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I don’t know if The Groundhog was suffering from a migraine or the bad case of the flu when he made his prediction of an early spring, but the little rat was wrong, wrong, wrong. At least in the Northeast, Midwest, and a few other regions of the country.
I’m totally burned out with building yet another stew, stirring yet another pot of soup. In fact, I’ve heard a cook or two mention that they might consider The Groundhog as an ingredient. I guess he’d be a good substitute for the squirrel in Brunswick Stew.
I’ve long since run out of soup and stew recipes and I’m on my third or fourth go-around on many in my recipe box. And I’ve long since stopped caring, as much as I attack these things so enthusiastically at the first blizzard warnings. Maybe if I learned to bake bread …
Well, that’s a project for next winter, which I hope will be shorter, or at least less violently snowy. For now, as the stuff piles up on my front stairs, I’m cooking up something really decadent. Cheddar cheese soup. I like this after a morning of wrestling with the snow shovel. It’s also a great warmer after skiing or ice skating or sledding.
CHEDDAR CHEESE SOUP Makes 6 servings
½ pound bacon, cut crosswise into ½-inch pieces
¼ to ½ cup flour
4 cups chicken stock
4 cups milk
3 tablespoons chopped fresh sage leaves
2 ¼ cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
Salt, pepper, to taste
Author and culinary school teacher Linda Bassett provides recipes for and tips on the season’s freshest ingredients. She is the author of "From Apple Pie to Pad Thai: Neighborhood Cooking North of Boston." Reach her by email at KitchenCall@aol.com.
