Menu Planning for January 2014

If you’re planning your menu for January, there are a few holidays to consider and autumn fruits and vegetables that can be added to well-honed comfort menus.

Plan for January:

Plan Ahead for February:

New Year’s Eve is a Tuesday night this year, New Year’s Day is a Wednesday.

In January – citrus season is in full production, hothouse rhubarb begins and baby artichokes should peek through at the end of the month…

Winter officially began on December 22nd and despite the incremental lengthening of each day we are smack dab in the middle of the darkest part of the year. There are some bright spots to remind us that flavor is available all around us – just not as readily available.

January is the month that hothouse rhubarb returns to the market to seduce us with rich, tart and ever-so-slightly sweet temptations. Baby artichokes should begin to reappear at the Farmer’s market after their brief mid-winter gap and the larger chokes should be available but perhaps will be marketed as ‘frost-kissed’. The hardy chicories and greens that provide our winter fiber and minerals are abundant and delicious. Winter squashes continue to provide beta-carotene to help us stay healthy through the next few months.

The biggest challenges with winter produce are weather and transportation. Most produce comes from California, Florida or what we call ‘off-shore’ – from Mexico, South and Central America. The added time required for shipping makes planning difficult and patience truly becomes a virtue. Another problematic factor to monitor is the weather, not only in harvest regions, but also in locales where trucks and planes are required to transport to – sunshine in California but snow in Montana or Wyoming often makes for a late – and over-chilled – delivery. Because there are such small harvest geographies in the winter, a regional frost can wipe out and impact the price of an entire crop of lettuce or citrus. Menus should be written with flexibility and orders should be placed knowing that markets and prices can change with a single storm front.

During the Chinese New Year (starts January 31st), serving a whole chicken symbolizes family togetherness. Noodles represent a long life; (an old superstition says that it’s bad luck to cut them); clams and Spring Rolls symbolize wealth. Tangerines and oranges are freely shared during Chinese New Year as the words for tangerine and orange sound like luck and wealth, respectively. And Pomelos signify abundance because the Chinese word for pomelo sounds like the word meaning “to have”. On Chinese New Year’s Eve it is customary to serve a fish at the end of the evening meal, symbolizing a wish for abundance in the coming year. For added symbolism, the fish is served whole, with head and tail attached, symbolizing a good beginning and ending for the coming year.

In January – and all winter long – think about writing menus in a way that’s a little more open to variations on the item: winter squashes taste very similar; cooking greens can all be prepared with similar methods and results; root vegetable medleys are wonderful additions to most menus while keeping a lower cost base. The ‘soft’ herbs are generally less accessible too – expect to pay premiums for basil, tarragon, chervil and chives – because of their high water content and delicate structures, they are susceptible to frost and cold damage. The winter-hearty herbs are rosemary, thyme and some of the sages – all known as the ‘hard’ herbs. Use roasted tomatoes for an added depth of flavor and citrus juices can brighten up the earthy flavors that are available. Radishes make a wonderful addition to salads and spinach can be used with pears, roasted chanterelles and hedgehog mushrooms to create a delicious seasonal salad course.