Nothing spectacular has been on the menu at the diner lately (i.e., lots of burger nights) simply because its a pain in the arse to clean up between house showings. However, this weekend I was back at it, with Mom’s stuffed shells for a potluck, a huge vat of a new version of Susie’s BBQ sauce, ciabatta bread (the jury is still out), grouse tortilla soup, and a sheep roast is marinating.

Although winter is technically over, some might say 40 degrees with still 2 feet of snow on the ground is considered winter in most parts of the country. Regardless, I wanted to provide a glimpse at the more successful winter weeknight specials from the last couple months…

Chicken Pot Pie

I tried to duplicate the chicken pot pie that my friend Patty’s husband made for us right after our daughter was born. Maybe it was the hormones, but that chicken pot pie was so incredible, I don’t think I can come close. I made a valiant attempt, using all full-fat ingredients (and there are lots them). It turned out pretty tasty, but still fell short. Even a year and a half later, I still dream of Dave’s chicken pot pie. It was THAT good.

The Ultimate Baked Beans

Its true, everything is better with bacon. This recipe came from Tyler’s Ultimate cookbook. Tyler is my man simply because he makes real food, real meals that your mom used to make, but better and with ingredients that don’t require shopping at a specialty food store (usually). I highly recommend Tyler. My only failure here is that the beans were a bit too runny, but perhaps i didn’t cook them long enough.

Grouse Stew with Dumplings

Grouse Stew has become a regular entree at Susie’s Diner. Its fairly quick and easy and Andy shot A LOT of grouse last fall. But to mix things up one night, I added some dumplings, which I had never made before. Turns out, dumplings are really just balls of dough on top. For some reason, I thought there was more to it.

Shepherd’s Pie

It’s becoming a theme of sorts where I try to recreate or relive a memorable meal. A brew pub in Maine, called Gritty’s, makes some darn good shepherd’s pie. Stop by if you are in the area. As usual at Susie’s Diner, I substitute in some game meat and in this case, moose burger. It’s essentially a stacked  version of meatloaf, mashed, and gravy (which is another staple menu item) with some veggies tossed in.

Mac n’ Cheese

Caribou sausage. Lots of cheese. You can’t go wrong. Well, actually I did once, where there wasn’t enough cheese to my mac. But I fixed that the second time around.

Susie's Stone Soup

Thus, most Sunday nights of this cold Alaskan winter, have been spent experimenting with various soups, stews and chowders. Mainly, the recipe revolves around what veggies are rotting in the fridge. I tried a Portugeuse Stone Soup recipe from Williams-Sonoma’s Soups & Salads, substituting in moose chorizo sausage for pork, garbanzos for kidney beans, kale for savoy cabbage, sweet potatoes instead of russet potatoes and turnips. It certainly came out colorful, and tasted pretty good, but it may need some more tweaking to become one of Susie’s Soup of the day….

Mmmm. That sounds good. I’ll have that.

Susie's Sourdough Pancakes

I’ve had my sourdough starter going for 4 years now, which is nothing compared to the real deal, but you’ve got to start somewhere. Luckily, even after I’ve killed it by leaving it in the oven or not taking out the requisite cup of starter before making the batter, I’ve been able to borrow back a cup of starter from my friend Kate (several times), who had borrowed a cup from me.

For pancakes, I use this recipe from Cooking Alaskan:

• 2 cups fed sourdough sponge
• 2 eggs well beaten
• 2 tablespoons of oil (or melted bacon fat)
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup evap. milk (I use the max for thin cakes)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 tablespoons sugar

I usually add blueberries or cranberries, otherwise its like my pancakes are naked. For sourdough waffles, I use a different recipe from the King Arthur Flour  Baker’s Companion…but that’s for another day.

Well, the Alaskan winters of dark, snowy, and 30 below don’t exactly scream for sangria, but it is tasty, and there aren’t any season restrictions that I know of.

Susie's Sangria

Susie’s Sangria

• Box of Red Wine  (Yes, a box. I recommend Black Box Shiraz or Cabernet)
• Orange Slices
• Lemon Slices
• Lime Slices
• Grand Marnier (almost the whole bottle)
• Club Soda, if you need some fizz

But be careful. It’s the kind of drink that doesn’t hit you until its too late. You might end up like this guy:

Recipes won’t be exact here at Susie’s Diner. I typically search for internet recipes and look at my many cookbooks and use the ingredients that I have in the kitchen and then do lots of tasting along the way. Because who the hell has panko bread crumbs and fresh tarragon stocked in their kitchen?