It is, regrettably, still cold outside. The weather will soon be warmer, but thanks to the sleet and snow and general disgustingness of our outdoor climate, we've all been holed up in our apartments for way too long. And because people don't bother to brave the weather for even the finest of food, that means that your favorite chefs get to spend the snow day chilling at home, too.
While you're holed up in your apartment praying that there's one more packet of instant ramen in the cabinet, many chefs choose to spend the day cooking the things they like to eat when they're not being forced to turn out four hundred fancy dishes over the course of an evening.
We asked some of Dallas' best chefs what they were eating on these frosty days, and got a pretty wide range of responses. Maybe they'll inspire you to go all Chopped challenge on whatever is rolling around in the back of your own refrigerator.
Graham Dodds, Hibiscus
For breakfast, Hibiscus' Graham Dodds cooked up a simple meal of crepes with burro di Parma (fancy Italian butter) and maple syrup. Ever the committed local food advocate, is planning a dinner that involves testing a sample of American Waygu ribeye from A Bar N Farms in Sherman, Texas, and serving it with eye of goat beans gifted to him by Sharon Hage.
Brian Zenner, The Mitchell & On Premise
According to Chef Zenner, snow days are freezer cleanout days. "It usually turns into Thai coconut milk curry and rice, with whatever meat, curry paste, and vegetables I can find. Kaffir lime leaves and lemongrass that I keep in the freezer usually lead the way. The only ingredient worth leaving the house for is clearly beer to go with the curry!"
Michael Ehlert, Front Room Tavern
Michael Ehlert and family spend their snow days with comforting pork vindaloo. "We spent an hour at Central Market gathering all the spices and tamarind paste. We came home and made the spice mix, braised the pork in it, then ate it with naan, rice, spinach and chickpeas. Warm, fatty, satisfying, spicy. It was perfect. Fun evening at home with the family."
Oliver Sitrin, The Blind Butcher
You wouldn't believe it based on his intricate menu of crazy-ass food, but Oliver Sitrin is a cold weather purist. On a day like today, Sitrin keeps it simple with the classic combination of grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. He can go back to hand-cranking all those sausages when it warms back up.
Danyele McPherson, Remedy
"Chili is a great snow day food. If your cabinets look anything like mine, odds are you already have everything you need to make it-some type of canned tomato product, beans (sorry I'm not from Texas, I put beans in my chili) chili powder and cumin. If you've got an onion, garlic and some meat you're in business. It's great because you can essentially throw everything in a pot and let it cook while you hang out in your jammies on the couch and if you're lucky you don't even have to leave the house to get ingredients."
Stephen Rogers, Gemma
Always the family man, Stephen Rogers took advantage of the time away from his crazy-busy restaurant to recover his kids' play table, probably so that he can teach the chefs-in-training how to hand-make gnocchi or perfect their brunoise or something. After a long day of crafting, the Rogers-Yoders settled in for homemade pizzas and G-rated movies. Which, frankly, doesn't sound like a bad way for anyone to spend a day off.
Erin McKool, Start
Even though she spends most of her time supervising a menu of healthified fast food, Erin McKool likes to get a little fancy when Mother Nature keeps her cooped up. After baking up a loaf of banana bread to kick off the snow day vacay, McKool is planning a dinner of seared steaks with crumbled bleu cheese and roasted sweet potatoes, a meal hearty enough to keep these wintry temperatures at bay.