, peeled

450g good quality stewing steak, cut into 2cm cubes

1 tbsp seasoned plain flour

4 baby beetroot, peeled and diced (1cm cubes)

2 carrots, sliced thickly

4 tbsp pearl barley (or spelt)

1 bay leaf; sprig each of thyme and sage

Winter leaves to garnish, eg watercress, chervil, parsley

Horseradish dumpling

100g self-raising white flour

50g vegetable suet

2 tsp creamed horseradish

Sea salt and black pepper

Toss the cubes of beef in seasoned flour. Dribble a little oil into a large, non-stick frying pan. Heat and brown the whole shallots. Transfer shallots to a flameproof casserole dish. Add a little more oil to the frying pan and quickly sear the cubes of meat in batches. Transfer these to the casserole dish. Pour a little hot water into the frying pan to remove any remnants of seared meat and add to the meat and shallots. Add the carrots and beetroot. Tie the herbs into a bundle with a piece of string and add enough water to cover the meat and vegetables. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook covered for about 45 minutes or until the beef is tender.

To make the dumplings. Mix the flour suet and horseradish with enough cold water to make stiff dough. Drop teaspoons of this dough into the simmering beef stew, cover and leave to cook for a further 10 minutes. Remove the bunch of herbs; taste the stew and season if necessary. Serve with a scattering of winter leaves and some crisp parsnips fingers, steamed and then roasted in hot goose fat.

Spelt risotto with roasted pumpkin and chestnut

Spelt is a variety of wheat which has fallen from agricultural favour in the last century because its husks account for 40 per cent of the crop. Now spelt is more widely available in supermarkets and worth a try.

Serves 4

1 small squash, cut into wedges

1 bulb of garlic

2 tbsp olive oil

15g butter

2 shallots, finely chopped

300g pearled spelt

500ml vegetable/chicken stock

2 tbsp crme frache

100g grated parmesan

50g chopped cooked chestnuts

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Place the wedges of squash in a roasting tray with the garlic, season and dribble with a little oil. Place in a preheated oven at 200C and cook for about half and hour. Meanwhile, place the remaining olive oil and butter in a large saucepan together with the shallots and gently sweat these for about 5 minutes. Add the spelt and cover with a little stock and continue to cook. Add more stock and cook for a further 10 minutes. Stir and gradually add more stock as needed. After about 15-20 minutes the spelt will be cooked. Add the crme frache, chestnuts and most of the grated parmesan and mix well. Serve the risotto with wedges of squash and roasted garlic – which can be squeezed out of its papery skin – and scatter with the remaining parmesan.

Peppers stuffed with giant couscous and saffron yogurt

This recipe contains the fragrant Moroccan blend of spices – ras-el hanout which includes rosebuds, ginger, cardamom, allspice, lavender and cinnamon.

For 2 people

1 small onion, finely diced

1 clove garlic, crushed

Olive oil

1 tsp ras-el hanout

50g giant couscous

50g couscous

200ml vegetable stock

4 dried apricots, chopped and soaked in hot water for 5 min

4 cherry/sundried tomatoes, chopped

2 long, pointed red peppers, deseeded and cut in half lengthways

50g feta cheese

4 tbsp Greek/plain yoghurt

Pinch of saffron

Salt and pepper

Sweat the onion and garlic in a dribble of olive oil. Add the pine nuts and brown slightly. Remove from the heat and add the ras-el hanout. Simmer the giant couscous in the stock for about five minutes, or until soft. Remove from heat, add the couscous and leave to absorb all the stock – about 10 minutes. Add the onions, pine nuts, apricots and tomatoes to the couscous and mix well. Place peppers on a lightly oiled baking sheet, fill with the couscous mixture and crumble over feta cheese. Bake in a hot oven at 200C for abut 20 min.

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Meanwhile, place the saffron in a cup and pour over a tablespoon of boiling water and allow to cool. Add drops of this gorgeous yellow liquid to the yogurt until you have a loose sauce. Season well. Serve the peppers with a dribble of saffron yogurt. Garnish with fresh mint and pomegranate arils.

Ras-el hanout is available from Seasoned Pioneers www.seasonedpioneers.co.uk

Giant coucous is available from Merchant Gourmet www.merchant-gourmet.com

Joan Ransley is a member of the Guild of Food Writers www.joanransley.co.uk

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