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Five hearty winter warmers, with plenty more to come

TGIFood is going to be looking after you this winter. To kick off, here’s a quintet of ideas for fireside suppers.

15 May

Tony Jackman’s oxtail stew with orange, pumpkin and sweet potatoes, served on Mervyn Gers ceramic ware. (Photo: Tony Jackman)

How was that?! Down here in Cape town’s leafy northern suburbs, there was barely a pause from the rain in four days. We all burrowed in, and now it feels like that summer we were still enjoying not long ago is a distant memory.

The wetness and relentlessness of it all turned my mind to finding a handful of recipes for you designed for a winter’s day. Not just soups, or only stews. Rather, a bit of this and a bit of that.

I have for you some hearty, warming things to make this weekend: a hot soup full of chunky vegetables and “goodness”. That thing – you know – that is best described by a word that has little clear meaning to it, yet just means something. Goodness. Oh, and it has barley in it too, for an extra kick of winter warmth.

I also have a pair of stews for you: an oxtail stew with bacon, rosemary and orange, and a drunken Irish stew, packed with meat and goodness… nah, scratch that. Guinness! That’s what gives this stew that extra something, and not in modest proportions either.

But we’re missing something: a good, meaty curry. Your fourth meaty stew option is my mutton yoghurt curry finished with onions fried with cumin.

But we’ll be needing something sweet as well. End your winter’s weekend supper with a very old-fashioned bowl of rice pudding. Add some hot custard to it if you like, or a drizzle of honey.

Find all the recipes here:

Chunky vegetable and barley soup