Comfort Food

[Jay59]

Comfort food is served hot, is filling, and generally is pleasant rather assertive. Soups, stews, chili, and curry are excellent examples. Here is one that can use leftover turkey or ham, gravy, veggies. Basically, clean out the refrigerator.

Jambalaya​

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oil​

2 small onions chopped​

1 red bell pepper chopped​

3 jalapeno peppers, deveined and minced​

2 stalks celery chopped​

one head garlic, skinned and chopped​

1 lb chicken or turkey meat​

½ lb andouille sausage, cut up​

3-4 tomatoes (about a pound), halved and quartered​

3 tsp Cajun seasoning​

1 tsp dried oregano or Mexican oregano​

S&P​

8 ounces tomato sauce​

1 cup water or stock​

1-2 cup white rice, adjust liquid accordingly​

½ pound fresh shrimp peeled and deveined​

​

Sauté onions, peppers, and celery in some oil until softened, about 5-6 minutes.​

Add garlic, chicken, and sausage.​

Cook for 5 minutes, stirring often, until chicken is no longer pink and the sausage starts to cook through.​

Add tomatoes and cook for 3 minutes.​

Add seasonings, tomato sauce, and stock. ​

Stir and adjust seasonings to taste, adding heat if desired.​

Stir in the white rice and bring to a quick boil.​

Stir well then reduce heat to minimum.​

Cover and leave alone for 25-30 minutes. DO NOT PEAK!​

Heat a small pan to medium heat and add oil.​

Season shrimp with salt, pepper, and Cajun seasoning.​

Sauté until cooked through.​

Stir them into the Jambalaya pot.​

​

If using leftover turkey add after the sausage is no longer pink. You can use ham instead of sausage or in addition. An interesting choice is using chorizo which gives a Mexican twist. In that case, use adobo seasoning and some chipotle. Add any gravy or drippings you have available and treat it as part of the liquid. You can add any cooked vegetables at the end or serve them on the side.

It is very important to keep the cover on after adding the rice and bringing it to a boil. This releases the steam and substantially lowers the internal temperature, preventing the rice from cooking properly. If you are using a cast-iron pot or dutch oven, you should kill the heat entirely and rely on the internal heat to cook the rice. Needless to say, a tight-fitting lid is a must.

 

[Jay59]

Pizza Pasta Bake​

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12 oz medium pasta, such as penne​

8 oz Italian sausage or lean ground beef​

1 medium onion, diced​

1 cup vegetable pizza toppings, uncooked, optional, of your choice​

3 cloves garlic, minced​

S&P​

1 can diced tomatoes, drained​

1 tsp oregano​

1 tsp Italian seasoning​

14 oz pizza sauce​

2 cup marinara sauce​

1 cup pizza toppings, optional​

3 cup mozzarella and cheddar blend, shredded​

1 cup pepperoni slices​

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded​

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Boil the pasta to very firm, rinse, drain, and set aside.​

Brown the sausage and onions, for 4-5 minutes​

Drain fat, adding back 1 Tbsp. toss pasta in an additional Tbsp.​

Add veggies and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add garlic and cook an additional minute.​

Season to taste.​

Add tomatoes, sauces, and herbs.​

Simmer for 2-3 minutes.​

Toss with pasta and spread in grease 13x9 baking dish.​

Add toppings as desired, then cheese mix, pepperoni, and Parmesan cheese in successive layers.​

Bake at 475° for 15-20 minutes​

This looks more involved than it is. While the pasta water is heating, brown your meat and onions, adding veggies and garlic as you go. Drain and rinse your pasta, mixed with the meat sauces, and top it like a pizza. Bake.

If you don't have pizza sauce, use half a can of tomato paste and don't drain the diced tomatoes. Shredded carrots work well. Adda as a veggie. The marinara sauce is overkill. Use a can of plain tomato sauce and increase the Italian seasonings to one Tbsp.

 

[Rumpel]

From what I have heard, the German Christmas Springerle also count as comfort food.

 

[Rumpel]

Christmas cookies or Christmas biscuits

Christmas cookies or Christmas biscuits - which ones do you know? And which ones do you like specially? Christmas cookies or Christmas biscuits are traditionally sugar cookies or biscuits (though other flavours may be used based on family traditions and individual preferences) cut into...

debatepolitics.com

There you can read about those Springerle.

 

[Slartibartfast]

I tend to go for a bacon cheese burger when I am not doing well.

 

[Rumpel]

@ definition

The term comfort food has been traced back at least to 1966, when the Palm Beach Post used it in a story: "Adults, when under severe emotional stress, turn to what could be called 'comfort food'—food associated with the security of childhood, like mother's poached egg or famous chicken soup."[4] According to a research by April White at JSTOR, it might have been Liza Minnelli who used the term for the first time in its modern meaning in an interview, admitting to craving a hamburger.[5]

When the term first appeared, newspapers used it in quotation marks. In the 1970s, the most popular comfort food in the United States were various potato dishes and chicken soup, but even at the time, the definition varied from person to person. During the next decades, the nature of comfort food changed in the USA, shifting from savory dishes to sweet ones, while comfort food themed cookbooks started to spread and restaurants started to offer items labelled as such, when originally the term was used for food items consumed home alone. Worldwide diet trends, emerging in the 1990s, like the low fat or the low-carb diet were unable to end the cravings for comfort food. According to White, the COVID-19 pandemic that hit the world in 2020 further strengthened people's need for comfort food that evokes nostalgia and the feeling of belonging.[5]

Comfort food - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Rumpel]

Comfort food is served hot

I think it need not be hot.

I prefer this definition:

Comfort food is food that provides a nostalgic or sentimental value to someone,[1] and may be characterized by its high caloric nature, high carbohydrate level, or simple preparation.[2] The nostalgia may be specific to an individual, or it may apply to a specific culture.

Comfort food - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

..... provides a nostalgic or sentimental value to someone ..... so I see it exaxtly.
Hot, or not!

 

[Rumpel]

I just had a Rosinenschnecke = raisin snail (Danish pastry) as my comfort food.

 

[Rumpel]

Other comfort food for me:

England: beans on toast and Newcastle Brown Ale
Scotland: Haggis and Whisky
Germany: Toast Hawaii