January is comfort food season! It’s the ideal time to enjoy hearty dishes that fight off the cold while warming our souls. Let Colonial help you celebrate those big, bold flavors with these delicious recipes and recommendations for the perfectly paired wine or beer selection. Cheers!

INGREDIENTS (serves 6)

• 1 lb. ground beef, bison, or turkey

• 2 onions, diced

• 1 green pepper, diced

• 1 Tbsp. jalapeno, finely chopped (fresh or pickled)

• 1 14 oz. can Rotel tomatoes

• 2 8 oz. cans tomato sauce

• 2 tsp. cumin*

• 2 tsp. chili powder*

• 1 tsp. salt*

• 1 tsp. cayenne pepper*

• 1 tsp. smoked paprika (regular if you can’t find smoked)

• 1 14 oz. can kidney beans drained

• 1 14 oz can black beans drained

• 1 cup water

  * adjust to taste

Optional Toppings:

• sour cream

• shredded cheese

• diced sweet onion

• chives or green onion

• corn chips

Preparation

Coat sauce pan or Dutch oven with vegetable oil. Over medium to high heat add the meat. As the meat browns, break it up. Add onions, bell pepper and jalapeno and cook until softened. Drain off the excess fat. Mix in tomatoes, tomato sauce, cumin, chili powder, salt, cayenne, paprika and water. Stir in the kidney and black beans and return the chili to a simmer. Cover and cook for 1-2 hours.

INGREDIENTS (serves 8)

• 3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

• 2½ tsp. salt

• ½ tsp. black pepper

• 2 lbs. boneless chuck roast, cut into 1-inch cubes

• 1/3 cup vegetable oil

• 4 cups yellow onions (about 2 large onions)

• 1 12-oz. beer like Lost Forty Pale Ale

• 1 Tbsp. soy sauce

• 1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

• 1 Tbsp. Heinz 57 steak sauce (or your favorite)

• 1 garlic clove diced

• 2 bay leaves

• ½ tsp. dried thyme

• 2 lbs. potatoes peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes

• 3 medium carrots peeled and cut diagonally into 1-inch pieces

• 1 10-oz. package frozen English peas

Preparation

In small mixing bowl, combine flour, salt, and pepper. Roll cubes of beef in the flour mixture until well coated. Add half the oil in a pan (Dutch oven recommended) over medium heat. Add half of beef and cook until browned all over – about 5 to 6 minutes. Transfer to a bowl. Repeat the procedure with the remaining oil and beef. Add onion to pan and cook until softened and has a translucent appearance. Stir in beer, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, steak sauce, garlic, bay leaves, and thyme. Bring mixture to boil. Add beef cubes and increase heat until mixture boils. Reduce heat to simmer and cover. Continue to simmer for 2 to 3 hours. Check to be sure the beef is very tender. Add potatoes and carrots, cover and simmer until they are tender, about 30 minutes, and then add peas. Cook for another 5 – 10 minutes until the peas are heated and tender. 

INGREDIENTS

• 3 cups chicken – breast or thigh, or a combination

• 2 quarts chicken broth

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• ½ tsp baking powder

• 2 Tbsp. cold salted butter, cubed

• 1 cup milk

• 2 Tbsp. olive oil

• salt and pepper, to taste 

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. Place chicken breast on baking sheet and drizzle a little olive oil on the chicken and season with salt and pepper. Bake chicken for about 45 minutes. Shred the cooked chicken (using 2 forks works well). Pour 2 quarts of chicken stock or broth into a large pot and heat it. In medium bowl, combine flour and baking powder. Add cubed butter. Combine these three ingredients. Using a fork works best. Add milk and incorporate it all together.

cont...

Prepare large, flat workspace like a cutting board or a part of your countertop. Dust it with a generous amount of flour. Put dumpling dough on flour-prepared surface and dust it with more flour. Using floured rolling pin, roll dough out 1/4 " thickness. If dough begins to stick, add a dusting of flour. Using a knife or a pizza cutter, cut out dumplings into squares or strips, as you prefer. Dust dumplings with more flour to keep them from sticking together; this will also help to thicken the broth.

Bring chicken broth to a boil and add the shredded chicken. Stir. While stirring, begin to add dumplings one at a time so they don't stick together. Cook for about 15-20 minutes. The flour from the dumplings should thicken the broth perfectly. Once broth is thickened, take a dumpling out and taste. Adjust cooking time until the dumplings are cooked through.

Required special equipment – Fondue Pot

INGREDIENTS (serves 4-6)

• 1 750 ml Peter Zemmer Pinot Grigio

• 1 375 ml Etter Kirschwasser (Cherry Brandy) - optional

• 4 fresh garlic cloves cut in half

• 2 pounds Gruyere

• 1 pinch nutmeg

• corn starch

• 2 fresh baguettes

Preparation

Grate the two pounds of Gruyere. Over medium heat, add small increments of cheese being careful it doesn’t scorch as it melts. Slowly incorporate the wine into the melting cheese. Add pinch of nutmeg (adjust to taste) and 2 ounces of Etter Kirschwasser. Continually whisk mixture using a figure 8 motion until the cheese and wine are a smooth liquid consistency. If mixture is too thin, add a pinch of corn starch and stir. Cube baguettes into bite sized pieces and place on a cookie sheet in an oven at 350 degrees until lightly toasted. Season the inside of the fondue pot by rubbing the garlic halves over the inside of the pot. Discard the garlic. Heat the pot. Transfer the cheese into the fondue pot and enjoy! 

Photography by Katie Cooper-Bussell