Comfort Food

Comfort food is also something I hope to explore in both theory and practice.

My mother and sisters--when we get together, always talk about food.  And the conversation invariably turns to foods we ate while growing up.  The remembrances--colored no doubt by the rosy nostalgia that is a part of this kind of discourse--show that our family always ate well, thanks to the efforts of my dear Mom.  We have all turned out to be foodies of some sort or another. And Mother, at 89 years of age, still has the chops to make those dishes very well, although she rarely fries anything anymore.  The "comfort" in comfort food, then is in part what we remember as having been comfortable in some indefinable past, that we try to recapture by talking about it.  The cooking is maybe a different matter, since one might acquire culinary sophistication (at least in some areas); this impels us to revisit, rethink, and refine.  This is not always a good thing, in my humble opinion. But then, again, sometimes it is!

I think the list of comfort foods we carry around in our heads largely depends on the family culture--who cooked, who cleaned up, the conditions of work and school, and the availability of various foods.  In my childhood, the emphasis was on "balanced meals," which usually included at least two vegetables, one starch, and a meat dish. Vegetables were usually canned, except for cabbage or squash. Each main dish had a predictable set of accompaniments, e.g. pork chops went with gravy and rice, unless there was sauerkraut; then it would be fried potatoes. We always had bread on the table, which we slathered with cold margarine.  Each day, my mother prepared enough food for the seven of us, with the occasional leftover.  It would have been simple, but prepared carefully.  Mom never burned or undercooked anything.  If memory serves, I remember:
Meatloaf
Fried fish
Navy beans with ham hocks
Country fried steak
Liver and onions with bacon
Salmon cakes
Spaghetti and meatballs
Tacos
Pork chops with sauerkraut
Breakfast--waffles and bacon for dinner!
Creamed beef
Creamed tuna

Weekends
The foods we ate on weekends was a little different, since my dad would take part in the preparation.  He was the master of pinto beans--on most weekends he would put beans on the stove and cook them all afternoon.  Onions, salt pork, and seasoned salt were his favorite seasonings.
During the winter, we would have pot roast on Sunday, which Mom cooked in her electric skillet--a chuck roast with bone in, with lots of onion, carrot, and potato.  After dredging the meat in flour, she would brown it quite aggressively in the skillet, and then simmer it with water with the onions.  Then, about an hour before dinner, she would add the carrots and potatoes.  Yum.

Desserts
Maybe a quarter of the time, we would have a dessert.  Oh boy!  Somehow, having a dessert made everything right with me, as if we were resolving the events of the day.  My sisters and I would sometimes make the desserts. We had:
Warm Chocolate Pudding
Jello
Tapioca with pineapple or cherries
Peach or apple cobbler
Lemon or lime mousse pie with graham cracker crust
Brownies
Ice cream
Lemon Pudding cake

But my favorite was Swiss Steak, which will be the recipe for this post. We had this last night with our friend Mark Gorman.  Mom always made this with beef top round steak. Sauteed chard and leeks, along with my famous home made bread and mashed potatoes were the companions.  We had cherry pie a la mode for dessert.  Lucky for me, we have leftovers!

VENISON SWISS STEAK
Serves 4
1 lb venison steak, trimmed of fat and gristle and pounded into 1/4 inch thickness OR
1 lb lean top round steak as above
1 medium white or yellow onion, chopped coarsely
1 large bell pepper, chopped into bite-sized pieces
2 good-sized tomatoes, seeded
2 ribs celery, trimmed and chopped into 1/2 inch slices
2 cloves fresh garlic
1 package baby bella mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
Flour
Salt
Pepper
Paprika
2-3 cups water or broth
Olive Oil.

Salt and pepper the meat, then dredge in flour. Brown the meat on one side, turn it over, then add the onions, garlic, mushrooms and celery.  Turn the heat down to medium low,  cover, and allow the veggies to sweat a bit.  Then add the broth, seasonings and tomatoes, cover and simmer gently for about 45 minutes, until the the meat is tender.

Serve with mashed potatoes.

Red Chile Posole, with a digression!

Well, I forgot to say in my intro that I love Mexican cookery, which I plan to include in this here blog. My spouse will have a fit about my posting this, since he considers himself the posole king.  What is posole? It is hominy, but not the soft, bland stuff you find in the canned section.  Look in the freezer section for bags of frozen posole, which is firmer and a little bit coarse.  It tastes much better, too.  If you live in a non-latino or totally white part of America, I guess you will have to hunt it down.  It is worth the effort!  I suppose potatoes would work, but add them with the last 30 minutes of cooking.  Then you have chile colorado, which is a different (but still very fine) dish. Serve that with beans and tortillas, senora.

But Mom, tell us more about the red chiles.  Ok. Red chile pods usually come in large bags--look in your local grocery store, or a Mexican grocery.  When you boil and sieve them, you wind up with a paste that is a little bitter, and potentially very hot.  Amend the chili paste with water, salt, garlic and oregano, and pow! you get this complex and compelling red sauce that will make you speak in tongues. (Well, ok, in Spanish.  You'll want to say "caramba!")  Sometimes I will add a little tomato puree ( up to 1 cup) to soften things up just a bit--but that is the gringa way, not really autentico.  Still, I think it works well.

Red Chile Posole

Red Chile Puree
1 bag red chile pods (the best come from New Mexico)
Water to cover.

Remove the stems and empty out the seeds from the pods, unless you like a lot of heat.
Soak the pods overnight to soften them.
Boil at least one hour, or until very soft and falling apart. Cool to handle safely.  Pour off most of the water, but reserve about 2 cups to thin the puree.
Put the chile pieces in a blender with just enough water to make it workable. Process until very finely pureed.
Press through a sieve.  You should have a slightly pasty product, thicker than tomato puree, but thinner than tomato paste.  Taste for heat.  Thin it with the soaking liquid and maybe add a little tomato sauce if it is too hot.  Or use less puree in the recipe.

2 LB pork stewing meat, in bite-sized pieces
2 tbs olive oil or lard
1 large onion
2 large cloves garlic
3 1/2 quarts broth or water
2 cups red chile puree (see below)
1 LB posole, rinsed (Albuquerque brand is very good)
 2 tsp Salt, or to taste
1 tsp dried Oregano, crushed
1/2 tsp ground Cumin best if freshly ground
1-2 bay leaf

Brown the meat, add onions and garlic, sauteing until onions are translucent and soft.
Add salt, broth, red chile puree, and posole.  Simmer 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
Add oregano, cumin and bay leaf, and simmer 1 hour.
Correct seasoning.
Serve in large deep bowls.
Suggested accompaniments:

Diced radish
Diced onion
Chopped lettuce
Dried oregano
Red Chile Flakes (caution: HOT)

Comments

Posole is good for any meal, including breakfast.
The red chile puree makes wonderful enchilada sauce or salsa for chips.  Just thin and season to taste with salt, oregano, and garlic.

And Now I digress:
Posole may also be made with green chile and chicken or turkey.  Use 2 lbs chicken with skin and bones and 1 lb green chiles, either peeled long greens or poblanos (don't need peeling). Use these chiles coarsely chopped instead of pureed.  I like to brown the chicken with the aromatics (onion and garlic) and add to the posole and broth after the posole has boiled one hour.  Consider using one or two fresh tomatoes. The chicken is added later to prevent overcooked, mushy chicken.  Pick out the bones before serving.

How to roast and peel long green chiles
Use the plumpest, meatiest chiles you can find.
Wash the chiles and dry with a paper towel.
Place them over a gas flame or charcoal fire and turn frquently to roast all sides.  The skin should be uniformly charred.
Place the charred chiles in a plastic bag and seal.  Allow to cool while steaming inside the bag, at least 15 minutes.  Chiles can be frozen at this point for later use with good results.
Scrape off the charred skin, and wipe off any remaining charred flakes with a moist paper towel.  Cut off the stem end, slit the chile open and scrape out the seeds and white parts if desired.  If you leave those in the chile, the result will be spicier.  The more seeds, the hotter the result. (I take a little taste first to decide how much of the seeds to discard).

Green chile posole is lovely served with the same accompaniments as the red posole.  Limes are also wonderful squeezed over the soup.

Last Night -- Venison Meatloaf!

We had venison meatloaf with sauteed green beans and mashed potatoes.  The meatloaf was pretty good, in fact it was better than any other meatloaf I have ever made.  My spouse hunts deer, and just a few weeks ago, he brought home a quartered venison which we tried our best to cut into steaks and roasts. Suffice to say, I wound up grinding up a lot of the meat with my Kitchen Aid.  I did not add any fat to the venison mix, so it seemed like a good idea to use some ground pork to cut the leanness a bit. This makes one large meatloaf--maybe 8 servings. You can, of course substitute lean ground beef for the venison.


Meatloaf
1 lb ground venison
1 lb ground pork
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp red pepper or paprika
1 tsp dry mustard
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg (freshly ground is categorically the best)
1 egg
1 cup milk
1 cup matzo meal or cracker crumbs (reduce salt if using your own saltine cracker crumbs)
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
2 tbs ketchup
1 tbs worcestershire sauce
1 tbs sugar (optional, for a crisp glaze on top)

Mix the egg, milk, worcestershire sauce, ketchup and the dry seasonings until well blended.  Crumble the meats, onion, and matzo meal in a large mixing bowl.  Avoid squishing the meat mixture--I use a large metal spatula to cut into the meats and onions, rather than stirring.

Add the egg mixture and blend together, again, don't squish it!

Turn into a 5x10 loaf pan, or two smaller loaf pans.  Sprinkle with sugar.  If using the large pan, bake at 350 degrees F for one hour; for the smaller pans, say, 45 minutes.  The meat loaf should be nicely browned on the top, and sizzling in the pan.

Pie, Oh My!

Pie embodies the essence of home cooking!  Almost anything you can think of--fruits, vegetables, meats, nuts, even eggs--are at home in the embrace of a good crust.  Everything we associate with pie begins, of course, with the pastry, so I will start there.

On a personal note, it took me many years to learn to create consistently good pie crust.  The essential technique involves  a) cold fat; b) fresh flour; c) cold water; and d) minimal handling.  So here is the recipe for

Basic Butter Pie Crust
2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup old fashioned oats (optional)
scant 1 tsp salt
2/3 cups cold butter, 1/2 inch diced
2 tbs olive oil
4-6 tbs cold water
Plastic wrap
Wax paper!

Place flour, fats, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment. Mix on the slow setting about 5 minutes, or until it looks like coarse meal.  If you prefer a food processor, pulse it for only a few seconds at a time for the same result.  It comes out better if you still have a few pebbles of butter remaining.

With the mixer running, add the cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough just begins to come together.  Dump it on a large piece of plastic wrap and compress it into a disk, using the plastic wrap to bring the dough together; avoid touching the dough with your hands.  Refrigerate until ready to use, at least 1/2 hour.

Divide as needed, and roll out between several sheets of wax paper.  Do not use additional flour, as it makes the crust less tender. Transfer the rolled out dough to your pie pan by stripping off the top layers of wax paper and placing the dough, dough side down, on the pie pan.  Strip off the remaining paper and add the filling.  Then roll out the remaining dough, cut a few slits, and place it on top of the filling.

Depending on how much crust you like, either cut the overhanging ends off and use a fork to seal the edge, or roll it under the filling and flute. (I like lots of crust, so I use the latter technique)

Old Fashioned Multigrain Sandwich Bread

2 cups warm water

2 tbs active dry yeast

1 tsp sugar

Mix together in a large bowl--I like glass, but stainless steel will also work.  Place in the oven with the proof setting, or find a warm place to leave it for approximately 20 minutes, or until foamy. My mom likes to turn the oven on to 200 degrees F for a few minutes, and then turns it off; this also works well, but is less exact.  You can also use a place that is close to cooking activity, but again, it will be less exact.

Add:

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup unbleached wheat flour

2 beaten eggs

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 tsp salt

2 tbs olive oil

Put it back in the oven for another 5--10 minutes, or until foamy.

Stir this batter well with a wooden spoon, and add:

1/4 cup wheat germ

1/4 cup brown rice flour (may use cornmeal)

1/2 cup old-fashioned oats

Stir well and then begin adding the flour in 1/2 cup increments:

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (about)

2 1/2 cups unbleached wheat flour (about)

Once the dough begins to come together, add only enough flour to get a slightly sticky, moist dough.  (Too much flour will make the bread dry and heavy!)

Knead the dough enthusiastically with the heels of both hands until smooth and completely non-sticky. This only takes a few minutes

Place the dough in a clean large bowl that has been coated with some olive oil, turning the lump of dough to cover it with a film of oil.

Cover with plastic wrap and put it back in the oven--still on the proof setting.  Leave it there until double in bulk, and a slight dent persists when you touch the center of the dough with your finger.

Remove and divide the dough into equal parts.

Roll it out on a clean surface with a rolling pin into a 12x8 inch rectangle whose thickness is less than 1 inch. 

Transfer the loaves into prepared glass or ceramic loaf pans (5x10x3 inches), cover loosely with oiled plastic wrap, and place in the oven--still on proof--until the loaves are double in bulk--they should be almost an inch above the top of the loaf pans.

Remove the loaves from the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

(I like to brush the loaves with beaten egg whites to get a shiny crisp crust, but this step may be omitted.)

Bake about an hour, or until the whole house smells like freshly baked bread.  The loaves should be tall, well-browned, and should sound hollow when you strike them with a wooden spoon.  Allow them to cool slightly before slicing (if you can wait that long).

Variations:

In place of the brown rice flour, add 1/4 cup millet seeds.  Very crunchy and different grain taste.

Add 1/4 cup wheat germ for additional flavor and nutritional value.

Substitute 1/4 cup soy flour for the same amount of unbleached all-purpose flour. You will get a tasty golden colored bread with a denser, finer testure.  Adds protein, of course.

This recipe makes great raisin bread.  I use 1/2 cup dried fruit per loaf, along with 1/4 cup finely chopped nuts.   Delish!

You may also consider adding sunflower seeds.

If bran is your thing, substitute 1/2 cup for the oatmeal.  Also, bran makes a beautiful topping--use egg whites or milk to make it stick to the loaf.

Other Adjustments:

You may omit the sugar in this recipe, or use 1 tbs honey instead of the sugar.

Eggs may be omitted, or you can just use 3 egg whites instead.  The bread's texture is better with the eggs, in my estimation, but you be the judge.

As you can see the possibilities are nearly endless.

Intro

I love to cook!  But it has taken me many years to learn the basics; it's not that I was ever a "bad cook," my results were always inconsistant, and sometimes even unsuccessful. After cooking nearly every day for the past 40 years, I am still learning what works.  Now that I am successful (usually) I feel like it would be fun to share the experience of creating good dishes, both plain and fancy.

My speciality--if you want to call it that--is baking.  But I plan to go into lots of other areas, and I invite my readers to add their ideas, recipes and suggestions as well.  I promise I will use only those recipes I have made successfully, more than once.