drinking: hot toddies

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Toddies are just the thing when you’re under the weather. So say I. This is such a flexible beverage, you can use brandy, whiskey, scotch, bourbon… (or, I mean, you can use anything you want), any kind of tea or just hot water, any herbs or spices you want to toss in…a hot liquored up infusion of any sort I would say falls under this toddy umbrella. Toddy is such a cute word.

While it is flexible, mine generally tend to be something like this:

1-1.5 oz bourbon (often like the slightly sweeter bourbon over whiskey for this application, here Buffalo Trace)

1/4 lemon, juice of

cloves, allspice berries, cinnamon stick

1 Tbs honey

tea (lemon, chamomile, or something fruity, or whatever, here I’ve used Teavana’s Youthberry, a sweet white tea)

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Match Convivio mug, spoon, and Libeco Grainhall napkin on loan from Didriks.

Elaborate beverages cheer me up. Don’t they you? Get someone else to make one for you and it’s even better.

It just got distinctly colder here in Cambridge, so a toddy here and there is all the more welcome. They’re easy drinking, though, so they can sneak up on you…

on the menu: white beans, chorizo, kale

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White beans, chorizo, and kale. With classic Spanish chorizo this dish is wonderfully flavorful and warming. The peculiar sweetness of kale balances the spicy, smoky chorizo.

Not hard:

2 Tbs olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1 bell pepper, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minimum

chorizo, several inches worth, chopped to whatever size. Medallions are popular/picturesque but I like smaller pieces. Chorizo imported from Spain or in the Spanish style is ideal. Portuguese linguica is an OK substitute, any other substitution will require the addition of herbs and pimentón to supply the flavor.

splash of wine

2 cans cannelini beans, rinsed

8 oz broth, your preference

plenty of shredded kale, probably you will wish you had added more

Saute onions, peppers, garlic in olive oil (a dutch oven is nice for this dish), let them get plenty of color. Add the chorizo, allow fat to render. De-glaze with whatever wine you are drinking (I prefer white with this dish, a Sauvignon Blanc maybe, or Chardonnay, or sherry!). Mix in the beans and add the broth (I like beef broth here). Add the kale (I don’t even bother to mix it in at this point, just leave it on the top) and cover to allow the kale to steam. Once it has wilted, mix in. The longer everything can simmer at this point, the better. Say, 20 minutes. Chorizo is traditionally a dry sausage, and takes time to soften, also the flavors have time to mingle.

You can add more or less broth depending on how soupy you would like the final result, this combination is popular as an actual soup as well. All quantities are flexible.

Serve with toast.

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[This recipe is adapted from one from about.com, which I can’t find anymore.]