Comfort Food

[capozzoli]

Man I love stick to your ribs dishes.

This one reminds me of my Grandma. Its chicken and dumplings but for some reason we called it Chicken Popeye. (pot pie)

Real easy.

Just take a few whole chicken legs and simmer them in water with a small onion, a few stlaks of celery and a couple of carrots all cut up.a bay leaf, salt pepper and celery seed and a fist full of peas. Simmer till the chicken is tender. Remove the chicken and pick the meat, cut it up and set it aside. Then thicken the broth a little with a mixture of flour and cold water.

For the dumplings mix two cups of flour, 1/2 cup of butter, a teaspoon of baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Add ice cold water to the dry ingredients as it mixes till it becomes a moist but workable dough. Let the dough rest for about 1/2 hour then roll it out till it is about 1/8" thick. Then slice them to the desired size. Place them in salted boiling water for a little precook and then transfer them to the stew before they are completely finished.

Add the meat picked meat back to the pot heat up and serve.

So what is your comfort food recipe? Spaghetti and meatballs? Meat Loaf? Gulash?

[bluesman]

Now thats stick to your ribs good eatin’ there Capp. I make the same dish using Jeff Smith’s noodle recipe. I roll out the dough and cut the dumplings with a pizza cutter. My wife loves C & D. It’s always a winner in my house. Nice job!

[blatz]

my all time favorite comfort food is pot roast and potatoes or egg noodles.

I’ll post our recipe if you guys care for me to, but I know how everybody has their recipe…

[capozzoli]

Yeah man, lets see that recipe. And some pics too.

I made linguine and clams tonight. Didnt get any pics, but that dish reminds me of my other grandma.

[nicneufeld]

This isn’t comfort food for me, but it seems kind of like it would be for others…a butternut squash soup made with from scratch chicken stock.  Was pretty tasty!

I hesitate to admit the sorts of things that are true comfort food for me…usually they aren’t all that great in and of themselves.  Hot dogs sauteed in butter served with boxed macaroni and cheese, canned ravioli (good god!!!), or perhaps a little fancier, smoked meatloaf.  To me comfort food isn’t things that I work hard at in the kitchen…its the crappy stuff I remember making for myself when I was younger, like quesadillas made with American cheese slabs and stuff like Top Ramen.

[blatz]

@nicneufeld

like quesadillas made with American cheese slabs

are you from Idaho and like chatting with hot babes online, all day?

[blatz]

Pot Roast (from memory - I don’t know if I have this written down anywhere):

4-5 pound rump roast - I use chuck roast occasionally, but rump is best.
1 medium yellow onion
beef stock
carrots (handful - maybe 5-6 cut into diagonals ~ 2 inch long)
yukon potatoes - ~ 7-8 good sized ones skinned
dark beer (bock, dunkel etc.)
2-3 bay leaves
white vinegar
dark caro syrup
flour
pepper
salt
ground garlic

you’ll need a good dutch oven - I have a 5.5 qt - the larger size will be better if you want to cook the potatoes inside the pot

flour, salt and pepper, ground garlic the outside of the meat (generously - I’ve never measured this part - its an eyeball it kinda thing)

melt 2 tbls of oil (canola) and 2TBL butter in the DO

brown all sides of the seasoned meat to a nice crust - generally ~ 2min per side

remove meat to a plate - take a look at the pot - add oil if necessary for sauteing the onion

saute the onion till its nice and caramelized and soft

add the beef stock (quart) and 1 cup of beer (you can sub water, but hey, we’re homebrewers, right?) to the DO and deglaze

add 3T white vinegar and 2 T of karo syrup along with 4-5T of flour to thicken (mix in a little water first to prevent clumping)

once smooth, bring this mixture to a boil, add the bay leaves and put the meat back in, along with the carrots.  depending on the size of your DO, you may be able to add the potatoes - mine is usually not big enough, so I boil them separately and mash into the gravy later.

put the lid on and put in the oven at 325 for 3.5 hours, optionally turning once in the middle.

Sometimes, instead of potatoes I will make it with egg noodles and a sour cream/swiss cheese mix:

1lb egg noodles
8oz sour cream
1lb good swiss

cook egg noodles per directions, melt swiss and sour cream until smooth in a small saucepot on the side, drain noodles, combine, voila!

---

haven’t made this in a while, but now that you got me thinking, I will soon and will post pics then!

[nicneufeld]

@blatz

@nicneufeld

like quesadillas made with American cheese slabs

are you from Idaho and like chatting with hot babes online, all day?

knock it off napoleon, make yourself a dang quesa-dillah!

Seriously, this is what’s weird about it, I’m from southern California…but my mom is from Missouri, maybe that’s where it came from.

[rabid_dingo]

Huevos Rancheros for me. My mom would fry up some eggs. Sunny side up or over easy. place them on some lightly pan fried maiz (Corn) tortillas, and smother the whole lot with warmed salsa. I am fighting myself right now. I could just whip up a batch right now.

[nicneufeld]

No, now I’ve got it…this is my comfort food.

Cottage pie (from a vagueish memory)

First dice up about a pound of beef…note I don’t say grind or use hamburger, I prefer actually small bits of meat chopped up with a knife as fine as you have the patience for.  I usually douse this with a bit of sherry or marsala and set it aside.  Take a diced onion or two and fry in a goodish bit of butter until nicely browned.  Add the beef in and cook until it’s browned as well.  Then, now that the meat has let its juices out, add a tbsp or two of flour and stir and cook for a matter of seconds until everything starts drying up in the pan (but before it really starts to burn).  Add about a cup of beef stock gradually, stirring.  Then its time to add other veg…I usually like diced carrots, a small can of peas, and occasionally a small can of corn (more a this side of the atlantic thing).  Add some salt, coarse pepper, a tbsp of ketchup, a generous tbsp or two of high quality Worcestershire sauce like Lea and Perrins (I’ve bought the cheaper brands, the difference is profound), and cook down a little while.  When nicely thickened put into a pie pan or casserole.

Meanwhile you’ve boiled a couple potatoes and mash them up with some butter and whole milk, salt and coarse pepper.  Spoon this onto the layer of meat and veg, top with some grated sharp cheddar and some more coarse ground pepper, and bake til the cheese melts or the potatoes get slightly browned.

Good stuff!

[bonjour-user]

a pre-2000 Thomas Hardy

love it

Fred

[loopy]

my wife makes pupusas, which is really her comfort food that has become mine.

it’s essentially masa (maseca - a corn flour dough) mixed with some oil and water and rounded into a flat pancake that is then stuffed with either cheese(we use mozzerella) or meat (pork or chicharon) or beans (usually refried consistancy).  Had some awesome ones with squash|cheese as well once.  Then cooked on a flatpan until golden brown with light browning.  They should not be dry but not be greasy either.

topped with cortido  (which is kinda like a cabbage relish/saurecrout) vinegar/carrot/cabbage/onions/garlic/jalapenos or chil pequins) then topped with warm red salsa

with cortido it looks something like this:

[smurfe]

At our house it has to be the Wife’s Spaghetti Gravy over any type of homemade pasta. Next up would be my Roasted Red Pepper Risotto.

[weazletoe]

See my Mac and cheese thread.

[capozzoli]

Weaze, that mac and cheese truly is comfort food, nothing more comfortable than a heart stopping dirt nap.

Loopy, those pupasas look awesome. I have to try this. Where is your wife from again? Guatemala right? Forgive me if Im wrong.
Those things look kinda like sopas or little gorditas. I have to try these.

Lets see some more Latin American food please.  8)

Here are some stuffed boneless pork chops.

Butterfly some thick cut boneless pork chops.

Then hammer them out a little.

Stuff them with your favorite stuffing. I use my homemade bird stuffing.

Then roast them for just a little while. Not to long it will dry them out.

Serve them with gravy.

[nicneufeld]

Where is baby’s belly button?  Ha!  Yes, we have that book too.

Looks like good stuff.  Anything with gravy generally earns “comfort food” status in the states.

[weazletoe]

@capozzoli

Here are some stuffed boneless pork chops.

You gotta make with the stuing and gravy recipe!

[chauncey]

@rabid_dingo

Huevos Rancheros for me. My mom would fry up some eggs. Sunny side up or over easy. place them on some lightly pan fried maiz (Corn) tortillas, and smother the whole lot with warmed salsa. I am fighting myself right now. I could just whip up a batch right now.

My absolute favorite. Thanks. Now I may have to go make some, too. I usually melt a little cheese on the eggs before I take them out of the pan. Any time I am in the Southwest, I have this for breakfast every day. There are endless variations.

[corkybstewart]

@loopy

my wife makes pupusas, which is really her comfort food that has become mine.

it’s essentially masa (maseca - a corn flour dough) mixed with some oil and water and rounded into a flat pancake that is then stuffed with either cheese(we use mozzerella) or meat (pork or chicharon) or beans (usually refried consistancy).  Had some awesome ones with squash|cheese as well once.  Then cooked on a flatpan until golden brown with light browning.  They should not be dry but not be greasy either.

topped with cortido  (which is kinda like a cabbage relish/saurecrout) vinegar/carrot/cabbage/onions/garlic/jalapenos or chil pequins) then topped with warm red salsa

with cortido it looks something like this:

Back in 1971 I was an exchange student in El Salvador and we used to buy papusas daily from street vendors.  The sons of the family I lived with would take handfuls of cortido from gallon jars and put it on the papusas, but back then it was way too spicy for me to eat.  Now I’d like to try it again.  Those pictures brought back some great memories.

[corkybstewart]

My personal favorite comfort food these days has to be posole with chunks of roasted pork shoulder and gobs of hot Artesia NM green chile.  I eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinners with fresh tortillas from the market down the street.
Of course homemade tamales are a close second-I make them with pork and red chile or chicken and green chile.