The comfort of comfort food

One comfort food of mine: Saute some onions in oil, add a choppped up head of cabbage, cover, and let reduce for maybe 15 minutes. Meanwhile boil egg noodles. Mix the noodles and cabbage, serve. Top with the cheapest sprinkle parmesan cheese and some fake balsamic vinegar.

This was my mother's way of using leftover ham, and when I went vegetarian (when I was 12) I asked her to make it and leave out the ham. So she did, and it is still one of my favorite foods. But lately I'm thinking of trying to replace the ham with something, to fill out the flavor a bit, add something salty and savory. I am not wizard enough with tofu or tempeh to make them work -- initial attempts were just disappointing. But I really think tempeh has possibilities for this.

That said, there is no comfort food like a good milkshake.

Cliche of cliches ... but a roasted vegetable soup is comforting as can be. And I'm partial to GORP (or some varient of cheapo trail-mix, though these can get pretty complicated w. some imagination), on lonely days.

I'm on the verge of being laid off (for the first time ever, at 45), and it's just incredibly stressful. I keep eating ice cream, every day, whenever I'm home from work (I come home for lunch too), and at intervals during the day on the weekends. Though not before 9 am, because somehow that just seems wrong.

My favorite way is milkshake-like: Fill the glass with vanilla bean ice cream (Tillamook if possible). Add 1/2 a bottle of A&W cream soda. Let it fizz up and sit for a moment to develop proper icy crystals, then stir like mad until gloppy. Must be eaten with a spoon.

And, thinking about it, if it weren't so hot, I'd be comforting myself with chicken and noodles.

Cream of wheat. (haha, almost typed "cream of what")

Speaking of chicken and noodles, I'm stressed and needing comfort food, so I asked my wife to make a batch of Rotel Chicken Spaghetti, and I'm about to go in and dive into it.

Oh that was tasty. I comforted myself into a comfort coma.

a big herby, garlicky, seafood pasta, alternatively, fish and chips

Jaq, whereabouts are you, generally?

I work at the Hanford nuclear reservation in southeastern Washington. Federal funding cuts, questionable design practices on the vitrification plant, etc. are causing close to 3/4s of the local workforce to be laid off by Sept.

The good news is I'm trying for some overseas projects - the Sellafield cleanup in the UK and work in Kazahkstan - so some interesting foodstuffs may be coming up :) Until then, there's ice cream!

Mashed potato is very much a comfort food for me. With loads of butter. Or a creamy soup, with some fresh white bread and butter for dipping in.

If you get the Sellafield job you'll have to pop down to Lancashire for a bite to eat. You'll also never be far from some quality meat in Cumbria.

Oh, that's a definite Matt! A friend of mine is on his way to Sellafield next month - send me any recommendations you've got for that area, I know he'd appreciate them.

baked potato with loads of butter and sour cream.

Oh boy, that sounds good. With some fresh thyme and chives out of the garden.

Have I written my Senator to make you lose your job, Jaq? I hope not.

Did I mention milkshakes yet? There's this great Cuban restaurant near me with a killer banana spice milkshake. Allegedly the spice is just cinnamon but it must be some sort of crazy awesome cinnamon because it blows my world apart. Comfortingly.

Cream of Wheat with dried cherries in it, mmmm.

Oh, that's a good one. I also forgot my alltime favorite comfort foods:

Tapioca pudding made w/ coconut milk
Bread pudding
Grapenut pudding
Indian pudding.

oh god - bread pudding! (staring at the rapidly staling remains of challah)

Rice pudding can be pretty comforting. Bread pudding used to be but the last few times I've had it it it's been (a) totally not what I thought it was going to be and (b) very unsatisfying.

Also, and this might be related to milkshakes, but how could I forget that I spent the last two weeks indulging in ROOT BEER FLOATS!

Last bread pudding I made was coconut bread pudding, warm and cuddly. I have a pint of rum that I bought several years ago specifically to make rum raisin sauce for a bread pudding, and still haven't yet.

Sandwiches with bacon on them are comforting. BLTs, bacon and fried egg, and the ultimate: bacon, fried egg, sharp cheddar and a whole roasted green chili.

2 or 3 more days of this work hell and I can cook again.

The secrets I've discovered w. bread pudding (besides BOTH misting the oven / water-bathing it) are:

(A) use more than one kind of bread
(B) and to cut/tear bread into larger pieces than usually recommended (C) Soak them for a longer time than usual.

I average bread 2" chunks, +/- 20 minutes in the egg mixuture, and usually use a mild dark rye and raisin/walnut bread. Although challah would be amazing. The net effect is a less "french-toasty" texture, and more uniform custardiness than some of the half-assy recipes I've been recently served (weird, innit, how bread pudding seems to be making a comeback as haute cuisine?)

When I'm feeling rubbish, I run for the cheese and onion sandwich.

New bread - must be moist and lovely, and the nastiest, smelliest, most evil cheddar ever, and the strongest, most halitosis-inducing onion ever. For 2 bits of bread, use at least 1/3 of an onion, and loads of cheese.

Munch up, but don't expect anyone to talk t you for at least 3 days.

Mm, that sounds fantastic if anti-social, Johnny!

My comfort foods are of two kinds, ones you have to actually cook and ones that are dirty fast and processed.

So in column A we have risotto, mashed potato, soup, onion pie. In column B - chocolate milkshake, chocolate ice cream, in fact any chocolate, and kettle chips with sour cream.

How could I have neglected to mention the huge role risotto plays in keeping me happy? For shame, Fallaize, for shame.

Mmmm, risotto.

I keep forgetting to try dessert risotto with apples.

Hm, I think I'm a bit of a risotto rockist. Having said that, M just made a surprisingly amazing vegan risotto (it's not designed for vegans, but just happens to be) with roasted butternut squash and garlic, and oregano. No parmesan! No butter! And it was delicious.

Wine risotto for me. Ingredients, rice, wine, butter, parmesan. Num.

A lot of wine by the way. And a bit of stock. But mainly wine.

Yes come to think of wine is not vegan generally is it, so strict adherents would not have approved of our risotto. But MORE FOOL THEM.

There's a restaurant in Melb that is a RISOTTO restaurant - thats its theme. Thats all they make. Savoury, sweet. Its located in the complex I work in. Ive been meaning to check it out, as the idea intrigues me muchly. If I do I shall report in!

Its called Tutto Bene.

I think mine has to be potato. If mashed it has to have butter, salt & cheese. If it's in the form of a jacket pot it has to have cheese & beans & MUST come with a salad on the side. Either that or loads of creamy pasta. The creamier & more fatty the better. Any pudding that's stodgy too.

"Jacket pot"? Is that like a baked potato?

Sorry, jacket potato=baked potato.

Oh, "pot" as in "potato". I'm pretty sure I'd heard the "jacket" part before.

Im a bit late on this thread, but hey, I'm all up for comfort food.
My three fave food types are potatoes, cheese and bread. Scoff loads of the stuff since I became veggie 3 yrs back. My favbe recipe is as follows - for all you carb junkies out there, get your chops around this delight. it's like an italian american lasagnery type thing. 'ive attached link to the people I got this from. Freindly shop with a webpage for those of you not based in hicksville uk like me!!

let me know what you think. It's damn tasty in my opinion!

www.armorica.co.uk/rom.php?recipe=34

www.armorica.co.uk

Have you tried making a cheesy potato bread?

Split pea soup

Cut up bacon, saute' and add chopped onions. Cook a bit. Add carrots and celery. Cook a bit. Add chicken broth (I use the no-salt no fat kind as the bacon has plenty o salt/fat) and peas. Add fresh rosemary and a couple of bay leaves. Cook. To thicken I put in a whole peeled potato. You can remove it before you serve the soup.

Help me, Cream of Wheat with a toasted English muffin, you're my only hope.

Wow, that bad huh?

I rocked in my (non-rocking) chair and cuddled the bowl for warmth last night while I ate it.