In Praise of Comfort Foods

Macaroni and cheese is an American comfort food (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The New York Times dining section this week had an article on comfort foods: Comfort Without Color – In Praise of Pale Food – NYTimes.com. We all have our beloved comfort foods, those foods that typically remind us of childhood, and are usually white, fattening and delicious. Macaroni and cheese is one of my favorites; the article also gives recipes for rice pudding and potpie.

I’m thinking I might have to make a batch of mac and cheese tonight, just to kick winter’s butt out the door. We’ve had an unusually cold week for the last week of March, and I am so ready for spring.

What are your favorite comfort foods?

How to Make Croquettes

I have been making croquettes — or little fried cakes — for a long time now. They are always popular, and for me they are comfort food. I usually make them with mashed potatoes or beans. It didn’t occur to me that I could use another vegetable until I found Mark Bittman’s recipe for spinach croquettes. But then I realized that the basic croquette is a versatile recipe that can be adapted quite freely. And since it requires cooked vegetables, it is the perfect vehicle for using up leftovers.

Last night I made croquettes with leftover cooked kale. They were surprisingly good, and even the baby ate three small ones. I would also try making them with other greens, artichoke hearts, broccoli, carrots, corn, peas, sweet potatoes or winter squash.

I served them dry, though, which I would amend for next time. Croquettes really need some kind of sauce to be complete. My husband suggested hollandaise sauce, which would be quite decadent and delicious. But even something as simple as a pesto, salsa or aioli would work. But even without the sauce, they are yummy and very quick to make. If you have time to chill them beforehand, all the better.

Basic Croquettes

Yields: about 6 croquettes

• 2 cups cooked vegetable, either mashed or chopped fine
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• ½ cup cheese, grated
• ¼ cup breadcrumbs, plus more for cooking
• seasonings of your choice: chopped onion, fresh herbs, seasoning mix, etc. plus salt and pepper to taste
• 4 tbsp. oil
• ¼ lb. cooked, flaked fish or ground meat (optional)
• Hollandaise sauce, pesto, salsa, aioli, or other mayonnaise or dipping sauce to serve

Combine the vegetable, eggs, cheese, breadcrumbs and seasonings in a bowl, and mix well. Add the meat, if using — these will make the cakes more of an entree than a side dish. If the cakes aren’t holding together, add more breadcrumbs. If they are too dry, add more beaten egg to bind.

Form the croquettes into cakes. You should have at least 6, or you can make mini-cakes to get more. Lay on a sheet of wax paper on a plate and cover with wax paper. Chill for at least half an hour and up to a day.

Heat the oil over medium-high. Dredge the cakes in breadcrumbs. When the oil is shimmering, fry the cakes until well browned, about 5 minutes per side. You may have to cook the cakes in batches depending on the size of your pan.

Serve with the dipping sauce on the side.

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• Mashing Vegetables Beyond Potatoes (simplycooking.wordpress.com)

Mashing Vegetables Beyond Potatoes

Image via Wikipedia

Lately, I have been experimenting with mashing a wider range of vegetables than the standard potato. And why not? The baby loves mashes, even when he’s turning his nose up at vegetables in general. For adults, they are comfort food. Everyone’s happy.

What is the difference between a mash and a puree? Generally, purees are smoother, more like baby food consistency, and in our house at least, we don’t like to eat them as side dishes. I prefer to use a puree as part of another dish, such as a soup or dip. I mostly puree in the food processor so I can choose from a wider range of vegetables (such as broccoli, mushrooms and eggplant, to name a few), although I will occasionally use a finer sieve in the food mill to puree.

I always serve mashes on their own as sides. I like to leave mashes a little chunkier than purees and to enrich them with butter and cream, milk, buttermilk or sour cream — whatever I have on hand. If I am serving the mash right away, I use a potato masher to make quick work of mashing the vegetable and mixing in the additions. If I am planning to serve the mash later, I’ll use the food mill with its coarsest sieve instead, and I’ll mix in the butter and dairy when I’m reheating.

For mashed potatoes, choose the russet, white or Yukon Gold varieties. These varieties have more starch and are better suited to mashing, although I will mash large red potatoes, if that’s what I have. Other vegetables that mash well are carrots, celeriac, parsnips, peas, sweet potatoes, turnips and winter squash.

A new vegetable often benefits from being mashed with potatoes so it’s not entirely unfamiliar. Mashed potatoes and celeriac (or celery root), for instance, has a wonderful nutty flavor. The baby likes mashed vegetables like turnips and winter squash mixed with cooked apples — not a favorite of mine, but if he’ll eat it, I’ll go for it. I like to experiment with strong flavor additions to enliven a mash. Salsa, pesto or herb purees, roasted garlic and cheese are all great additions to try.

Here is the basic technique:

1. Select the vegetables you want to mash and pre-cook them. Most vegetables can be peeled, cut into chunks and  boiled until tender. You might choose to bake starchier vegetables, such as russet potatoes, sweet potatoes and winter squash.
2. If you are serving the mash immediately, transfer to a large bowl. Add ½ tbsp. butter and 1 tbsp. cream, milk, buttermilk or sour cream per serving (just eyeball it). Salt and pepper to taste.
3. Using a potato masher, mash until the vegetables are the desired consistency, the butter has melted and the cream is incorporated. Mix in any other flavorings with a rubber spatula.

If you are not serving the mash right away, omit the butter and dairy. Use a potato masher or food mill to mash the vegetables, and either freeze or store in the refrigerator. Before serving, add the butter and dairy. Reheat over low until heated through, stirring frequently.

Mashed vegetables, including potatoes, can be frozen. Usually, I freeze them without the butter and dairy, which I add when reheating. To freeze as individual servings, scoop the mash into muffin tins. Once frozen, store in ziploc freezer bags, and just remove the number of servings you need.

Serious Comfort Food

Let’s say you’ve had a week like mine. A week where you stayed late at the office nearly every night and still didn’t feel like you got on top of all the work clamoring to be done. A week where you received 3 new project assignments, all of which need to be done by the end of June, and by the way, June 30 is the deadline for pretty much everything else you’re working on. A week where the person who provides support and de-stressing services is on the wrong coast.

So you come home on Friday, tired and stressed, to a bare pantry and an empty house. This is what you should make (with thanks to Marcella Hazan for the recipe).

Start by boiling a couple of potatoes until they’re tender. Let them cool, then peel them (or not — I didn’t). Mash them up. Sauté some onions in butter and pour them over the potatoes. Beat 3 or 4 eggs and add them to the mix. Combine them all with salt and pepper. Thinly slice some basil leaves and mix them in. Finally, throw in a healthy amount of grated Parmesan.

Heat some butter over medium and spread the mixture in the pan. Cook until the eggs are nearly set. Run the whole thing under the broiler to set the top. Slice into wedges. Eat with toast.

This Basil Potato Frittata is probably one of the most comforting, feel-good meals I have ever eaten. It reminded me of Potato Croquettes but even more homey and simpler to make. Food does have the power to heal, and this frittata nicely healed my frazzled soul.

On an unrelated note, here’s some handy advice. If you are preparing with your brother a belated mother’s day dinner for your mom, it is probably not a good time to experiment and make — just as an example — Raspberry-Chile Sorbet. At least Mom said it was “interesting.” She’s cool that way.

Here’s some more comfort food for you from Slashfood.

You Can Always Make Biscuits

It’s been one of those weeks. My husband and I have both been working long hours, I’m getting ready to go on another trip, and the refrigerator is pitifully bare. There is literally nothing to eat in there but eggs, yogurt and mixed baby greens. I defy the “breathy giggler,” my dad’s nickname for NPR’s Lynne Rossetto Kasper, to come up with a tasty recipe using only those ingredients.

Sure, I can probably put together a nourishing if not particularly inspiring meal of pasta or soup using things from my pantry; that’s what pantries are for. But it doesn’t seem the same without a few fresh things from the fridge to supplement. So we’ve been eating out rather more often than usual, and the results are starting to show.

The other night, I was determined to stay home for dinner despite the sad contents of our fridge. I really wanted something comforting and homey, something like bread. Of course, we had no bread, and it was already 8:00, not the best time to begin baking. But I had an epiphany of sorts. No matter what is going on in your life, no matter what your shopping habits are, if you have flour, baking powder, butter and some sort of dairy product, you can always make biscuits. And biscuits are designed to soothe the frantic soul.

Of course, these won’t be like the tender, flaky Buttermilk Biscuits that require a bit more time and care. I don’t normally keep buttermilk around the house; that ingredient requires a grocery store run. But these biscuits will definitely be good, fast and easy.

Going through my cookbooks, I came up with a chart of biscuit recipe proportions that could be made regardless of the dairy product available. I especially encourage you to make biscuits with plain yogurt, as I did this week. The results were incredibly tender and a beautiful golden brown.

Quick Homemade Biscuits

For all recipes, you will need 2 cups flour and 4 tbsp. butter.

• For 1 cup plain yogurt, use 3 tsp. baking powder, 1 tsp. baking soda and 1 tsp. salt
• For 1 cup milk, use 4 tsp. baking powder, 1 tsp. baking soda and 1 tsp. salt
• For ¾ cup half-and-half, use 3 tsp. baking powder, 1 tsp. sugar and ½ tsp. salt
• For 1½ cups heavy cream, use 2 tsp. baking powder, 2 tsp. sugar and ¼ tsp. salt; omit the butter!

Here’s how to make the biscuits:

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees
2. Combine the flour, baking powder and other dry ingredients in a food processor
3. Cut the butter into small cubes and pulse it into the flour until it is just combined (about 10 pulses)
4. Remove to a bowl and stir in the dairy until the dough forms a rough ball
5. Knead the dough 10 times on a lightly floured surface
6. Press out the dough into a thick rectangle and cut out rounds with a biscuit cutter or water glass (you can also make drop biscuits by dropping small balls of dough on the baking sheet)
7. Arrange the biscuits on a lightly greased baking sheet and bake for 7-15 minutes, until they are golden brown

Notes: If you are feeling creative, try adding to the recipe. For example, make cheese biscuits by adding ½ cup grated cheese to the dough. Or use 1 cup pureed sweet potatoes in place of some of the liquid. You can also season the dough with fresh herbs or cayenne pepper.

What to serve with biscuits? For a homey meal, try Chicken & Biscuits.

Food History has provided even more variations on the biscuit, these all decidedly English-style.

Why should your dog miss out? Try this homemade dog biscuit recipe from Serve It Forth.

Anniversary Flowers & Church Lady Cooking

It was my second wedding anniversary this week. My husband, who does many things right, remembered to send me irises, my wedding flower. We took the day off from work to spend together, finishing with a memorable dinner and a fantabulous crème brulée at what has been dubbed, even in its first year, the area’s best restaurant: Bonne Soiree. It was a great day.

I love having our wedding anniversary on the first day of spring. This is my favorite time of year, when every morning it’s a treat to go outside and see what is growing today. The garden is really starting to come to life, as all the bulbs pop up their heads. Those are my daffodils, two rows of sun worshippers following the sun’s progress across the sky. The redbuds exploded over the weekend, just like my winter pansies, and everywhere you look is purple. Except in the woods behind our house, where all the trees’ branches are tipped with that delicate first green.

My husband has been traveling a lot lately, so it’s been mostly meals for one. On nights when I’m alone, I tend to either make meals that focus on cleaning out the fridge or I revert to easy-to-make comfort food, like risotto and eggs. I also like to use the alone time to browse through my cookbooks and see what catches my fancy.

I am particularly fond of those ring-bound cookbooks produced by women’s groups like my copy of Cooking New Orleans Style! by the Women of All Saints’ Episcopal Church. I don’t necessarily like to cook frequently out of these cookbooks, but it’s fun to read the recipes, which always remind me of my grandmother’s cooking. Certainly, these ladies know how to cook.

The recipe for Eggs Benedict in Cooking New Orleans Style! particularly amused me. Here it is:

On individual serving plates, place one toasted English muffin half. Place slice of ham on each. Top with a poached egg. Cover with Hollandaise sauce and sprinkle with paprika.

The good ladies of All Saints’ Episcopal clearly don’t think their readers need any further instruction than this, such as how to poach an egg or make Hollandaise sauce, both of which can be rather fiddly tasks if you haven’t done them before. You have to wonder why they even bothered to write down the recipe at all. But I’m glad they did, because I immediately craved Eggs Benedict and actually made it twice last week.

Despite its down-home qualities — or maybe because of them — Cooking New Orleans Style! is a handy cookbook to have in my collection, offering perfectly authentic New Orleans recipes such as Cajun Remoulade Sauce and Creole Barbecued Shrimp, plus no less than three recipes each for Pralines and Bread Pudding. One of these days I’m going to have to work up the courage to try the Bust Your Girdle Cake.

In the meantime, in case I’ve inspired you to make Eggs Benedict as well, here are the missing components. (I make my Eggs Benedict with smoked salmon rather than ham).

How to Poach an Egg

Use a wide, fairly deep skillet rather than a pot. The eggs will cook faster and will be more stable if they can “rest” on the bottom of the skillet. Fill it to two-thirds of its height with water. For each egg, add ½ tsp. salt and 1 tbsp. white vinegar to the water; this will keep the whites from spreading out so much when the eggs go into the water.

Heat the water just to the point when it’s barely bubbling over medium-low. Crack each egg into a coffee cup. When the water is ready, slip each egg into the water from the cup on opposite sides of the skillet. I have no problems performing this manuever with 2 eggs; more dextrous cooks may be able to handle 4 eggs, or enlist a helper.

Eggs take about 4 minutes to poach, but I generally judge doneness by sight rather than time. The white will be set on top and creeping up over the yolk. Lift the eggs out with a slotted spoon and place on your English muffin halves and ham or smoked salmon slices.

Hollandaise Sauce

Hollandaise Sauce is super-easy to make, once you know how and presuming you have a blender. First melt 1 stick of butter over low heat. Then, combine the following in the blender:

• 3 egg yolks
• ½ tsp. salt
• pinch dry mustard or cayenne
• 1 tbsp. lemon juice

With the blender running, slowly dribble in the butter through the top until the sauce thickens. Yields 1 cup.

Notes: Hollandaise can be kept in the refrigerator up to a week, but it will get very thick. To reheat, submerge the bowl containing the Hollandaise in a pot of water and heat slowly over low. If the sauce is too thick, stir in a tablespoon of the warm water until it’s the right consistency.

How to Make Risotto

I don’t understand why risotto is considered by so many to be an up-scale, complicated dish. When I see a big bowl of creamy, cheesy grains, I think “comfort food.” That’s exactly what risotto is: warm, comforting and satisfying. It is really only a few steps removed from the Asian breakfast dish congee or even rice pudding.

And risotto is certainly not as difficult to make as cookbook writers might lead you to believe. You don’t have to stir endlessly or time things just right to make great risotto. Like any classic recipe, you can customize risotto endlessly to come up with the perfect dish to comfort you.

Risotto with Asparagus Tips and Mint

Risotto is traditionally made with Arborio rice, but any medium-grain rice can be substituted. You will need 1 cup Arborio or other medium-grain rice for 2 servings; 2 cups for 4 servings. If you get tired of the rice version, try making risotto with other grains or even pasta. I’ve had great success using this method with orzo.

For every 1 cup of rice, you will need 2½ cups broth, 1 tbsp. butter or olive oil, ½ cup grated Parmesan and ½ cup wine. White wine is traditionally used, but red is acceptable, particularly if you are adding strongly flavored ingredients.

Bring the broth to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce to low but keep warm.

Meanwhile, melt the buter or heat the oil in a wide, deep saute pan over medium. Add some minced aromatics to saute. Onion and garlic are both traditional, but any aromatics may be added, such as shallots or mushrooms. Make your choices depending on the other flavors you are using.

Which brings us to the substance of the dish. I think risotto is best when one or two ingredients are allowed to “star”; in other words, don’t load it down with too many extras. When you add the other ingredients depends on how you’d like to cook them. Some may be added with the aromatics to brown before adding the rice and broth. Others should be added with the broth to simmer. Risotto made with Arborio rice takes about 20 minutes to cook, so time the additions accordingly. For instance, if you’re using asparagus, wait until the risotto has nearly finished cooking to add the tips, so they don’t get too mushy.

Here are some suggestions for risotto additions:

• Add before liquid to saute: artichoke hearts, carrots, celery, chicken, endive, leeks, parsnips and turnips
• Add with liquid to simmer: asparagus, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, clams, green beans, mussels, peas, sweet potatoes, winter squash and zucchini

Of course, these are just starting points. Please always feel free to experiment. Prepare most additions by slicing or cubing into small, bite-sized pieces that will cook quickly.

The broth is simmering and the aromatics and other ingredients are sauteing. Now add the rice. Stir it around in the fat until it is coated and the edges become translucent, 2-3 minutes.

Pour in the wine and stir until it has been absorbed by the rice. Ladle in about 1 cup broth and let the rice simmer, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has been absorbed. Note that you do not have to stir constantly; just check on it every so often and give it a good stir.

When the liquid has been absorbed by the rice, add the remaining broth ½ cup at a time, stirring more often now, until the rice is cooked through. You may not need all of the broth. Tasting the rice is the best way to determine if it is done; it will be plump and tender, with no chalky center.

Now stir in the Parmesan and some fresh herbs and lemon zest to finish the risotto. See, that wasn’t so hard, was it?

In Honor of My Grandmother

My grandmother passed away last week at the age of 90. She was a great cook in the best Southern tradition, and a lot of my family’s remembrances of her revolved around food and meals. Many of my favorite comfort foods have her as a source: deviled eggs liberally sprinkled with paprika; creamy mashed potatoes; grits with a pat of butter melting into the center; potato salad spiked with yellow mustard; green bean casserole on Easter Sunday.

She had her wacky side as well, and was always cracking a joke. She was unknowingly (?) the source of my first drink — the Christmas eggnog was spiked with bourbon. She made rumballs so potent that eating one was like taking a shot wrapped in chocolate. And what could epitomize childhood summers more than fried bologna sandwiches on white bread with yellow mustard?

After the remembrances were over and all the family had returned to their regularly scheduled lives, I wanted to make a Sunday meal that paid homage to my grandmother’s cooking. Here is the menu:

• Oven-Fried Chicken, recipe from The New Best Recipe
• Succotash, recipe from American Classics
• Buttermilk Biscuits – the best I have ever made (see the previous post)

The Oven-Fried Chicken was really closer to Shake ‘n’ Bake than real fried chicken — but it was delicious Shake ‘n’ Bake. The chicken was first soaked in a buttermilk brine, then coated with egg and a crust made from crushed Melba toast and a mixture of spices, including paprika, cayenne and herbs. The chicken was then baked until the crust turned a deep brown. Because the skin had to be removed, this recipe couldn’t really come close to authentic fried chicken, but the results were great and certainly healthier.

The Succotash was also an updated version: simply lima beans, corn, onion, bell pepper and garlic sauteed in butter and seasoned with herbs and cayenne. This was also delicious, and I’m not overly fond of lima beans. I think the difference between this Succotash and the lima beans I remember from my childhood was that in this recipe the frozen beans went straight into the saute pan; they weren’t boiled to death first. The generous amount of butter also helped.

This was a great meal and, I felt, a fitting tribute to my grandmother. My grandmother relished good food all her life. I credit her, along with my father, as the great influences who nurtured my love of food and cooking, especially home-style cooking. I believe I did her proud in that department. The first time she came to my house for dinner, I made lasagna for her, and she still talked about it years later. How fitting then that the last time she came to my house for dinner, I also made lasagna for her. I hope to continue to re-create the great food she made but in my own style, and I will remember her every time I eat a deviled egg.

Dem Ol’ Sickbed Blues

Whatever it is, it hit me on Wednesday like a tornado, knocked me flat, and I am only just now beginning to recover. I spent two full days ensconced on the sofa with my Kleenex, Tylenol, cough syrup, VapoRub, books, laptop and TV tuned to the Food Network, HGTV and a marathon of Top Design on Bravo. Of course, I missed the brief respite from February — two sunny days of 60+ temperatures! I will spare you the gory details, but instead muse on those foods we crave when we’re sick.

“Feed a cold, starve a fever,” is the aphorism, and the one thing I don’t have is a fever. But when I’m sick, I don’t have much of an appetite either. I crave bland, filling, basic, comfort foods, foods that aren’t too difficult to make in my bleary-eyed condition. Foods like:

• Toast with butter and honey
• Cinnamon toast
• Soft-boiled eggs and English muffins
• And of course, that old standby, chicken soup

Is it any coincidence that such foods hearken back to my childhood, when Mom would bring a tray to me in bed or on the couch with a hot mug of tea? Of course not.

The following tea is not quite like what Mom used to make — as far as I know, lemongrass wasn’t readily available back then, at least not around these parts. But this is a dynamite recipe for when you’re sick. It’s easy to make, it makes the house smell terrific, and you can get therapeutic value just by standing over the pot and breathing in the steam. I keep a pot on low for most of the day.

Lemongrass Tea

Combine in a saucepan:

• 5 cups water
• 4 stalks lemongrass
• the juice of 1 lemon
• 3-4 tbsp. honey

Bring to a simmer. Let simmer gently over medium-low for 20 minutes. (Recipe from Healthy Latin Cooking.)

Chicken & Biscuits

This is like a poor man’s version of Chicken Pot Pie, for when you don’t have the time or inclination to make pie crust for dinner. (Personally, I prefer biscuits to pie on most days.) It’s homey, warming comfort food, great for a cold winter night, and quick enough to get on the table after work.

Any biscuit recipe would work for this recipe, including store-bought biscuit dough if you’re in a big hurry. Because you end up eating the biscuits in the stew, you don’t really need a fluffy, flaky biscuit for this, though. I prefer something a little more substantial, like the following cream biscuits adapted from The New Best Recipe.

Cream Biscuits

Yields: 8 biscuits
Time to make: ~25 minutes

What you need:

• 2 cups flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• ¼ tsp. salt
• 1½ cups heavy cream

1. Mix the flour, baking powder and salt
2. Stir in the cream until well mixed
3. Turn the dough out on a floured surface and knead briefly to form a sticky dough
4. Pat down into a thick circle
5. Use a water glass or biscuit cutter to cut out 8 rounds
6. Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes, until golden brown

Note: This dough is pretty sticky, so it pays to coat the inside of your biscuit cutter with nonstick cooking spray.

Chicken & Biscuits

Serves: 4
Time to make: ~30 minutes

What you need:

• 4 tbsp. butter
• 2 boneless chicken breasts, seasoned with salt and pepper and cubed
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups vegetables, diced into bite-sized pieces
• 4 tbsp. flour
• ½ cup white wine
• 3 cups chicken stock
• ½ cup heavy cream
• 1-2 biscuits per serving

Note: Peas and carrots are traditional for this dish. I prefer a nice mix of vegetables, though, so I also add broccoli, leeks and mushrooms. Feel free to vary the mix to suit your tastes.

1. Melt the butter over medium-high
2. Add the chicken and brown on all sides
3. Add the onion and garlic, and saute until translucent
4. Add the vegetables and brown
5. Reduce the heat to medium-low; add the flour and stir 1 minute
6. Whisk in the wine, stock and cream, and bring to a simmer
7. Cover and let cook until the chicken is cooked through, which shouldn’t take too long
8. Ladle into deep bowls and top each bowl with 1-2 biscuits to serve

(Adapted from a recipe in The Best 30-Minute Recipe.)