Comfort Foods
By Lee Flemming
Comfort foods are described as nostalgic or sentimental dishes that provide emotional satisfaction, often reminding people of home, childhood or happy memories, typically served warm and hearty and eaten for psychological well-being when feeling stressed, sad, or homesick.
Food is a very trendy and seasonal subject. Fall and winter foods are often what are considered “comfort foods”. I’ve been reading and thinking a lot about comfort foods lately. I guess everyone has their favorites.
Some of the top “comfort foods” are:
*Fried Chicken
*Macaroni & Cheese
*Spaghetti
*Mashed Potatoes
*Grilled Cheese Sandwich
*Chicken Pot Pie
*Gravy
*Biscuits
*Roasted Chicken
*Homemade Soup
*Anything Chocolate
I don’t know about you, but these are all on my “comfort food” list. When the first really chilly weather arrives, a big pot of homemade soup will be on my stove simmering away.
My family loves macaroni and cheese. When my son was younger, we had it quite often. Once I made homemade from scratch, instead of the “blue box.’’ I made a delicious white sauce and melted grated cheddar cheese to pour over the elbow macaroni. Buttered bread crumbs were placed on top and baked to a golden brown. My family just looked at it and questioned why it wasn’t that bright orange color. They let me know immediately that they preferred the boxed kind - so much for homemade being better.
Mama’s homemade pimiento cheese was the best I have ever tasted. It was against both of our kitchen rules to buy pimiento cheese, it must be homemade. Mine is O.K., but never tastes as good as hers. Maybe it is because I buy grated cheddar cheese and she would take out her Mouli grater and grate her cheese by hand.
Hot spiced tea is another comfort food favorite. It must be from the spiced tea mix that Mama had been making all my life. Forget the tea bags – nothing else will do. Homemade cookies always accompany to make the experience complete. Anything from Mamaw’s fruitcake cookies to her teacakes are great with a cup of hot tea.
When I was young and not feeling well, I knew there would be two things in the refrigerator – jell-o and potato soup. I grew up in a home where there was always a congealed salad in the refrigerator. It was usually lime with cream cheese and crushed pineapple. My family doesn’t really care for congealed salads, so I very seldom make them. They say they are too much like dessert.
Fried chicken drummies and shrimp spaghetti are two dishes that always bring a smile to the two men in my life. Steven would eat my lemon chicken with rice every night if he could. He also loves pound cake. I remember one time I made one, he told me – very politely – to just let Mimi fix them because hers were better than mine!
A final comfort food has just got to be chocolate. When you want chocolate, nothing else will do. What can be better than just a bite of delicious milk chocolate? I have been known to break open a bag of chocolate chips in a pinch or time of crisis.
Hope you enjoy this week’s recipes. Thanks for reading.
HOMEMADE CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 medium carrots, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 ribs of celery, halved lengthwise and cut into bite-sized pieces
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
1 bay leaf
2 quarts chicken stock
8 ounces noodles
2 cups shredded cooked chicken
Salt and Pepper to taste
Place a soup pot over medium heat and let oil coat the bottom. Add the onion, garlic, carrots, celery and bay leaf. Cook and stir for about 5 minutes, until vegetables are tender, but not browned. Pour in chicken stock and bring to a boil. Add the noodles and simmer until the noodles are tender. Add chicken and continue to simmer for a few minutes to heat thoroughly. Season with Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Remove bay leaf before serving.
ONION CHEESE BREAD
2 Tbsp. butter
½ cup chopped onion
1 large egg, lightly beaten
½ cup milk
1 ½ cups Bisquick
1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
2 tsp. dried parsley flakes
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease an 8-inch square baking pan. In a small skillet, melt butter; add onion and cook about 3 minutes until tender. Set aside to cool. In a medium bowl, combine egg and milk. Gradually add biscuit mix, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Stir in onion and ½ cup of cheese and parsley. Spread batter into prepared pan; sprinkle with remaining ½ cup cheese. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
CHEEZEY POTATO SOUP
1 Tbsp. butter
1/3 cup chopped celery
1/3 cup chopped onion
4 cups diced, peeled potatoes
3 cups chicken broth
2 cups milk
2 tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper
Dash of paprika
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
Croutons
In a large soup pot, melt butter over heat. Saute’ celery and onion until tender. Add potatoes and broth. Cover and simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. Mash cooked potatoes with back of a wooden spoon until some are smooth, but there are still some solid potatoes for texture. Stir in milk and seasonings. Add cheese and heat only until cheese is melted. Serve with croutons.
