Braise, Baby, Braise! 18 Slow-Cooked Recipes For A Never-Ending Winter

If you're stuck somewhere cold today (you know who you/all of us are), find your biggest, heaviest pot, make a huge batch of comfort food and weather it out. You'll be less likely to give into the cabin fever insanity on a belly full of chili or beer-marinated short ribs.

Check out our picks for stews, braises, hearty soups and other slow-cooked winter favorites, find something good on TV and prepare to watch snow and enjoy the smell of a job well done. From home.

You've made lamb stew before, but have you made the iconic, slow-cooked spiced Moroccan lamb tagine?

A braised lamb shank to remember.

If there's one classic recipe every man needs to have ready at hand, it's chili. A slow-cooker or crockpot will make this already simplified dish even easier, but a nice heavy pot with a tight-fitting lid will do the trick as well. 

Guinness, Ireland's famous black stout, has been brewed in Dublin since 1759. It's a staple of any Irish diet and has found its way increasingly into stews and casseroles. The beer actually tenderizes the meat and leaves a delicious malty flavor to any dish. Serve generously for St. Patrick's Day and beyond.

Beef up your soup game with this recipe. (Photo: Gentyl & Hyers.)

Don't let any of your cabbage go to waste.

Spiced sausage and veggies never looked so tantalizing.

Matt and Ted Lee, James Beard Award-winning chefs from South Carolina, recently released The Lee Bros. Charleston Kitchen (high up on our list of spring cookbooks to look out for). Inside is a wealth of classic homestyle and elevated Southern food we couldn't wait to sink our teeth into. First up, a Lowcountry staple: beefy okra soup.

Add some porky goodness to your collard greens.

Rosh Hashanah starts today at sundown and lasts until Friday, and we're super-excited to nosh on some of our favorite Jewish dishes to celebrate the new year. We borrowed a recipe for sweet and sour cabbage soup from cookbook author and executive chef of New England Soup Factory, Marjorie Druker. 

Not all bolognese needs to be red.

For a healthier chili, try Marc Murphy's chicken chili.

That heavy stout belongs in your ribs. Your beef short ribs, that is.