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.