Ultimate Comfort Foods

We all have favorite "go to" comfort foods. Mundane as a bag of salt and vinegar chips to the unobtainable found on the ground nearly rotten mangos....seriously tropical fruit that's buzzing with fruit flies...you have to try it. There are also nostalgic comfort foods which are less widely accepted by others. My focus is on foods which will have popular appeal.

Every four months or so I'm invited to a gathering where we share food. Each gathering has a theme, upcoming will be "comfort food". I've got two in mind thus far (below) what's yours?

1. Hand Cranked Philadelphia (French) Style Vanilla Bean (the real deal please) ice creme with candied pecans folded in >> Not much to say if you know the drill. If I make this I'll take some pics. and post a recipe. Done right you can not beat, no pun intended, hand crank full fat ice creme. It is smooth as silk, rich and not (gag) frozen. This is a fresh food that must be eaten at once!

2. Zabaglione > This is a old school egg yolks + lemon + Marsala (double boiler) + sugar over generously poured warm over fresh fruit. Basically bringing a gun to a knife fight and ridiculously easy to make.

Go!

BBQ. Chili (when it's cold out).

This is one of my very most favorite things :: Broccoli Cole Slaw Recipe | Paula Deen | Food Network I mean it's Paula Deen, it's gotta be comfort food, right? It's best the day after it's made FYI.

All things mezze- hummus, muhammora, kibbe, babaghanoush, labneh, tabouleh, stuffed grape leaves, mix of real olives, all sprinkled with zatar or drenched in olive oil (preferably both). Serve with a thick dry red and warm flatbread. Easy to make in stages, hopefully enough to enjoy leftovers forever as it all gets better after a day or two.

The muhammora is the ruby in the middle of the plate, saved for last IMHO. My recipe is better (I make this without a recipe, I would need to backward engineer to get it), but this one is close.
Muhammara I Ottolenghi recipes

Pasta with red sauce.
Basic jarred Pomodoro sauce, garlic (even garlic powder), salt, pepper, olive oil.
Tossed with penne or some other short, shaped pasta.

A little more effort is risotto. Jamie Oliver's basic recipe is a good starting point.

For me it's a comfort meal:

My meatloaf with my wife's roasted garlic rosemary potatoes and baked acorn squash.

I second the hyper ripe mango...

Spaghetti and meatballs.
Chicken and dumplings.
Tomato soup and grilled American cheese sandwiches.
Rice noodles with curry powder.

Hmm I have to add Chicken Paprikash to the pile. Just took a pot of this off the stove. Made it with good paprika, thighs and put some quick cook Farro in for good measure. Give me that with some crusty bread and don't talk to me for the duration.

The Dutch know comfort food...

Stamppot: mash potatoes, mixed with kale, butter, and sausage.

Tom gets it. Comfort food is a proper grilled cheese.

Northern new mexico pork green chile. Hell, just the smell of roasting green chile.

Totally. My 1-year-old and I have been mowing down some grilled cheese lately. Sourdough, extra sharp cheddar, a second kind of fancy cheese mixed in if we got it (brie, gruyere, etc.), plenty o' buttah on that bread. No mustard in sight.

For me, there is no comfort food like pizza and beer. I think because that's always what I have always eaten when finishing a backpacking trip, a climbing outing, or a killer day on a bike in the woods. Pizza and beer... it's like returning home from the Odyssey.

Pepperoni, sausage, peppers, onions, banana peppers, jalapeno, plenty of red pepper flakes. That's my go to. Only downside to marriage is no jalapeno on pizza. Best pizzas/most likely pizzas for which I pine, are all "classic", that is crispy, but golden and not burned, crust of a medium thickness, plenty of melty cheese, neither NY, CT, nor Chi-town style, neither gourmet nor delivery-chain, but each the perfect golden ratio in its own way:

-Marion's piazza, Dayton, Ohio, weird but appealing sausage.
-Rocky's Pizza, Beavercreek, Ohio (RIP)
-Pizza Perfect, Nashville, Tennessee, Classic as it gets.
-Miguel's Pizza, Slade, Kentucky, if you know Miguel's you must be or once were a climbing dirtbag.
-Just remembered Tony's Mountain Pizza in Westcliffe, Colorado after a 13er in the Sangre de Christos.
-Buddy's Pizza, Frankfort, Kentucky, many a lunch there in the middle of a 100-mile ride, or after riding MTBs at Capitol View Park. Many a lunch there just getting fat on pizza, too.
-Pazzo's, Lexington, Kentucky. More taps than anywhere else with pizza that good.
-Puccini's Smiling Teeth, Lexington, Kentucky, just bloody good.
-Mellow Mushroom in Boone, NC - lot of fond memories there taking high school students on trips to the mountains over the years.

My cousin just opened a pizza place back in Ohio. I am going to go on a long bike ride and eat there when I'm home for Christmas.

I'll say it again, pizza and beer. And now I'm homesick for every one of those places!

I grew up with a lot of Ashkenazi (and other jewish) food as comfort, especially in the colder months - in my opinion no food tackles the fat:carb ratio like that. Matzo ball soup, falafel, matzo brie, teiglach, noodle kugel, rugelach, babka... growing up as a vegetarian meant I didn't partake in some of the other classics, but the smells were always warming to my soul nonetheless. Now as fully plant-based for nearly a decade I've had plenty of time to recreate these dishes without the eggs and dairy, which has been a lot of work but nothing brings me joy like nailing a childhood comfort food that jives with my current lifestyle. That, and the joy of sharing those things with my wife who did not grow up around any jews.. she surprised me with matzo ball soup on a particularly wet and cold night recently and I couldn't have been a happier man in that moment.

Two jumbo organic eggs fried gently over-easy in pastured butter...

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Originally Posted by guido

Two jumbo organic eggs fried gently over-easy in pastured butter...

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Mom made us easy over eggs ontop of broken toasted buttered rye bread. That is a top nostalgic favorite.

For those of you who like grilled cheese (which is everyone, right?) try putting some mayo on the bread instead of butter.

I know, sounds crazy. But it really makes it brown up nicely, and you can't actually taste the mayo in the assembled sandwich. This is coming from a guy who doesn't really like mayo.

From SeriousEats :: "If you want to go really wild, leave out the butter altogether and instead spread a layer of mayonnaise on every surface of your sandwich before cooking. It'll melt and brown, adding a touch of tangy-sweet flavor."

The Art of the Perfect Grilled Cheese (Plus 20 Variations to Shake Things Up) | Serious Eats

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Originally Posted by Too Tall

Mom made us easy over eggs ontop of broken toasted buttered rye bread. That is a top nostalgic favorite.

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I'm still looking for the perfect keto/paleo friendly toast substitute... Somehow the bed of sauted greens isn't quite the same...

Slow cooked beef short ribs over cheesy grits with a side of mustard greens.

I'm in on the grilled cheese vote...with tomatoe soup, sweet pickles and Coke on ice...I don't know why the Coke but it seems to add to the guilty pleasure. Perhaps a few BBQ chips on the side as well.

Any of the many meals posted by RW.

Beef tips, home made mashed, moms biscuits with butter and honey.
Big sigh.

Mike

Mind blown re: mayo Dustin. I don't like it either. But is this like looking at that spider I'm super afraid of to overcome my fears? I can't decide.

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Originally Posted by zambenini

Mind blown re: mayo Dustin. I don't like it either. But is this like looking at that spider I'm super afraid of to overcome my fears? I can't decide.

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Mayo on grilled cheese won't make you like mayo. But it will make you like grilled cheese even more!

For me with the grilled cheese, what puts it over the top is to sprinkle some shredded cheese on the grill and then put on the bread. It crisps up nicely, and gives it just that little extra.

the blood of mine enemies

My grandmother made the best chile colorado in the universe. I have yet to find anything that rivals it. And I still dream about it.

As Toots said, eggs over easy on rye toast. My Mom used to make a hole in the toast to put the egg in. Don't know if it is comfort because of the food or the memory.

As Dustin said, I HATE mayo but it is killer on grilled cheese for comfort food. But a little revise....I put mayo on one slice of bread. And mustard on the other. Guldens. Not that silly French's or other watery yellow stuff that is not mustard ATMO nor the frou-frou French mustard I get in Quebec (I have been known to run Gulden's over the border under the front seat of the Volvo).

Plus, a tomato under the cheese.

And if I am lucky and have a piece of ham in the fridge that under the cheese too. Or prosciutto, or bacon.

Basically pork makes it even better comfort food.

Which, speaking of my Mom again, is probably making her roll over in her urn.

And, speaking of pork, I always keep some home made pea soup frozen in the fridge in case of emergency. And, pea soup made with the left over bone from a good ham is just the best in making a comfort pea soup...with a slab of crusty bread slathered in real butter.

Tonight's comfort food, chicken chile verde enchiladas. Tomatillos, white onion, garlic, serranos and cilantro are from our garden, for that added level of comfort.

Here are two oddball ones we will go to if the mood is right.

Roasted Garlic Head + bread >> Cut the top 1/3 off of a entire hand of hard neck garlic. Use a fork pointed straight down and poke a bunch of holes in the tops of all the cloves as if you were tenderizing meat. Sprinkle salt than drizzle heavily with EVO and place under a medium broiler until it slightly burns. Meantime, warm a baguette. When the garlic is done (shoot for 10 mins. you might have to cycle the oven in order not to have a fire) use a kitchen towel to wrap the hand of garlic and use that to squeeze the cooked garlic onto a plate. Go nuts. Stay away from friends for a day.

Brie Heart Attack >> Similar to above. Break the surface of a REALLY good Brie, add a pat of butter or substitute EVO and place in a hot oven for 10 mins. Slivered almonds are optional. When done use a warm baguette and go nuts.

Neither of the above are socially acceptable items for a gathering, best done in private.

French onion soup done right

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Originally Posted by Too Tall

Here are two oddball ones we will go to if the mood is right.

Roasted Garlic Head + bread >> Cut the top 1/3 off of a entire hand of hard neck garlic. Use a fork pointed straight down and poke a bunch of holes in the tops of all the cloves as if you were tenderizing meat. Sprinkle salt than drizzle heavily with EVO and place under a medium broiler until it slightly burns. Meantime, warm a baguette. When the garlic is done (shoot for 10 mins. you might have to cycle the oven in order not to have a fire) use a kitchen towel to wrap the hand of garlic and use that to squeeze the cooked garlic onto a plate. Go nuts. Stay away from friends for a day.

Brie Heart Attack >> Similar to above. Break the surface of a REALLY good Brie, add a pat of butter or substitute EVO and place in a hot oven for 10 mins. Slivered almonds are optional. When done use a warm baguette and go nuts.

Neither of the above are socially acceptable items for a gathering, best done in private.

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I think enthusiasm for garlic is one of the critical factors in friend selection... If they wouldn't join in I'd have real second thoughts...

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Originally Posted by giordana93

French onion soup done right

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Well....don't be circumspect. Make with the details.

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Originally Posted by Too Tall

Well....don't be circumspect. Make with the details.

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sorry for the terseness; was replying via tiny iphone se, and I was just nominating a great comfort food.... But I do make some occasionally My best ones really start with a cheat: I make an onion beef broth for use in Quebec-style "Fondue chinoise" which is similar to Chinese hot pot. i.e. one (well, dinner guests) cooks thin strips of beef in a bullion. At the end of the fondue dinner, there is invariably some extra meat floating in the pot of now super rich beef broth. My last fondue pot in fact had a starter from the dripping/stock from a pulled pork slow cook, and that is kinda the point of a proper French Onion soup: it starts with leftovers: a stock made up from your roast beef & veggies (peels allowed if you have the patience for that kind of thing) or bone-in something; plus crusty old French bread-you know how it gets hard as a rock; that's an asset as a topper to a soup as it resists getting soggy (if it's fresh, you should dry it out in the oven or by leaving it out cut and unwrapped a few hours); and any good cheese hanging out in the fridge that gets melted on top. gruyère is traditional, but brie, mozz, hell, why not some goat? will do as well. If I'm planning ahead for this specifically (and it is normally part of the fondue broth) I'll carmelize the onions then deglaze with some red wine before adding the stock and cook it down to the right richness (careful with salt content; less is more before reduction if you know what I mean)

Giordana >>> that "cheat" is pure gold. I never would have thought of it. I'm a gruyère man. Thanks.

My Quebecois better half does essentially what Giordana said above using vermouth instead of other wine. She also tries to use more than one kind of white onion...for instance Vidalia and Sweet White and whatever else she has in the onion bag. And Swiss Emmenthal cheese. But in both recipes they will be very comfy especially in one of those crocks right from the oven.

My wife makes an awesome chicken pot pie loaded with potatoes, veggies, etc. Pairing a slice or two with a good porter or stout makes a great hearty meal on a cold fall or winter night.