‘Tis the Weather for Comfort Food

The midwest ice storms make me want to curl up on the couch with a good book, wrapped in a blanket in front of a fire — and I live in Florida and am currently wearing shorts. I can only imagine the extent to which the rest of the country is experiencing similar couch-envy. It’s definitely the season for comfort food.

An offering:

Cream of Garlic Soup

Heat 1/2 cup minced garlic in 3 T olive oil over low heat until it starts to brown a little, stirring frequently. Add 2.5 cups chicken stock and 1 cup white wine and bring to a boil. Reduce, simmer 30 minutes. Add 2.5 cups milk (use whole for thicker soup), 1 cup whipping cream, and one peeled, chopped 4-oz potato (again, for even thicker soup, use a larger potato). Simmer another 30 minutes. Puree the soup in a blender (you’ll have to do it in batches, a pain in the butt because you now have to get an extra pan into the mix, but worth it). Return to a simmer. Salt and pepper to taste. A variation is to add chunks of chopped chicken after the pureeing process is complete.

You could, theoretically, add the potato (or a second chopped potato) after the puree and simmer it for longer, also, for an even chunkier soup. But I don’t recommend omitting the blending process altogether because you need to render the minced garlic even smaller or it gives the soup a peculiar texture [I know, I'm lazy, and I tried -- and regretted it!]