Temperatures this week sunk into “cold snap” territory: 33 F highs that really felt like 20 F mid-day, classic D.C. “wintery mix”, black ice and a dog sliding on ice-encrusted green patches. That means one thing: winter foods.
I’ve been making a lot of stews and soups. Last night, I made potato cheddar soup from The Silver Palate Cookbook. I really like this recipe, even though it takes over an hour for prep and cooking times. The soup base is carrots, onions, and potato, which is then pureéd and seasoned. Sharp cheddar (the sharper the better) is then stirred in at the very end. It’s seasoned with parsley and dill. You can’t see this in my shamelessly faux-vintage iPhone photo, but I served it with some thick slices of warm pumpernickel.
Then, for dessert, homemade hot chocolate with a fancy-pants chili-infused simple syrup I got as a Christmas gift. (Note to self: don’t use sweetened cocoa powder. It’s fine, really, but you don’t get that dark chocolate flavor that you do with unsweetened.) The epicurean nature of the drink, however, was toned down a little by adding good old marshmallows.
Come on. It’s winter. Live a little.
