After cradling a few hot crocks to revive circulation in numb fingers and slurping some most satisfying liquid meals, we settled on a sampling of special recipes to share along with advice from the chefs who produce them.
Fans of chef Peter Dunmire's gastropub menu and rich soup repertoire at N. 3rd (801 N. Third St.) have dubbed him Soup King.
With a background in classic French cuisine drawn from three years in the kitchen at the late, great Deux Cheminees, training at La Varenne in Paris, and later chef tours here at Blue Angel, Rouge and Brasserie Perrier, Dunmire has put out some of the city's finest pub fare for four years at the laid-back bistro in his Northern Liberties neighborhood.
Under Dunmire, the restaurant's nightly soup specials have made N. 3rd a must stop for soup lovers.
"Our customers like hearty soups that do not stray too far from what they may have had as a child," said Dunmire.
"Vegetable beef, split pea with bacon, cream of potato, cauliflower and cheese . . . sometimes it feels like we're being inspired by Campbell's soup labels. But the classics are always best, especially when made with love."
Dunmire's first rule of soup-making: Saute onions or shallots and use good chicken stock.
"For home cooks, pureed soups are the easiest way to start," he said, noting that the featured vegetable - potatoes, carrots, whatever - should be cooked with just enough chicken (or vegetable) stock to cover it by one inch.
"You can adjust the thickness of the soup by adding more stock for a brothy soup, or less for a thicker, heartier texture. Cream may be added or omitted. The water content of the vegetable should be taken into account. Butternut squash and cauliflower need far less stock than potatoes or carrots, for example."
