Pure Indulgence

In spite of the disastrous economy, two small children who have had colds since last fall, and my recent decision to ditch the lingering pregnancy pounds by doing Weight Watchers, Noah and I decided to head to the Inn at Little Washington to celebrate our 6th anniversary last weekend. A few days late. But since I've wanted to go to the Inn for years, the few extra days we had to wait were no big deal.


Hailed as one of the top 10 restaurants in the world, the Inn truly is a magical place filled with happy people celebrating one event or another (there was one engagement and numerous birthday and anniversary celebrations the night we were there). The staff is both friendly and deferential, present and inconspicuous. The food was imaginative yet relatively simple. It was a very special evening. Bonus that it's only about an hour from DC. Double bonus that, thanks to 3 weeks of work-outs with my personal trainer Sheila, I actually fit in to a cute and elegant outfit!

The Inn's chef/owner, Patrick O'Connell, known as the Pope of American cooking, is amazingly a self-taught chef. Could have fooled me. Our meal was, in one word, heavenly.

The view from our table -- the courtyard was dusted with snow at the time.

Interestingly enough, one of my favorite things wasn't even on the menu. It was a little intermezzo that Chef O'Connell refers to as "liquid autumn." It is SUPER simple and, frankly, child friendly! Crazy delicious too.

One word of caution -- use good maple syrup. The real stuff. Trust me that it won't be the same if you don't.

And don't even try to calculate the Weight Watchers points for something like this. I certainly didn't. Just enjoy it!

Apple Rutabaga Soup

Makes 2 quarts
6-8 servings

I only recently rediscovered Rutabagas and am so happy I did. They were something my mother used to prepare when we were kids – usually as a puree and even though I thought they tasted a little weird, their gorgeous golden color made you want another mouthful.

This soup looks and tastes like liquid autumn. All year long we look forward to serving it again in the fall. It’s incredibly simple to put together and can be made well in advance and frozen. The elusive secret ingredient is a bit of maple syrup, which enhances the natural sweetness of the rutabaga.

Water or vegetable stock may be successfully substituted for the chicken stock if you wish to make this soup vegetarian, or if you don’t want to bother making chicken stock.

-- Chef O'Connell

Ingredients:
1 stick (1/4 pound) unsalted butter
1 cup onion, roughly chopped
1 cup Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and roughly chopped
1 cup rutabaga, peeled and roughly chopped
1 cup butternut squash, peeled, seeded and roughly chopped
1 cup carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
1 cup sweet potato, peeled and roughly chopped
1 quart good chicken stock
2 cups heavy cream
¼ cup maple syrup

Salt and cayenne pepper to taste

1. In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, melt the butter. Add the onion, apple, rutabaga, squash, carrots and sweet potato and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are translucent.
   
2. Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Simmer for 20 to 25 minutes or until all of the vegetables are cooked through and tender.
   
3. Purée the vegetables in a blender or food processor. Strain through a fine mesh strainer into the same pot you used to cook the vegetables. Add the cream, maple syrup, salt and cayenne pepper.
   
4. Return the pot to the stove, bring the soup to a simmer, and serve.