The Brave Ski Mom

Building a new generation of skiers and snowboarders.

You Gotta Get It: The Ski House Cookbook

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Beef Short Ribs, Asian Style. The Ski House Cookbook. Press photo: Paul L. Newby II

“Oh my gosh, this recipe looks delicious.”

“Check this out…I want to make this one tonight.”

“Can we have these for breakfast?”

And so it went. For about 100 miles, my oldest son and I oohed, aahed and exclaimed over the recipes in The Ski House Cookbook.

Photo courtesy The Ski House Cookbook

It was the week before Christmas 2010 and my husband was driving us on our annual holiday pilgrimage to Little Cottonwood Canyon (home of Snowbird and Alta). I received The Ski House Cookbook in the mail from Amazon and cracked it open somewhere along I-70 in the Utah desert.

By the time we got to Provo, my son and I had read it cover-to-cover. We dreamed of consuming nearly every dish in the book. We were definitely looking forward to our days of skiing and now we were actually looking forward to cooking as well.

Ski Moms Aren’t Always Kitchen Moms

Ordinarily, cooking after a day of skiing is something I do reluctantly. Why? Because while I love to eat delicious food, I would prefer that someone else cook so that I can sit ’round the fire with my family and relax after a day on snow together. Fat chance. Doesn’t happen. Instead, what often did happen (notice the past-tense), was that we’d eat pasta with sauce from a jar and a salad.

Green, Blue and Black…Recipes

Photo courtesy woodproductsigns.com

Finding The Ski House Cookbook was a revelation. Throughout the ski season and into the summer and fall, this cookbook went everywhere we did. The recipes are rated easy to difficult by (you guessed it!) green circles, blue squares and black diamonds. Paging through the book’s pasta section, green recipes include Penne alla Vodka, Rigatoni with Sausage and Ricotta, and Pasta with Creamy Pumpkin Sauce. YUM! And the recipes truly are quick and easy.

Graduating to the blue recipes, one finds Hearty Lasagne, and Off-Piste Orecchiette with Sausage and Broccoli Rabe. And since pasta should be easy and delicious, there are no black recipes in this section.

In fact, the handful of black diamond recipes are true splurges: for example, Eggs Benedict with Chipotle Hollandaise, Croque Monsieur sandwiches, Classic French Onion Soup, and Roast Beef Tenderloin with Red Wine Shallot Reduction. And while each of these sounds fantastic, I haven’t made any of them. I stick to the easier recipes that taste fantastic and are, well, easy.

Here are some of our favorites: Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake, 15 Minute Stovetop Macaroni and Cheese, White Bean with Bacon Soup, Spicy Roasted Chickpeas, Spaghetti Carbonara, Buttery Tomato Sauce, and Blue Cheese-Stuffed Bacon Burgers. Again, YUM!

Green Mountain Fondue, The Ski House Cookbook. Press photo: Paul L. Newby II

Delicious, Real Food

As you may have noticed, while each of these recipes sounds delicious, none of them sound extravagant or outlandish. The recipes in The Ski House Cookbook are real food for real skiers, of any age. The food is creative, but recognizable, so even picky kids won’t be put off.

The Ski House Cookbook does assume that your cooking skills go beyond opening cans and boxes, but nothing is so difficult, or requires so many utensils and tools, that you can’t make it in a condo. What can I say? We love this cookbook — not only during ski season, but year-round.

Quick Pains au Chocolat

This was the first recipe we tried. It is so good we have to “try” it frequently.

Ingredients:

1 sheet frozen puff pastry (from 17.3 ounce package), thawed and cut into 8 squares (note from BSM: I find it easier to cut into 9 squares, but maybe that’s just me)

1 large egg, lightly beaten with 2 teaspoons water

1/2 cup chopped bittersweet chocolate or chocolate chips

Sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

2 Brush one edge of a puff pastry square with the egg wash. Place 1 tablespoon chocolate on the opposite edge of the pastry square and roll the dough tightly toward the egg wash side. Press the edge with the egg wash into the dough to seal. Place the pastry roll, seam side down, on a baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining squares and chocolate.

3. Brush the tops of the pastry rolls with the remaining egg wash and sprinkle lightly with sugar. Bake until the pastries are golden brown, about 15 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Copyright: The Ski House Cookbook. Reprinted with permission of the authors.

 

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Sounds like this could have been called the active family house cook book. I want to try all the black diamonds!

  4. The beef short ribs & French onion soup actually made my mouth water and I just had breakfast!

  7. Looks fantabulous! Can’t await to try some of these out in the ski house this season on unsuspecting ski mates! My beginner-intermediate wife can now explore double black diamonds without the bruises…yay!

  11. This blog and your efforts/creativity in making it so engaging are the perfect reflection of who you are, who you always have been and why I simply adore you and count you among my closest and dearest friends. I know I’ve seen this cookbook in a condo we’ve rented along the way and forgot about it until you mentioned it. There are few things more relaxing than contemplating great recipes in a cookbook. Cheers!

    • Wow! What a nice comment! And while I agree with you about the relaxation factor of contemplating great recipes in a cookbook, I also enjoy relaxing with friends like you, good food and wine, after an epic day of skiing. Do we have a date for 2012? Good luck!

    • Thank you Sarah! I truly have enjoyed using The Ski House Cookbook! And, I don’t wait for ski season. I use it year-round. Best of luck with Julia’s Child, your new novel! Cheers.

  16. Thanks for sharing about this book. We will have to add cooking as a family to our list of activities we like to do together.

  20. This cook book looks amazing 🙂 Winter in England is so depressing I need good food to get me through when I can’t go away to ski!

  24. The cookbook looks great! I need it for the long dark city nights here in DC when I dream of skiing. Can’t wait to make it out there this spring. I’m jonesing for skiing and great winter food!

  26. This is a terrific book and a great review, Thank you. Not only is this on MY wishlist but I am going to give it as gifts.

  28. This sounds soooo good! I’ve already picked out three recipes that I want to try: Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake, 15 Minute Stovetop Macaroni and Cheese, and Spicy Roasted Chickpeas. Plus, I love the idea of Julia’s Child! Can’t wait for it.

  31. I just recently got my hands on a copy of this book for a brief page-through… I would love to have a copy so I can make more of the items in it! Living in Utah, I need a quality cookbook that understands the ski lifestyle 😀

  32. I love the idea of ski symbols for recipe difficulty – would make my life easier choosing a recipe! And I am like you, after a day of skiing I have such a hard time cooking anything that takes more than 5 min 🙂

  39. Wow! This looks delicious! Thanks for turning me on to it—even if I don’t win it, I’ll have to track down a copy for myself! I’ve “liked” it on Facebook, too.